What\'s Your Favorite Movie Chase Scene?

August 16, 2012, 12:20 pm

By STEPHANIE GOODMAN

For the coming film “Premium Rush,” about a bike messenger racing against time, a corrupt cop and a teeming city, David Koepp decided to include a chase under an elevated New York subway line even though he knew it would invite comparison with one of the greatest chase scenes of all time, the one in “The French Connection” with Gene Hackman in a car going after a bad guy in a train on the tracks overhead. As Mr. Koepp explained in this article about the difficulties of getting a pursuit right: “Shooting a chase scene in New York City, you're standing on the shoulders of that giant. I almost didn't do it, but I love the trestles.”

Before production began, Mr. Koepp studied not just “The F rench Connection,” but also chase scenes he considered worthy, like ones in “Run, Lola, Run” and “Ben-Hur.” As far as William Friedkin, director of “The French Connection,” is concerned, that list should begin with Buster Keaton films and include “Bullitt,” the San Francisco roller coaster of a movie with Steve McQueen behind the wheel. Others cite “The Seven Ups,” a 1973 film with Roy Scheider driving on the streets, and sidewalks, of New York. You can see several of those scenes here.

A poll of Culture department colleagues came up with a few other suggestions for that list: “The Italian Job” with Mini Coopers riding the stairs (in both the original and the update); “The Bourne Supremacy,” with Matt Damon's taxi eluding Russian police; and, um, “Blades of Glory,” with ice skaters on the streets of Montreal.

What would you nominate for Greatest Chase Scene of All Time? Tell us in the comments below.