Many of us love a good car film and even more of us enjoy watching a good car chase.
Not all car chases are in car films – Just look at every car chase to ever appear in the James Bond film for that. Car chases let us see that in any vehicle, you can have boat loads of fun, although we do obviously stress not to get yourself into a car chase yourself. Here are our top ten car chases you need to see (if you haven’t, then you know what to put on your Christmas list don’t you?)
1) Bullitt
Bullitt is widely agreed upon to the best car chase in film history. It is the car chase that defines all car chases that followed it. So many other famous car chases took inspiration from Bullitt.
You watch as Steve McQueen’s Ford Mustang Fastback leaps over San Francisco’s humps pursuing a black 1968 Dodge Charger. It is iconic partly for the fact that Steve McQueen’s character did something rare for a film car chase – he stopped to see if a motorcyclist, who had been knocked off due to the car chase, was ok. You will rarely see that occur in other films.
2) French Connection
This film came three years after Bullitt and is hailed as one of the greatest car chases of all time. Starring in this chase is the legendary Gene Hackman behind the wheel of the brown Pontiac and he is chasing a suspect on an elevated New York Train. The reason this car chase looks so real is because it basically was. Normally film crews let the police and authorities, etc know what they are planning to do. They did not do so on this film and therefore what you see on film, which looks dangerous is pretty much what happened. Even that part where a driver smashes into Hackman’s car wasn’t planned.
3) Quantum of Solace
This is more about the fact you can’t have a car chase list without a James Bond mention and the best car chase in that series is at the beginning of Quantum of Solace. We witness Daniel Craig playing James Bond at the wheel of an Aston Martin DBS being chased by black Alfa Romeos. The Aston Martin comes with a V12 engine and the Alfa Romeo 159s come with 3.2-litre V6 engines.
The intense and brutal chase takes place on a dangerous mountain road beside Italy’s Lago di Garda. The Aston Martin loses its door after an altercation with a wagon, followed by the Italian police chasing the chasers and Bond. They soon find themselves being shot at too. The Alfa Romeos chases Bond for a bit more before ending in a fire mess on the side of a mountain. Bond follows this chase up by cruising into Sienna.
4) Ronin
Ronin is famous for its espionage and intrigue and is one of Robert Di Nero’s best films. But it is also known for its brilliant car chase at the end of the film. Because the car chase is so extensive, the film studio had to hire 300 stunt drivers to drive every car features in the scene. Unlike in the French Connection, the filmmakers of Ronin were taking no safety chances. The chase took place on the actual streets of Venice where the film was set and was designed to showcase driving skill over the use of special effects. When the drivers hit oncoming traffic in the film, that entire scene is real. Films like Ronin really show you what you can do with a car, although preferably don’t head out on a dramatic and dangerous car chase if you choose to lease cars.
5) Original Gone in 60 Seconds
This must be one of the longest car chases in film history. The 1974 edition of Gone in 60 Seconds offers a car chase around 30 minutes long. H B Halicki drives a yellow Ford Mustang nicknamed Eleanor trying to escape the police. To put how epic this car chase was, 93 cars were wrecked and not all the onlookers you see in the film were extras.
The chase itself features several accidents and some of those were not planned either. In fact, filming had to be stopped after Halicki crashed into a telegraph pole. Gone in 60 Seconds is another example where driving skill over special affects lead to genuine accidents being caught for use on screen.
Car chases are such fun to watch, but obviously not to do anything like it in reality. However, they do show you what you can do with a car and if you are interested in getting yourself a new car like the new Ford Mustang or a Mini Cooper in memory of the Italian Job.
All these cars are available through car leasing at Zero Deposit Leasing. They have get any car and any model launched after 2012. Check out what they have on offer and see if they have the car for you.
