The 10 best car chase scenes in cinema history
Many tropes and cliches have become quintessential staples of different film genres that get the appropriate emotional response or engagement from audiences. These can include the final girl chase scene in horrors, interrogation scenes in spy thrillers or a good old car chase scene in an action flick.
Car chase scenes must go big, with a fast-paced atmosphere, intense music and maybe an explosion. Car stunts are also a must-have, with the vehicles flying over ramps or flipping at an epic conclusion. These sequences must get our hearts pumping and make our eyes wide, pushing the audience to the edge of their seats at the intense and exhilarating visuals.
A car chase scene can either have our hero being chased or chasing down a villain, switching up the experience each time. A setting for a good old car chase has no restrictions, with traditional ones taking place in busy cities and the occasional change, such as a desert.
Here are ten examples of a brilliant movie car chase scene, ones that will have audiences holding on tight for a bumpy ride.
The 10 best car chase scenes:
The French Connection (William Friedkin, 1971)
American filmmaker William Friedkin has often been associated with the horror genre thanks to his adaptation of the William Peter Blatty novel The Exorcist, but there are many strings to this filmmaker’s bow. In 1971 he released the gripping crime drama The French Connection with Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider, a tale about a pair of NYPD detectives who try to bring down a sinister heroin smuggling ring.
Its most iconic moment comes when Hackman’s Jimmy Doyle chases after a crook whilst the villain is getting away on the city subway. Chasing him from the road below the elevated track, Friedkin captures the moment with no music and superb attention to detail.
Bullitt (Peter Yates, 1968)
Aside from The Great Escape, the 1968 Peter Yates movie Bullitt is American actor Steve McQueen’s finest hour, starring as the titular San Francisco cop who is determined to find the kingpin who killed his witness in protection. Soon to be remade by Steven Spielberg, Bradley Cooper is thought to be in pole position to take over from McQueen in the lead role, but he’s got big shoes to fill.
Performed with an absence of music, the car chase through the streets of San Francisco in the movie is an impressive sight to behold, with Yates focusing more on the screeching sound effects of the cars and their precise drivers than on the building of artificial melodrama.
Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)
No list of the greatest movie car chases of all time would be complete without the presence of George Miller’s modern masterpiece Mad Max: Fury Road, an epic, apocalyptic action odyssey starring Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult. Indeed, whilst there are several iconic moments of greatness in Miller’s film, it is the hypnotic film on the whole, which is pretty much one elongated chase scene, that sticks in your memory.
Fury Road is a treat to behold, featuring real-life stunt work, a stunning soundtrack by the Dutch composer Tom Holkenborg and saturated, vibrant visuals. We’re just glad we’re not racing with them.
The Blues Brothers (John Landis, 1980)
An iconic film of the early 1980s, The Blues Brothers by director John Landis, the same mind behind An American Werewolf in London and Coming to America, is a comedy, musical thriller made all the better by grand performances from Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Landis’ film is a barmy American adventure that tells the story of two recently united brothers who have mere days to reunite their old R&B band and save the Catholic home where the two were raised.
Tearing through the city of Chicago, the brothers engage in a car chase that has since gone down in the history of cinema. Destroying 104 cars during the production of the scene, the bombastic slapstick scene is pure comedy and a thrilling watch.
The Matrix Reloaded (The Wachowski sisters, 2003)
The original Matrix movie from 1999 is considered to be one of the greatest science fiction movies of all time, but what about the sequels? Too often are the three Matrix sequels thrown under the bus, but there’s much to be enjoyed in each one. Take, for example, the unbelievable highway chase in the sequel The Matrix Reloaded when the Wachowski sisters created an entire set to house the insane set piece.
Following Neo (Keanu Reeves), Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and a whole host of eccentric enemies as they flip from car to truck to 4×4, the scene is a marvel of action filmmaking.
The Batman (Matt Reeves, 2022)
Director Matt Reeves rejuvenated DC’s iconic hero Batman with a darker, moody and daunting tone in The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as the caped crusader. In Reeves’s adaptation of original graphic novels such as The Long Halloween, Batman has been fighting Gotham’s crime scene for a short time. However, he is soon immersed in a seedy chain of murders and corruption with figures such as The Penguin.
The scene where Batman chases down The Penguin in the Batmobile is one of the film’s most exciting and heart-stopping sequences. With rain pouring down in the night, the dark knight speeds after the crime boss, who attempts to shoot him down before causing an explosive lorry crash to take him down. However, Batman races through the flames and eventually causes The Penquin’s car to flip over, bringing the criminal in for justice.
Duel (Steven Spielberg, 1971)
Dennis Weaver stars in this straightforward concept thriller as a business commuter chased down and terrorised by a mysterious truck driver during a trip to California, with the driver crashing into him every chance he gets. It doesn’t matter what Weaver’s character does or where he goes; the unseen driver is always right behind him.
Most of Duel is a car chase scene, as this trope that usually fills a three-minute or so plot slot is the entire plot itself. Weaver is pushed to the limit, driving through fences in the unauthorised territory to escape his stalker. However, nothing seems to shake the truck off. Duel is a nail-biter of a film that did to road trips what Jaws did to swimming in oceans.
Speed (Jan De Bont, 1994)
Jan De Bont’s directorial debut is the action thriller film Speed. It follows a terrorist rigging a public bus with a bomb that’ll explode if the speed falls below 50 miles per hour. It’s up to Keanu Reeves to climb aboard and save the day.
Speed is action-packed, intense and thrilling right until the end. The film’s premise makes for a terrifying yet inventive concept, with one of the most iconic scenes seeing Sandra Bullock driving the bus through ongoing traffic and stop signs.
Baby Driver (Edgar Wright, 2017)
In this 2017 stylised action film, Ansel Elgot plays a getaway driver with tinnitus who gets caught up in a life of crime on a mission to support himself and his girlfriend. The heist is doomed to fail from the start, but Elgot’s character falls deeper into some compromised morality.
Baby Driver’s opening throws audiences into the deep end of its thrilling atmosphere. Music is a huge component, with the diegetic sound playing in the protagonist’s earphones becoming non-diegetic as he speeds away from the police. The sound complements the scene’s action effortlessly, showing how Wright can utilise all film components to construct a well-made sequence. Speaking to BFI about what he thinks makes a brilliant car chase scene, the director shared: “The stakes need to be very clear and very vivid. That’s why The French Connection is always brought up as one of the greatest ones.”
The Italian Job (Peter Collinson, 1969)
This classic British comedy stars Michael Caine as a cockney criminal called Charlie Crocker. Despite just getting out of prison, Crocker wastes no time organising another crime, hoping to steal a gold bar transported through Italy.
The Italian Job’s brilliant car chase scene involves a stylish red mini cooper, and Collinson designs the scene to have a claustrophobic feel through tight, restrictive spaces. This element only elevates the intensity and stakes of the chase, with the mini cooper defying road rules and regulations in swift movements.
