22 Movies with Chase Scenes Through Unexpected Locations

Action cinema often relies on high-speed pursuits to build tension and excitement. While highways and city streets serve as traditional settings for these sequences, some filmmakers choose more creative environments to challenge their protagonists. These unique backdrops force characters to adapt their strategies and utilize their surroundings in inventive ways. The following films feature chase scenes that take place in surprising and memorable locations.

‘The Blues Brothers’ (1980)

Elwood and Jake Blues drive their repurposed police cruiser directly through the Dixie Square Mall while being pursued by law enforcement. The chase destroys store fronts and merchandise while terrified shoppers scatter for safety. The brothers casually comment on the various shops they pass as if they were merely browsing for goods. This scene required the production team to rent a real vacant shopping center and completely restock it with products to destroy.

‘Casino Royale’ (2006)

James Bond pursues a bomb maker named Mollaka through a construction site in Madagascar. The scene features parkour stunts as the two men scale cranes and leap between unfinished building frames. Bond relies on brute force to smash through drywall while his target utilizes agility to navigate the vertical environment. This sequence establishes the gritty and physical nature of this iteration of the famous spy character.

‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ (1984)

Indiana Jones escapes the Thuggee cult by jumping into a mine cart with Short Round and Willie Scott. They speed along twisted tracks suspended over molten lava while fighting off pursuing guards in other carts. The frantic journey involves leaping across broken sections of track and manually braking to avoid derailment. Visual effects combined miniatures with live-action stunts to create the perilous underground cavern environment.

‘Monsters, Inc.’ (2001)

Sulley and Mike Wazowski ride hanging doors through a massive automated storage vault. The chase moves in three dimensions as the characters jump between moving portals that lead to different locations in the human world. Randall bogs them down by deactivating doors while they dangle thousands of feet in the air. The animators created millions of individual doors to convey the immense scale of the factory system.

‘Point Break’ (1991)

Johnny Utah chases the leader of the Ex-Presidents wearing a Ronald Reagan mask through a residential Los Angeles neighborhood. The pursuit moves from streets to backyards as the characters crash through fences and private homes. Utah faces obstacles such as angry dogs and confused residents while trying to keep the suspect in sight. The handheld camera work emphasizes the exhaustion and desperation of the foot chase.

‘The Italian Job’ (1969)

A gang of thieves uses three Mini Coopers to transport stolen gold through the congested streets of Turin. They drive down church steps and through a shopping arcade before entering the city sewer system. The escape route leads them onto the roof of the Fiat factory where they navigate a high-speed test track. The small size of the vehicles allowed the production to film in areas typically inaccessible to standard car chases.

‘GoldenEye’ (1995)

James Bond commandeers a Russian military tank to pursue a kidnapper through the streets of St. Petersburg. The armored vehicle smashes through statues and buildings while drifting around corners in the city center. Police cars attempt to intercept the tank but are crushed under its massive treads during the pursuit. The sequence combines practical tank driving with miniature work to achieve the destruction of historical landmarks.

‘Toy Story 2’ (1999)

Buzz Lightyear and his friends navigate the conveyor belts of an airport baggage handling system to rescue Woody. The toys must dodge falling luggage and mechanical sorters that threaten to crush them or send them to the wrong plane. Stinky Pete forces a confrontation inside a suitcase while the belts move rapidly toward the loading dock. This complex environment presented significant lighting and rendering challenges for the animation team.

‘District B13’ (2004)

Leïto flees from a gang of armed thugs by scaling the interior and exterior of a high-rise apartment complex. He utilizes parkour techniques to jump over stairwells and slide through narrow ventilation shafts. The pursuers struggle to keep up with his fluid movements as he leaps between balconies without safety equipment. The film showcases the physical discipline of traceurs without the use of wires or computer-generated effects.

‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ (2000)

Jen Yu and Li Mu Bai engage in a pursuit that defies gravity across the flexible branches of a bamboo forest. The combatants float and balance on the swaying greenery while exchanging sword strikes high above the ground. The scene emphasizes grace and spiritual control rather than the destructive chaos found in typical action movies. Wire work allowed the actors to mimic the weightlessness described in wuxia literature.

‘The Wrong Trousers’ (1993)

Gromit pursues a villainous penguin named Feathers McGraw on a model train set inside their house. The dog frantically lays down track pieces in front of the moving engine to prevent a crash while the penguin fires a pistol. They speed through the kitchen and living room as the makeshift track winds around furniture and obstacles. The claymation animators meticulously positioned the characters frame by frame to simulate high speed.

