Best Movie And TV Car Chases Of 2021

With so many big-budget films like Fast & Furious 9 and No Time to Die delayed last year due to the pandemic, there was no shortage of cinematic car action to enjoy on the big screen this year. As online streaming has become more prevalent, car chases are now also a staple in action movies and TV shows on streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, so this year we're also including TV shows in our annual car chase roundup.

Without further ado, these are our picks for the best movie and TV car chases of 2021 to keep you entertained over the holiday season.

The Fast & Furious franchise is famous for its gravity-defying stunts, but Fast & Furious 9 is the most far-fetched film in the franchise yet. Centering on a family feud between Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto and his brother Jakob played by John Cena (who has conveniently never been mentioned up to this point), Fast & Furious 9's action sequences are more absurd and ridiculous than ever before.

A duel in a jungle between a Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 and Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat ends with the Charger swinging across a broken bridge on a rope a Tarzan-style. And just when you thought the action can't get any crazier, the team equip their cars with massive magnets and a Pontiac Fiero gets strapped to a rocket and blasted into outer space. Yes, really.

Fast & Furious 9 is a fun ride if you leave your brain in the backseat, but the action lacks tension when the characters survive the extreme stunts without a scratch - even when they're not wearing a seatbelt. As crazy as the action gets, stuntwork deserves to be commended as most of the awe-inspiring car stunts were done for real - including a four-second scene that took eight months of preparation where a Toyota 86 gets pushed through a building. There are also lots of cool cars on display to satisfy gearheads including Dom's custom mid-engine Dodge Charger, a Noble M600, and an orange Toyota GR Supra paying homage to the car driven by the late Paul Walker in the original film.

Aston Martin is synonymous with James Bond. Daniel Craig's final Bond film, the long-delayed No Time to Die features more Aston Martins than any other Bond film, from a modern DBS Superleggera to a classic V8 Vantage from The Living Daylights. A prototype of the Valhalla hypercar also makes a cameo appearance, but it's the iconic DB5 that steals the show.

During the film's intense opening chase, Bond drifts the DB5 around the tight streets of Matera in Italy, pursued by bad guys driving a Jaguar XF, Maserati Quattroporte, and Lancia Thesis among other vehicles. Ten DB5 replica cars were built for the scene and the team sprayed the streets with 8,400 gallons of soda to increase the grip. After the DB5 gets rammed by a Range Rover and is surrounded, Bond gets out of trouble by doing donuts, activating a smokescreen, and firing machine guns mounted in the headlights in one of the film's most crowd-pleasing moments.

The new Land Rover Defender also makes its on-screen debut hunting down Bond in a Toyota Land Cruiser in a gritty off-road sequence set in Norway (but filmed in Scotland). It effectively demonstrates the Defender's off-roading prowess and durability as it makes a huge entrance jumping the length of three double-decker buses. Several SUVs are sacrificed, including a Range Rover SVR that flips into the air in a spectacular stunt.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has featured some great cars over the years, from Tony Stark's Audi R8 in Iron Man to the Lexus LC 500 in Black Panther. In Black Widow, the 2022 BMW X3 M40i stars in an action-packed car chase set in Budapest. With Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff and her bickering sister Yelena played by Florence Pugh behind the wheel, the X3 is initially chased by a female assassin on a bike before Taskmaster joins the action in a massive tank smashing through cars that get in the way.

Showcasing the SUV's agility, the X3 pulls off an impressive reverse J-turn as Yelena takes over the wheel and kicks the door open, which is used to take out the bike. The chase ends with a spectacular crash as the X3 explodes, backflips into the air, lands on the tank, and tumbles down stairs into a subway station. In the Bavarian automaker's first partnership with Marvel Studios, BMW supplied 13 X3 SUVs for the film, several of which were destroyed.

No Time to Die wasn't the only film with lots of Aston Martin action this year. In the Netflix science fiction thriller Infinite, a heavily modified Aston Martin Vantage bulldozes through a building to bust Mark Wahlberg's character out of jail before smashing through a window and jumping over cop cars. There's some terrific stunt driving on display when the chase continues in New York (the scene was actually shot in Cardiff) with the Vantage performing a glorious reverse 180 while being chased by an armored truck.

With the aid of CGI, the Vantage features some futuristic modifications James Bond would be proud of such as a retractable steering wheel, bulletproof armor, and a battering ram. Aston Martin provided 30 cars for the movie including a 1970s Aston Martin V8 Vantage that stars in the film's opening night-time chase along with a Ferrari Testarossa being pursued by police in Mexico.

Netflix action-thriller Jolt stars Kate Beckinsale who plays Lindy, a bouncer with anger management issues who goes on a rampage to avenge her friend's murder. For us, though, the real star of the film is the McLaren 600LT Spider. Lindy uses the Lime Green 600LT to escape from the police in a thrilling night-time chase scene.

It's exciting to watch and it's rare to see a McLaren star in a movie that isn't Fast & Furious, but we do have a few gripes. First, this appears to be the only McLaren 600LT Spider in the world with a manual stick shift - in reality, the droptop supercar has a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Clearly, the stick shift was added for comic effect to show the that Lindy doesn't know how to drive a manual. The McLaren product placement is also hilariously ham-fisted. "I know that sound - that's a McLaren 600LT Spider!" a police officer remarks after hearing the car's high-revving revving 3.8-liter V8.

Arguably one of 2021's most underrated action films, Nobody stars Bob Odenkirk as Hutch, a retired assassin laying low and living a mundane family life. After thieves break into his home, Hutch uses his special set of skills to hunt them down and rediscovers his talent for beating up bad guys. Turns out he's a skilled driver, too.

In the film's climactic car chase, Hutch steals his neighbor's white 1972 Dodge Challenger, which looks like the one that stars in the cult classic 1971 Vanishing Point. The car chase is short, but the action is well-shot and visceral as the Challenger slides around corners and reverses down an alleyway while Pat Benatar's "Heartbreaker" blasts out the stereo and the Russian Mafia pepper the muscle car with bullets.

We weren't expecting any auto action in Hawkeye, so we were pleasantly surprised when a multi-car chase came out of nowhere in the third episode. While evading the Tracksuit Mafia, Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) desperately need to steal a ride.

It turns out Clint has an appreciation for American muscle cars, as he breaks into a crusty Chrysler New Yorker Brougham instead of a nearby Dodge Challenger to avoid damaging it. But then the villain Maya Lopez played by Alaqua Cox steals it anyway and gives chase.

With its mix of action, comedy, and character development, Hawkeye is a great example of how a car chase can service a story in a film or TV show. The situation forces the two reluctant heroes to work together for the first time, with Clint doing the driving and Kate taking out enemy cars with Trick Arrows while hanging out the moving car. There's also a superb one-take shot at the start from inside the Chrysler, immersing you into the action. Much to Clint's dismay, the Challenger is a crumpled wreck by the end of the chase.