Top 5 Best Car Chases in Movie History

In recent years, our silver screen has been dominated by Fast and Furious franchise, which has simply showcased every high powered Super-cars, Hyper cars designed by literally every car manufacturers from around the world. Couple this with mediocre plot, action sequences, high budget, stunts and CGI wizardry; you have a winning combination that will entertain every petrol-head for years to come.
 
This franchise has a deeper root which is firmly leads back to older generation of movies, and if you are as old as I am, or at least feel as old as I do in the morning, you might have actually seen most of them, if not all.
 
The aim here is to introduce some of the older generation of movies, which included some amazing car stunts, so buckle up kiddos, and here is my top five, of what I believe to be iconic movies and their respective car stunts.

The Blues Brothers

How do you make any movie more captivating? Well, it is rather simple, when in doubt, wreck more police cars. This is exactly what the director John Landis did in The Blues Brothers, by simply wrecking more cop cars than any movie. Dodge Monacos are wrecked by the dozen in this exuberant movie, add the amazing Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi’s in to the mix, give them an endless sly dialog and let them destroy the Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, Ill., and the result is a comedy classic.
 
 

Against All Odds

Do you recall Taylor Hackford? American film director and former president of the Directors Guild of America? He was once married to Helen Mirren? Well, he proved to us, you don’t need to wreck cars to make car stunts and car chases interesting. In Against all odds, the stunt coordinator Gary Davis (in the 911) and Cary Loftin (in the Ferrari) created a mad race along Los Angeles’ Sunset Boulevard between a Ferrari 308 GTS Quattrovalvole and a Porsche 911SC.

Smokey and the Bandit

The combination of director Hal Needham and his one-time roommate Burt Reynolds results in an immensely enjoyable movie that mixes excellent car stunts with a great comic performance from Jackie Gleason, and if it weren’t for Star Wars, Smokey and the Bandit would have been the highest grossing film of 1977. But the biggest winner this film produced was Pontiac, which saw sales of the Firebird Trans Am skyrocket after its appearance as Reynolds’s ride.

Dirty Mary Crazy Larry

Just about everyone who grew up during the 1980s remembers this film’s classic climax, not because they’ve actually seen the film, but because of the lime green ’69 Dodge Charger hitting a locomotive. As intense as that smashing collision is, it’s the pursuit beforehand was even more impressive. Working on a tight budget, director John Hough cast actor Vic Morrow as the obsessive pursuing sheriff in a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter alongside veteran stunt pilot James Gavin, then had them chase that Charger through citrus orchards at extremely low altitudes. The result is automotive brilliance and astounding aviation.

Bullitt

The chase in Bullitt remains the chase against which all other movie car chases are measured, and to this day, still remains one of my favourite movies of all time. The scene benefits hugely from star Steve McQueen’s natural ability behind the wheel. However, the amazing stunt was carried out by the legendary stunt driver Bill Hickman (behind the wheel of the Charge, and Carey Loftin (behind the Mustang GT 390).

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