Which do you prefer to watch – a good movie or a good car scene in a movie? If you’re really lucky you’ll find a film that has both. Car stunts in the movies always look awesome; it’s like the most fun you can have on four wheels preserved on celluloid that you can watch over and over again. What’s not to like?
Of course, if you want to have a go yourself, there are many places around the country where you can learn to fly cars around corners at speed, taught by professionals. Into The Blue, for instance, offer a range of Drifting Experiences where you’ll get plenty of hands-on learning to master skills such as oversteering, full opposite lock and steering control through tight corners.
While you ponder the possibilities, hold on tight and watch closely.
Drive (2011)
Featuring Ryan Gosling as a Hollywood stuntman turned getaway driver, this arthouse action thriller by Danish director Nicolas Windig Refn is tense and gritty and scores a very credible 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. Gosling was specially trained as a stunt driver for Drive and learned to pull off ‘reverse 180s, forward 180s, drifting, break stands and all kinds of cool stuff.’ Watch his character, the unnamed Driver, master LA’s streets while his aloof persona remains ice cool under pressure behind the wheel.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
The third installment of the American The Fast and the Furious franchise may not have the best storyline in the world nor the most convincing acting performances, but if you can get past that and love the sound of a revving engine, this film is huge fun to watch. Set in the world of Japanese drift racing, it has Keiichi Tsuchiya – The Drift King – as a stunt driver and the racing is real and superb. ‘It’s like sumo and figure skating for cars,’ says Tsuchiya.
Spectre (2015)
Bond films are always great value when it comes to car action scenes and the latest movie Spectre is no different. But, in truth, we could have picked any of them. Here’s a clip with Mark Higgins, professional rally driver for over 25 years and stunt driver in the last 3 Bond movies Spectre, Skyfall and Quantum of Solace. Watch Mark talk about his stunt experiences in the film’s Aston Martin DB10 while throwing a V8 Vantage around Sydney’s Motorsport Park.
Baby Driver (2017)
Scoring 8/10 on Rotten Tomatoes, Baby Driver was the cool and stylish summer movie of the year. This hugely entertaining action crime movie is a high revving thrill ride pulsating to a fantastic soundtrack. The reluctant teenage getaway driver, played by Ansel Elgort, and his co-stars were taught some real stunt driving skills in cars like the Dodge Challenger, Subaru WRX and Chevrolet Avalanche. And according to Director Edgar Wright himself, a lot of the movie was shot with ‘no rigs, no wires, no green screen’ but with ‘real cars, real locations, real people’.
Ronin (1998)
Ronin is possibly one of the best car chase movies ever made. A great action film starring Robert de Niro and Natascha McElhone, the director John Frankenheimer chose to shoot his car scenes with actual cars, using around 50 stunt drivers and real Paris street locations. Frankenheimer’s car credentials are impeccable; he was a huge racing fan and car collector in his time and, of course, the director of 1966’ Grand Prix.
