The 33 best car chases in movie history, ranked

mad max fury road

"Mad Max: Fury Road."
Jasin Boland/Warner Bros.
  • Car chases are an essential part of any action movie.
  • Here we collect the 33 best car chases ever put in movies, and rank them all.
  • See where the "Fast and Furious" movies and "Mad Max: Fury Road" land on our list.

33. "The Rock" (1996)

Nicolas Cage in "The Rock."
Buena Vista Pictures

Before Michael Bay brought nerve gas to Alcatraz, he had a Hummer wreak havoc on the streets of San Francisco.

When John Mason (Sean Connery) tries to make a run for it in the beginning of the movie, he hops into a Hummer, and permit'southward just say he doesn't obey traffic laws. Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) is honestly no better in a commandeered Ferrari.

32. "Lucy" (2014)

Scarlett Johansson in "Lucy."
Universal

Later on taking a dangerous synthetic drug that has given her special powers, Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) is on the hunt for the person responsible for making her this way. In Paris, she thinks she's got a lead on one of the bad guys through sensing people's information on their devices and thus begins her insane chase to find the person through rush-hour traffic.

At 1 point driving on the sidewalk, she never gets a scratch on her car, merely she leaves devastation in her wake.

31. "The Italian Job" (2003)

Mini Cooper coming through!
Paramount Pictures

Though the original "The Italian Job" had a great hunt with Mini cars, it's the 2003 reboot that really pushed the envelope.

The custom-made Mini Coopers featured in the scene in which Marking Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, and Jason Statham race through hush-hush Los Angeles had to be built with electric motors, as combustible engines aren't allowed in the subway tunnels they shot in. And most of the actors did their own stunt driving.

30. "The Man with the Gilt Gun" (1974)

This stunt in "The Mans With the Golden Gun" was pulled off on the outset take.
United Artists

In that location have been plenty of car chases in the James Bond franchise, but one that stands out is when Bond (Roger Moore) does a corkscrew leap with an AMC Hornet Ten in 1974's "The Man with the Gilt Gun."

The stunt was shot with eight cameras and amazingly was pulled off in the showtime take. At present only if we can take out the slide-whistle sound effect used in the concluding version.

29. "The Fast and the Furious" (2001)

It'south the race that birthed the "Fast and Furious" franchise.
Universal

Information technology's the one that started information technology all. Compared to what the "Fast and Furious" franchise does at present, the chases in the 2001 original are quite tame, other than the final one. As Brian (Paul Walker) chases Dom (Vin Diesel), the 2 stop at a streetlight and have a race to a railroad train runway with a moving railroad train heading their way. The two jump the rail simply before the train gets in that location simply Dom ends up hitting a truck that causes his car to flip in the air over Brian'south.

The moment even so holds upward.

28. "The Fate of the Furious" (2017)

The gang takes on a submarine in this ane.
Universal

Information technology must be hugely stressful for the creatives behind the "Fast and Furious" franchise to try to come with action that tops the previous movie. Just they go on to pull it off.

"The Fate of the Furious" decides to exercise a hunt that covers country and sea in its dandy finale where Dom (Vin Diesel) and the gang are racing away from a giant submarine. Information technology leads to fiery explosions and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson pushing away a torpedo with his blank hand.

27. "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" (2018)

Tom Prowl in "Mission: Impossible - Fallout."
Paramount

The thing nigh the "Mission: Impossible" franchise these days is y'all aren't going to see 1 wild stunt performed by Tom Prowl, but multiple. In the latest 1, he does a skydiving stunt, jumps across rooftops (which led to him breaking his talocrural joint), and has a high-speed chase on a motorcycle through Paris.

The latter stunt (all washed by Cruise, by the manner) has to be highlighted on this list. The precision that Prowl does it and the way information technology's shot to point the high speeds he was actually driving to practice information technology all is an incredible sight.

26. "Mad Max" (1979)

The advent of Nightrider in the opening of "Mad Max."
MGM

George Miller introduced the states to the iconic character Max in 1979'south "Mad Max" through his encounter with the crazed Nightrider (Vince Gill).

