›

Rank the Car Chases

tigers99tigers99
edited November 2015 in Bond Movies Posts: 582
Okay, let's rank the car chases. To qualify as a car chase there has to be a car chasing a car, so for example the stuff with the Aston Martin in TLD doesn't count, or the tanker chase in LTK.

Here's mine

1. Quantum of Solace (PTS)
2. Tomorrow Never Dies (parking lot chase)
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Bunt/henchmen chasing Tracy and Bond/stock car race)
4. Casino Royale (Bond chasing after Le Chiffre and kills an Aston)
5. The Spy Who Loved Me (Jaws and henchmen chasing Bond in his Lotus)
6. Goldfinger (Bond and Tilly)
7. Die Another Day (Bond and Zao on the ice)
8. GoldenEye (Bond and Xenia)
9. The Man with the Golden Gun (Bond chasing Scaramanga in stolen AMC)
10. Octopussy (German police chasing Bond in his stolen Alfa Romeo)
11. Diamonds Are Forever (Las Vegas police chasing Bond)
12. For Your Eyes Only (2CV chase)
13. You Only Live Twice (Bond and Aki chased as Aki drives the Toyota 2000GT)
14. Spectre (Bond and Hinx)
15. Dr. No (Bond chased by the hearse)

Comments

  • BondForeverBondForever
    Posts: 25
    14. Casino Royale
  • tigers99tigers99
    Posts: 582
    BondForever wrote: »
    14. Casino Royale

    Where would you rank the others?
  • AceHoleAceHole Belgium, via Britain
    edited November 2015 Posts: 1,727
    Whhaaat, I can't choose TLD ??? :-O

    You, sir, are a brute :>

    For me GF and TSWLM's chases are so far aheaed of the rest, it's just not funny. But SP might just creep into 3rd place for me, just ahead of QoS' pts.
  • tigers99tigers99
    Posts: 582
    AceHole wrote: »
    Whhaaat, I can't choose TLD ??? :-O

    You, sir, are a brute :>

    For me GF and TSWLM's chases are so far aheaed of the rest, it's just not funny. But SP might just creep into 3rd place for me, just ahead of QoS' pts.

    I know TLD chase is a great chase :) But for me a car chase is a car chasing a car :)
  • tigers99tigers99
    Posts: 582
    Maybe we could broaden it out to all chases? Maybe that would be too expansive - then we could include the chase in TLD, GE tank chase, CR parkour chase etc.
  • AceHoleAceHole Belgium, via Britain
    Posts: 1,727
    tigers99 wrote: »
    Maybe we could broaden it out to all chases? Maybe that would be too expansive - then we could include the chase in TLD, GE tank chase, CR parkour chase etc.

    Hows about: "Rank the 'Bond in car' moments" ... :>
  • sunsanvilsunsanvil Somewhere in Canada....somewhere.
    edited November 2015 Posts: 260
    Unlike the ski sequence thread we recently started, this one is really very difficult, in part due to the shear number, but moreover because all these sequences have vastly different agendas. Some were just shear comedy, others thrill sequences, some were borderline not even chases but rather drawn out pursuits. That said...

    Ones I liked:
    On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Bunt/henchmen chasing Tracy and Bond/stock car race)
    Dr. No (Bond chased by the hearse)
    GoldenEye (Bond and Xenia)
    For Your Eyes Only (2CV chase)
    Goldfinger (Bond and Tilly)
    Goldfinger (around and in Auric Enterprises)
    You Only Live Twice (Bond and Aki chased as Aki drives the Toyota 2000GT)
    Casino Royale (Bond chasing after Le Chiffre and kills an Aston)
    Spectre (Bond and Hinx)
    Tomorrow Never Dies (parking lot chase)

    Ones I did not:
    The Spy Who Loved Me (Jaws and henchmen chasing Bond in his Lotus)
    The Man with the Golden Gun (Bond chasing Scaramanga in stolen AMC)
    Octopussy (German police chasing Bond in his stolen Alfa Romeo)
    Die Another Day (Bond and Zao on the ice)
    Diamonds Are Forever (Las Vegas police chasing Bond)


    Please note that Quantum of Solace (PTS) is in neither list. Thats because it should be stricken from the memories of all humans on the planet. It was not only the worst Bond action sequence, it was I think the worst car chase EVER PUT TO FILM. Even if it didn't make you ill (which some cinema goers reported), the strobe-speed cutting rendered the sequence incomprehensible. I've seen it several times (several times too many I'd say) and I still don't know what the )*^& is going on. Ditto for the rest of the movie, but that's a separate debate.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Where is Bond by Auric Enterprises? One of the best.
  • PDJamesBondPDJamesBond
    edited November 2015 Posts: 669
    My brother and I - both Bond fanatics of the nerdiest order - have this conversation often: What actually constitutes a car chase? Does it have to be a car chasing a car? If that's the case, then that eliminates some good ones from the series, such as the tanker truck chase at the end of LTK or the tank chase through St. Petersberg in GE.

