Phantasm, II, III
,
also: '70 Cuda convertible from 'Phantasm III'
1978. Car: 1971 Plymouth 'Cuda.
This 'Cuda isn't given too much to do except run around and look pretty, but
why risk such a gorgeous car for the sake of a stunt, right? WRONG! This is
Hollywood! STEP ON IT!!!!!!!!
8-10-96- The first film used a 440-six pack 'Cuda while the second used a Hemi
'Cuda (phony Hemi cars were built for the dangerous work). The 'Hemi' was
'destroyed' (stand in!) in the 2nd film of the series and was replaced by a
faked '70 Hemi Cuda convertible for the third film.
If you have more info or pics of this car and would like to help improve this
site...Email me!!!!
Pink Cadillac
1989 Car: 1959 Cadillac convertible
............[under construction]
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site...Email me!!!!
Ronin
,
Also: Package went 'boom'!
1998 Cars: Various...you tell me!
............[under construction]
Two great chases take place in this film, the first concerning the interception
of a courier and the theft of his 'package'. The second has two pairs of the
thieves chasing each other after a double-cross.
The early chase has some incredible, tight-quarters, high-speed driving and a
convincing crash into a sidewalk cafe (so real, I thought it might have been
accidental!). The second chase has awesome driving in various Paris locales
including a tunnel (where a fiery wreck recalls the death of Princess
Diana...tho this wreck is a bit phony looking). The only real let down is the
highly-contrived end of the second chase when the BMW rolls over...the obvious
underbody plating and poor passenger's reaction shot make for an awkward
moment. Why couldn't the car simply run out of road?? It would have been far
more satisfying. Still, tho, lots of excellent footage of real cars at
seemingly real speeds.
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site...Email me!!!!
Short Time
1986. Cars: 1976? Pontiac Bonneville, 198? Dodge Diplomat.
This film, an action/comedy [sort of like Beverly Hills Cop, but less
effectively so], contains what I consider the best single car chase ever. Yes,
I'm including Bullitt and The French Connection. I like those ones, too, of
course. But this one doesn't have a pair of top-of-the-line Muscle cars- just a
pair of plain, working-stiff sedans. And neither of them is chasing a train
that isn't trying to outrun the car.
This one involves a cop, days from retirement, that mistakenly believes he's dying and has just two weeks left. His insurance only pays out if he dies in the line of duty, so in order to provide for his son's future, he tries to get himself killed through reckless heroism. In the chase, two cop-killers are fleeing along a highway in a gray Bonneville. The hero joins the marked patrol cars (Diplomats, except when taking bullets, when they become Caprices! Hooray for Hollywood!) in his own unmarked Diplomat. He races to the head of the pursuing pack, bashing his way ahead of the other cops, takes bullets, rolls the car over and much more. The bumps in the alley are hilarious. The leap off the loading dock over parked cars is inspired. And the final hit is massive. In between, the lack of music and good use of sound effects and dabs of humor (the seat belt!), all keep the pace of this chase perfect and nerve-wracking. Sadly, as of January, 2004, no DVD version is available yet, and the VHS is discontinued, so you need to hunt down a copy used or out-of-print new 'old stock'.
The photos shown are edited to look like the cars in this
film, but were found elsewhere on the web. I'll add shots from the film as soon
as I can.
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site...Email me!!!!
Smokey and the Bandit, II, III
Also: In flight, Smokey's ride, The Rig
1977, 1980 and 1982. Cars: 1977 Pontiac Trans Am 'Special Edition', 1980
Pontiac TransAm, 1982 Pontiac TransAm.
The first car became known as the 'Bandit' model later due to the popularity of
the film.
Burt Reynolds' 'Bandit' took a bet to bring beer from Texas to Georgia in
record time, dragging along his trucker pal (Jerry Reed) and a damsel in
distress (Sally Field). Hot on their heels were Sheriff Buford T. Justice
(Jackie Gleason) and his jilted son.
