Cinema's craziest car chases

With the release of petrol-head actioner 'Fast & Furious', Time Out look back over some of cinema's craziest car chases

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Film: To Live and Die in L.A.
Vehicles: Chevy Malibu, Mercury Grand Marquis, Freight Train, Peterbilt 352 Semi
Custom features: 'You're going the wrong way!'
With his career terminally stalled, one-time wünderkind William Friedkin decided the only option was reverse for the chase scene around which this superior policier's reputation has grown. Reckless, gleefully irresponsible and totally off the hook, Friedkin tops the automotive thrills and spills of his Oscar-winning 'French Connection' by forcing William Petersen to drive headlong into LA freeway traffic for a full six minutes.



Film: Charley Varrick
Vehicles: '67 Chrysler Imperial, WWI biplane
Custom features: See above.
Neatly summing up the uneven tone that makes the film so enjoyable, Walther Matthau faces off against Joe Don Baker in a WWI biplane in the gonzo finale of Don Seigel's groovy but unwholesomely violent crime caper.



Film: Pineapple Express
Vehicles: Multiple cop cars
Custom features: Soft drugs
Where would any self-respecting pot-based caper be without a heroic car chase crammed with wailing sirens, battered suspension and random boxes of flying veg? On the run from dirty cop Rosie Perez, wanted deviants James Franco and Seth Rogen find themselves up to their ankles in brake-testing trouble.



Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

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