Chase scenes are awesome and they are essential in every action movie. It doesn’t even matter if it’s a car, a helicopter, a horse, a motorcycle or a snowmobile. They represent speed, power, and in some cases coolness. Just think of Keira Knighley atop her Ducati, Jack Nicholson on his Chopper in Easy Rider or Steve Mcqueen smoking on his race bike. We’ve picked a couple of our personal favorite motorcycle scenes and made a list out of them.
1. Mad Max – Kawasaki Z1000
This is an interesting one. The movie was shot in 12 weeks, on a meager $350,000 budget, in and around Melbourne. Actually, it was so low-budget that some of the police in the films had costumes made from vinyl and Kawasaki donated the motorbikes, including the famous 1977 Z1000. The biker gang was an actual biker gang and they had to ride to the set each day in-costume, often with their prop weapons displayed. When the Kawasaki barrels full speed into the truck at the end, look closely: the entire rig is a fake. The director paid a truck driver $50 to run over the motorcycle and the dummy, but the driver didn’t want to mess the front of his rig up so the crew installed a “shield” on the truck. Fake or not, the collision is brutal.
Kawasaki Z1000 Spec and Photos
2. Matrix Reloaded – Ducati 998
This is one of the longest motorcycle chase scenes I’ve ever seen. Even more impressive that they didn’t film it in front of a green screen. The thing is, the directors (the Wachowski brothers) assumed that they have to film it in the studio, but stunt coordinator R A Rondell told them that they could actually do all of the things they had dreamt up for real. The result is an adrenaline fueled action sequence with a Ducati 998 that matches Trinity’s shiny, slick style. This chase scene is my personal highlight in the second movie of the trilogy.
Ducati 998 S 2002 Spec and Photos
3. Rambo: First Blood – Yamaha XT250
Surprisingly, the first Rambo movie features a great motorcycle chase. Sylvester Stallone flees from prison on a stolen Yamaha XT and leads the Sheriff through a little town into the woods. The interesting part of the scene is the engine sound: the Yamaha XT250 has a 4-stroke engine but if you listen closely, you will hear the sound of a 2-stroke engine. The producers obviously decided that a 2-stroke sound fits better to the atmosphere. Another fine detail is the scene where Rambo jumps over the train tracks. If you look closely, you can see the ramp.
1983 Yamaha Xt250 Spec and Photos
4. Terminator 2: Judgment Day – Harley-Davidson FLSTF “Fat Boy”
There’s a reason James Cameron is one of the best action directors in Hollywood. In the 1991 sequel of the Terminator John Connor flees on a dirtbike, pursued by the T1000 in a huge truck. Then Arnie turns up and hauls Connor onto his chopper and rides off down the concrete channel. What soon follows is an all-time great chase scene where all participants are willing to ignore the fundamental rules of highway safety. The highlight of the scene is the jump into the storm drain. It was performed by a stuntman and the bike was supported by one-inch cables, so that when they hit the ground, the bike and rider only weighed 180 pounds. The cables were later digitally erased in the editing room.
1990 Harley-Davidson FLSTF Fat Boy Spec
5. Skyfall – Honda CFR250R
One hallmark of James Bond movies is that they always open with an action scene. You may or may not like Daniel Craig as the 007, but this motorcycle chase scene is a classic. The filmmakers modified a couple of Honda CBR250R’s and got freestyle motocross legend Robbie Madison to do the stunts. The result is a brilliant chase scene, an absurd demonstration of daring – just watch the behind-the-scenes video Honda released after the premiere.
6. The Great Escape – Triumph 650 TT Special
Steve McQueen is not just the king of cool, but the king of chase scenes. He played the lead role in Bullitt which featured the best car chase scene in the history of action movies, and he was also an action junkie in real life. In this 1963 movie, McQueen escapes a German prison camp, captures a German motorcycle and attempts to ride to the freedom of Switzerland. The German army pursues him with great effort and the movie ends with a daring stunt as he tries to jump the motorbike over a huge fence of barbed wire. McQueen was riding the motorcycle during the whole film while stunt rider Bud Ekins performed the memorable jump over the barbed wire. They couldn’t use a World War Two BMW because of the speeds they were running so they took a Triumph 650 TT Special, painted it olive drab and put on a luggage rack and an old seat to make it look like a wartime BMW. A true classic.
