If this were about classic car chase scenes it would be different. But lets face it, cars are where movies excel in chase scenes. These are the chase scenes in cinema history that really make us sit on the edge of our seats and bite our nails. They are fun and exciting. But, above all, they are memorable.
10. Death Proof, directed by Quentin Tarantino, 2007. This film's all about car chases. Kurt Russel, the most perfect casting choice ever made for the part of sadistic Stuntman Mike, is the chaser and then the chasee. But the use of the gimick of the stuntwoman playing "Ship's Mast" during a car chase scene is so outrageously terrific that you might find yourself screaming at the screen. It would be placed much higher on the list if it weren't for the film's overall self-referential self-consciousness.
9. The Cannonball Run, directed by Hal Needham, 1981. This is just an excuse for one very long car chase. But it stars an enviable list of stars. Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Junior are a special treat, as is an early performance by the, as yet, unknown Jackie Chan.
8. The Road Warrior, directed by George Miller, 1981. The tricked out cars are cool, but the chase scene with an oil tanker is out-of-control-cool. This may hold the record for stamina with over twelve minutes of chasing, but it also has the most ingenious and absurd collection of weapons and paraphernalia. The gyrocopter is one thing, the crossbows are okay, but the hockey masks were just frosting on a great big cake of action.
7. The Phantom Menace, directed by George Lucas, 1999. The overall dismalness of this film may prevent you from remembering the Ben-Hur qualities of the pod race. Although it at times gets a silly feedback from the Saturday morning cartoons in our memory, Lucas knows exactly how to make these CGI and digitally engineered figments of his imagination real.
6. To Live and Die in LA, directed by William Friedkin, 1985. Friedkin is the king of car chases. His French Connection is a masterpiece. This film is hardly as good as that one, but he did outdo his car chase in French Connection. This one has a car going the wrong way on an LA freeway and includes a spectacular over-the-driver's-shoulder shot.
5. Terminator 2, directed by James Cameron, 1991. Ah-nold is on a motorcycle being chased by a liquid metal terminator driving a tanker filled with liquid nitrogen. It doesn't end well for either one of them.
4. Casino Royale, directed by Martin Campbell, 2006. Daniel Craig may be the best Bond ever. In this film there are a couple of good chases, but there's a long foot chase where bond races after a free-runner (an urban ninja kind of street gymnast). It involves lots of painful leaping and crashing for James, but he does it with a suave grace.
3. The French Connection, directed by William Friedkin, 1971. This Gene Hackman cop picture was not a car movie, but it has some of the best car chase stunts ever filmed. It looks very realistic, but that's because some of the stunts including the woman with a baby carriage getting swiped, were unintentional.
2. Bullitt, directed by Peter Yates, 1968. Steve McQueen adds the testosterone, but the muscle comes from a "Highland Green" 1968 Ford Mustang 390 CID Fastback, chasing two hit-men in a "Tuxedo Black" 1968 Dodge Charger R/T 440 Magnum, through the ups and downs of San Francisco.
1. Gone in 60 Seconds, directed by Dominic Senna, 2000. Pound for pound you won't find a better car chase movie than this one. The plot is thin, the acting thinner. Angelina Jolie and Nicolas Cage are okay, and Giovanni Ribisi is forgettable. This entire film is just a really flimsy excuse for close to eighty minutes of car chases and stunts. There are over 50 really great vehicles from an Aston Martin DB7 to five different Ferraris, including a 1967 Ferrari 265 GTB/4. The cars are the stars.