    Also, does duration come into play? I ask because I never really think of the CR sequence as a "car chase." Yes, technically, it involves one car chasing another, but it lasts for, what, maybe ten seconds? It has a glorious ending but it still is barely there.

    Another thing that occurs to me when looking over these lists is that the Bond series really doesn't have a single great, masterpiece, one-for-the-record books car chase that can be uttered in the same breath as The French Connection, Bullitt, Raiders of the Lost Ark, or Ronin (or Death Proof, if you go by me). That surprises me, given the length and breadth of this series.
  • sunsanvilsunsanvil Somewhere in Canada....somewhere.
    edited November 2015 Posts: 260
    Bare none, Ronin has the best two car chases ever conceived. Why? Sure they are exciting, dynamic, quite original, with some of the best use of modern multi-channel audio out there. There is no CG, no physics defying ludicrous jumps, everything is the real deal. But what really sets them apart, what really sells you on the whole thing, is that they were shot and assembled in such a was that you can actually follow the action. You know exactly what is going on every second of the way. No slight of hand editing, or wild staccato cuts (see my above post re: QoS).

    I often dream of Broccoli and Wilson bringing that team in...but instead the last dozen Bonds have given us at best par car chases. But I digress.

    And now back to your regularly scheduled program....
  • tigers99tigers99
    Posts: 582
    Thunderfinger wrote: »
    Where is Bond by Auric Enterprises? One of the best.

    you're quite right, i rushed the list during my lunchbreak, please forgive me :)
  • mepal1mepal1
    Posts: 1,098
    sunsanvil wrote: »


    Please note that Quantum of Solace (PTS) is in neither list. Thats because it should be stricken from the memories of all humans on the planet. It was not only the worst Bond action sequence, it was I think the worst car chase EVER PUT TO FILM. Even if it didn't make you ill (which some cinema goers reported), the strobe-speed cutting rendered the sequence incomprehensible. I've seen it several times (several times too many I'd say) and I still don't know what the )*^& is going on. Ditto for the rest of the movie, but that's a separate debate.

    Couldn't of said better myself...............a great deal of money (£12 million, i believe), and a lot of hard graft went into the making of the PTS car chase in QOS.
    It should of been truly fantastic...........but Forster and his 2 editors, went berserk in the editing booth, and cut the sequence to shreds, making the car chase incomprehensible to many.
    What, they should of done, was to focus on the chase itself, and with longer edit cuts, so the audience could absorb what was going on.

    A truly awful piece of film making, and unfortunately it affected the rest of the film as well!

  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    Posts: 1,984
    It is a car chasing a car in The Living Daylights for a while - it ends when Bond's Aston Martin V8 Volante cuts the other car in half with a laser.

    If we're including just "a car chasing another car" segments, the TSWLM car chase goes down a bit but should still be considered. GF and TND have some of the best. QoS is very intense despite the terrible cutting, and OHMSS/DAF also deserve mentions. The GE car chase between the DB5 and Xenia's Ferrari is pretty silly but is probably worth noting. Oh, and the DAD car chase. Then there's the 2CV chase in FYEO and the Octopussy Alfa Romeo chase. Dr No's chase with the Sunbeam Alpine should also be mentioned. And, of course, the upcoming Spectre chase.

    Don't know how I would rank them, though. Especially the order.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    tigers99 wrote: »
    Maybe we could broaden it out to all chases? Maybe that would be too expansive - then we could include the chase in TLD, GE tank chase, CR parkour chase etc.

