Warning:
While a healthy appreciation of cinema is always encouraged, like
most movies, reenacting them in real life is considered foolish and
extremely dangerous.
The Bourne Identity
The
recipe is simple: a tiny car, narrow streets, Paris, a staircase, and
a gang of police officers on strangely acrobatic motorcycles.
Combined you get one of the most thrilling chase scenes in movie
history. The amnesia plagued spy Jason Bourne, played by Matt Damon,
finds himself being hunted by the local 'fuzz' and is forced to drive
a less than pristine vintage Austin Mini Cooper down the winding
streets of Paris. In one instance the tiny car even climbs and
descends a small stairway to avoid authorities. The picturesque
setting mixed with the unrelenting pace of the pursuit combine to
serve a thrilling cocktail of narrow misses, driving against traffic,
and generally giddy lawlessness.
Bullitt
Steve
McQueen defined the art of the car chase with this iconic scene.
Unlike the brash, wild, and teeth clenching speed of most action
movies today, this movie approached the cliché with subtly and a
masterful sense of tension. It starts slowly enough: the renegade cop
Bullitt, played by the stoic McQueen, notices that two goons are
following him. The speeds build as they wind their way up and down
the hilly streets of San Francisco. Finally, when he fails to shake
them off the gentle way, Bullitt revs up his 1968 Ford Mustang GT and
the cars are rocketed into an all out race. Nearly flying over the
steep roads of the city and out into countryside, the hitmen
eventually meet their end in a fiery crash. One of the main elements
of this scene that made it so 'cool' was the fact that no soundtrack
played during most of the chase, allowing the sounds of the engines
to come through clearly. Ford Mustang sales skyrocketed shortly
after.
The Blues Brothers
In this
classic lampoon of all chase scene stereotypes ever conjured on the
silver screen, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi break every road law in
their race to pay off taxes and save an orphanage. Driving a retired
patrol Dodge Monaco affectionately named the “Bluesmobile” the
brothers coolly incur the wrath of the most grand and destructive car
chases on film. They are followed by a veritable army of state and
federal police forces, a vengeful country band named “The Good Ol'
Boys”, and a platoon of dimwitted Neo-Nazis. The scene involved
they destruction of nearly 60 vehicles, and even the beloved
Bluesmobile, which falls to pieces the moment the Blues Brothers step
out of their trusty ride.
Picture courtesy: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5SPvnm5pvb2WWuTfQrgZScJwXxT8eGb6-MZL_GHU6enA67vNuPvDnEVEzE4Nlst4d1Y8GR7UE931tM9OMURxKf-_PtXx4CHZxEGVWiJNpf-X2nEIEnYntZjsKkbOEnaX_ezdn9AFl-KE/s1600/IMG_0037.jpg
