The 20 most iconic chase scenes in movies

From a cinematic and photographic sense, the famous moment from this Alfred Hitchcock classic, where a stranded Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is being chased by a menacing crop duster in the middle of nowhere, remains one of the great visuals in film history. For the time, the camera work was highly innovative and lauded for its originality and creativity. It's been taught in film classes for decades, and remains thrilling and horrifying to this day.

Steve McQueen (playing Lt. Frank Bullitt) in a Ford Mustang GT chasing his perps through the streets of San Francisco -- and the surrounding area. Does it get much better than this? Though released in the late 1960s, the chase scene still stands up very well today. It has everything. High speed, constant tire squealing and screeching and those always popular airborne moments when speeding through the hilly city. 

The legendary Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (Gene Hackman) is in pursuit of an elevated New York City train, which is carrying his target -- Pierre "Frog Two" Nicoli (Marcel Bozzuffi). The problem, he's on the streets in a car he took from a passerby. And, Doyle bangs up that car and himself pretty bad during the chase. Meanwhile, Nicoli eventually hijacks a car on the train, starts shooting, which eventually leads the conductor to have a heart attack. The train is eventually stopped via emergency brake. A battered Nicoli escapes the train and descends down some platform stairs, where Doyle awaits. 

This early 1970s cult classic picture features Barry Newman as car delivery driver Kowalski. In one of the movie's most notable scenes, Kowalski barrels his way in a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T 440 Magnum, that he must deliver to San Francisco from Colorado. Tearing down the highway, Kowalski is pursued by motorcycle highway police patrol (with Jimmy Walker's "Where Do We Go From Here?" blaring, courtesy of blind DJ Super Soul, played by Clevon Little). There is no obstacle too tough for Kowalski to handle along the way. Honorable mention: Kowalski outlasting a patrol vehicle, while weaving and maneuvering other cars on the road.

This wouldn't be a proper list without an appearance from James Bond. With Roger Moore in the starring role, Bond finds himself in Austria, on a pair of downhill skis, navigating a massive mountain while trying not to get shot by the trio of Russian agents, who are pursuing him -- while also on skis. From the gun-fashioned ski pole to the tasty backflip, it's one of the most memorable scenes in the Bond movie history. Especially when he skis off the cliff of the mountain, only to be saved by his British-themed parachute.

The Warriors did plenty of running from the cops and fellow gangs while bopping their way from the Bronx to Coney Island. And, the most memorable of those chases came when the Warriors confronted the infamous Baseball Furies outside Manhattan's 96th Street train station. The Furies certainly looked intimidating with their faces painted and chasing the Warriors through Riverside Park with baseball bats. Of course, the Furies proved no physical match for the boys from Coney, who wasted them rather easily. 

Jake and Elwood seemed constantly to be fleeing from the police -- and those dastardly Illinois Nazis. There's the classic car chase where the brothers destroyed a south suburban shopping mall ("New Oldsmobiles are in early this year."), and a few Illinois State Police squad cars in the process. And, of course, the epic final chase that included law enforcement officials from multiple agencies and jurisdictions (plus those same Illinois Nazis and concluded in Chicago's downtown "Loop" area. Who can forget the Bluesmobile's famous reverse flip to clear an unfinished expressway.

Whether outrunning a massive rolling rock boulder in a booby-trapped Peruvian temple or trying to recapture the lost Ark of the Covenant from evil French grave-robbing archeologist René Belloq, by dangerously maneuvering his way under a moving surplus truck, Indiana Jones defied death quite often in this classic first installment of the famed franchise of films. Of course, to those young viewers watching for the first time, don't try any of these stunts at home.

Elliott (Henry Thomas), his brother and pals will do anything to get E.T. home, and by any mobile means necessary. In this case, their bicycles. With police and official government vehicles on their tails, the boys -- with E.T. sitting in the basket attached to a bike, pedal their hearts out through a local subdivision and hills and, quite memorably, in the air when E.T.'s powers take the group to the sky to avert a roadblock in one of the most beloved scenes in cinema history. 

Old friends, on the verge of becoming enemies, Terry (Jeff Bridges) and Jake (James Woods), decide to relive the old days by racing down Sunset Blvd. in their high-powered sports cars in the middle of the day. Recklessly weaving in and out of unsuspecting traffic, chasing each other without any concern for the public's welfare, it's perhaps the memorable scene for this underrated 1980s drama.