    I'm sorry but Bond clearly gets chased by police cars in TLD for Heaven's sake!!
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited November 2015 Posts: 23,883
    1. The Spy Who Loved Me (Jaws and henchmen chasing Bond in his Lotus)
    2. Quantum of Solace (PTS)
    3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Bunt/henchmen chasing Tracy and Bond/stock car race)
    4. GoldenEye (Bond and Xenia)
    5. The Man with the Golden Gun (Bond chasing Scaramanga in stolen AMC)
    6. Goldfinger (Bond and Tilly)
    7. Octopussy (German police chasing Bond in his stolen Alfa Romeo)
    8. Diamonds Are Forever (Las Vegas police chasing Bond)
    9. For Your Eyes Only (2CV chase)
    10. Goldfinger (around and in Auric Enterprises)
    11. Die Another Day (Bond and Zao on the ice)
    12. You Only Live Twice (Bond and Aki chased as Aki drives the Toyota 2000GT)
    13. Casino Royale (Bond chasing after Le Chiffre and kills an Aston)
    14. Tomorrow Never Dies (parking lot chase)
    15. Spectre (Bond and Hinx)
    16. Dr. No (Bond chased by the hearse)

    For me, TSWLM is the gold standard. It has it all. The car, the babes, the gadgets, the copter, the henchman, the bike, the laughs.......and yet it's all incredibly tense and well done. Moore is cooler than ever "Do you ever get the feeling that somebody doesn't like you". Textbook perfection, including the framing shot of the Lotus bonnet with the cliff and copter in the background and Hamlisch's score. Magnificent.

    Quantum of Solace is so visceral and intense that I felt like I was in a car crash. Brilliant work here including the opening framing shot of the Italian coast (although I didn't like any of the other action edits in this film, this car chase part was brilliant)

    OHMSS is very memorable. Superbly done and so beautifully filmed with such vivid colours. "James! How do we get out!"

    TMWTGG - apart from the slide whistle, this is an amazing chase, that really showcases the hustle/bustle of Thailand

    GF - it's dated and has been done better, but is still definitive

    OP - tense, and some great shots of the Alfa's dexterity

    DAF - one of the best sequences in that film. The parking lot maze is superb

    SP - textbook example of what not to do in a car chase.
  • tigers99tigers99
    edited November 2015 Posts: 582
    Thunderfinger wrote: »
    Where is Bond by Auric Enterprises? One of the best.

    you're quite right, i rushed the list during my lunchbreak, please forgive me :)
    bondjames wrote: »
    1. The Spy Who Loved Me (Jaws and henchmen chasing Bond in his Lotus)
    2. Quantum of Solace (PTS)
    3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Bunt/henchmen chasing Tracy and Bond/stock car race)
    4. GoldenEye (Bond and Xenia)
    5. The Man with the Golden Gun (Bond chasing Scaramanga in stolen AMC)
    6. Goldfinger (Bond and Tilly)
    7. Octopussy (German police chasing Bond in his stolen Alfa Romeo)
    8. Diamonds Are Forever (Las Vegas police chasing Bond)
    9. For Your Eyes Only (2CV chase)
    10. Goldfinger (around and in Auric Enterprises)
    11. Die Another Day (Bond and Zao on the ice)
    12. You Only Live Twice (Bond and Aki chased as Aki drives the Toyota 2000GT)
    13. Casino Royale (Bond chasing after Le Chiffre and kills an Aston)
    14. Tomorrow Never Dies (parking lot chase)
    15. Spectre (Bond and Hinx)
    16. Dr. No (Bond chased by the hearse)

    For me, TSWLM is the gold standard. It has it all. The car, the babes, the gadgets, the copter, the henchman, the bike, the laughs.......and yet it's all incredibly tense and well done. Moore is cooler than ever "Do you ever get the feeling that somebody doesn't like you". Textbook perfection, including the framing shot of the Lotus bonnet with the cliff and copter in the background and Hamlisch's score. Magnificent.

    Quantum of Solace is so visceral and intense that I felt like I was in a car crash. Brilliant work here including the opening framing shot of the Italian coast (although I didn't like any of the other action edits in this film, this car chase part was brilliant)

    OHMSS is very memorable. Superbly done and so beautifully filmed with such vivid colours. "James! How do we get out!"

    TMWTGG - apart from the slide whistle, this is an amazing chase, that really showcases the hustle/bustle of Thailand

    GF - it's dated and has been done better, but is still definitive

    OP - tense, and some great shots of the Alfa's dexterity

    DAF - one of the best sequences in that film. The parking lot maze is superb

    SP - textbook example of what not to do in a car chase.

    I really agree, I think the QoS car chase is superb. I agree with some of the editing across the film, but I've always liked how chaotic this car chase is, with the calm before the storm with the opening landscape shots of the coast and the closeups on the machine guns and Bond's eyes. I don't think it's incoherent at all. My main problem with QoS was the lack of characterisation and the plot.

    The scene I didn't like for editing was when the foot chase after the TS reaches the bit when they fall into the building and are swinging around on ropes. That really does mess with your head when you see it on a big screen.
Sign In or Register to comment.