Car chases are an iconic aspect of the action film genre, and with good reason – if you’ve ever seen a harrowing road pursuit on the big screen, you know how thrilling it can be to watch one unfold. Here are five of the most edge-of-your-seat car chases ever to hit the cinema:

 

Smokey and The Bandit

This action-packed Hal Needham flick was hugely popular in its day, in large part due to Burt Reynolds’ wild antics on the road. The film’s cutting-edge car stunts captivated audiences and actually led to a spike in the sales of the Firebird Trans Am Pontiac because people wanted to have the same wheels as lightning-fast Smokey.

 

Against All Odds

This noir-inspired flick by director Taylor Hackford features a highly memorable road action scene set on L.A’s chaotic and cutthroat Sunset Boulevard. It’s a wild scene involving a Porsche and a Ferrari – partially a chase and partially a race – and, remarkably, though they cause plenty of upset among the other vehiclees on the road, both cars emerge intact at the end (a unique outcome in the genre of cinematic car chases). 

 

The French Connection

This William Friedkin movie tells the story of cops and drug smugglers in the Big Apple and, like all truly good cops-versus-bad-guys flicks, it features a hair-raising car chase. Detective Doyle (played by Gene Hackman) commandeers a Pontiac to pursue a murderer whizzing by above him in an elevated train. It’s one of the most visually stunning and tension-filled car chases ever to appear on the big screen.

 

Bullitt

Many action-film aficionados consider this movie to contain the quintessential car chase scene against which all others should be measured. Indeed, when this film hit theatres, the car chase sequence immediately became a classic instance in cinematic history and influenced the entire genre of car chase scenes for decades after. The sequence features Steve McQueen behind the wheel of Mustang as he pursues a bad guy in Dodge Charger, and director Peter Yates keeps the thrills coming at every moment. 

 

Ronin

This movie by director John Frankenheimer features not one, not two, but three edge-of-your-seat car chases. The movie tells the story of mercenaries chasing each other through Europe, and their efforts take them burning up rubber down narrow streets, packed highways, and teeming tunnels as they hunt each other down. The film uses Formula One pilots as stunt drivers, resulting in some of the most skilled and harrowing on-screen driving ever to appear on the screen.