What, Exactly, Is a Car Chase?

Since my brother and I are complete nerds, we recently got into a discussion/debate about what, exactly, constitutes a “car chase.” Since we are both Bond fanatics, we gravitated towards the chases in the Bond films, and we weren’t entirely sure what counted. When I hear the phrase “car chase” I think of “a chase between two or more cars” or, more to the point, “a chase where the good guys and bad guys are both driving cars.” Traditional examples of this in the 007 movies would be the car chases in GF, DAF, TMWTGG, and SP.

However, I’m curious whether people really mean “vehicle chase” when they say “car chase.” For example, the chase away from Scaramanga’s island in LALD has Bond and Solitaire fleeing in a bus, away from cars and motorcycles. Is that a car chase? I’ve never thought of it as such, because not all parties are in cars. What about Bond and Tracy on a fire truck in AVTAK? Or Bond in a tank in GE?

Other questions arise as well, such as mechanics and duration. For instance, Bond is in the back seat of the car in TND but the car is driving itself. Does that count? And Bond does chase LeChiffre’s car in CR for about 15 seconds before he sees Vesper in the street and flips. Does that count too?

Anyway, I’m just sort of thinking out loud here, because I never really gave it much thought before, but I’m very interested in hearing other people’s thoughts on this. And yes, I’m fully aware that this entire thread is silly and ultimately pointless, but hey, if Bond fanatics on an MI6 forum can’t argue about a topic that is silly and ultimately pointless, then what has the world come to?
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Comments

  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,789
    A car chase is where a car pursues someone or something; a chases scene is anyone or anything pursuing anyone or anything. :D
  • Posts: 669
    Fair enough! That's a good way to boil it down :)
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Now the difficult question might be what makes a Good car chase :D
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,715
    Now the difficult question might be what makes a Good car chase :D

    We can rank all car chases on a 'Ronin' scale, from 1 to 10. :D
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    @DaltonCraig007 Ronin would have to be the measure =D>
  • Posts: 669
    Now the difficult question might be what makes a Good car chase :D

    We can rank all car chases on a 'Ronin' scale, from 1 to 10. :D

    Personally, I would make it the Raiders of the Lost Ark scale...although, according to my earlier qualifications, I'm not even 100% sure that counts as a car chase!
    :D
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    Now the difficult question might be what makes a Good car chase :D

    We can rank all car chases on a 'Ronin' scale, from 1 to 10. :D

    Personally, I would make it the Raiders of the Lost Ark scale...although, according to my earlier qualifications, I'm not even 100% sure that counts as a car chase!
    :D

    Not sure I would count the Raiders truck chase as a) it's not a car and b) most of the action is Indy doing stunts on the outside of the truck. The chasing isn't actually all that.

    Ronin has to be the gold standard as everyone is in cars and its f**king good.

    In Bond I guess these all fit @chrisisall's definition above:

    DN - Sunbeam v hearse
    GF - DB5 v Mercs
    YOLT - Toyota v Osato's goons. Was that a Merc? I've can't remember. Actually it's probably Japanese.
    OHMSS - Cougar v SPECTRE Merc
    DAF - Mustang v LVPD
    YOLT - Hornet v Matador
    TSWLM - Esprit v Cortina (briefly)
    FYEO - 2CV v Peugeots
    OP - Alfa v West German police BMWs
    TLD - Volante v Czech police Ladas
    GE - DB5 v Ferrari
    DAD - Vanquish v Jag
    CR - DBS v Le Chiffre (I have to say I have no idea what he is driving)
    QOS - DBS v Alfas
    SP - DB10 v Jag

    Now the glaring omissions here AVTAK and TND.

    AVTAK surely has to count as a car chase but Bond is chasing a parachute so is it allowed?

    I'm happy to count TND as Bond is technically driving it. The trouble is the goons are all on foot mostly. I suppose at the end the car is chased onto the roof but Bond is no longer in it so it's a grey area.

    The other one I'm unsure of is GE. If it's playful then is it a proper chase? At this point Bond and Xenia are flirting and not enemies.
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    edited June 2016 Posts: 5,080
    Yeah, I would say the GE example is more of a race than a chase.
  • Posts: 669
    Now the difficult question might be what makes a Good car chase :D

    We can rank all car chases on a 'Ronin' scale, from 1 to 10. :D

    Personally, I would make it the Raiders of the Lost Ark scale...although, according to my earlier qualifications, I'm not even 100% sure that counts as a car chase!
    :D

    Not sure I would count the Raiders truck chase as a) it's not a car and b) most of the action is Indy doing stunts on the outside of the truck. The chasing isn't actually all that.

