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The chase scene is almost as old as movies themselves. One of the oldest narrative films, The Great Train Robbery (1903), was basically one big 10-minute chase, in which bandits take over a locomotive and try to evade the authorities afterwards. Ever since then, filmmakers have been trying to improve upon the idea of the chase scene, turning the simple idea of one person desperately trying to catch up to another into an excuse for death-defying stunts, hilarious gags and killer suspense.
The new film Mad Max: Fury Road plays like an apotheosis of the chase scene: an entire feature film dedicated to eye-popping stunts and never-before-filmed thrills. But although it’s one of the best chase scenes ever filmed, there are plenty of other great films also vying for the title, and at least one that – in CraveOnline’s eyes – actually surpasses it.
So let’s take a look at 12 Jaw-Dropping Chase Scenes, ranked not by their historical significance or dramatic power (you’ll notice that Bullitt, though influential, is nowhere to be seen), and instead on their ability to wow us, no matter how many years have passed since their original release. These are the chase scenes that will astound and amaze you, and they must be seen to be believed.
12 Jaw-Dropping Movie Chase Scenes:
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
12 Jaw-Dropping Movie Chase Scenes
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12. North by Northwest (1959)
One of the most famous chase scenes in movie history takes place on the faces of Mt. Rushmore, as Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant) and Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) escape the clutches of the sinister Phillip Vandamm (James Mason), navigating the perilously sheer surfaces of giant presidential statues. Director Alfred Hitchcock wasn't allowed to shoot on the real monument, but the sets are so convincing - and the very concept is so extreme - that the climax of North by Northwest remains a cinematic stunner.
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11. Way Down East (1920)
D.W. Griffith's sweeping melodrama doesn't have the historical significance of his earlier films, The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance, but it does boast this enormously exciting climax, in which Anna Moore (Lillian Gish) runs off into a snowstorm and becomes trapped on an ice flow, forcing her beau David Bartlett (Richard Barthelmess) to leap across the ice to save her. The ice wasn't real, but the stunt was, and Lillian Gish suffered permanent damage to her right hand after the script demanded she dangle it in the freezing water throughout the whole, incredible sequence.
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10. The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
Seven Spielberg's only animated movie is one of his most exuberant adventures, translating the derring-do of Hergé's beloved comics to the big screen in one thrilling set piece after another. But the pièce de résistance is a dazzling one-take wonder following Tintin (Jamie Bell) and Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) as they motorbike past a dam, through a city, over the city, dodging explosions all the way as they race after a hawk with a vital clue to "the secret of the unicorn." Yes, this scene would have been more impressive in live-action, but it also would have been impossible, and the level of detail that Spielberg throws at the screen is nothing short of wondrous.
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9. Fast Five (2011)
In a series built on high-speed car chases, the finale of Fast Five reigns supreme. That's no small feat, especially compared to the ludicrous runway chase from Fast & Furious 6, but an absurd concept and some death-defying execution gives Fast Five the edge. Unable to steal the money out of a giant safe in a police station, Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker) opt to steal the whole safe, dragging it behind their muscle cars and wreaking absolute destruction upon the streets of Rio de Janeiro. Audiences had never seen anything like it before.
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8. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
The amazing truck chase sequence from Raiders of the Lost Ark remains a high water mark for car chase enthusiasts, but for sheer razzle-dazzle, the mining cart scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is the pinnacle of franchise. Escaping from a wicked cult, Indiana (Harrison Ford), Short Round (Ke Huy Quan) and Willie (Kate Capshaw) leap inside a mining cart and promptly take a wrong turn, bouncing from rail to rail and evading the deadly swordplay of the movie's villains. Temple of Doom may not be the most popular of Indiana Jones's adventures, but thanks to scenes like this, it remains a must-see for action fans everywhere.
