The Blues Brothers, Transformers National Lampoon's Vacation.
Fine in their own right, but a world away from more serious films such as thrillers, horrors or true life dramas, where much like real life, car crashes are terrifying ordeals capable of changing everything - taking someone's life or changing one forever.
So here we salute those scenes which frankly almost have us watching from the gaps between our fingers. Those moments in cinema doesn't seem so warm anymore.
Buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride...
Final Destination 2
Final Destination 2 had been set in a hamper-strewn playing field, it
Vanilla Sky
Vanilla Sky.
Adaptation
Adaption
Death Proof
Kurt Russell as a seriously warped stuntman
Amores Perros
Amores Perros
Casino Royale
Bloody hell, Daniel Craig. Your first outing as Bond and you go and write off your first shiny Aston Martin only minutes after getting behind the wheel - M was right, you weren't ready for 00 status. Though perhaps therein lies the secret of Casino Royale's twisty charm: in having the the spy's kidnapped love interest placed right between headlights on a dimly lit road, giving Bond no chance but to sacrifice his handsome vehicle to save the girl before we even got to see as much as an ejector seat, audiences didn't know whether to clap or cry.
Disturbia
TMZThe Lion King,
Vanishing Point
To some critics, Kowalski (the all-round daredevil racing driver pursued across the states in this trippy seventies thriller) didn’t really die. No, he transcended death, embodying the free loving, counter culture spirit of the hedonistic seventies by sacrificing himself so others could get groovy. The smile pasted across his face before he wilfully crashes into a barrier might have you thinking likewise, but the sheer fact his demise comes seemingly from nowhere makes it even more of a shuddering car wreck. Unforgettable.
No Country For Old Men
So pokerfaced was Javier Bardem’s portrayal of an unstoppable, sadistic hit man who violently cattle prods his way through this grizzly Coen Brothers offering, we wouldn’t have batted an eyelid had it transpired the bowl-haired assassin was sent back in time by Skynet. As it was, this final, fender-bending scene of his proved he actually was flesh and blood. We bet he's not insured either, the monster.
Duel
Duel