The movie begins with Nightrider racing away from the highway patrol in a stolen law cruiser with his girlfriend. Eluding numerous officers, he'due south finally matched upwards with Max (Mel Gibson), which doesn't end well. With Max hot on their tail, Nightrider and his girlfriend are killed when they crash into a truck on the side of the road.

25. "The Seven-Ups" (1973)

Check out this shut telephone call in "The 7-Ups."
20th Century Fob

Roy Scheider plays a fellow member of a New York City sectionalization of police that arrests criminals using desperate measures. For one example, he goes on a hunt to attempt to catch the bad guys. Speeding through busy Manhattan traffic and fifty-fifty a side street filled with kids, he ends upwardly on the Taconic Country Parkway, where he's most killed when he runs into the back of a parked tractor-trailer and the top of the car is sliced off.

This was just i of the memorable stunts in the career of famed driver Neb Hickman (who also did stunt driving in "Bullitt" and "The French Connection").

24. "Drive" (2011)

Ryan Gosling in "Bulldoze."
FilmDistrict

Ryan Gosling plays information technology cool as the getaway driver in the opening of manager Nicolas Winding Refn'southward thriller most a guy who is really practiced behind the wheel. Slickly evading the LAPD, Gosling never utters a word as Refn has the roar of the engine and Cliff Martinez's incredible score guides usa through the chase.

23. "Dingy Mary Crazy Larry" (1974)

The shocking last shot in "Muddied Mary Crazy Larry."
20th Century Trick

Peter Fonda plays a wannabe NASCAR star who holds up a supermarket with his friend, as they want to use the greenbacks to get into the racing business. After they pick upward a one-nighttime stand, the group must race from the police force. Merely all the fun ends of a sudden in the last shot when they are killed after being hit by a train.

22. "The Driver" (1978)

Ryan O'Neal in "The Driver."
Fox

Nicolas Winding Refn was certainly inspired to make "Drive" afterwards seeing this similarly somber chase pic.

Ryan O'Neal plays the unnamed driver who has a knack for getting out of tight spots. Like in the middle of the film when he's in a blood-red Chevy pickup truck and has to play chicken with some bad guys in a Trans Am to escape.

21. "Baby Driver" (2017)

Ansel Elgort in "Baby Driver."
Sony Pictures

Edgar Wright'southward thrilling law-breaking caper is filled with action and impressive needle drops, but also a lot of machine chases equally the focus of the movie is on a getaway driver named "Baby" (Ansel Elgort). Through the film, he matches his loftier-speed talents with the music he's listening to during his driving.

That's evident in the opening sequence, which is a thrilling cat-and-mouse hunt between the police force and Baby after a depository financial institution robbery by his crew. It's heightened past the inclusion of the fast-paced vocal "Bellbottoms" by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.

twenty. "Gone in 60 Seconds" (1974)

H.B. Halicki's "Gone in sixty Seconds."
HB Halicki Mercantile Co

Forget near the Nicolas Muzzle/Angelina Jolie 2000 motion picture — the original version has an authenticity that the remake and numerous other movies have unsuccessfully tried to duplicate. The highlight is the movie's 40-minute hunt scene. That's right, forty minutes! In the process, 93 cars are wrecked.

nineteen. "The Bourne Supremacy" (2004)

Matt Damon in "The Bourne Supremacy."
Universal

Matt Damon completely demolishes a Moscow cab in this Jason Bourne movie. Racing from the bad guy at the end of the movie, Bourne is not discreet in his getaway tactics. He pinballs off of numerous cars and intentionally rams into a few more to survive.

18. "The Matrix Reloaded" (2003)

The Wachowsis' "The Matrix Reloaded."
Warner Bros.

Though the movie isn't as universally acclaimed as the first "Matrix," it does have an insane highway chase sequence, filled with agents replacing drivers and a whole lot of gunshots.

17. "John Wick" (2014)

Chad Stahalski's "John Wick."
Lionsgate

Only when y'all thought Keanu Reeves had no other new ways to kill a man in "John Wick," we are then presented with "car-fu" at the end of the picture show.

Reeves, equally Wick, tracks down the head of the Russian crime syndicate responsible for killing his dog and proceeds to destroy the two Suburbans accompanying the boss, killing the men inside without ever leaving his car.

