The iconic car chase in Bullitt is held up as the gold standard of movie car chases. If it has any serious competition, however, it surely must come from the 1998 action thriller Ronin, starring Robert De Niro and Jean Reno.
This is just one of the car chases in Ronin and it’s an absolute pleasure to watch. There’s a rocket launcher. There’s beautiful scenery. There are market stands being mowed down. There’s a 450SEL 6.9 burning rubber. This chase has it all.
I don’t know what’s more exhilarating to watch – a 450SEL being chucked around the narrow streets of Nice or what was then a near-new, top-of-the-line Audi S8 quickly getting destroyed during the chase. And a Citroën XM as the villains’ car? Sweeeeeeeet.
Ronin’s been in my Netflix queue for a while now, having heard nothing but good things about it. After watching this car chase scene, I’m much more inclined to see it now. Of course, as much as I like discussing movies in depth, I’m also simple. A well done action scene is pretty much something I’ll always take away and remember fondly, even if the rest of the movie didn’t hold up to those same standards.
Don’t forget the second chase, through the Paris urban expressways – I like it almost as much.
I thought that chase was much better of the two, there’s something a little too James Bondy about this one, too much going on, too many cars/actors, too caperish, it’s more of an elaborate action scene than a straight up car chase like the later one, which is very suspenseful.
Theres a reason -Rémy Julienne stunt driver/coordinator did Ronin and Bonds films from For Your Eyes Only to Goldeneye.
His first Bond stunt scene was the 2CV (repowered with flat 4’s) vs 504 chase scene.
It was because of this movie that I wanted an S8 for a long time, despite Audi’s dubious reliability histories.
It was the 6.9 for me!
Probably my favorite car chase scene EVER!
If Bullitt is the best car chase movie ever, this is a strong #2. These car chases are all pre-digital, and no sped up film either. Just skillful driving, and great cinematography. There is one scene where Robert De Niro is hanging on for dear life to a grab handle inside the car.
Better than Bullit and using actual cars and no trick filming, I’d have the XM in a heartbeat, I see the Audi doing handbrake turns to make up for the passive rear steer the Citroen had, and lurching around in a Benz nope.
I became a Natascha McElhone fan because of this film.
you should also check out the chase from 1973 movie The Seven Ups, same driver that was in the charger in Bullet but two cars that could have been curbsiders back then,
I love this chaise, you can hear a BMW ///M5 in-line six song:
Many European cars that you can now count as Curbside Classics. Maybe Johanes can tell us more about Renault Magnum and red cab DAF
I agree with another user’s comment that the first chase is too much like something out of a James Bond movie and the second is the better of the two chase scenes in Ronin. I know this is heresy, but I’d go so far as to suggest it’s also better than Bullitt. For one thing, Natascha McElhone is stunning, due in no small part to her acting ability. You just can’t take your eyes off of her. She’s a car-guy’s fantasy. There’s another great, earlier scene where she and Deniro are alone in a car and, in an attempt to be inconspicuous due to some passing police, Deniro kisses her. The danger passes and Deniro stops, but Natascha is aroused by the kiss and suddenly becomes amorous, effectively becoming the aggressor. But I digress.
Back to the second chase, there’s the really nice touch of the drivers constantly using ‘flash-to-pass’ (there’s even a shot of the girl in the BMW using the turn-signal stalk!). Of course, there’s Deniro being, well, Deniro. And I’m a fan of Jean Reno, as well.
Bullitt is a classic, but it’s more of a period piece of San Francisco in the late sixties. Ronin better stands the test of time.
There was a write on that chase somewhere apparently the 406 was a RHD model with the steering wheel lowered out of sight and Deniro was given a dummy to hold and he was quite scared during filming he certainly looks it, one thing for sure, if you rock the wheel back and forward like Deniro does during that chase a 406 will weave all over the road they have quite direct steering.
The M5 turned into a plain 5-series when it got a flat tire (but back into M5 a moment later)
Typical Hollywood when the M5 that can’t lose a Peugeot 406…
Given its narrow front fenders (same width as the cab), I’d say it’s a DAF FA 1600 from the seventies. The first generation of tilt-cab DAFs, dating back to 1970.