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7. The Italian Job (1969)
The remake was pretty good, but for sheer jaw-dropping car stunts there's just no competition. The climax of the 1969 version of The Italian Job finds Charlie Croker (Michael Caine) and his gang of daredevil drivers zipping across Italy in their tiny Fiat Mini Coopers to evade gridlock traffic, rolling around the tops of buildings and sidewalks like it ain't no thang. Add in the unforgettable soundtrack ("Getta Bloomin' Move On") and you've got one of the best, funniest and most impressive chase scenes ever filmed.
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6. The Road Warrior (1981)
George Miller's second Mad Max movie is still arguably the best, throwing Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) in the middle of a deadly stand-off between peaceful oil miners and the powerful gang leader Lord Humungous (Kjell Nilsson). Broken down and defeated, Max finds himself stuck with the underdogs, and driving a giant tanker of gas while vicious punks run him down, scale his vehicle and kill everyone in their way. Miller's giant climax is a fast-paced marvel of cinematography and editing, and every single camera was strapped to a high-speed, moving car. The energy is absolutely incredible, and the suspense couldn't be higher.
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5. Death Proof (2007)
Quentin Tarantino's half of the dynamic double-feature Grindhouse all rides on this one ridiculous set piece, in which stuntwoman Zoë Bell (playing herself) straps onto the hood of a 1970 Dodge Challenger, just for the hell of it. Then Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) comes along in his 1969 Dodge Charger to run her off the road. The unusual situation - and the fact that that's really Zoë Bell, doing her own stunts - would be enough, but Tarantino starts flinging more crazy action in out of nowhere, eventually flipping the tables so that our heroines are chasing the bad guy down for revenge. And yes, they really did just hit a boat.
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4. District B13 (2004)
Although many American audiences were introduced to the cinematic possibilities of parkour in 2006's Casino Royale, that (admittedly cool) chase sequence ain't got nothin' on District B13. Parkour originator David Belle stars in this ecstatic action thriller as Leïto, who opens the film in a dramatic foot chase, dashing through tiny windows and across rooftops as he escapes from highly motivated but helpless thugs, who crush all the bones in their body trying to match him leap for leap. It's one of the most exciting openings ever filmed for a movie, and helped jump-start a revolution in the realm of action choreography.
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3. The Blues Brothers (1980)
They didn't have to put daredevil car stunts in a Saturday Night Live movie, but thank heavens they did. John Landis's The Blues Brothers contains not one but two of the most jaw-dropping chase scenes in movie history. The first finds Jake and Elwood Blues (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) plowing through a shopping mall, wrecking every single store in the process and toppling police cars behind them. But that's nothing compared to the climax, in which The Blues Brothers race to Chicago, unable to stop without dooming their childhood orphanage, wrecking over a hundred cars in the process, and sending Illinois Nazis soaring through the air like a stray meteorite. To top it all off, somebody breaks their wristwatch every damned time.
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2. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
When happenstance delayed George Miller's fourth Mad Max movie for years on end, the filmmaker decided to spend his time making sure all of the insane stunts and vehicular contraptions could be done for real. The result is Mad Max: Fury Road, an absolutely incredible feature-length car chase in which practically every minute includes an inconceivable piece of stuntwork. The stakes are high, the actors are game, and the madness feels completely real. There is only one film that can compete with the chase scenes of Mad Max: Fury Road, and that film is...
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1. The General (1926)
One of the greatest motion pictures ever made, directed by and starring one of the greatest silent filmmakers. The General is half comedy, half thriller, all astounding. Keaton plays Johnnie Gray, a locomotive engineer whose dreams of fighting in the Civil War are dashed, but only because he's too good at his job to be allowed on the front lines. Fortunately, he's exactly where he needs to be to stop a dastardly plot to steal his engine - and his girl - leading to a feature-length set piece in which Johnnie and the enemy face off against natural disasters and calamities of their own making. Buster Keaton did all the stunts himself, and once you see them with your own eyes, your mind will boggle.
