Chase scenes are pivotal action sequences in movies. Just when the runner thinks he has gotten away, he finds the chaser hot on his trail. The trail could go cold, leaving the chaser behind and the runner ahead. The thrill of the chase has three possible outcomes. Someone gets caught, never to run again. Someone gets away, free from responsibility and consequences. Both the runner and chaser reach a fatal dead end.
The most complicated of car chases is the police chase. People become criminals as they flee from the police. Their lizard brain tells them to outrun danger and survive. Their heavy conscience says not to take another step further or risk a great fall. Police chases are the most exciting, as they skirt the line between right and wrong.
10 The Blues Brothers (1980)
The Blues Brothers is a musical comedy about two singers, Jake Blues and Elwood Blues. Jake is a convict on parole who wants to redeem himself. Elwood helps him take on a mission from God to save the Roman Catholic orphanage they both grew up in. Jake and Elwood get their band back together and put on a concert to raise money for the orphanage facing foreclosure.
The Boys in Blue
The soulful rhythm and blues duo gets the funds legally, but breaks laws in the process. Elwood learns that Jake has been driving their Bluesmobile with a suspended license, leading to a store-destroying police chase through the Dixie Square Mall. Jake also survives two bombings as he and Elwood travel to reunite their band.
The two promote their concert with a loudspeaker attached to the car, which alerts police to their location. The Blues Brothers get paid for the gig and race back to Chicago to pay off the orphanage's property tax bill. On the way there, they caused a car pileup of dozens of state police cars.
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9 Bullitt (1968)
Bullitt
- Release Date
- October 17, 1968
- Director
- Peter Yates
- Cast
- Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Vaughn, Don Gordon, Robert Duvall, Simon Oakland
- Rating
- PG
- Runtime
- 114
- Main Genre
- Action
Bullitt is a neo-noir action thriller following detective Lieutenant Frank Bullitt of the San Francisco Police Department. Bullitt is tasked with overseeing the detained brother of a Chicago mobster. When his team is shot and killed on a beat by hitmen, the lieutenant is blamed for their deaths. He continues to investigate the string of organized crimes left behind by the mobster. Bullitt drives around the city until he can bring the mafia to justice.
San Fran Man on the Lam
Bullitt drives his dark green Ford Mustang while the hitmen in a Dodge Charger are close behind him. They weave up and down the streets of San Francisco, getting faster at each turn. Bullitt hides on the hill, then comes riding down after the criminals. Suddenly, both burn rubber with their engines roaring. As the cars thrash all through the city, Bullitt chases them out onto the highway. Bullitt dodges traffic and shotgun rounds before causing the two men to spill out and crash into a roadside explosion.
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8 Enemy of the State (1998)
Enemy of the State
- Release Date
- November 20, 1998
- Director
- Tony Scott
- Cast
- Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Lisa Bonet, Regina King, Stuart Wilson
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 132
- Main Genre
- Action
Enemy of the State is a political action thriller in which labor lawyer Robert Clayton Dean is swept up in the world of anti-terrorism and surveillance. NSA agent Thomas Reynolds meets Congressman Phil Hammersley to discuss a bill that would increase American intelligence in the fight against terrorism.
Hammersley opposes passing the legislation, seeing it as an invasion of privacy. Reynolds has the congressman murdered, but realizes his death was caught on camera. Dean's friend Daniel Zavitz recovers the footage and gives Dean the tape without knowing it. Daniel dies on the run, putting Dean on Reynold's hit list.
A Close Enemy of Mine
Dean becomes a victim of spying tactics and sabotage, losing his job and marriage. He seeks the help of surveillance expert Edward "Brill" Lyle, a contractor he has worked with in the past. They invade the lives of the NSA agents who did the same to Dean. An eye for an eye becomes a tape for a tape, but Dean and Lyle trick Reynolds into self-incrimination. The bill is dropped, the conspiracy is exposed, and Dean gets to live another day without the prying eyes of Big Brother.
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7 First Blood (1982)
First Blood
- Release Date
- October 22, 1982
- Director
- Ted Kotcheff
- Cast
- Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy, Bill McKinney, Jack Starrett, Michael Talbott
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 93
- Main Genre
- Action
First Blood is the story of Vietnam War veteran John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone). He returns to the United States with a cold welcome. He learns that his fellow soldiers have died and that his involvement in the war is shameful. Conflicted by the aftermath, Rambo is met with resistance by the Washington police, who arrest him without cause and abuse him in custody. Flashbacks of torture flood Rambo's mind as he fights his way out of the sheriff's station. Rambo escapes on a motorcycle and into the woods as he is pursued by a search party of riflemen, dogs, and a helicopter.
Red All Over
Rambo wanted nothing more than to return home and resume his civilian life. The political climate and treatment of veterans keep him from receiving compassion and decency. Rambo is forced into isolation, but he relies on his survival skills to outrun and overpower the police. The veteran makes his stand, showing the traumatic results of his participation in the war before his peaceful surrender.
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6 The Fugitive (1993)
The Fugitive is an action thriller about Dr. Richard Kimble, a vascular surgeon framed for the murder of his wife. Assumptions and misinterpreted evidence put Kimble on a bus ride to death row. The prisoners attempt a breakout, crashing the bus onto a railway. Kimble escapes to a hospital and dresses as a janitor before shaving his beard. He leaves unnoticed, hiding out in Chicago until he can find the man who killed his wife.
