Everywhere you look, it’s Oscar this and Oscar that, and Team Openbay had to join in… sort of. While we wish we had time to have watched all the nominated flicks, we haven’t even seen half of them. But we’ve got a noble excuse – we’re too busy getting Americas’ cars repaired!
Of the Oscar-nominated movies we watched, Boyhood had a particularly memorable car scene, where Ethan Hawke, playing the Dad, can no longer bear his kids’ one-word answers about how they’re doing. He pulls over the car, insisting his angsty tweenn/teen kids speak to him as though he’s – gasp – a real human being.
Boyhood Screen-cap Credit: JoBlo Movie Trailers, YouTube
Surely anyone who can remember being 13 can relate, as can parents who’ve unsucessfully cracked the code for how the heck to relate to their emo kids. Take a peek at Hawke’s “Talk to me!” plea. This it’s Oscar-worthy, or at least worth a watch?
To get into the spirit of Oscar weekend, we polled the Openbay team for its favorite car scenes ever in any movie. The list includes car chases, silly conversations, a lively tiger in a packed car, and extinguishing butt-burns with beer while driving. Take a peek, and let us know what you think we missed, and whether this list has inspired you to watch any of these this weekend.
Alex, Openbay member services:
The Dark Knight Screen-cap credit gerowniko, Youtube
The Dark Knight – Bruce Wayne (Batman) takes his Lamborghini Murcielago out through the streets of Gotham City, IL looking for a talk show host who was people’s murder target. The Joker had threatened to blow up a random hospital if the host weren’t killed, though he would not specify which hospital.
Wayne gets behind the police convoy where the host is in one of the vehicles. He notices that someone is going to try and ram the SUV carrying the host as it crosses through an intersection. Wayne decides to block the crash by sacrificing his Lamborghini and putting it in the way of the truck trying to kill the host. It was very interesting to see Wayne throw his $400,000 Lamborghini, my dream car, in front of a speeding truck.
Alli, Openbay member services:
The Italian Job Screen-cap Credit: Movie Clips YouTube
The Italian Job – I have wanted a Mini Cooper since I saw the movie over 10 years ago. Those chase scenes made it look like such a cool car! I was really hoping to look at some when I was test driving for my last car, but the ones I found were manual and I can only drive automatic. 🙁 Someday I’ll get learn to drive stick and then I’ll get one!
Allison, Openbay designer:
The Hangover screen-cap credit: duvbasert, Youtube
Get Him to the Greek
The scene where they’re trying to get to the airport in London and their flight leaves in 35 minutes.
Aaron: Do you mind driving faster, please?
Driver: Would you like me to take the Chiswick Roundabout through Hounslow and Staines?
Aaron: What is this, fu*king Middle-earth? Just take us to the airport, okay?
I love how real the situation is – stressed out and running late for a flight in an unfamiliar place.
The Hangover
At the end of the movie, when they’re trying to make it to the wedding, and they do the tux hand-off on the highway. Also, the scene where they have to bring the tiger back to Mike Tyson and it wakes up while they’re driving and tears the car apart.
Erin, Openbay member services:
Identity Thief Screen-cap credit Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, Youtube
Identity Thief – Road trips are always good for singing in the car, and nothing is better than Melissa McCarthy comedy.Throughout this movie she’s a total pest, and in this scene she most certainly continues to be. So much fun to watch, and everyone can relate to jamming out in the car.
Death Proof Screen-cap credit: ZoeBell01fan, YouTube
Death Proof – What do a bunch of stunt drivers do to unwind? They climb on top of a 1970 Challenger’s hood and drive around really fast on a test drive. While coincidentally being chased around by another crazy stunt man trying to run them off the road. The ultimate Charger vs Challenger show down, just like Vanishing point. I love muscle cars.
John, Openbay dev:
The Big Lebowski Screen-cap Credit: gogostyle1000, YouTube
The Big Lebowski – Smoking, then trying to flick the butt out the car window, except the window is shut. I think the build up and the physical comedy are hilarious. Don’t smoke or drink in the car though!
Night at the Roxbury – when Steve slaps Doug at the drive-in. They’re just stupid, and it’s funny!
Maggie, Openbay member services:
Screen-cap credit: Avinash Varma via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,Vimeo
I’ve always been a huge James Bond fan while I can’t single out a specific movie they all featured luxury cars, for one the Aston Martin and crazy chase scenes with cars that shot rockets or tire-popping spikes. It’s sort of like owning a realistic Batmobile and I’ve always wanted a tricked out Aston Martin ever since.
The Blues Brothers Screen-cap Credit: MovieClips, Youtube
The legendary chase scene through the mall in The Blues Brothers would have to be my favorite. “The new Oldsmobiles are in early this year!” Who hasn’t dreamed of completely trashing a mall this way? The goofy music makes it even funnier.
Mike L, Openbay member services:
Scent of a Woman Screen-Cap Credit: MovieClips, YouTube
Scent of a Woman – Al Pacino plays Lt. Colonel Frank Slade, who is blind. He manages to trick the Ferrari dealer into letting him take one of the cars for a test drive.
Ronin Screen-cap credit: superemposed, Youtube
Ronin: One of my fav actors, Rob De Niro chasing my car, a BMW M5.
Sam, Openbay member services:
Vanilla Sky Screen-cap credit: maxmc89, YouTube
Vanilla Sky – The opening scene where Tom Cruise pulls out of his garage in New York City in a beautiful navy blue Ferrari 250 GTO (a $38-million car!) and starts driving along a normally busy street in the middle of Manhattan. He drives a few blocks without seeing another car or person anywhere and even runs a red light with no repercussions. He finally pulls up in the middle of Times Square and he is completely alone, not a soul in sight! He gets out of the car and runs through the middle of Time Square yelling until he finally wakes up from a dream. Later that morning he pulls out of the same garage in an equally beautiful 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback GT but has a sigh of relief when he sees people and cars all over the street.
Valentine, Openbay PR:
The Trip Screen-cap Credit: Count Grassi, YouTube
My favorite car scene is from The Trip, a movie which is kind of like the UK version of Sideways, where two guys go on a soul-searching road trip. Throughout the movie, the two main characters do imitations of different movie stars. In the best scene, they remark on how, in Civil-War era costume dramas, the characters always say something dramatic like, “To bed, for we leave at daybreak!” They then proceed to try various, more realistic versions of how the departure time would be confirmed. I can’t explain its silliness, so it’s better to watch (here, beginning at 1:05). The dialogue is so well written and delivered, and it’s exactly the kind of meandering conversation typical of a road trip with best friends. Bonus points: they’re driving in a Range Rover – one of my favs.
Hope you enjoyed the list of our favorite car scenes in movies, despite their lack of association with the Academy Awards! And remember, before you hit the road, get your car in tip-top shape by booking maintenance and repairs the easy way – with Openbay.
