One of the mandatory scenes of any good action movie is a car chase, but the action genre isn’t the only time these iconic achievements in intense cinematography show up. Plenty of genres include good chases of some kind. Horror movies are known for the slasher killer or monster chasing after a helpless victim, fighting for their lives. Action movies are known for epic car chases. Thrillers also include car chases that often devolve into some sort of intense combat.
Needless to say, a good chase scene can create tension, increase the stakes of the story, and show off a lot of practical effects, special effects, and stunt work. There are thousands of incredible chase scenes throughout the history of cinema, so it can be hard to narrow things down. John Wick, Fast & Furious, Mad Max, Mission Impossible, and so many more franchises are known for their intense chase sequences.
Fast Five’s Vault Heist Beats Out Every Other Fast & Furious Movie
A car drags a safe during a heist in Fast Five
A list of epic car chases simply wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the Fast & Furious franchise at least once. Admittedly, there are a lot of Fast & Furious films, enough to make a whole list just about chase scenes in the franchise, but the best one comes out of Fast Five (2011). The vault heist chase is the best car chase in the entire franchise and one of the best chases in cinema history. This scene features Dom and Brian attaching a massive vault to the back of their cars and dragging it through the city behind them at high speed.
Dom and his crew decide to steal the vault from a Brazilian kingpin. The vault contains $100 million and draws out every crooked cop in the city to chase after them. The vault is huge and causes massive damage as it slams into the road, cars, and buildings. This scene also takes a tremendous amount of teamwork and coordination on the crew’s part. Not only do Dom and Brian have to drive side-by-side, as if moving as one single unit, they also need to rely on the directions of the crew leading them through the city in the safest way possible. Dom and Brian also have to improvise on the fly, making for one of the most nerve-wracking and dangerous car chases in the last 15 years.
The Matrix Reloaded’s Highway Chase is the Film’s Redeeming Scene
Morpheus draws his gun and sword in The Matrix Reloaded.Image via Warner Bros.
The Matrix (1999) might be a revolutionary cyberpunk action sci-fi film, but its sequels have a more mixed reputation. The Matrix Reloaded (2003) may not be the best or most highly praised film in the series, but it does contain one of the most creative and intense chase scenes. The highway chase follows Morpheus and Trinity as they attempt to protect the Keymaker. At first, they’re only pursued by the Twins, who aggressively shoot at them during the chase. Eventually, law enforcement gets involved, forcing Morpheus and Trinity to take to the highway.
Previously, Morpheus warned about steering clear of the highway, insisting that such a route would be suicide. His earlier warning proves to be true, as the Twins shoot out the surrounding cars, making the highway dangerous to navigate. As their chase draws more attention, various agents begin taking control of drivers near Morpheus and Trinity. This chase features a lot of creative imagery, from clever slow-motion segments to scenes of drivers being taken over by agents. It also doesn’t care about the collateral damage, as the chase takes out numerous innocent drivers and cars.
Baby Driver’s Opening Scene is a Musical Masterpiece
Baby Driver opening chase scene
Baby Driver (2017) takes a unique approach to an action movie. The main character, Baby, has tinnitus, a somewhat common condition where people hear constant ringing in their ears. To deal with his tinnitus, Baby often uses music to drown out the ringing. This sets the tone of the entire film, as Baby Driver often syncs up its action scenes to the soundtrack, emphasizing Baby’s reliance on music to get through the day.
There are plenty of examples of this technique throughout the film, but Baby Driver’s opening scene is the first instance and arguably the best. Baby is the getaway driver for a bank heist. As he waits in the car, he listens to music, and once his colleagues return with the cash, he hits reverse and peels out, driving to the beat of “Bellbottoms” by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. The car almost seems to move to the rhythm of the song, making the entire chase scene feel like something straight out of an MTV music video. It has all the flair of an excellent high-speed chase with all the style of rock n roll.
Bullitt is the Grandfather of Modern Car Chases in Cinema
The car from Bullitt speeding on a road
A list like this couldn’t exist without mentioning Bullitt (1968). This action thriller film revolutionized many aspects of the action genre, including the car chase. Without Bullitt, many films today might not even feature what seems to be a mandatory inclusion of any good action, thriller, sci-fi, or horror movie. Bullitt focuses on Detective Frank Bullitt, who investigates the mob after the death of a key witness. His investigation draws a lot of unwanted attention, which eventually leads to a couple of hitmen chasing him down.
What’s so incredible about this specific chase scene is that Bullitt starts out as the target of two hitmen, making him the victim running for his life. However, he easily one-ups the hitmen, bending the chase to his advantage. The sight of Bullitt’s Ford Mustang GT racing through the streets of San Francisco is a timeless masterpiece where all the stunts are real. The scene also doesn’t shy away from the realistic elements of such a chase. Bullitt wasn’t afraid to let the scene be messy. The cars didn’t always look picture-perfect because that wouldn’t make any sense.
The Bourne Supremacy Puts the Audience in a State of Panic
Image via Universal Pictures
The Bourne Supremacy (2004) is the second film in the Bourne film franchise and arguably one of Matt Damon’s most infamous roles. The entire franchise features a shaky camera style of filming, which gives the audience the feeling that the camera operator is right in the middle of the action alongside the stars. There are plenty of incredible fight and chase scenes in the Bourne franchise, but the best one has to be the taxi scene in The Bourne Supremacy.
