The Fast & Furious art of the car chase

IN THE movies, there’s nothing quite like the thrill of the car chase. The best ones create the same adrenaline rush in their audiences as they do in their characters. Generating that heightened you-are-there energy is a feat that involves meticulous preparation, including dozens of decisions about camera placement, vehicle speed and so much more.

So how to get it all just right? We went to a Hollywood expert for answers. With five Fast & Furious films to his credit, director Justin

Lin has helped craft some of the most elaborate and exciting chases in recent cinema. We asked him to break down five chases from movie history and explain what makes them so effective. Here are edited excerpts. — 1968, ‘BULLITT’

In this action thriller from Peter Yates, Steve Mcqueen plays a police detective tasked with guarding a gangster. But hit men get in the way, setting off one of the most memorable car chases in all of cinema, with Bullitt in a Ford Mustang and the bad guys in a Dodge Charger. Justin Lin: What I love is that there is no music. They made the choice of having the engine noises be the score. In this sequence, you really get a sense of environment, and it feels very authentic. You actually see Steve Mcqueen driving and, in the same shot, the tyres hitting the ground. For film-makers, that’s one of the gold-standard shots we always try to get because it’s obviously very dangerous to do, to put an actor in a high-speed vehicle and design a shot that feels effortless.

— 1971, ‘THE FRENCH CONNECTION’ In William Friedkin’s Oscar-winning drama, Gene Hackman plays Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, a New York police detective investigating a drug-smuggling crime boss. The villain is trying to escape by elevated train, while Popeye follows the tracks in a car below.

Lin: It has a similar approach to Bullitt in that there is no score. And I love the fact that it’s trying to take you into the moment. There’s a mount shot (from a camera mounted on the car) that they keep going back to where they’re just running that car at high speed down the road. Even with all the technology, you cannot fake practical speed.

— 1991, ‘TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY’

In James Cameron’s sequel to his 1984 smash, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and John (Edward Furlong) are targeted by the T-1000 hi-tech Terminator (Robert Patrick) while being guarded by the original Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger).

Lin: I love how controlled it is. The two Terminators are so unfazed. You could tell that James Cameron and Arnold had a great relationship with the crew and there was a lot of trust. There’s a lot of danger, and there’s a lot of prep, and you’re always pushing each other to see if you can just eke out a few more frames. A simple thing of the stunt guy getting thrown onto the street, to be able to hold on that shot just an extra 12 seconds makes all the difference in the world.

— 2011, ‘FAST FIVE’

This was Lin’s third Fast & Furious film, but the first time the franchise veered into the heist lane. Not to worry, the cars are still there, and they go all out in a sequence in which the crew steals a crime lord’s cashfilled vault via cables attached to two cars, with the cops in pursuit.

Lin: What was important about this was the decision to do this practically. There were a lot of talks about, hey, let’s do a CGI vault. And I just didn’t want to do that. So we actually had a vault and the two cars dragging it. We had another vault where it was drivable. It was actually a vehicle and for certain shots we would use that. It is so insane to say, hey, let’s really plan this out and do everything practically. I’m proud of that sequence.

— 2020, ‘THE RHYTHM SECTION’:. In Reed Morano’s thriller, Blake Lively falls into a life of espionage. In one scene she drives away pursued by killers through the narrow streets of Tangier in what seems like one long shot.

Lin: I love this sequence because you’re just going to stay with the character in real time. And to put the camera in the passenger side, I thought, was a great choice. To be able to design the shot where you’re not seeing the cuts, it brings back the choices of Bullitt and French Connection in that there is a sincerity to the sequence. I always feel like when we edit, it’s a cheat. And so, when I work with my editors, we always say that if we’re going to cut, we have to earn that cut.

The New York Times

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