Action movies without car or bike chase scenes just wouldn't cut it, which raises the question, why do so many movies get the details wrong? Even Bullit, the greatest car chase ever has its peeves, watch closely and see how many hubcaps depart of their own free will, or for the super geeky gearhead spot the same VW Bug on random street corners.
We get that producers have tight schedules and budgets, plot lines too needing some padding out calls for a little cinematic "tweaking" but the mere fact gearheads watch these movies' with the eyes of a hawk, why cut corners? Bikes too, easily faster in a straight line, but in Terminator 2, Arnie can't outrun a cumbersome Freightliner truck. We love a chase scene, and welcome every new action flick, but please Mr. Producer, don't make us grumble with these annoyances, we're life-long gearheads and know our bikes and cars.
9 Unbelievable Performances
We all love a good movie car chase, more so when the hero wins the day, preferably at the wheel of a classy ride, Bond then surely has the upper hand in 1995s release of Goldeneye. Bond wouldn't be Bond without an Aston Martin, the DB5 making a return after A License To Kill featured a later Aston Martin Vantage V8 Volante.
As good as the DB5 is, going head-to-head with Xenia Onatop's Ferrari F355 should be a foregone conclusion, the Ferrari, faster, more powerful with a mid-mounted F1 inspired V8 "should" leave Bond eating its exhaust fumes. However, like so many other action movies, the producers give the DB5 a helping hand, managing to keep the Ferrari in check for the most part. In reality, not a chance.
8 Never Ending Gear Boxes
The Fast And Furious franchise might be heading towards its climactic ending, but that hasn't stopped Toretto and co from showcasing some of the best domestic and foreign tuner cars ever to hit the big screen. Every installment is guilty of the next gearhead annoyance, and although we should be thankful of the high-speed chase scenes, we'd like a few less of the never ending gear shifting sequences.
Fast 2 is a perfect example, Connor at the wheel of Mitsubishis physics bending EVO VII with its 2-liter turbocharged in line four punching out 276 hp, more, no doubt, in movie spec, changes gear more times than the manual box has ratios, Mitsubishi says five, F&F suggesting dozens.
7 Inconsistencies
Evergreen action movie hero Tom Cruise is currently riding high on Top Gun Maverick's success, but most gearheads will remember the star's other big screen outings as secret agent Ethan Hunt. While the Mission Impossible series goes from strength to strength, largely due to the action star insistence on performing his own stunts.
Which brings is nicely to MI:2s Triumph Vs Ducati chase scene, kicking off on smooth tarmac roads, demonstrating the blistering straight line performance you only get with a bike. Ethan Hunt's Triumph Triple Speed 955 packing a 130 hp 955cc three-cylinder good for sixty in a shade over three seconds. However, transitioning to the beach scenes, producers hoped viewers would miss the ever-changing road-dirt tires inconsistency.
6 Trashing Classic Muscle
Small screen action hero, the General Lee featuring its iconic orange job and Dixie playing air-horns was staple viewing for young gearheads growing up in the early 80s, without question the real star of the show. Rebooted for the big screen in 2005, the General was back, still a 60s Dodge Charger.
Serious gearheads with a liking of US Muscle should look away now. The original show with little regard for the Dodge Charger(s) at their disposal, mostly iconic 69 models complete with 44 Magnum engines rated at 375 hp, in all, some 300+ meeting an unceremonious end at the show's own junk-yard. By comparison, the movie used just 26, mostly 68s and 70s cosmetically tweaked to match the original.
5 Fake Engine Noises
Walt Disney, Marvel Studios, and Audi all teamed up to give Iron Man several high-end cars over the years, both the R8 and more recent E-Tron taking center stage alongside Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. in some of the biggest action movies this century.
While Iron Man has his futuristic jet-propulsion body/flight suit bordering on the edge of fantasy and credibility, the E-Tron featured in Avengers: End Game is a fully-electric performance sedan, Audi wants to be seen as eco-friendly. Watch the closing sequences closely and something is amiss, Iron Man arriving in the E-Tron amid a flurry of combustion engine noise. Dubbing engine noises over EVs? No, thanks.
4 Bullets And Gas Tanks
Save for Ford's mismanaged Pinto, the chances of cars spontaneously combustion are very small. Only on the silver screen does gasoline, oxygen and heat produce quite such a big bang. Take any action movie, throw in a car chase or two, add some gun fire and more often than not boom, the baddies bite the dust.
Sadly, movie directors have been lying to us for decades, puncturing the gas tank with anything other than incendiary rounds, not your average 9mm, will simply help to drain the tank a little faster. We get that big bangs with huge plumes of smoke and fire draw in the crowds, but serious gearheads are not easily fooled.
3 What Damage?
Pontiac's Firebird Trans-Am arrived at the wrong time, smog restrictions reducing this classic to a 6.6-liter powered V8 icon with a paltry 200 horses under the hood. However, stick Burt Reynolds behind the wheel and throw in some cinematic magic and hey presto the Firebird could outrun anything the smokeys could muster.
High speed chases made up most of the movie, coupled with some daring stunts the Firebird shrugged off with ease, fueling one of the big screen's worst "car" tricks ever, seeming immunity to damage in all forms. Take the famous bridge jump, with so little power available the movies' director/stuntman added a rocket motor for good measure.
2 Going Backwards, Fast N Furious Style
Another Fast 2 delve into the realms of fantasy, during a high-speed race to prove who is the best driver, Brian O'Conner pulls off one of the least plausible stunts in the series, first taking the lead from Roman, then rubbing salt in the would by pulling a 180 turn and still matching or exceeding other traffic on the highway.
Guilty as charged, the EVO VII, born for the World Rally scene, is a potent all-wheel-drive monster that can worry dozens of junior supercars when the going gets tricky, but in reverse? At best 35 mph, certainly nowhere near the US mandatory 55 mph limits. Several blockbuster movies have employed this trick, Mission Impossible and Bond both guilty of some camera trickery.
1 Terrible Customization Jobs
Spare a thought for the creative teams behind blockbuster movie special effects, without Industrial Light and Magic, Star Wars would have at least taken less at the box office if not flopping entirely. However, not every movie nails the balance between believable and downright ridiculous, car custom makeovers a case in point.
Several Batman outings have gone down the suspect path, wobbly stuck on fins and gaffer tape anybody? There are worse offenders out there, Death Race 2000 adopting styrofoam and a lurid paint job to represent a post societal breakdown America that looks plain stupid. Corvette Summer? Words fail us on this one! Why? Just why?