In my mind, most car movies fit within three main categories. First, there are the road movies; those flicks which tell a story of the mad, frenetic rush to a destination. Next up are the race movies; accounts of true events which played out on the track for the entertainment of roaring crowds. Finally there are the chase movies; films which contain some breathtaking high speed action between hunter and hunted, predator and prey. It’s undeniable that all of these types of movies have a strong cinema following, becoming more and more popular with each passing year.
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Some, like ‘Drive’ and ‘Senna’, are sure-fire future classics which have emerged from obscurity to take the limelight. Others, such as the ill-fated ‘Getaway’, fell far short of the mark for critics and audiences alike. The ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise continues to forge ahead, with a seventh, eighth and ninth instalment planned despite the tragic death of Paul Walker, while audiences have been able to whet their appetites for it early with ‘Need for Speed’, a title inspired by the video game series and starring Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul.
This article, along with a couple more to be published in the coming days, counts down some of the greatest car chase movies of all time and attempts to explain why they have been so successful. The subject of this post? My old favourite – Bullitt. There are of course many, many more great titles out there aside from those which I have picked though, so if you have a particular favourite please leave a comment – who knows, it could be the subject of the next post!
J D SIMPSON 