I'm not a big fan of "pavement" chasing stunts, I rather am of those highway/junction ones - but only either with lots of drifting and such first-class performance or if there are additionals there - like jumping from bridges and other changing "lanes" between DISCONNECTED roads. Shooting's warmly welcome.

Do you have any specific movie in mind?

Wow!:eyes:
Well, I'm not sure now, except that I could mention the ACCELERATING rate of involving heavy transport with the increasing number of Terminators:)
Remember, in THE Terminator they first used just plain cars, only having a fuel truck in the final scene barely managing to catch up with a running lady and wounded gent.
Then in #2, they already introduced a truck-bike chase, with additional yummies of the LA ditches. In the third one look -- they already had a heavy truck crane, which - with a very little help of a firefighter truck - FOR SEVERAL MINUTES DEMOLISHED LOTS of "decorations" (often using the swell pal Termi's body for that).

As we have a thread now, I'll keep in mind to notice things, ?

Ronin.
Narrow French streets with European cars. Beautiful, much more realistic than the American roll over and explode.
And a great movie it is.

The purpose of action movie is to entertain people, though, not being realistic. And American cars are bigger. MUCH.
It struck me when I watched an Italian movie. I thought "why those cars are so tiny! couldn't they find some decent ones?", then I woke up to get it: that was that I had just become accustomed to American settings - with their stuff comprising the auto/motor, and just forgot that there's the other world.
You see, a super-booper-agent just CAN'T use a Beetle!:lol:

@Bel
An American budget in Europe? Sounds like it might be worth a look.

The purpose of action movie is to entertain people, though, not being realistic. And American cars are bigger. MUCH.
It struck me when I watched an Italian movie. I thought "why those cars are so tiny! couldn't they find some decent ones?", then I woke up to get it: that was that I had just become accustomed to American settings - with their stuff comprising the auto/motor, and just forgot that there's the other world.
You see, a super-booper-agent just CAN'T use a Beatle!:lol:

Yeah, Americans never make movies about beetles.

Well, Frans, if you want examples, it's not my favourite, but the saga about those "Fast & Furious" guys seems to have simply been created for showing off with auto/motor stunts, don't you think? Although they don't seem EXACTLY Hollywoodian to me: they are of the track or highway sort, it seems -- high class - but (Bel!) sorta realistic.
While the "pavement" sort.. I don't think a normal chaser, or chased, could get away with such stuff. In real life, I mean. Huh?

Yeah, Americans never make movies about beetles. 

Sorry and thanks. I've just edited that.
I seem to be more accustomed to the MUSICAL "variant" of the spelling than to the auto/motor or even biological one.

Yeah, Americans never make movies about beetles.

Yes, give a look to Ronin, Jean Reno and Jack Nicholson amongst others. A classic.

@Josh
Car chases that are realistic can be ten times more thrilling than the usual stuff that makes me to sleep.

You're a driver, aren't you?

Yes, give a look to Ronin...

No idea what's that.
I have watched a 47 Ronin, though, but there were no cars there. If only we should be talking about fighting stunts here.

A propos, in the light of IT progress and such, should we say goodbye to aero-stunts? It seems much simpler to just draw everything on a computer.
I think there's a sort of scenes which is just unachieveable by performing some real stunts - for example in SciFi, especially with space ships or any sort of unexisting devices. But - planes?
What if they'll manage to go without real cars in terrestrial settings soon too?

No idea what's that

Yes... cars still explode but they explode in an European stylish way...

What is realistic, though? I don't mean any "flying" cars either. If it's done professionally, it will be watched. Bel?

Learn to drive fast, very fast. Experience crash.
Then, you'll know what is realistic.

What impresses me more in reality is the absurd immensity of power and forces a crash produces even if not too fast.
A movie needs to transmit that. The noise is fundamental, breaking glasses, metal being bent and, above all that, the forces that one feels in the body. The movie must show all that, not just a boring explosion. Cars in reality don't explode too much. Thankfully, I suppose.

Dude, I wasn't even thinking about explosions, it seems you just misunderstood the talking.
Explosions are not stunts anyway. I'm not sure - perhaps you'd call them special effects?
Time to time I come across a separate line in a movie's "tombstone" designated "explosions":lol: "Stunts" are "Stunts" - separately.

Yes, give a look to Ronin, Jean Reno and Jack Nicholson amongst others. A classic.

Jack Nicholson? Is that Robert de Niro's alter ego?

Well, Frans, if you want examples, it's not my favourite, but the saga about those "Fast & Furious" guys seems to have simply been created for showing off with auto/motor stunts, don't you think? Although they don't seem EXACTLY Hollywoodian to me: they are of the track or highway sort, it seems -- high class - but (Bel!) sorta realistic.

Mkay.

Mkay.

Who's that?

YouTube provides:

Jack Nicholson? Is that Robert de Niro's alter ego?

Well, one or the other... but, yes, is de Niro.

Who's that?

One of the best-known sites on the planet* says Huub Stapel played the leading role.

* Google, IMDB, and Wikipedia are probably some kind of the triumvirate of Internet information retrieval.

Josh, I just might have to side with Bel here. A lot of stunts seem unrealistic, but make for entertainment.

I think of the "Dukes of Hazard" type of movie, and you have to ask: How many times can a car make a "jump" over a ditch and land as hard as that car does? Real life answer: Once, if then. After that jump, the frame and the suspension are toast and the car is going to be scrapped. They go through a lot of cars shooting a "Dukes of Hazard" show.

To be truthful though-- I have to ask: Did you go into the movie looking for "realism" or "entertainment"? Sure, the big American cars do impossible stunts and have incredible wrecks-- but that's part of the movie, not real life. Eat your popcorn and enjoy the movie.

Well, I guess we can consider 1) pure stunts, 2) stunt+cut, let alone special effects added when it's due.
I'm not keeping in mind what went on in "Hazards", though I guess we'd throw it to the 2nd category, ?

I think of the "Dukes of Hazard" type of movie, and you have to ask: How many times can a car make a "jump" over a ditch and land as hard as that car does? Real life answer: Once, if then. After that jump, the frame and the suspension are toast and the car is going to be scrapped. They go through a lot of cars shooting a "Dukes of Hazard" show.

I like how Mythbusters shows what these kinds of things go like in real life.

I think of the "Dukes of Hazard" type of movie, and you have to ask: How many times can a car make a "jump" over a ditch and land as hard as that car does? Real life answer: Once, if then.

On the other hand, aren't there cars specially reinforced for, say, offroad rallies?
They could, couldn't they?

I think of the "Dukes of Hazard" type of movie, and you have to ask: How many times can a car make a "jump" over a ditch and land as hard as that car does? Real life answer: Once, if then.

On the other hand, aren't there cars specially reinforced for, say, offroad rallies?
They could, couldn't they?

An off-road rally car is a whole different animal than the "General Lee". If you paint your Dodge Charger bright orange, put a Confederate flag on the doors and try jumping over a freight train with it, I guarantee you won't drive it far after that jump. Road rally cars are built different from the ground up for what they do.

For that matter, a NASCAR racer is a whole different animal than the vehicle it "looks like". Funny thing is, NASCAR started out as a bunch of rednecks putting their white-lightning runners up against each other to see who had the fastest car to run illegal liquor past the law.