OK film fans, it's Monday night and after coming home from work I usually try to unwind from the long day. After a hot shower (jump to the 0:50 mark), a little ice for my backside (from taking it from The Man) and a drink, I'm ready to relax. But tonight I'm having a hard time relaxing. I'm tense and restless. It is precisely because of nights like this that I don't have a fast car.
As anyone who has ever driven with me can attest, I like to drive fast. Realizing this at an early age, or rather after quite a few speeding tickets, I began to drive Jeeps for the simple fact that you can't get most of them to go faster than 80mph. I did however get a '81 CJ7 with a 401 up to about 110 in a straight line going to Nebraska. My own personal best shall not be discussed here as it might give my poor mother nightmares. It is also because of this reason that I love my PS3 racing games and any film with a car chase. So tonight I present my Top 5 favorite car chase/race scenes. Don't make me explain...
5. Dirty Mary Crazy Larry I saw this film in its true element, the Ranch Drive-In (my house was due East), when I was 12. Notable for its classic 70's style car chases, I love it for having the first non-traditional Hollywood ending I ever saw. I would say spoiler alert but, this film is 36 years old and about hippie scum running from the cops, figure it out.
4. Against All Odds This may surprise those of you who saw this film and can only remember the Phil Collins songs (which girls in the 80s loved, thank you Phil!), Rachel Ward's savage tan and Jeff Bridge's beard, but there was a race scene. And it consists of the classic matchup: Ferrari vs. Porsche. As a Porsche man, I'm proud to say at least the good guy is driving the right car.
3. Bullitt This will surely disappoint Steve McQueen fans and I apologize upfront. I love this scene, but to be honest it's as old as I am and, unlike me, it's looking a bit dated. However, it is the standard bearer of the genre and as such is only eclipsed here by my own sentimental favorites.
2. Ronin I sense your eyebrows rising, but before there was Bourne there was this far more realistic car chase. There's something inherently more intense with a car chases through European cities. They're more crowded, the streets more narrow, the building seem to hang perilously over cobblestones roads, there are underground tunnels and inevitably cliffs. And if the director can't find one, they can conveniently create their own.
1. The Blues Brothers Unheralded in its scope, it held the record for the most destroyed cars and is easily the most insane, over the top slapstick-esque car chase ever filmed. Plus, it begins with an all time classic line.
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