    Ronin has to be the gold standard as everyone is in cars and its f**king good.

    In Bond I guess these all fit @chrisisall's definition above:

    DN - Sunbeam v hearse
    GF - DB5 v Mercs
    YOLT - Toyota v Osato's goons. Was that a Merc? I've can't remember. Actually it's probably Japanese.
    OHMSS - Cougar v SPECTRE Merc
    DAF - Mustang v LVPD
    YOLT - Hornet v Matador
    TSWLM - Esprit v Cortina (briefly)
    FYEO - 2CV v Peugeots
    OP - Alfa v West German police BMWs
    TLD - Volante v Czech police Ladas
    GE - DB5 v Ferrari
    DAD - Vanquish v Jag
    CR - DBS v Le Chiffre (I have to say I have no idea what he is driving)
    QOS - DBS v Alfas
    SP - DB10 v Jag

    Now the glaring omissions here AVTAK and TND.

    AVTAK surely has to count as a car chase but Bond is chasing a parachute so is it allowed?

    I'm happy to count TND as Bond is technically driving it. The trouble is the goons are all on foot mostly. I suppose at the end the car is chased onto the roof but Bond is no longer in it so it's a grey area.

    The other one I'm unsure of is GE. If it's playful then is it a proper chase? At this point Bond and Xenia are flirting and not enemies.

    @TheWizardOfICe:
    THANK YOU for such a thorough list! I’m not really a car guy so it’s great to have a name for some of these cars used throughout the series. You do bring up some interesting questions, the same kinds that I always have. Is Bond in a car chasing a parachute really a car chase? Is it a car chase in GE if they’re not actively trying to stop/hurt each other?

    From a “what constitutes a car chase?” standpoint, I think LALD is the most interesting, because it has three near-misses. First we have a car that kills Bond’s driver, leaving Bond in a chase down a freeway; then we have Bond and Solitaire in a bus, outrunning cars and motorcycles; and later we have Bond in an airplane, also outrunning cars (all of which get smashed up in true Smoky and the Bandit fashion).

  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited June 2016 Posts: 15,715
    So, for example, the main driving level in 'Everything Or Nothing' is not a car chase? Since it's a motorsports event, therefore a race?

    So the only car chase in 'Driven' would be the non-racing event of Stallone driving in the LA Streets with his race car?
  • Posts: 269
    chrisisall wrote: »
    A car chase is where a car pursues someone or something; a chases scene is anyone or anything pursuing anyone or anything. :D

    So when Bond is being pursued by Naomi in TSWLM, it's a car chase, when Bond kick cars with its snow plane in Spectre, it's not ?
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    Now the difficult question might be what makes a Good car chase :D

    We can rank all car chases on a 'Ronin' scale, from 1 to 10. :D

    Personally, I would make it the Raiders of the Lost Ark scale...although, according to my earlier qualifications, I'm not even 100% sure that counts as a car chase!
    :D

    Not sure I would count the Raiders truck chase as a) it's not a car and b) most of the action is Indy doing stunts on the outside of the truck. The chasing isn't actually all that.

    Ronin has to be the gold standard as everyone is in cars and its f**king good.

    In Bond I guess these all fit @chrisisall's definition above:

    DN - Sunbeam v hearse
    GF - DB5 v Mercs
    YOLT - Toyota v Osato's goons. Was that a Merc? I've can't remember. Actually it's probably Japanese.
    OHMSS - Cougar v SPECTRE Merc
    DAF - Mustang v LVPD
    YOLT - Hornet v Matador
    TSWLM - Esprit v Cortina (briefly)
    FYEO - 2CV v Peugeots
    OP - Alfa v West German police BMWs
    TLD - Volante v Czech police Ladas
    GE - DB5 v Ferrari
    DAD - Vanquish v Jag
    CR - DBS v Le Chiffre (I have to say I have no idea what he is driving)
    QOS - DBS v Alfas
    SP - DB10 v Jag

    Now the glaring omissions here AVTAK and TND.

    AVTAK surely has to count as a car chase but Bond is chasing a parachute so is it allowed?

