Old vs. New Chase Sequences

[Talentless]

How do they compare?

I haven't seen many of them, but I do suspect older ones and the filming processes used to make them could have an advantage over the newer ones, though the latter should have better production quality, because the former would have had fewer short cuts, such as alternative camera angles, cg effects, I assume less expense to produce, which thereby should have compelled a more realistic sequence with fewer chances to edit staged scenes, which themselves would likely have been fewer, than the newer ones. One risk I see with new chase sequences is their becoming more of visual ballets than portrayals of the gritty realism of any given car chase.

Remember Knight Rider and how they would allow expansive driving sequences, but also had the scenes with tire blowout, or the ramps for the Turbo Boost effect sometimes show on screen? Compare that to Viper, and the granny driving they put that car under. Vipers are worth more, and I believe there were fewer to work with in Viper.

 

[YSSMAN]

Look no further than Steve McQueen's Bullitt for a prime example of what a car chase should be in any motion picture. Hell, any of McQueen's movies that involved cars were instant classics. The origional Gone in Sixty Seconds comes to mind, LeMans as well.

They just don't do it like they used to. I think a good example of that is Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, easily one of the craziest car movies I've ever seen. Worth a look if you're interested...

 

[Tornado]

I'm inclined to say old stuff all the way, but then again I've seen Ronin. A different style than, say, Gone in 60 Seconds, but just as cool. Just in a different way.

 

[TopHat]

How about "Vanishing Point"? That was one helluva chase! Also, the Blues Brothers was hilarious...

 

[Revheadnz]

With a few exceptions, old chases are better I reckon. There's no reliance on CGI or anything in the 70s/80s, the stuntmen really had to do all the stunts and you can tell.
As mentioned, Ronin is one of the exceptions, that is a wonderful chase sequence near the end through the wrong way traffic.
Bullit is one chase that gets all the mentions for being a great chase but there are other ones.
The French connection is great too. The fact that it is done with such abandon, Gene Hackman has an accident, a genuine one and they leave it in the scene instead of reshooting. That is one thing that I like, instead of making it appear that the men driving are perfect, it gives a more realistic impression that the men behind the wheel are capable of making mistakes which makes it seem more true to life.
One you never see mentioned is from The Seven-Ups. Two 70s luxo barges being hustled through the streets of Manhattan like sports cars as opposed to the rubbish handling boats they are.

Can we post scenes of the chases in question off of youtube or similar is that against the AUP?

 

[Duke]

I don't think short clips used for purposes of review would violate any copyright laws (in fact, it's usually specifically allowed). We only get soggy and hard to light when people start sharing whole episodes of Best MOTORing.

 

[Solid Lifters]

It's doesn't matter what car chase scene you like the best; it is easily understood that these two are the best of them all. Both old, btw.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullitt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Casse

 

[a6m5]

Those were pretty intense. Which flick was the second one from, Solid?

On the Old vs. the New, I'm not too crazy about neither. I do like a lot of car chases, but I don't have any "best chase of all-time".

Some I sort of enjoyed are: The Fast and the Furious 1-3(obviously not every chases), Diamonds Are Forever(with bunch of cop cars) and yes, Ronin was pretty cool. 👍

 

[Revheadnz]

I happened upon that chase scene from Le Casse while looking for these scenes Solid, it really is impressive. I wonder if they used the same Fiat throughout the chase cause it looked like it was taking a real beating.....Oh and does anyone know what the black car chasing it was? Just curious, it looked like a period Opel to me.....

The Seven-Ups



Ronin 1st chase



Ronin 2nd chase

 

[Zrow]

Have you guys seen the end car chase in The Bourne Supremacy? It's definitely one to check out.

 

[Solid Lifters]

Those were pretty intense. Which flick was the second one from, Solid?

I added a Wiki link to it after you first saw it, I guess. It's some old French movie with corrupt cops and criminals.

 

[Midnight Runner]

Not the best,not very realistic,but damn good. Taxi (1998)-final chase.

music fits perfect in the chase.

 

[a6m5]

There were couple of chases that really did impress me, I forgot all about them, because they are not true full lengh motion pictures.

Off of the first batch of BMWFilms.com, "The Heist" and another one that starred Clive Owen as "the Driver". Heist was directed by one of my favorite directors, John Frankenheimer. Second one featured Madonna and was directed by none other than Guy Ritchie. Great action. 👍

Not the best,not very realistic,but damn good. Taxi (1998)-final chase.

music fits perfect in the chase.

I had to cut this one short since it's titled "final chase", and I do not want to know the ending. Taxi is STILL not released on DVD in the States, so I still have not seen it. I've been wanting to see the Taxi 1 & 2 for a few years now. One of these days..........

P.S. Looks like the driver of the Taxi is the actor I've seen before in the French action movie called "The Nest". Movie is similar to "Assault on Precinct 13", but IMO, much better. It's available for rent in the States, I highly recommend it.

 

[Roo]

There's a chase sequence thread, and no-one's mentioned this yet? Bah.

The Italian Job.

Part 1:



Part 2:

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

I like this one from Bourne Identity.