The car was a bone-stock, factory-fresh Trans Am mostly. A miniature jet engine
was fitted beneath the car to assist the jump at the collapsed bridge....it
proved too powerful as it carried the car well past it's intended landing
point. This is noticeable as the stunt, shown from the side, has the car flying
out of the shot completely... and from the rear, the car is seen landing far
ahead of the camera. However, it was a helluva scene anyway!
8-5-96: All new pics of the car, truck and police cruiser!
9-17-96: According to Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham (director), seven cars were
used- five were Olds 403- powered and two were 455/4speeds. Five were wrecked.
12-9-98: New pic of the 'II' car that was given to Burt Reynolds!
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site...Email me!!!!
Speed
,
also: Big Bang, with 2nd bus.
1995. Car: 196? '59 GMC Coach'
...........[under construction]
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site...Email me!!!!
The Spy Who Loved Me
,
also: on shore, under water,
Sub-transport, Coming Ashore
1977 Car: Lotus Esprit?
...........[under construction]
6/10/96- At least two, fully functional, full scale submarines were built to
resemble this car and double for it in the underwater scenes. They were
constructed at a now-defunct company in Florida...one of the owners of the
company reportedly received one of the subs back after filming was
finished...where is it today?
8/4/96- More pics.
8/9/96- And another pic of the sub being off-loaded from a trailer.
6/3/97- Another pic of the sub 'Coming Ashore'.
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Terminator II: Judgement Day
1991. Car: Freightliner Wrecker.
Here's a freaky tidbit!....much of the footage of this chase scene is shown
with the film REVERSED! The makers of the film had a special truck converted on
the outside to be a mirror image of the real thing! They added a fake steering
wheel on the passenger side and had Robert Patrick wear a reversed cop uniform!
The real driver of the truck was hidden under a black tarp! Later, the film is
flipped and all looks fine!!! All this so that Mr. Patrick could concentrate on
acting instead of controlling the huge rig! So THAT'S where all the money goes!
Of course, even with all this setup, boo-boos happen...like the windshields
falling out as the truck hits the ground of the drainage canal, then they
mysteriously reappear seconds later, shattered, but in place! Or the obvious
reflection of the spotlight and camera on the front of the truck as we look at
it just after the landing.... But it is a great chase scene!
9-17-96: A visitor reports the truck is a Freightliner, not a Peterbilt. I
stand corrected.
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site...Email me!!!!
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
1974?. Car: 1973 Pontiac Trans Am 455 SD , '71? Buick Riviera, '70?
Plymouth Fury.
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site...Email me!!!!
Tucker
1988. Car: 1948 Tucker.
Several fiberglass replicas were made for this movie, mostly on Ford Galaxy
chassis'. As for the scene where a Tucker gets rolled, they created a Tucker
from a 1950's Studebaker. A very good job too, but when it rolls, you'll notice
that it has an engine in front, and a driveshaft (Tuckers were rear-engined).
That stunt-car is on display in a museum in Nashville, Tennessee.
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site...Email me!!!!
Twister
,
also Fleeing Four-By, Smash-down,
8MB MOV of the Honcho's run!
1996. Cars: 1983(?) Jeep J-10 Honcho and 1995 Dodge Ram
You can't chase a tornado on foot, so this movie is stuffed with plenty of
vehicles. The bad guy's black Suburban and fleet of Dodge Caravans, and the rag
tag good guys in beat up Ford and Chevy trucks.
But the 'Car Stars' of this film are definitely these two. Being an AMC/Jeep
fan myself, I went into the theatre with hopes that maybe this movie would show
one in a good light, but alas, the Honcho is killed off quite early...but not
without providing, by my account, the best 'chase' of the film. Had I written
the scene, it would have ended with the Jeep crashing to ground on it's
tailgate, then belly-flopping onto all fours. Helen Hunt's character runs over,
rips open the door and turns the key..it fires right up, and they are back in
the fight...after a good laugh.
If you'd like to see a short animation of the Honcho at speed, CLICK HERE!