The Wrong Man
Kimble runs not only on shackled feet, but in an ambulance with police cars and a helicopter after him. He evades arrest by disguising himself as a janitor. He does so to investigate possible matches for the killer using the hospital database of patients. He searches the city for a man with a prosthetic arm, almost getting caught in an apartment he has rented out. Kimble proves his innocence while uncovering pharmaceutical malpractice related to the one-armed man.
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5 The French Connection (1971)
The French Connection
- Release Date
- October 9, 1971
- Director
- William Friedkin
- Cast
- Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco, Marcel Bozzuffi, Frédéric de Pasquale
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 104
- Main Genre
- Action
The French Connection is a neo-noir thriller following NYPD detectives Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle and Buddy "Cloudy" Russo. They are tracing French heroin smuggler Alain Charnier. He plans to smuggle the drug into New York inside the car of his celebrity friend. Popeye and Cloudy find a narcotics ring linked to Charnier. The detectives almost perform a drug bust until Charnier's hitman, Pierre Nicoli, interrupts the exchange.
Concrete Jungle
Nicoli is on an elevated train when Popeye gives chase in his car. Nicoli runs through the passenger cars, shooting a policeman. The hitman holds the motorman at gunpoint to keep the train moving. Popeye tries to stay abreast of the train while making near-misses with traffic. The emergency brake engages and stops the train, with Nicoli exiting on foot. Popeye catches up to the hitman and shoots him dead.
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4 The Getaway (1972)
The Getaway follows robber Carter "Doc" McCoy halfway through his ten-year prison sentence. He has his wife, Carol, make a deal with his parole officer, Jack Beynon, to be released sooner. Doc will be a free man if he takes part in a bank robbery. Beynon and the robbers try to double-cross the couple, but they kill their conspirators, take the money, and run to Mexico.
Driving Them Wild
Carol buys a new car with the stolen money to leave undetected with Doc. They stop at a drive-in burger joint, but their waitress recognizes them from the news report. The cops pull up behind their car, and Doc unloads his shotgun into their windshield. Carol drives through the night with Doc providing defensive fire on backup police cars.
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3 Gone In 60 Seconds (1974)
gone in 60 seconds
- Release Date
- July 28, 1974
- Director
- H.B. Halicki
- Cast
- H.B. Halicki, Marion Busia, Jerry Daugirda, James McIntyre, George Cole, Ronald Halicki
- Rating
- PG
- Runtime
- 105
- Main Genre
- Action
Gone In 60 Seconds is an action film about car thieves working for chop shop owner Maindrian Pace. He is an insurance investigator who steals and resells stolen cars on the side. A drug lord approaches him to deliver almost 50 cars for $200,000 within five days. The cars range from regular sedans to luxury vehicles. One yellow 1973 Ford Mustang, however, is giving Pace a run for his money.
Right Off the Lot
Pace finds this make and model three times before finding one that is insured. He goes to steal the third Mustang, but one of his thieves tips off the police. Pace takes off in the stolen vehicle, driving on a sidewalk, through a park, and in the direction of oncoming traffic. His chase covers six California cities, but the damaged car can't be sold. Pace stops at a car wash, where he spots the exact same car, switches license plates, and gets away scot-free.
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2 Short Time (1990)
Short Time is an action comedy about seasoned detective Burt Simpson. The Seattle police officer has a preoccupation with planning for his family's future. Doing everything to be a provider puts a strain on his relationship with his wife and son. When Burt gets a routine checkup at the hospital, his blood work shows that he has a terminal illness.
A patient who knows he will fail his drug test switches his blood sample with Burt's, causing the detective to believe he is dying. Burt does everything in his power to die in the line of duty and leave his family a large sum of life insurance money.
Wanted Dead or Alive
Burt throws himself into dangerous cases for his family's sake. He responds to a vehicle pursuit, leaving his partner behind. The fleeing suspects are armed with a machine gun and shoot police officers off the road. Burt faces the gunfire head-on, but he does not get shot.
He continues the chase in alleyways and public streets. Burt cuts them off under an elevated roadway, causing the criminals to crash into him. The cars are damaged beyond repair, but both drivers survive.
1 Thelma & Louise (1991)
Thelma & Louise
- Release Date
- May 24, 1991
- Director
- Ridley Scott
- Cast
- Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Christopher McDonald, Stephen Tobolowsky
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 129
- Main Genre
- Adventure
Thelma & Louise is a road drama about friends Thelma Dickinson and Louise Sawyer. They go on a girls' trip and vacation to get away from their rustic lives in Arkansas. At a roadhouse bar, a stranger attempts to rape Thelma, but Louise shoots and kills the man. Both women decide to escape to Mexico instead of going to the police.
Two for the Price of One
Thelma and Louise were betrayed by the abusive men in their lives. They take back control, but do so through murder and armed robbery. Their travels come to a stop at the edge of the Grand Canyon. Cornered by the police, Thelma and Louise make good on their pact to keep going. Together, the women drive off the cliff to be forever free.
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