Best Opening Scene In A Car Flick

I thought I was done with blog posts, but I recently had the opportunity to re-watch one of my favorite car movies which contains my absolute favorite opening scene in any movie. I am talking about the 2011 critically acclaimed film “Drive”. The movie opens with a night car chase through the streets of Los Angeles. I will summarize it briefly but I highly recommend that you watch the video I have linked above. Actually, scratch that watch the whole movie. It is absolute gold which contains other car chases with an amazing plot and excellent acting.

Our unnamed protagonist (portrayed by Ryan Gosling) who I will be referring from here on out as “The Driver” is seen explaining the terms of his getaway service to some burglars via a phone call. He then leaves to visit his friend and mechanic named Shannon (played by Bryan Cranstron AKA Walter freaking White). Shannon shows him the car he has prepared for him and makes statements like “plain Jane boring just like you asked for, but I dropped in 300 horses on the inside and she is gonna fly” as well as “Chevy Impala, most popular car in the state of California, no one will be looking at you”. This suggests that the vehicle could be a de-badged Impala SS, a regular Impala with an LS4 transplant as that would have 300 horsepower or a souped up Impala with the standard 3.8L iron block V6.

The Driver meets the criminals outside of some sort of warehouse and they begin their break in. During this, The Driver is seen turning on his police scanner while listening to the local basketball game. After the two burglars make it into the back seat of the Impala, The Driver leaves the scene of the crime. This is where the chase diverges from the standard Hollywood car chase. Instead of using speed and daredevil stunts to make an escape, The Driver uses stealth to avoid the law. He ducks behind cars, hides under overpasses and never forgets to turn off his headlights so that he doesn’t attract attention. However, The Driver isn’t afraid to get on the throttle when he is spotted by helicopters or patrol vehicles.

The Driver continues to evade police through Los Angeles for a few minutes to buy him some time until he can execute his final play, all while listening to the basketball game. Just as the buzzer signifies the end of the game through the radio, The Driver pulls into the stadium parking garage and parks. The Driver and burglars exit the vehicle and disappear into the sea of people trying to leave the stadium. The Driver takes off his jacket, puts on a baseball cap and walks right by police officers trying to get into the parking garage.

This may be my favorite car chase because it feels very grounded in reality. There are no Fast & Furious type stunts yet every second is intense and heart pounding. It is the perfect way to open such an amazing film. Like I said I highly recommend this movie. The cast is perfect and the script is amazing. There are other car chases later on in the film, most notably one between a Ford Mustang GT with the 5.0 and a Chrysler 300 with the 5.7 Hemi.

I know I thought I could be done doing blog posts and I don’t know if I will be getting back into them in the future. I am currently in the moving process as I have recently graduated college and will be starting my new career soon. I hope you enjoyed this post and let me know your favorite car chases or opening scenes in car movies in the comments below.