Jason sustains a serious injury at the hands of Kirill, an assassin pursuing him. Jason immediately hits fight-or-flight mode and looks for the nearest escape route. To get away from his attacker, Jason steals a taxi and speeds away through the streets of Moscow. Kirill gives chase, forcing Jason to speed away while trying to tend to his wound. Soon, the police also join the chase, upping the stakes tremendously. The shaky camera and the way the chase bounces from scene to scene in quick succession make the audience feel like they’re living through the danger alongside Jason.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day Pits a Young John Connor Against the Terrifying T-1000
James Cameron’s Terminator has been a staple sci-fi action franchise for decades. While many of the newest installments have missed the mark, the first two films are masterpieces. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) features the best chase scene in the entire franchise. Notably, this film also included the T-1000, the very first character made of CGI to appear in a Hollywood blockbuster. This advancement in CGI technology was a groundbreaking achievement, but it only works because the T-1000 is surrounded by incredible practical effects. These practical effects helped smooth out the uncanny valley feel of the T-1000, but some of the unsettling vibes also helped the T-1000 feel inhuman.
The chase scene in question happens when the T-1000 attacks a young John Connor at the mall. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s legendary Terminator interrupts the attack, and John narrowly escapes the T-1000’s awesome power. With nothing but a dirt bike, John makes a run for it, but the T-1000, determined to complete his mission, gives chase by stealing a massive truck. The sheer size difference between John on his tiny bike and the T-1000 in a structure-smashing truck emphasized the difference between the two, making John feel like the mouse in a deadly game of cat and mouse.
The French Connection Car Chase Enhances This Crime Thriller Masterpiece
Image via 20th Century Fox
The French Connection (1971) is a classic crime thriller that follows two NYPD detectives as they try to take down a French drug lord smuggling heroin into the city. This movie is incredibly famous for a number of reasons. One of the key features that makes The French Connection such an incredible film is how it draws many parallels between law enforcement and the criminals they’re hunting. For the time, this was a daring narrative choice, and the conversation has only become more relevant today.
That said, this list isn’t about what makes The French Connection’s story so good. It’s all about the chase scene that elevates this crime thriller even higher. Director William Friedkin took a lot of risks when shooting this scene. Not only did he not obtain the proper permits, meaning real crashes actually happened during the filming, but he also decided to mount a camera to the front of the car. This really helped to put the audience right in the middle of the action. Friedkin might have cut a lot of corners and made some questionable decisions to bring this chase scene to life, but it was well worth the final result.
Mad Max: Fury Road is One Massive Chase
A shirtless Nicholas Hoult as Nux, driving the War rig from the 2015 movie Mad Max: Fury RoadImage via Village Roadshow
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) is one of the most praised films of the last decade for many reasons. It’s got a strong narrative with some admirable feminist themes, but it goes without saying that Fury Road absolutely deserves to be on this list. Most of the movie is one giant chase sequence, where Furiosa hijacks a War Rig full of Immortan Joe’s wives. Furiosa plans to take the women to freedom, but Immortan Joe, unwilling to lose his harem, sends his forces after them.
Fury Road, as the title suggests, is more or less one elongated chase complete with fiery combat, intense acrobatics between vehicles, and nonstop attacks on Furiosa’s war rig. Not to mention, the man standing on one of the vehicles giving chase, blowing fire while playing a guitar to give the chase an epic soundtrack to boot. Picking a single scene from this film is almost impossible because the entire movie is nonstop action and road rage-induced disaster.
Ronin Features a Car Chase to End All Car Chases
Image via MGM Distribution Co.
Ronin (1998) is another action thriller that features multiple car chases. This amazing film was directed by John Frankenheimer, who openly expressed that if he was going to include a car chase in his movie, he would make sure it was so spectacular that it would make all future filmmakers question whether they wanted to include a chase of their own. If newer chase scenes failed to live up to what Frankenheimer pulled off in Ronin, they would fade away into obscurity. That was the goal, at least.
That was a pretty big claim, but Ronin does have one of the best car chases ever put on the big screen. Frankenheimer might not have taken car chases off the menu for future action movies, but it is an incredibly difficult one to live up to. The final chase is arguably the best, when mercenary Sam chases IRA operative Deirdre through the streets of Paris. No section of Paris is off limits, even the intricate tunnels. This scene is truly seamless, showing no signs of slowing down. Frankenheimer also manages to film the chase from multiple angles, giving the audience a 360 view of everything that happens during the chase. It is pure perfection.
The Blues Brothers Gave the World the Most Infamous Car Chase Ever Made
Image via Universal Pictures
While there are plenty of great contenders that could have made this list, the number one spot has to go to The Blues Brothers (1980). This is the only film on this list that isn’t a raw action or thriller film. The Blues Brothers is actually a musical comedy with plenty of action elements that only fuel just how hilarious the movie is. The clever blend of genres and the incredible music make this classic film one of the best movies of the ’80s, and to this day, it includes one of the most memorable car chases in history.
There are several iconic chase scenes throughout the film as the Blues Brothers try to outrun multiple groups of people, including the cops, but the final chase is arguably the best. The film built dozens of cars for filming, some of which were destroyed in a massive over-the-top pile-up, and others that were created with the sole intent of performing various jumps. The final chase sees a massive pursuit across Chicago, giving the scene a sense of complexity and impressive scale. No one will ever forget the way the Blues Brothers nearly drove off an unfinished bridge, backed up, managed to make the car flip through the air back over their pursuers, land, and drive away while the police drove over the edge of the bridge. It makes absolutely no sense, but that’s what makes it so iconic.