16. "Wanted" (2008)

Angelina Jole in "Wanted."
Universal

While in the tough gal phase of her career, Angelina Jolie pulled off 1 of the coolest (and very improbable, merely hey, information technology'south only a picture) machine moves in the underrated 2008 actioner "Wanted."

During a scene in which she and James McAvoy are beingness chased, she fights off the bad guy past hanging out of the windshield and shooting while she'due south steering the car with her pes.

xv. "Fast Five" (2011)

Quite a scene in "Fast V."
Universal

It's the flick that got the franchise dorsum on track and it features one of the best chase scenes from them.

In the finale, the crew breaks into a law station and steals an entire vault of coin, leading to a high-speed chase through the streets of Rio de Janeiro.

14. "Decease Proof" (2007)

Rose McGowan and Kurt Russell in "Death Proof."
Dimension Films

Quentin Tarantino. Kurt Russell. A death-proof machine. Why would you not scout this? And the ending is a great payoff.

After "Stuntman" Mike (Russell) thinks he'southward acquired another expiry, he's surprised to find that the women he ran off the road have caught upward to him. After a hunt that leads to him existence run off the route, the women beat the heck out of Mike until the movie ends.

13. "Duel" (1971)

Steven Spielberg'due south "Duel."
Universal

4 years before Steven Spielberg changed the movie business with "Jaws," he came out with this TV movie and made usa scared of big rigs.

Dennis Weaver plays David, a man of affairs who passes a boring-moving truck on a ii-lane highway, and it turns out to be the biggest mistake of his life. The truck begins to follow him and earlier you know it the evil truck and its driver are tormenting David. What could be laughable turns into a tense thriller cheers to the mastery of Spielberg.

12. "Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw" (2019)

There's Hobbs hanging at the end.
Universal

The Stone is back on the list. This fourth dimension he teams with Jason Statham in the first spin-off of the "Fast and Furious" franchise.

The conclusion is one that defies all logic every bit Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Shaw (Statham) chase downwards a helicopter by attaching with cables a row of trucks to it.

xi. "Mad Max: Fury Route" (2015)

George Miller'due south "Mad Max: Fury Route."
Warner Bros.

In George Miller'southward latest installment of the "Mad Max" franchise, the legendary manager delivers a thrilling hunt that is beautifully lush and diabolically violent. With Furiosa (Charlize Theron) racing to become the wives abroad from Immortan Joe, she and inevitably Max have to battle all sorts, leading to massive explosions and gunfights.

10. "Smokey and the Bandit" (1977)

Look at the Bandit go!
Universal

Burt Reynolds became a 1970s icon thanks to this film, in which he plays the wise-keen moonshiner Bo "Bandit" Darville. And the movie itself became legendary thanks to his character jumping a defunct bridge with his Trans Am.

To pull off the stunt, the auto was strapped with a booster rocket and the car was driven past the director of the picture, Hal Needham. He also happened to be Reynolds' longtime stuntman.

9. "Terminator 2: Judgment Solar day" (1991)

"Terminator two: Judgment Solar day."
TriStar

On the run from the evil T-grand (Robert Patrick) and the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), John Connor (Edward Furlong) races away on his motorbike but to be chased by the T-yard, who has taken over a truck.

The scene is already intense with the truck bashing through everything and jumping a bridge to go along chasing John. But then the Terminator arrives on a Harley-Davidson sporting a shotgun he twirls to reload. In that location's so much to love about this hunt.

8. "Mad Max 2: The Route Warrior" (1981)

Mel Gibson in "Mad Max two: The Route Warrior."
Roadshow Motion picture

The "Mad Max" franchise really comes into its own with the sequel. What makes it then memorable is the chase scene in the climax. Max (Mel Gibson) is driving the tanker presumably full of gasoline to become Lord Humungus and his crew to follow him while the people Humungus has been tormenting are gratuitous to escape.

Information technology's an intense battle that ends with twisted metal and a surprise reveal (spoiler: the tanker is full of sand).