    I'm happy to count TND as Bond is technically driving it. The trouble is the goons are all on foot mostly. I suppose at the end the car is chased onto the roof but Bond is no longer in it so it's a grey area.

    The other one I'm unsure of is GE. If it's playful then is it a proper chase? At this point Bond and Xenia are flirting and not enemies.

    @TheWizardOfICe:
    THANK YOU for such a thorough list! I’m not really a car guy so it’s great to have a name for some of these cars used throughout the series. You do bring up some interesting questions, the same kinds that I always have. Is Bond in a car chasing a parachute really a car chase? Is it a car chase in GE if they’re not actively trying to stop/hurt each other?

    From a “what constitutes a car chase?” standpoint, I think LALD is the most interesting, because it has three near-misses. First we have a car that kills Bond’s driver, leaving Bond in a chase down a freeway; then we have Bond and Solitaire in a bus, outrunning cars and motorcycles; and later we have Bond in an airplane, also outrunning cars (all of which get smashed up in true Smoky and the Bandit fashion).

    Well the three LALD ones I would discount on the following grounds:

    1. The New York freeways is not a chase. Bond is just stuck in an out of control car.

    2. The bus chase is not a car and should go alongside the tank chase as a separate category. 'Outlandish vehicles chase'.

    3. The plane chase with Mrs Bell has Bond driving but in a plane not a car. Actually this chase fits the above 'outlandish' category come to think of it.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,789
    Ytterbium wrote: »
    chrisisall wrote: »
    A car chase is where a car pursues someone or something; a chases scene is anyone or anything pursuing anyone or anything. :D

    So when Bond is being pursued by Naomi in TSWLM, it's a car chase, when Bond kick cars with its snow plane in Spectre, it's not ?
    Precisely.
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    Posts: 4,583
    Did we miss TMWTGG?
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    What is a car chase ? To quote 007 in Goldfinger....
    . " I know it when I see it ......Sir " :)
  • Posts: 15,109
    Birdleson wrote: »
    THE FRENCH CONNECTION.

    THE car chase.
  • TripAces wrote: »
    Did we miss TMWTGG?

    We certainly did. Probably because it's so forgettable...
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,789
    TripAces wrote: »
    Did we miss TMWTGG?

    We certainly did. Probably because it's so forgettable...

    You Commie Republican!
    :))
  • Posts: 669
    TripAces wrote: »
    Did we miss TMWTGG?

    Funny, TheWizardOfIce did leave it out of his list, but I quite like that chase, and it's even one of the ones I mention in my original post as a "traditional" car chase in the Bond canon.

  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Back when I was a kid, I was in to Bond but hadn't seen all the films yet. One night
    They had a Bond documentary on, with plenty of clips. My jaw hit the floor when I
    Watched the spiral car jump for the first time, I thought then ( and still do) it was an
    Astonishing stunt. =D>
  • Posts: 669
    Back when I was a kid, I was in to Bond but hadn't seen all the films yet. One night
    They had a Bond documentary on, with plenty of clips. My jaw hit the floor when I
    Watched the spiral car jump for the first time, I thought then ( and still do) it was an
    Astonishing stunt. =D>

    IMO, it's still the best vehicle stunt in the series.

  • The stunt is supposed to be the chase's defining moment and it is, but I think it's near-unanimous that it was ruined by some very poor sound choices...
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    I think we can all agree with that, the slide whistle was a bad choice. :(
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited June 2016 Posts: 23,883
    I don't mind it at all. The score up to that point was spot on, and we've had such tripe action scores since, including for car chases, that I'm more than able to forgive Barry's one misstep.

    That stunt is a work of art, as is the car chase that preceded it.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    If only he'd used the last note of the Bond tneme, an Em7 twang would
    Have been great.
    Although Barry and his slide whistle is still better than Newman's Spectre
    Score. :))
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,267
    Yeah at its most simple it's kinda when one car chases the other for dramatic effect. ;)
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    The transporter movies have some great chases, Lucy, and Vantage Point also
    Have good chases, as I think they're all done by the same driving team.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    Much as I dislike the franchise, I have to admit that FF also has some decent chases.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Transporter 2 itself carries countless elements from various Bond films... If you remember the drunkard that spots Frank Martin's car being driven on the roof, and throws his bottle into the garbage was nothing more than an homage to Viktor Tourjansky.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Agreed, they are over the top, crazy but very entertaining. I think it was F&F6 with
    The tank chase on the motorway, which was great fun. :)
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