Introduction: The most frequent type of film chase, the car chase, is almost always between a protagonist/hero (or criminal) and the police (or authority figures), with more than a few vehicles involved in the most spectacular examples. The fast-moving scenes of the chase, typically found in action films, very often feature high-speed maneuvering, crashes, and point-of-view perspectives to enhance the action. For variety, tanks, semi-trailer-trucks, snowmobiles, buses, and other unusually large vehicles have been employed. Having the characters move from one vehicle to another or fight atop the accelerating vehicles adds to the excitement.

For those interested in a book on the subject of greatest car chases in films, see The Greatest Movie Car Chases Of All Time by Jesse Crosse - a unique and exclusive collection of the greatest Hollywood car chases and hot pursuits ever recorded on film.

See these other classic scenes:

• Greatest Classic Disaster Scenes
• Greatest Classic Crowd Scenes
• Greatest Visual/Special Effects and Computer-Generated Imagery - Milestones

(See this site's Film Terms Glossary for definitions and examples, the History of Film by Decade, and an extensive timeline of other Milestones and Turning Points in Film History.)

Note: The films that are marked with a yellow star are the films that "The Greatest Films" site has selected as the 100 Greatest Films.