Rubber Duck, Come Back

A top-notch movie debate about the best movie car chases is running full tilt at No Silence Here courtesy of Les Jones and MetaFilter. Clips of nominees are featured, along with a great History of Chases website at filmsite.org, which starts in the silent era and continues up through "The Matrix" movies.

I've left my views already in the comments and won't repeat them here, other than to underscore one of the best ever car chase scenes ever which you can still see in theatres - Zoe Bell riding the hood of a car in the Tarantino portion of "Grindhouse", which is absent special effects and is a sweat-inducing thrill ride that ranks as one of the best in decades. (And of course, Kurt Russell, as Stuntman Mike, drives a car with the legendary Rubber Duck Hood Ornament.)

So head on over to the KNS site and cast your vote. For my two cents, I can hardly decide between Bullitt, Ronin and Road Warrior, so I went with Road Warrior 'cause it last for 12 minutes of metal-bashing carnage.

The one time I participated in a road race with friends, we took insanely unprepared drivers and vehicles (a Gremlin, a Pinto and a Rabbit) out at night on a dangerous mountain road and I (or perhaps I should say We) were a.) young and stupid and lucky; b.) no one was hurt, hence the lucky part; and c.) about 180 seconds of adrenaline madness embedded in my memory with more fondness than I should admit.