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Cars which should/should not appear in an action sequence
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Feliks, Moderator
(last edited Oct 15, 2015 01:10PM)
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Oct 15, 2015 01:03PM
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VW Beetle. Unless it's getting crushed, damaged or plain blown up in some explosive fashion.
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but *this* Beetle starred in a lot of chases--not serious chases but 'fun' chases..
Feliks wrote: "Here's the ug-lee Beetle style I think Samuel was referring to:but *this* Beetle starred in a lot of chases--not serious chases but 'fun' chases..
Yep. It should be mandated that the monstrosity of the 21st century beetle, need to be crushed, shot full of holes or blown up in car chases.
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Feliks wrote: "Indeed. That's such a girl's vehicle. The roadway is a battleground, get that fuzzy bunny slipper booshwaa off the macadam...ma'am!"Speaking of which, one should never have an original or current Fiat 500 in a car chase.
But, but, the Pope goes around in a Fiat 500!
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I was simply going to mention that in one of the only-moderately-silly Moore movies, his escape vehicle is a dorky Citroen 2CV. But I just now saw (while I going to fetch the image above) that in some stupid web poll, "voters" rated it the #1 chase of the franchise. Clue that they don't know what they're on about? The rest of the ten-slot list, names everyone who played Bond except Connery, who is only mentioned twice. What can you do with fans this green?
I mean, Moore even used a double-decker bus in a chase in 'Live and Let Die'; if you're gonna laud the Citroen-down-the-mountainside-sequence, why not cite that as well? I'm not against "using whatever vehicle is at hand" for a chase but let's keep things in perspective.
In Quebec, the nickname for the Citroen 2CV is 'Le Citron', or 'The Lemon' in French. Nuf said!
Another one to the list. Toyota Camry! For use as a surveillance tail car it's perfect due to its utter blandness but the handling isn't the most precise and there are more cost effective options for a getaway vehicle.
One funny car chase was in a very old comedy movie of the 1960s, 'ONE, TWO, THREE!', a satire of East-West Cold War confrontation that pits the American manager of the Berlin branch of Coca Cola against a bunch of bumbling Soviet secret police agents. Those same secret police agents at one point try to chase the Coca Cola manager and his East German protégé. The problem is that they are in an East German-built TRABANT, while the Coca Cola manager is in a Rolls Royce. The result is predictable, with the TRABANT quickly falling apart during the pursuit.
Michel wrote: "One funny car chase was in a very old comedy movie of the 1960s, 'ONE, TWO, THREE!', a satire of East-West Cold War confrontation that pits the American manager of the Berlin branch of Coca Cola ag..." This? By the looks of things, I think it's a Mercedes rather than the Rolls but your point still stands. Bigger, more powerful engine, superior handling and if things had gotten pear shaped, the heavy body would have ground the trabant to a pulp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x2oN...
Sorry about the misidentification of the Mercedes. I am pretty good at identifying any military vehicle or plane, but civilian cars?
Michel wrote: "Sorry about the misidentification of the Mercedes. I am pretty good at identifying any military vehicle or plane, but civilian cars?"No need to apologize. The grill does have some minor resemblance to the one Rolls Royce uses.
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And of course the AMC Pacer John Denver drove in the comedy "Oh God!"
Feliks wrote: "AMC produced some vehicles that appeared in some good movie sequences. Still one of the best Bond car chases ever (because it was real) was the AMC Hornet/Javelin jumping the boat canal in Thailand..."Thats a great picture.
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Feliks wrote: "AMC produced some vehicles that appeared in some good movie sequences. Still one of the best Bond car chases ever (because it was real) was the AMC Hornet/Javelin jumping the boat canal in Thailand..."Have to hand it to Eon for paying for the computer modeling which allowed them to know such a stunt was possible. Shame however, that they ordered John Barry to included the most unsuitable special effect rather than leaving it silent which would have been perfect.
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BTW here's the latest incarnation of the drudge known as the Camry. Its a horrible looking thing no matter what the edition.
Don't get me wrong, the classic era had drab and bland cars as well--Dodge Dart, I'm looking at you--but never anything as featureless or as homogenous as the epitome-of-boring, the Camry. Its not even a word that carries any meaning to anyone, is it? So how can it be held to account? I mean if you have a car named 'Dart' you can say to yourself: "yeah this looks vaguely like a dart". What is a Camry supposed to look like?
Feliks wrote: "Agreed. Its tragically marred by that slide-whistle sound effect.BTW here's the latest incarnation of the drudge known as the Camry. Its a horrible looking thing no matter what the edition.
Well the name is the Anglicized version of the Japanese word for "crown". It's predecessors were "Tiara" and "Scepter".
