MovieChat Forums > To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) Discussion > Great car chase. Overlooked in best car ...

Great car chase. Overlooked in best car chase lists.


William Friedkin did it again. A long dramatic car chase.

Watched this for the first time, and Grand Theft Auto seems to borrow heavily from it.

The car chase lists. Never seen this one on the list. Always see The Rock, which I watched the other week, and the car chase was pretty bad.

I remember not liking The Rock back in the day and rewatching confirmed my dislike for the car chase. (I did appreciate the movie more than when I first saw it).

Confusing shaky cam. Awful shots of Nic Cage sat in a stationary car in a warehouse with somebody shaking the camera extreme close-up. It never looked like Nic Cage or Sean Connery were actually in the car back then and it didn't now.

The Rock car chase has zero spatial awareness or clear indication of what the hell is going on. Too much style over substance. Camera angles for the sake of camera angles to look good for that 5th of a second shot, but not to tell a story within the car chase. The same with Baby Driver. Total mess of quick cuts, shaky cam, inventive camera angles, but total confusion.

To Live and Die in L.A. was long and clean. A narrative built up within the chase and it was completely clear as to what was happening, where everybody was and where they were going.

The only downside was the speeding up of some footage. Looked a little video gamey at points.

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