Were there any good car chase flicks previous to Bullitt?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

The car chase in Bullitt is generally considered the penultimate chase, and the one all that followed tried to emulate in some way.

There are a LOT of excellent chase scenes POST Steve McQueen, but I know of none BEFORE him. ARE there any? (And I'm not referring to Keystone Cop stuff.)

I'm just curious, and hope that if a great flick unknown to me really exists, someone here will know about it.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear Prisoner_Number_Six...

As far as I know, the famous Bullitt car chase was the first...

And I remember thinking this was going to be a good one, since they all put on their seatbelts!

:woohoo:

[Faygo Kid]

2. Gotta remember Goldfinger, with the Aston Martin being chased

That was a pretty cool scene. I would have liked to have had one of those ejector seats for bad dates in the '70s.

[speedoo]

3. The French Connection?

Great car chase scene, in my home town. But I am not sure it preceded Bullitt.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

4. The French Connection was in '71

Bullit came out in '68

But you're right- it was a GREAT chase. Gene Hackman did all his own driving, too!

[Doc_Technical]

5. W.C. Fields in "The Bank Dick"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032234/

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. "The resale value of this car is going to be nil"

:7

[Oeditpus Rex]

7. 'Thunder Road,' maybe?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052293/trailers-screenplay-E14465-310



Btw — if the "Bullitt" chase is the penultimate, what's the ultimate? :shrug:

[Lethe]

8. Ronin was pretty good

i'm not a car chase aficionado tho

[Drum]

10. kick for Ronin.

one of my favorites. :D Also agree with the mention of French Connection.

I've never seen Bullitt, but I will now.

Thanks all, for the tip.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

9. I should have remembered Thunder Road.

I just watched it about a month ago.

[mitchum]

21. That's the one

[texas1928]

11. Blues Brothers.

Hands Down.

It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.



Hit it.

[CGowen]

12. According to this book there is "Robbery (1967)" (same Director as Bullitt)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062207/

You can read a bit of the first chapter by clicking on the book
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0760324107/ref=sib_dp_pt/102-0945395-1677736#reader-link



edited to add:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbery_(film)

The film is notable for its car chase sequences, and lead to its director, Peter Yates, being hired to direct the Hollywood crime film Bullitt, the following year.

The opening scene shows an aerial shot of a car-lined Hatton Garden. A 'traffic warden' places a time-delay device inside a parked car. A chauffeur appears from a jewellers with his master who is ushered into the car and then wafted away at speed. The car, a Vanden Plas 4 litre is followed at a distance by an ambulance containing two villains dressed as ambulancemen. The car eventually crashes into a skip after its occupants are gased driving along Nothumberland Avenue. The ambulance promptly arrives at the scene taking away the passenger with a briefcase chained to his hand. News of the abduction reaches the police and a car chase breaks out after the villains abandon the ambulance for a Jaguar MK II in a North West London housing estate. The chase begins and after many miles the diamond robbers eventually get away - the diamonds raising a chunk of money for what is later dubbed 'The Crime of the Century'. All of the exterior locations for Robbery were filmed in and around Central London and include great period shots of Marble Arch, Trafalgar Square, Little Venice & Kensal Green.

[MrScorpio]

13. Peter Yates vs. John Frankenheimer

Chase scenes abound

[Bombero1956]

14. another great chase

The Seven-Ups with Roy Scheider produced and directed by Philip D'Antoni who also did Bullitt. The chase takes place in NYC and ends with Scheider's car rear ending a tractor trailer.

[SteppingRazor]

15. Grammar nazis, unite!

"Penultimate" does not mean "super duper ultimate." :grr:

Sorry. I've got a huge pet peeve about that one.

Anyway, as for your question, I can't think of any that are now considered "greats" (Ronin, Blues Brothers, every Bourne movie, French Connection all spring immediately to mind) that came before Bullitt.

[Rabrrrrrr]

17. Good catch! I didn't even notice it - hilarious!

If Bullitt was the penultimate car chase, then what were the following 4,000 car chases?

:rofl:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

19. Mea culpa

That's what's known in the trade as a "brain fart". :evilgrin:

[Rabrrrrrr]

16. Sorry, Wrong Number.

Oh, wait, that had a phone. Not a car chase. Nevermind.

[NightWatcher]

18. not a "car chase" but a good chase nonetheless. Ten Commandments

[ThoughtCriminal]

24. Actually, I think that is "Ben-Hur"

There was going to be a chase scene in the Ten Commandments, but Pharaoh's Army drowned.

[WinkyDink]

20. After, but I'm saying it anyway: "To Live and Die in L.A."

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

23. It set a new standard.

It's flawed, though- take a look at the direction the traffic flows. It's backwards.

[ThoughtCriminal]

22. It started with the Keystone Cops

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Kops