The Great Chases

by Erika Waddell

In " The Greatest Movie Car Chases of All Time " (Motorbooks), British auto writer Jesse Crosse takes a loving look at what went into the making of some of the best automobile pursuits in the history of the cinema. Full of interesting details and great action photos, the book ranks Crosse's 20 favorite car chases, including " The Seven-Ups ," (1973) " The French Connection " (1971), and " The Bourne Identity " (2002).

We recently spoke to Crosse about his love of the genre and why it's become a bit of a lost art.

Q: Do you remember the first chase scene you ever watched?

A: It would have been in a UK TV program like "The Saint," which was a detective story with Roger Moore that ran in the '60s. Or another one I remember seeing early on was "Hell Drivers." It was a great film with Stanley Baker, and it was more about people going mad in trucks and cars, but it was the same kind of idea.

Q: You were fascinated with chases early on?

A: Yeah, I think we all get gripped by these things. It's partly to do with the whole excitement of the images you're watching, but it's also a way of engaging yourself with what other people are doing without having to take the risk yourself.

Q: Why do you prefer the original versions of movies over their remakes?

A: If there's one main reason why the earlier movies were better, it's because the filming technology was raw, which gave it a very gritty, real feeling. When you watch films like "Bullitt" (1968), or any of the films from that era, you get a sense of poor quality, a certain amount of vibration in the film. I used to race cars a little bit, and I can remember the view from inside a race car looking quite similar. Often your eyeballs are vibrating and everything's jiggling around.

The very fact that things have gotten so good and technology is so slick actually doesn't help. The other thing I don't like about modern movies is the tendency to fast-edit everything. If you watch "Ronin " (1998), you see shots lasting about one second, and you don't get a chance to look at the cars and savor the moment.

Q: So you think new technology takes away?

A: Yes, I do, and I know that a lot of people in the film industry feel this way, especially in the stunt industry. CGI (computer-generated imagery), which has become more and more popular, takes away a lot. It just isn't real, and you can always tell.

Q: But aren't there always elements in a movie car chase that would never happen in real life?

A: It's unlikely we'd ever see any of these chase scenes in real life, if the truth be known. But if you look at something like the original "The Italian Job" (1969), when the cars jump the gap in the Fiat factory, that was done for real, no safety net. Rémy Julienne, the great French stunt driver, told me that the Italian workers were all queuing up to shake his hand [before attempting the jump] and it was only afterwards he found out it was because they thought they'd never see him again. It's just fantastic to look at the pictures of that and realize that the guys just got in the cars and did this for real. Something about knowing that makes it more compelling. If it's just fake, then it's not compelling.

Q: What is the Golden Age of the car chase?

A: The 1960s and early '70s when most of the great ones came out, like "The Italian Job" and "Bullitt." But looking at the dates of my top 20, there's actually quite a broad range, from the '60s right through to the '80s and even the '90s, with "Taxi" and "Taxi 2." So it implies that there's still the opportunity to make great chase scenes. "Die Another Day " was released in 2002, so the story isn't over yet.

Q: What ruins a good movie car chase?

A: When people clearly aren't driving the cars. I think what makes some car chase movies into cult movies is when the public finds out that some of those [actors] were doing [their own driving] for real. There's always been a lot of debate over whether (Steve) McQueen drove the cars himself (in "Bullitt"), and we know that it was mixture of him and the stunt guys driving, but he no doubt did do a lot of those sequences, and that made it compelling.

Q: Do you prefer actors to do their own stunts?

A: I think it's very cool if they do. Nic Cage is a guy from this era of filmmaking who's known for being very keen to do this stuff. Roger Moore also did a lot of his own stuff. But it's not a crucial thing. What is crucial is that the cars are driven for real and that the action you see is real.

Q: How willing are actors to do their own stunts?

A: Oh, that's a tough one. I would think it's a two-fold thing; not everybody wants or has the ability to drive in that way, and they have a tough time with insurance. But if you look back over the years, there are people who've been keen on getting involved in the action themselves. Quite a lot of driving went on, going way back, in films like "Grand Prix," which is a 1966 John Frankenheimer film. It wasn't a chase film, but it's important because it was part of the dynasty of car-chase filmmaking. It was where people like Frankenheimer were learning their craft of making films with cars.

Q: How do you feel about real-life chases, like on "COPS"? Are they as exciting?

A: That's a very good question. Some of them are absolutely horrendous, aren't they? We can enjoy the films because they're fantasy, but coming into the reality of the danger is obviously worrying. I don't like to see people doing that in real life, I don't think any of us do. And the other thing is that the people doing it are usually completely unskilled and it nearly always ends up in an awful accident. So I guess we get a bit of comfort in watching the movies because our heroes are always very skilled people because that's what the scriptwriter has decided.

Q: How much of a movie's budget typically goes into a chase scene?

A: This was difficult for me to pin down because the figures aren't really published. But the most expensive was probably the freeway chase in "The Matrix Reloaded" (2003), and that was actually a film set. It wasn't a closed freeway. The cost of the highway was reputedly $30 million. Now that's many times more than the entire budget for "Bullitt." They had a huge number of cars to do that ("The Matrix Reloaded") scene, and General Motors provided the cars. With "Bullitt," they had four cars in total: two Mustangs and two Chargers. So the scale is hard to imagine compared to what was done in the early days. And then you have to ask yourself, "How good was that chase scene in 'The Matrix Reloaded,' compared to 'Bullitt'?"

Q: Is it more or less dangerous today for stuntmen?

A: I think it's less dangerous today because the craft of stunt performance has been developed and there are so many lessons being learned and so much experience being gained. Now there are so many specialized companies around that have developed all this technology and equipment for doing these stunts. Today, the emphasis is always on safety; stunt performers now will tell you that they never really take risks.

Q: How cooperative are local authorities when these chase scenes are being filmed?

A: I think a lot of it comes down to luck. But Hollywood carries a lot of clout and I get the impression that most authorities are eager to cooperate. You see this a lot with the "Bond" movies, where they have all these boat scenes down the Thames, where you aren't allowed to drive a jet boat.

Q: What's your opinion on cars being modified to make them go faster? Does that take away from the realism?

A: No! I grew up modifying cars. There's something exciting about taking a car and making it much better and more capable than it was.

Q: Which cities lend themselves nicely to car chases?

A: San Francisco, obviously. But I don't really think it matters where it is because the focus is on the cars and the action. For you to notice the background, it has to be somewhere that is very dramatic visually. And obviously because of the hills, San Francisco is, so you immediately know where you are with that. And places like New York, which has got such familiar landmarks.

Q: Is there a formula, a recipe for a great chase scene?

A: Yeah. Keep it real. Don't fast-edit everything. And no CGI, thank you.

(Published on CourtTV.com Feb. 8, 2007)