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Are they towing a bank safe? 5 crazy movie car stunts

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Cape Town - With the release of action/thriller 'Baby Driver' at cinemas, we take a look at some of the craziest car movie stunts.

READ: GTA gone wild - 'Baby Driver' movie review

'Baby Driver' is a refreshing take on the archetype 'getaway driver' film and must for all car enthusiasts or fans of high-speed crime capers. It is not as dark nor intense as the 'Fast and the Furious' franchise though it's filled with crazy chase scenes.

With that in mind we look at some of the craziest car chases/stunts in cinematic history. The 'Fast Five' money-safe chase, as well as the Bad Boys 2 epic highway scene made the cut. 

5. Fast Five - The unsafe safe scene

Paul Walker and Vin Diesel tow a bank vault at high speed...no, really.

This scene is a CGI-fest but the Fast Five bank vault escape will remain as one of the greatest examples of vehicular lunacy in modern cinema. It's a case of something so unreal being recreated in a realistic manner that makes it so captivating.

4. Bad Boys 2 - Ferrari vs Car transporter 

Will Smith: "What are you doing man, shoot on the outside!" 

Put Will Smith and Martin Lawrence together on screen and you'll laugh for days. Put them in an action flick and something special is bound to happen as was the case in the exhilarating car chase in Bad Boys 2 (where's the 3rd movie Hollywood?). The pair, with Smith behind the wheel of a Ferrari 575 Maranello, find themselves dodging vehicles being dumped onto a highway from the rear of a truck.


What's your favourite crazy movie car stunt? Tell us why

3. Blue Brothers - Mall chase

One minute you're shopping and the next you're dodging cars

In a scene that wouldn't be out of place in a Grand Theft Auto video game, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, who played the 'Blue Brothers', destroy a shopping mall as shoppers run for cover. Being tailed by the police, the brothers decide to drive through a shopping centre, even pointing out which stores they drove through. Showcased in 1980, the mall remained untouched and damaged for more than 30 years after.

2. Gone in 60 Seconds (1974)  - The bridge jump

Eleanor was actually gone for 40 minutes, not 60

While Nicholas Cage starred in the epic remake of Gone in 60 seconds in 2000, the original movie had one of the most thrilling police car chases of its time. What makes the 1974 original even more astonaishing was that the film was created without the technology we have today (Read: CGI). The ending scene was followed by a 40 minute police chase as Maindrain Pace (Henry Halicki) tries to steal a 1963 Mustang Eleanor.

1. Bullitt - The chase

The gold standard of grin-inducing, white-knuckle car chases... 

This 1968 classic produced one of the best car stunt/chases yet and will remembered for a long time. The most significant aspect of the car chase is that it was made without (CGI) and so many stunt cars totalled. It required real driving ability and skill in a car (Ford Mustang GT fastback) at a time without modern tech such as traction control. The scene may not have had any dramatic music to it but to a petrolhead it's symphony in its own right.


What's your favourite crazy movie car stunt? Tell us why here.



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