‘Hot Fuzz’ (2007)

Sergeant Angel and Danny Butterman engage in a shootout and chase within a miniature model village. The characters appear like giants as they trample over tiny replica buildings and streets during the confrontation. The action mirrors classic monster movie tropes where massive creatures destroy urban environments. Edgar Wright utilized quick cuts and practical effects to sell the scale disparity between the actors and the set.

‘The Fugitive’ (1993)

Dr. Richard Kimble slips into the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Chicago to lose the US Marshals in the crowd. He borrows a hat and blends in with the marchers while Gerard and his team scan the sea of people. The chaotic environment provides cover that allows Kimble to vanish just as authorities close in on his location. Filmmakers shot this scene during the actual parade with handheld cameras to capture authentic crowd reactions.

‘North by Northwest’ (1959)

Roger Thornhill and Eve Kendall flee from spies across the stone faces of the Mount Rushmore monument. They scramble down the carved features of the presidents while their pursuers attempt to intercept them on the steep cliffs. The perilous drop forces the characters to hang from ledges and help each other navigate the treacherous terrain. Alfred Hitchcock used detailed matte paintings and studio sets to recreate the national landmark for the climax.

‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ (1986)

Ferris races against time to get home before his parents return from work. He sprints through multiple suburban backyards where he encounters sunbathers and trampolines. The sequence highlights the obstacle course nature of a typical neighborhood when traversed in a straight line. Music builds tension as Ferris hurdles fences and dodges obstacles to maintain his perfect attendance charade.

‘Minority Report’ (2002)

John Anderton fights off federal agents while leaping between maglev vehicles on a vertical highway system. The cars move up and down building facades as the characters struggle to maintain their footing on the slick surfaces. Anderton uses his knowledge of the transport grid to evade capture while the vehicles shift lanes unexpectedly. Visual effects teams designed the futuristic city infrastructure to allow for three-dimensional traffic flow.

‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ (1991)

John Connor rides a dirt bike into a dry flood control channel to escape the T-1000 driving a heavy tow truck. The Terminator drives the massive truck off a bridge and into the canal to continue the relentless pursuit. The T-800 joins the chase on a motorcycle and performs a daring jump to intercept the enemy machine. This sequence utilized the distinct concrete architecture of the Los Angeles river system for the vehicular stunts.

‘Police Story’ (1985)

Ka-Kui pursues a crime lord through a busy shopping mall that results in massive property damage. The chase culminates with the protagonist sliding down a multi-story pole covered in lights to reach the ground floor. Glass displays shatter and bystanders flee as the fight moves through various retail levels. Jackie Chan performed the dangerous pole stunt himself and suffered second-degree burns from the friction.

‘The Living Daylights’ (1987)

James Bond and Kara Milovy escape Soviet soldiers by sliding down a snow-covered mountain in a cello case. They use the instrument case as a makeshift sled to navigate the slopes and cross the border into Austria. Bond steers the awkward vessel while Kara holds onto her Stradivarius cello to protect it from damage. The scene balances tension with the absurdity of their chosen method of downhill transport.

‘Raising Arizona’ (1987)

H.I. McDunnough runs from the police after robbing a convenience store for diapers. The foot chase moves through a house and a supermarket while he is pursued by a pack of neighborhood dogs. He frantically grabs a package of diapers while dodging gunfire and vaulting over fences. The sequence utilizes kinetic camera movement to reflect the manic energy of the protagonist.

‘Batman Begins’ (2005)

Batman evades police in the Tumbler by driving across the rooftops of Gotham City buildings. The heavy vehicle leaps across alleyways and crashes through architectural structures to avoid the pursuit on the streets below. He eventually engages a stealth mode to disappear into the darkness of the highway. Practical effects were used for the vehicle jumps to give the Batmobile a sense of weight and power.

‘Fast Five’ (2011)

Dom Toretto and Brian O’Conner drag a massive bank vault through the streets of Rio de Janeiro using two reinforced cars. The steel safe acts as a wrecking ball that destroys pursuing police cruisers and property along the route. Physics are defied as the vault drifts around corners and smashes through bus stops. The production used a practical vault prop on a specialized truck chassis to film the destruction.

Tell us which unique chase scene is your favorite in the comments.