The Dodge carries the rest of the film, though it seems to me to have been
treated too gently in most scenes. You can tell the director didn't wish to buy
another $25,000+ Ram, so most 'close calls' are accomplished with good camera
work, and such. They obviously wanted to be sure it made it to the last scene
filmed. See it again, and note how the Honcho got tortured, and the Ram got
pampered! It's almost funny.
MINOR BLOOPERS: More than one Honcho is definitely used as the two different
roof styles are seen... As the truck races along the trench, the roof has a
'lip' or 'visor' that overhangs above the windshield. This is built-in and
normally seen on J-series pickups of the 70s and older. But in some close-up
scenes, it's not there.. the windshield flows smoothly
into a 'normal' roof line, as in 80s models of the truck.
7/10/96- Another: Did you notice how the combine's chute goes right through the
passenger side windshield, and in the next shot it's cracked, but not missing?
8/3/96- A visitor reports that in a shot of the Ram's dashboard, indicating
it's speed, the 'AirBag' light is lit, indicating a problem with the air bag
system. I would guess the effects guys had disabled the airbag system, causing
the dashlight to give warning...which apparently went un-noticed. It's also
possible the truck did fire the airbag at some point, or it was removed...but
both of these would have disfigured the steering wheel.
5/7/98- Just added a large (8MB!) MOV file for your viewing pleasure! Check it
out above!
8/2/99- AMC Content: The Jeep Honcho, of course!
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site...Email me!!!!
Vanishing Point
Also: At speed, at speed, dead stop
Kowalski, Camera Car, Ill-Fated Camaro
Camaro impacts, Camaro close-up,
1971. Car: 1970 Challenger R/T 440,4spd.
This film stars Barry Newman as Kowalski, a drug using enigma hired to
transport a car from Denver to San Francisco, and bets he can do it 15 hours.
He doesn't survive, but in reality, the car does. The big crash at the end
involves a stand-in.....for the car! Rather than destroy the Challenger, a
dime-a-dozen '67 Camaro is sacrificed to the bulldozers!......watch it
frame-by-frame to see the Chevy hit....or look closely at 'dead stop' above.
And for info on FOX-TV's horrible 1997 remake, go to the
TELEVISION section.
6/10/96- Four Challengers were loaned by Dodge to the film company for this
film. One of them was a 383-V8 with automatic transmission! It was used for
those long straight, high speed shots mostly, and was in the best shape of the
four cars after the filming ended. The cars were given back to Dodge.....I
wonder what suckers bought those abused 440s as new!
8/3/96- It's theorized that the use of the Camaro in the big finale is
intentionally obvious and meant to suggest that Kowalski was not killed in the
end, but that someone else rammed those Bulldozers. However, that sounds like a
diehard-fan-created idea for a sequel to me. The VHS tape shows the Camaro
impacting from the rear for just two frames. And the Challenger is shown just
prior to the impact from the front bearing down on the bulldozers as close as
only 20 feet before the instantaneous switch to the Camaro's rear view.
New pic is of a look-alike car.....built from a 1973 to appear as a 1970
model...gorgeous job!
1/2/99- Long overdue, I've added a link to one of the best 'V.P.' websites
around...check it out at http://www.geocities.com/1970ufo/vpoint.html.
If you have more info or pics of this car and would like to help improve this
site...Email me!!!!
Wayne's World, II
, also: 'Thelma and Louise'
Car
1992 and 1993 Cars: 1975-77 AMC Pacers.
Several AMC Pacers were used for the films, including the pictured one, above
left, which was used for interior shots, hence, no need for the flames. Another
had the roof cut off (ARRGH!) to form a convertible for the 'Thelma and Louise'
ending of 'WW:2'. Also in the second film, a yellow Pacer wagon appears
briefly, driven by a female version of Garth! Strangely, the 'Mirth Limo 1'
cost $35,000 to build, yet is still powered by it's 258 6 cylinder....and a
hell of a long driveshaft! It was made from two Pacer coupes (note the tandem
rear axles).
8/2/99- AMC Content: The Pacers, naturally!
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The Wraith
, also: The Driver
1983? Car: Dodge MP4 'Turbo Interceptor' prototype.
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