Features

Ronin (1998)
A movie death count for cars must surely count Ronin among its principle massacres. Over 80 of them were destroyed during filming, and when you witness the key chase scene it's not difficult to see why.

The late director, John Frankenheimer, is one of the principle gurus of car chases, having cut his teeth in the pure light of Grand Prix, and gone on to play one-upmanship with William Friedkin in French Connection II. With Ronin, he set a new benchmark in what is possible using four wheels and plenty of well-choreographed city traffic.

His enthusiasm is reflected in the film's principle characters, who demanded as a getaway car, "something very fast. Audi S8, something that can shove a bit." Ronin is also famous for the way in which the stuntman drove from the 'passenger' side of the car, but also hooked up the steering on the 'driver' side, so the actor would simply follow the movement of the wheel yet look like they were in control.

This has led many to criticise Robert De Niro for driving in an unconvincing manner, but here's an experiment: set up a camera on yourself the next time you're driving into hordes of oncoming traffic. Do you look as calm as a Hindu cow or are you revealing expressions not too dissimilar from those of Bob himself? Now that's good acting...

Le Mans (1971)
First of all, these are incredible looking cars, perhaps among the most beautiful ever designed in terms of their raw, purposeful shapes. The Porsche 917 is particularly distinctive with that long tail rising up over the rear wheel arches and stretching back beyond a limit that looks feasible, like the exaggerated lines of a kids' drawing.

Yet victories for Porsche at Le Mans in 1970 and 1971 suggested that the 917 had the measure of Ferrari's 512. The bitterness of the defeat in 1970 meant that Ferrari wanted to play no part in the movie, but it didn't prevent McQueen from utilising the talents of 45 racing stars and real-life footage from the event to create a true sense of Le Mans as it existed at the start of the Seventies.

The power of these cars is illustrated in this sequence, the opening of the 24-hour race. Hearts thump away as the clock strikes 4pm, the flag drops in silence, then we're greeted by a wall of noise as cars go from 0-60 in as little as 2.5 seconds, flying on past 200mph on the famous Mulsanne straight.

And just as with Bullitt, McQueen is right in there among the action, fighting with professional drivers on the track and fighting with his insurance underwriters off it. It's just such passion that has earned this film a loyal following for nearly four decades.