We find a high-speed chase scene thrilling, especially when it goes off the rails. The moment when a car goes airborne is often the most memorable part of the entire film. That how generations of Evel Knievel fans and Dukes of Hazard viewers were created. Some movies went the extra mile to give us that thrill, whether it was a dangerous and complicated stunt or enhanced in post-production. Some are exciting, some are tragic, and some are just plain funny. Remember when Jake and Elwood drove off a bridge in The Blues Brothers?
It’s one of the more ridiculous car chase scenes out there but it’s insanely funny for that same reason. Not only are they able to stop the car before going off the unfinished bridge, but then Elwood manages to back up, somehow send the car into a backflip, and then go sailing over the Neo-Nazi-carrying car that’s hot on their tail. And then of course the insanity transfers to the Nazi car when it goes off the bridge at full speed and then proceeds to fly over the city while it’s somehow still falling from a much greater height than it started at. Ah yes, the insanity of comedy is great.
Relive five of the most memorable airborne car scenes in movies, with video evidence, at TVOM.