Thank you, Johannes!
I got to see that movie new in the theater and it’s been one of my favorites ever since. I think it’s actually a pretty good movie beyond the chases too.
It starts with a mini chase (and barf) early on, the great chase shown in the post, then the epic one through Paris late in the movie. The thing I never understood, though, is what’s the deal with the whitewalls on the BMW?
I was able to vacation in France several years after the movie came out. We stopped in a little town on the Mediterranean called Villefranche. When we were on the waterfront I had a strange feeling of recognizing the place. I realized it is where they filmed a scene in Ronin! The one where Deniro and the gang are eating in a waterfront cafe, Deniro gets a phone call from the waiter (back when that used to happen), then he meets up with his old contact. Looked just like in the movie.
The BMW doesn’t have whitewalls, the rims actually have a (large) center plate that can be removed but when it is in place (as intended) it does give a whitewall effect. I believe they were the standard wheels on the first two years of that generation M5. When the center plate is removed it’s actually a very attractive wheel design underneath.
Oh….Mystery solved! I learn so much from this site. My knowledge of euro cars is obviously quite shallow!
I’m not seeing whitewalls; those are just bright rims. BMW did use an interesting wheel design on some early-’90s M5s that if you didn’t look carefully could be mistaken for poverty-spec steelies with full wheel covers and tall-profile whitewall tires. They were actually five-spoke alloy wheels with directional covers that funneled air to the brakes, with the gap between the edge of the wheel covers and the thick, flush rims giving it the whitewall look. I loved it – this is the best sleeper wheel and tire setup ever – but not all M5 buyers did and the covers (and wheels?) were changed on later models of this generation.
The Ronin car chase scenes seem to have influenced the chase scenes from the Bourne series. The music had a resemblance as well. Was it the same stunt or production crew? One of the actors was a bad guy in both.
Ronin has great chase scenes, some maybe better than Bullitt, but Bullitt was about 30 years earlier, so I’m sure Ronin benefited from many technical advances. That said I would consider Bullit to be the “Grand Daddy” of the really good car chase scenes.
Bob
This is on quite a different level than the chases in Hunter! 🙂
My favorite chase scenes in a movie right here. Bullitt is in second for me. I still rewatch Ronin probably once a year. The DVD with the director’s cut (John Frankenheimer) overlay is fantastic, just hearing about how they did everything is great.
Overall a very enjoyable story as well with a great cast. We’ve been to to France a number times since this came out and have been to many of the places (Paris – the cafe at the beginning), Arles (bullring), Les Beaux (mountains with VW Golf) and several others. It was fun to find the places without knowing exactly where they were, the cafe we just had a vague idea based on previous visits and thinking the area looked familiar and then stumbled upon it the next time, it’s above the Marais neighborhood. Arles (in Provence) is fantastic and turned out to be where Van Gogh spent much of his time painting with much of that history preserved. Les Beaux has amazing caves that people used to live in, a completely surreal landscape, etc.
It’s an amazing country, isn’t it? After visiting, my silly thought was that when God was passing out countries, France must have been one of the first in line. Just amazing lush and beautiful landscapes, plus such a long and interesting history makes for some fascinating architecture.
Iconic. A late-period resurgence from Frankenheimer who also gave us the original Manchurian Candidate, Birdman of Alcatraz and – reflecting his lifelong love of cars – Grand Prix.
S Class with manual transmission you really can’t go wrong.peugeot 605 and Citroen were Nice too.
If my memory serves me correctly, the Audi was converted to RWD as they couldn’t slide it when the Quattro transmission was driving all four wheels. I think the rationale was that it wasn’t exciting when all it did was grip the road and keep going instead of sliding!!
“To Live and Die in LA” has another great chase, with cars that are the complete opposite of the stylish European numbers from Ronin. Generic Chevys and Fords everywhere, but what driving!
“To Live and Die in LA” set the standard for chases for quite awhile. Loved the sound track too.