Have you guys seen the end car chase in The Bourne Supremacy? It's definitely one to check out.

Here it is

 

[Roo]

Second one featured Madonna and was directed by none other than Guy Ritchie. Great action. 👍

 

[a6m5]

Nice one, Roo. 👍 I have it on DVD, but it was better than I remembered. And I'm an idiot. The Frankenheimer one wasn't the Heist, it was "Ambush". Here it is, and it just might be my favorite chase of "all-time":


P.S. Frankenheimer, of course is the director of Ronin. I also agree with you guys on Ronin, Italian Job and the Bourne Series. I did like the Identity chase a lot better than the one in Supremacy, however.

 

[Talentless]

I saw McQ earlier, and I thought the chase scene where Wayne's character is going after the bakery truck was pretty good.

 

[Specialized]

Here are a couple of old chases.

James Bond - Goldfinger, superb chase using the DB5 and all of its arsenal. I cant find a clip of the chase though

The French Connection - I havnt seen this for a while now but i do remember a great car chase, i dont know the truth behind it but i have read a few times that the car chase was actually filmed without a permit form the city and many of the bystanders were actually unknowing members of the public.




Spec....

 

[Revheadnz]

Here's another slightly older chase from 1985s "To Live and Die in L.A". The director said that he was trying to out-do the chase from "The French Connection" and while I don't think he out did it, it's still a good chase in its own right.

 

[Talentless]

Not to be too complacent, but as good as some of these are, though I have only seen a few so far, 10 minutes is just too long for a chase scene, unless it's amazing. 3-5 minutes is a better range of time, after that, I just want someone to give up , escape, or crash. There's a limit to how many 180s and slow speed down steps rides I can take.

 

[Scaff]

Not to be too complacent, but as good as some of these are, though I have only seen a few so far, 10 minutes is just too long for a chase scene, unless it's amazing. 3-5 minutes is a better range of time, after that, I just want someone to give up , escape, or crash. There's a limit to how many 180s and slow speed down steps rides I can take.

In which case never ever watch the original Gone in 60 seconds, the entire last 40 minutes of the film is basically one long chase. Personally I don't have so much of an issue with the duration, more the quality of the driving and filming. Ronin is a good example, I have no exact idea how long the chase scenes in it are, but they are excellently filmed and directed. The DVD of Ronin (in the UK ata least) has a shot feature on the shooting of the final Paris chase scene that's well worth a look.

Just to get back on a subject mentioned earlier, that of the use of CGI in modern films, the older films also had tricks they used that look a bit 'funny'. The main one being overcranking the camera (filming slightly quicker than normal) which when played back at normal speed, will speed the action up. Mad Max 2 uses this a lot, and it always looks a little comical.

Now on the subject of Mad Max, the Nightrider chase from the original is quite a nice one. I'm not going to post it directly up here, just a link, due to the significant language warning that goes with it. Keep in mind that the original Mad Max did have a budget of around £2.50 so you will have to excuse the rather obvious burning fuse that can be seen out the back of one of the cars at the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08bovbrsYpA - Warning - LOT AND LOTs of RUDE WORDS

Regards

Scaff

 

[Revheadnz]

Keep in mind that the original Mad Max did have a budget of around £2.50 so you will have to excuse the rather obvious burning fuse that can be seen out the back of one of the cars at the end.
Regards

Scaff

Rather obvious? There's so much flames it looks like the car is rocket propelled!

 

[Talentless]

Just to get back on a subject mentioned earlier, that of the use of CGI in modern films, the older films also had tricks they used that look a bit 'funny'. The main one being overcranking the camera (filming slightly quicker than normal) which when played back at normal speed, will speed the action up. Mad Max 2 uses this a lot, and it always looks a little comical.

"Give me Super Pursuit Mode, KITT!"

 

[somebody]

Rather obvious? There's so much flames it looks like the car is rocket propelled!

Excellent guess... it was, which is why it looks so funny. Also, the Mazda Bongo van is the directors' personal car - the budget was so tight they couldn't afford another car so he sacrificed the Bongo for the sake of the film.

 

[Scaff]

Excellent guess... it was, which is why it looks so funny. Also, the Mazda Bongo van is the directors' personal car - the budget was so tight they couldn't afford another car so he sacrificed the Bongo for the sake of the film.

Now that's suffering for your art, at least it died in good style.





Scaff

 

[ND4SPD]

Anyone mention the original gone in 60 seconds chase? Possibly the best and longest. 40 minutes long with over 100 cars wrecked.

 

[Dave A]

Yes, as a matter of fact .

In which case never ever watch the original Gone in 60 seconds, the entire last 40 minutes of the film is basically one long chase.

 

[ND4SPD]

Yes, as a matter of fact .

Haha I just noticed, I was too busy watching the awesome chase scenes on page 1.

 

[Tornado]

I've noticed Gone in 60 Seconds has been mentioned a few more times, so I'm surprised no one remembers The Junkman. Essentially a movie within a movie, it had a 20 minute long chase involving a Bricklin SV-1 that ended in the LA Flood Control Channels. Pretty awesome. It was even followed up by an hour long chse in a Cadillac Eldo.