The executives up in Toyota City wanted something which they could "fit in" around the world. They succeeded beyond their wildest imaginations.
Do..."
Oh, I've just remembered! Vauxhall Astra Gen 3-5! Gen 6 gets a pass because it doesn't look too shabby at all. And the first two generations are probably all in the scrapheap by now.
The original Bentley Continental. Too big and slow. The current generation one however is a massive improvement and fit for an action thriller sequence, lean and mean unlike its predecessor. You can take one round a World Rally Championship track and it can duke it out with the best of them.
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You can see it in action in at least two thriller films, one the Alistair MacLean 'Fear is the Key' starring Barry Newman(?) and the other..a Joe Don Baker film? Can't recall
Feliks wrote: "if we're talking Brit, I'll put in a plug for the awesome Jensen Interceptor. Hand-built.You can see it in action in at least two thriller films, one the Alistair MacLean 'Fear is the Key' starri..."
Ah, one of the "nicer products" of the British automotive industry before things went to hell in a handcart.
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But yeah postwar Brit industry turned shoddy in so many ways. They fumbled so many stratagems.
Feliks wrote: "You're a stern arbitrator :PBut yeah postwar Brit industry turned shoddy in so many ways. They fumbled so many stratagems."
Yep. Got fat and slow, especially with the Asian firms moving in for the kill with reasonably priced and reliable products. And then the Unions were the ones to give the final push.
At least now days, the management is way more competent than the feckless British Leyland executives of times gone by. Helps that they're foreign, have big pockets and can hold the threat of having the large funds drying up over the companies that they own.
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Yeah, coal. Like the way the British government of the 40s and 50s sold overseas the best quality coal in order to pay their massive war debt, leaving only the lowest quality, high-sulfur content coal for domestic consumption, which caused terrible air pollution. That air pollution in turn ended causing the massive deaths of the 1952 London Killer Smog, which the government did its best to minimize and blame on other factors, including a non-existen flu epidemic.
Caterham 7. Because the driver is exposed. Sure, it has excellent handling capabilities and goes like a scalded rat out of hell, but one lucky, well aimed shot and it's all over.
Cadillac Escalade. It might be a suitable gun platform, but with everything else, it's rubbish. Slow and not a good off road vehicle, reducing its flexibility in a chase. A Range Rover can run rings around it, literally.
Any thoughts on the Lincoln Town Car? Useful if you need to become a needle in a haystack if one happens to be in NY or DC. Has some decent engines. But I'm not sure about the handling capabilities. And the ubiquitous look doesn't look dashing if you're in a high speed car chase.
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they are among the most annoying objects on the streets
Feliks wrote: "true new Yorkers detest the Escalade and the Yukon and the ...Denali?they are among the most annoying objects on the streets"
I can only imagine. Like a shipping container on wheels by the looks of it.
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Feliks wrote: "Residents of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island...The Bronx..some parts of Manhattan.. can be pushed to the point of a killing rage if you exhibit poor parking courtesy. Its true. The rest of Amer..."I hear the foreign bigwigs/diplomats that work at the UN are some of the top offenders, using their diplomatic immunity to merrily dance around parking tickets and being arrested for illegal parking. True?
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Across the rest of the city--is where the problem is and the cause is just any ole' city employee with no ethics. NYPD cops, for instance--simply place some 'placard' in their front dash, and then go right ahead and break every rule they have the whim to. If anyone questions it, the complaint can easily be batted down; or diverted. If their cronies don't cover for them they still get off scot-free. PD, FD, SAN, Corrections, Water--they will all take such privileges whenever and wherever they can; whether or not they are actually entitled to special privileges not mattering at all. It doesn't even have to be any kind of 'legit' placard. Off-duty cops will pretend their on official business when they're out shopping with their wives. Basically if you're a city worker who --for the purpose of your job--you do any kind of driving, you have a dozen angles to play and two dozen illegal perks to get away with. You can steal gasoline, fake mileage, scam your insurance, etc etc etc
Feliks wrote: "That's the least of the offenders. Any city employee will take such privileges whenever and wherever they can; whether or not they are actually entitled to special privileges not mattering at all. ..."Wow. That's quite the racket they've managed to establish.
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Rolls Royce? Big engines but they aren't made to be driven aggressively. There is one though which can pass muster. Called the Wraith. 0-60 in 4.4 seconds and with only two doors, the weight drops and improves handling.
How about station wagons of all kinds? They're basically a glorified elongated sedan and if you need a suitable gun platform to carry lots of people in a pursuit, get a SUV.
Hatchbacks? Apart from the mini cooper of course ;)