Far-fetched? Sure. But a skateboard chase scene through the streets of Anaheim -- and even on the expressway -- was just another guilty pleasure aspect of this Christian Slater film from the late 1980s. Bad guy Ed Lawndale (Richard Herd) takes a police car in a getaway attempt. only to find out that Brian (Slater) -- on his board -- and his skater buddies, including the legendary Tony Hawk driving a Pizza Hut delivery truck, proved more than he bargained. 

Giant prehistoric, worm-like monsters  have terrorized a small Nevada desert, and it's up to handymen Val (Kevin Bacon) and Earl (Fred Ward) to save the day. That pair, plus a host of townspeople, find themselves challenged by these invading creatures. Guns and bombs don't totally do the trick. So wild-man Val decides to lure the  last-remaining creature to chase him, Earl and local graduate student Rhonda (Finn Carter). He runs to the end of a cliff, where the creature crashes through the face of the mountain side and to its ultimate, gruesome demise. 

FBI agents Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) and Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey) used both car and foot to chase the bank-robbing clan dubbed the "Ex-Presidents" in this 1990s action favorite. Following a reckless chase through the streets that results in the agents' car crashing, Utah sets out on foot to capture the thieves, who start a literal fire fight at a gas station after ditching their car with now-deflated tires. The foot chase between Utah and the Ronald Reagan robber goes through residential homes, where Utah is attacked by a dog and female homeowner at one point. In the end, Utah does not get his man -- or the others.

There's certainly a lot going on with this stellar chase scene from the second installment of the Terminator franchise of films. A young John Connor (Edward Furlong) is riding for his life on a dirt bike through the streets of Los Angeles, from the seemingly unstoppable T-1000 (Robert Patrick), who begins the pursuit on foot, then takes over a semi. Of course, the Arnold Schwarzenegger  Terminator is also in the mix, on his own motorcycle. He eventually grabs John, and with shotgun in hand, takes aim at the pursuing bad guy. High speed, Hollywood fun.

Talk about going out in style. It's the end of the line for pals Thelma Dickinson (Geena Davis) and Louise Sawyer (Susan Sarandon). OK, it's not a full-blown chase, though, a host of police cars and a helicopter have finally caught up with the wanted pair of free-spirited, empowered duo. So, rather than give themselves up, Louise steps on the gas and the pair takes off with Det. Hal Slocumb (Harvey Keitel) chases on foot, then drives off the edge of the Grand Canyon for one of the most memorable movie endings of all time. 

Amid the annals of Mission: Impossible films, the motorcycle chase between Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) just might be the gold standard. And, from any action film for that matter. But even before Ethan and Ambrose go head-to-head, Hunt's one-wheel bike spin and shoot is the stuff legends are made. Then Ethan straddles the machine on his feet while using the moving bike as a shield from Ambrose's bullets. Of course, it all comes to a memorable end when each jumps off his bike right into a mid-air tackle. 

This highly underrated Quentin Tarantino film is best known for its extended, almost two-part car chase. Which is highlighted by famed stuntwoman Zoë Bell, playing a fictionalized version of herself, and riding the hood of a 1970 Dodge Challenger,  while fastened to the moving vehicle, in a stunt called "Ship's Mast." The fun ends when aging and seedy stuntman Mike McKay (Kurt Russell) pursues and crashes into the car, causing Bell to fall off. The two remaining girls in the car, Abernathy (Rosario Dawson) and Kim (Tracie Thoms) then chase down Mike for payback. 

One of the great visual chase scenes this century. The massive chase, amid a sandstorm, is over-the-top, full-on bombast. Just what we'd expect from this type of all-out action movie, which won six Academy Awards, mostly for its production. Thrown in a couple of Hollywood heavyweights in Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy, and it's no wonder this scene remains highly celebrated within the realm of sci-fi action cinema. 

Talk about opening a movie with a bang. Ansel Elgort plays Miles, aka "Baby," a for-hire getaway driver, who escorts three bank robbers played by Jon Hamm, Jon Bernthal and Eiza González after the job. The rest is chase-scene history. Miles is exceptional behind the wheel. Tight on the turns, constantly peeling out and a pure genius when it comes to eluding the authorities. All while listening to Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s “Bellbottoms."

This movie version of the popular ABC action drama series from the 1980s was not very good, but the car chase/fight scene, involving Ryan Gosling's Colt Seavers trying to save friend Alma (Stephanie Hsu), who can more than handle her own while stuck in a flatbed, is big-time fun. Fighting while amid a high-speed chase is worth a nod, no matter how much visual enhancement is used. Of course, Emily Blunt's Jody, Colt's former squeeze, simultaneously singing a karaoke version of Phil Collins' "Against All Odds (fitting since that film is also mentioned on this list), is a nice touch.