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— by Ben Cosgrove
Ah, the glamour, romance and sex appeal of automobiles. They're status symbols and emblems of freedom. They're beloved, temperamental pets — big, bad, gas-guzzling pets built from metal, rubber and glass. And, let's face it, in the right hands, at the right moment they can make for some wonderfully horrific crashes. With this week's release of Electronic Arts' "Burnout Revenge," car crashes in the gaming world have, in a sense, become stars in their own right. Far be it for us to let the moment pass without a few shout-outs to some of the greatest car crashes ever to rumble and splatter across the big screen. Start your engines.
 "Collateral" (2004)
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Near the end of this compelling, uneven Michael Mann action flick, Max (Jamie Foxx) — fed up with the murderous tendencies of his fare, Vincent (Tom Cruise, at times looking weirdly like a young Ralph Lauren) — decides to take matters into his own hands and regain control of his life. Cruising the near-empty early morning streets of L.A., mumbling like a crazy man about the slew of homicides that Vincent (still in the backseat) has perpetrated over the course of the night, Max floors it, hurling himself into a typically Mann-tastic car wreck: car flipping in mid-air, sparks flying, metal screeching — the whole shebang.
"The Bourne Supremacy" (2004)
Clocking in at nearly two hours, "The Bourne Supremacy" nevertheless flies by, largely because there are so many freakishly entertaining action sequences, and because Matt Damon has evolved into an excellent action-film star. When he's handling a gun, fighting off an assassin or driving a car, one senses that he knows what he's doing, and the centerpiece chase-and-crash scene here, involving speeding cars in a busy Moscow tunnel, has that same quality of believability: It's intense, and verges on hurtling out of control, but director Paul Greengrass and stunt coordinator Dan Bradley make us feel we're there.
"Final Destination 2" (2003)
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Nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Action Sequence, the ingeniously choreographed multi-car pileup at the beginning of this above-average teen horror flick is, simply, one of the better car-wreck sequences ever shot. It's long, genuinely scary and — unlike most crash scenes, which often feel gratuitous, even when they're enjoyable to watch — it sets the stage for everything that follows.
"Bad Boys II" (2003)
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This Will Smith and Martin Lawrence live-action cartoon is, in many ways, a car wreck unto itself. Loud, frantic and as subtle as a hammer upside the head, it also has one of the most over-the-top crash sequences ever put on screen. You see, it seems that these drug runners (or are they gunrunners, or car thieves or ecstasy-gobbling zombies? It hardly matters) are driving a big semi-tractor trailer filled with cars across a bridge, and undercover narcs Marcus and Mike (Lawrence and Smith) are on their tail. The guys in the truck then proceed to toss cars into the cops' path, one by one, setting off a series of thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying acts of automotive destruction. Does this qualify, technically, as a "car crash"? Does anyone really care? Hit that rewind button, and let's go again.
"Adaptation" (2002)
Self-indulgent tripe? A brilliant take on writer's block and the impermanent nature of individual identity? Neither? Both? Whatever. Director Spike Jonze, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and Nicolas Cage — playing dual roles as twin brothers Charlie (yes, that Charlie) and Donald Kaufman — bring Susan Orleans' botanical bestseller, "The Orchid Thief," to life, and in the process provide us with not one but two lovely crashes. One of them occurs near the end of the film, as the plot spins (intentionally) out of control, but the film's most astonishing smashup involves the über-reliable Chris Cooper, as the orchid thief John Laroche, cheerfully backing his car out of a driveway and getting horrifically blindsided by a another vehicle. The suddenness and unexpectedness of this crash, along with the masterful way it's shot — the perspective is eerily intimate, from inside the doomed car itself, while the sound of the crash is as terrifying as the visuals — make this one unforgettable.
"The Fast and the Furious" (2001)
When Vin Diesel finally crashes his '69 Dodge Charger black beauty in "The Fast and the Furious" in spectacular style, one of the many conflicting emotions elicited by the scene is relief. After all, we'd known all along that either Dom (Diesel) or Brian (Paul Walker) was going to have to take a high-speed header into big-screen car-wreck immortality. We're just glad that here, in the "Citizen Kane" of nitrous-fueled street-racing movies, Vin made it look so smooth.
"The Road Warrior" (1981)
Seen this movie lately? If not, go pick it up. On the other hand, if you have seen it recently, you know that this exhilarating freak show ages very, very well. Starring Mel Gibson — playing a leather-clad messiah figure named Max with charm and humor, rather than relying on his more recent acting style of smarmy smugness — "The Road Warrior" features a whole slew of enjoyably non-CGI-enhanced car crashes. But none are more eye-popping than the wreck that Max engages in while attempting to drive his heavily modified V8 Interceptor through a horde of dusty, snaggle-toothed crazies camped in the desert around a fortified compound of groovy, gas-hording Aussies. That his badass, booby-trapped car is subsequently destroyed in a fiery explosion is enough to bring tears to the eyes of gearheads everywhere.
"The Blues Brothers" (1980)
Including this film here as just one of several films that feature car crashes is a little like including "Moby Dick" in a list of books about fishing. The legendary car crash sequence in this movie, in which dozens — nay! scores! — of cop cars and other autos systematically and hilariously self-destruct under the seemingly divine influence of some higher being who really likes to see big metal things smash into each other remains, a quarter-century later, the car-crash scene that people routinely mention first when asked to name their favorite. There might be more dramatic, stylized or violent scenes of cinematic vehicular mayhem out there, but it's a safe bet that there are none more beloved.
"Bullitt" (1968)
While Steve McQueen's signature film is rightly celebrated for its high-octane chase through the streets and hills of San Francisco, it's worth noting that the scene ends with a couple of messed-up cars: Lieutenant Frank Bullitt's (McQueen's) 1968 GT 390 Mustang lands in a ditch, while the Dodge Charger carrying a couple of hit men flies (literally, it takes to the air) into some fuel tanks and explodes. As in, ka-boom. Good times.
Honorable Mentions:
Yes, yes, of course, the list above is hardly exhaustive. Here, then, to keep the grumblers happy, are several other films that feature hellishly fun car crashes, but that, for one reason or another, aren't mentioned above: "The Matrix Reloaded," pretty much any "Terminator" movie, "The Rock," "Harold and Maude" (Jaguar off a cliff, anyone?), "The Vanishing Point," "Crash" (both Cronenberg's and Paul Haggis'), "Fight Club" and on and on and on.
Happy trails!
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Photos: Electronic Arts, Inc.
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