7. "Vanishing Point" (1971)

Richard C. Sarafian's "Vanishing Bespeak."
20th Century Fox

Gear up during the unsteady times of the Vietnam War, the movie follows car delivery driver Kowalski (Barry Newman), who bets he tin can deliver a 1970 Contrivance Charger from Denver to San Francisco by 3 p.m. the side by side day. Thus begins a Benzedrine-fueled ride that has him on the run from motorbike police and eventually the entire California Highway Patrol. Equally you would imagine, information technology doesn't finish well for him.

6. "The Rhythm Section" (2020)

Blake Lively in "The Rhythm Section."
Paramount

In this gritty revenge tale, the talents of director Reed Morano (who is as well an accomplished cinematographer) shines through thanks to an heady close-to-three-minute automobile chase scene that's all done in a single shot.

And to make things even more than thrilling for the viewer, Morano places the camera inside the car aslope her star Blake Lively as she frantically drives through the narrow streets of Tangier.

v. "The Blues Brothers" (1980)

John Landis' "The Blues Brothers."
Universal

"In that location's 106 miles to Chicago. We've got a full tank of gas, one-half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark out, and we're wearing sunglasses."

With that line from Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd), we are given one of the most entertaining car chases ever put on the big screen. Now with the coin to relieve the Catholic orphanage they grew upwards in, Elwood and his brother Jake (John Belushi) lead a chase that includes constabulary, a rival band, and the Illinois Nazis to a banking concern in downtown Chicago. In the process, director John Landis went through 60 police cars and forty stunt drivers.

4. "To Live and Die in L.A." (1985)

William Petersen in "To Live and Die in L.A."
MGM

Legend has information technology that director William Friedkin was driving dwelling from a wedding one time when he dozed off at the wheel and awoke to find himself driving on the wrong side of the route. For twenty years, he tried to figure out a way to get that into a film, and he finally did it with this one.

When partners Richard Chance (William Petersen) and John Vukovich (John Pankow) are chased by gangsters, Richard drives through parking lots filled with semi-trucks and LA's flood control channels to endeavour to lose them. It'due south not until he starts driving the incorrect way on the freeway that they lose them. The precision of gunshots and cars coming out of nowhere to assail Chance and Vukovich's auto is poetry to lookout.

iii. "Ronin" (1998)

Robert De Niro in "Ronin."
MGM

Director John Frankenheimer, a former amateur race driver, took his honey of fast cars and created numerous chases in this caper starring Robert De Niro.

But the standout is the final one, which was shot throughout Paris and had up to 300 stunt drivers. De Niro and Jean Reno'southward characters are in hot pursuit of a car containing a briefcase they've been trying to go the whole movie. Not many movie chases give yous the feeling that the actual cars existence filmed are going fast. But this one does, which adds to the thrill. The cars went upwards to speeds of 120 miles per hour while filming.

2. "Bullitt" (1968)

Steve McQueen in "Bullitt."
Warner Bros.

Steve McQueen loved fast cars as much as the movies and he was able to go both in this archetype, which is considered the starting time modern-day car-hunt film.

He plays a San Francisco cop who, while on the hunt for an underworld kingpin, is constantly in pursuit while backside the bike of his 1968 Ford Mustang GT. The highlight is a 10-minute chase Frank Bullitt (McQueen) has with a hitman. The scene revolutionized how car chases would forever exist seen in movies.

one. "The French Connection" (1971)

Gene Hackman in "The French Connexion."
20th Century Play a joke on

Yous thought William Friedkin was ambitious with his chase in "To Live and Dice in L.A."? That's only considering he had to effort to top what he did in this movie. If "Bullitt" revolutionized the motorcar-hunt scene, then "The French Connection" gave it a reality never seen before. With Friedkin's dashboard camera and handheld camerawork, non to mention the ferocious acting of Factor Hackman, the movie's chase beats every other 1 out there.

Nearly missed in a sniper assault, Popeye Doyle (Hackman) chases the shooter to an elevated train. Doyle then commandeers a motorcar and floors it to numerous station stops, almost hitting a woman crossing the street with a stroller in the process, before catching up with the shooter and killing him. The feel of being right at that place with Doyle in the motorcar is what makes the scene so thrilling. By the terminate, you lot're every bit exhausted as he is — in a great manner.

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