A Look Back at the Most Memorable Car Stunts on TV and Film
In the age of CGI special effects, the average moviegoer may forget that filmmakers have pulled off some intensive and impressive car stunts.
Car chases, flips, and crashes are all par for the course in some of our favorite automobile stunts. Even the most unexpected TV shows and films have dedicated stunt teams to wow us on both big and small screens. Some stunts have been etched into our memories for their outlandishness, and today, we're here to shine a light on them.
The Dark Knight: Semi Truck Flip
Flipping a car is no small feat. Flipping an eighteen-wheeler, trailer and all, is an incredible achievement, making this stunt in The Dark Knight stand above the rest.
The Messiah University’s film site, Cinemablography, describes how the stunt crew achieved this stunt. Adding a device called a piston under an eighteen-wheeler allowed the stunt team to launch the trailer into the air, forcing the semi-truck to flip over. The stunt was done in one take as the truck and trailer flipped over in a wild spectacle!
Mad Max 2: Collision Climax
Mad Max is another film franchise known for its wild, patchwork vehicles and fabulous practical effects. The epitome of this can be seen in Mad Max 2, where the character of Max has a head-on collision with the film’s antagonist, Lord Humungus. This scene shows the sheer brutality of the collision!
Broken down for us again by Map Film Productions, the head-on collision featured a semi-truck driving directly into one of the signature patchwork cars, getting completely obliterated in the process. This practical effect offers a truly wild shot for the final film.
The Batman: Penguin Chase
While we are on the topic of Batman, this writer’s nerdy heart wouldn’t be content without mentioning the Penguin’s chase scene in the most recent Batman film, The Batman.
Also broken down for us by Business Insider, The Batman’s chase scene with the Penguin is a standout scene in the film, created with a mix of in-camera effects and CGI. Creating a “smash vehicle” specifically designed to, you guessed it, smash into other vehicles and objects, the filmmakers created these incredible chasing scenes by swapping out the smash vehicle with the real Batmobile in post production.
