it’s sad when today’s demographic of 18-24 year old males can’t respect history. that car chase still holds today because it is real and not computer generated. i guess that means nothing to guys like you.

If you notice for most of the chase there isn’t even an annoying soundtrack in the background, just the sound of pure, unadulterated muscle grinding the pavement. Granted this is filmed in San Francisco but the filmmakers made a nice balance between putting enough vehicles on the streets and freeway to make it real and not overdone like so many other car chases. And back then, without annoying CGI and other lazy techniques, you know these guys were doing it for real.

This will always stand the test of time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etMjjdxDyAw

In terms of getting it as real as it can, Bullit certainly wins – they *were* actually chasing each other!

Whereas the title “best car chase” can be subjective, there’s no arguing that Bullitt really started the whole thing.

If I remember correctly, I heard on the radio that when they filmed the Bullitt car chase, the didn’t really cordon off the roads or anything like that – they simply put on a siren and started driving like mad. It was lucky that no pedestrian got hurt!

Unfortunately this particular clip posted on YouTube has a messed up aspect ratio, so the cars look odd.

See also the definitive definition of Martial Arts Movie fighter: Bruce Lee.
Or Martial Arts Movie Stunts: Jackie Chan.

I don’t care about realism, I want to be thrilled, and that’s what a car chase scene is SUPPOSED to do.

Otherwise, there are a LOT of less boring ways to have a chase scene than to show people calmly siting in their cars, driving around in the city. Why not have them chase after each other on foot? Why not on roller skates? Why not on skateboards or with jetpacks? Seriously, people sitting in their cars driving around town just does not a chase scene make!

at which Steve’s stuntman Bud Ekins, Cinematographer Bill Fraker and one of the actors gave a talk and a QandA. One thing I remember is that Fraker said he saw the speedo reach 95 while he was directing the camera mounted on a motorbike sidecar.

To me, the reason that it’s the best ever is that it’s told like a story and not done as an excuse for specific spills and thrills. As such, it doesn’t take you out of the movie by being far fetched.
Those newer car chases that may “blow this out of the water” are almost invariably done with an eye for specific stunt scenarios, and are often unbelievable in terms of the superhuman feats of driving skills, or implausible survivals from crashes, for example.
Even the famous chase scene from “French Connection”, just a few years after Bullitt was something that somehow didn’t fit into the rest of the movie.
And the more recent famous scene from “Ronin”, shot on the “busy” streets of Paris (nowhere near as busy as a realistic day) involved a lot of faking, and implausible escapes and close shaves. Thrilling, it may be, but they did it first and best in Bullitt.

In my opinion, this is the best car chase ever. If you’ve got your own fav car chases, please share ‘em here.

In fact, this is just plain boring compared to today’s offerings. I know, I know, this is where it all really started, but still, to say this is the best EVER is really stretching it.

According to wiki:

# The Mustang’s interior rearview mirror goes up and down depending on who is driving. When the mirror is up, visible, McQueen is behind the wheel, and when it is down, not visible, Ekin is in the car.
# The director called for speeds of about 75 to 80 mph (120 to 130 km/h), but the cars (including the ones containing the cameras) reached speeds of over 110 mph (175 km/h) on surface streets.

I don’t think they’ll ever do it again: it’s much too dangerous to race around a real city like that. Most of the movies probably use bluescreen.