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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?
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
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).
So the only car chase in 'Driven' would be the non-racing event of Stallone driving in the LA Streets with his race car?
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 ?
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.
. " I know it when I see it ......Sir " :)
THE car chase.
We certainly did. Probably because it's so forgettable...
You Commie Republican!
:))
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.
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.
That stunt is a work of art, as is the car chase that preceded it.
Have been great.
Although Barry and his slide whistle is still better than Newman's Spectre
Score. :))
Have good chases, as I think they're all done by the same driving team.
The tank chase on the motorway, which was great fun. :)