Grindhouse: The Car Chase

Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s new double-feature flick, “Grindhouse,” debuted this weekend, and in it Tarantino takes a stab at his own “classic” car chase. While some say this chase may be the best movie car chase ever filmed, I found one aspect of Tarantino’s definitive chase especially intriguing. To set up the scene: Kurt Russell, who enjoys tracking women down and killing them with his car, is chasing down Rosario Dawson, Tracie Thoms and Zoe Bell, whose characters are taking a break from a film set in order to test drive a 1970 Dodge Challenger, much like the one from the classic film “Vanishing Point.” Russell’s car is a menacing black Charger (he has to swap his Chevy Nova, pictured here, for the Charger for reasons we won't explain), while the women’s Challenger is white — just so you’re clear on whom the heroines and villain are.

At one junction, the two classic cars merge into traffic with today’s cars, SUVs and minivans. The Charger and Challenger send those cars flying into each other, turning 360s, flying off into the ditch, etc. The question is, who is Tarantino indicting here? Does he find today’s safety-obsessed cars too safe and bland? Or is he taking a swing at Hollywood, saying that today’s movies are too safe and bland?

Whichever — or even if he’s just enjoying seeing today’s cars getting bullied by a pair of classic muscle cars — if you like car chases, you should see this. It will probably help if you also like zombie movies and a lot of talking, both of which you’ll encounter — in spades — in “Grindhouse.”

Comments

Never expected a movie review on Cars.com, even on Kicking Tires.

This movie looks like a real guilty pleasure, Tarentino loves bad 70's movies, so this should be no exception. Problem is, I gotta leave my wife at home, no way I can talk her into seeing this

I would imagine the black Charger would be in homage to Bullitt,which had the baddies in a 68 Charger R/T that happened to be black.The TV remake of Vanishing Point had a black 68 Charger driven by a wacko cop (obviously in homage to Bullitt).The only references the Nova would represent would be BAD CATS(1980)that featured a beat up blue Nova as a "Carolina Stocker" driven by burglary division cops Ocee James and Nick Donovan.This was a Dukes of Hazzard wannabe/copycat show.Trivia:The Nova reappeared on another Aaron Spelling series,TJ Hooker.In the series pilot,cop trainee "Country" (the same actor who played Ocee James in "BAD")is shot and killed helping the operator of the Nova when he saw it was broken down in a parking lot.Bad Karma there.

Hell yea, glad some other people recognize how awesome the chase was! I'm one of those people that is calling it one of the greatest chases put on film in recent years.

And this is the first time in film history for me that I've actually ever really wanted one of those muscle cars. I think I'm going to buy one of those like Kurt Russell had (either the first or the second) and drive around blaring the soundtrack going 120mph down the road... can't wait!

i like to know where can i get the duck on the charger in the movie.or was it made only for the movie?