Defying Gravity, Logic, and Common Sense
Though it tries, CGI can’t quite capture the raw, reckless moment when two tons of metal actually fly. Long before green screens turned action into pixels, stunt drivers hurled cars off bridges, flipped them end over end, and walked away grinning. While most car stunts these days are computer magic, many of the most jaw-dropping moments were absolutely, alarmingly real. Here are twenty of the most legendary car stunts that actually happened in real life.
1. The Barrel Roll in The Man with the Golden Gun
During this scene, James Bond does a full 360-degree corkscrew jump across a river in a custom AMC Hornet. The stunt driver, Loren “Bumps” Willert, actually nailed it on the first take. Even today, it remains one of the cleanest car rolls ever filmed, though the producers nearly ruined it with that weird slide-whistle sound effect.
2. The 180 Chase in Ronin
If you’ve ever watched the Paris car chase in Ronin and felt slightly nauseous, good—that’s realism working its magic. The film used real stunt drivers driving real cars on real streets at over 70 mph. Some actors, like Natascha McElhone, sat in dummy cars mounted on rigs, but De Niro was actually inside, reacting for real.
3. The Flip in The Dark Knight
You might be forgiven for thinking the iconic scene where the Joker’s truck does a complete forward flip was done in miniature. In reality, they pulled it off by using a custom air-powered piston buried in the street.
4. The Charger Chase in Bullitt
Steve McQueen’s 1968 San Francisco chase was cinematic perfection, and every modern chase owes something to Bullitt. Both the jumps and the hubcaps flying off were totally real. McQueen did much of his own driving, pushing the Mustang to nearly 110 mph down city streets.
5. The Bridge Jump in The Blues Brothers
The Bluesmobile jumping over an open drawbridge actually happened. They used a real bridge in Chicago, shut down traffic, and launched the car with enough force to twist the frame like a pretzel.
6. The Tanker Explosion in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
The scene of the tanker rolling end over end in the desert was full-scale and deadly. Stuntman Guy Norris broke his leg on impact, but the shot of dust, chaos, and flaming wreckage made it into the final cut.
7. The Bus Jump in Speed
The scene of Sandra Bullock’s bus flying over a freeway gap may have been absurdly far-fetched, but it was technically real. The stunt crew built a hidden ramp and actually launched a real bus. It landed nose-down so hard the driver’s helmet cracked the windshield.
8. The Tunnel Chase in Mission: Impossible – Fallout
Tom Cruise actually did this scene himself, weaving through Paris tunnels like a man with a death wish. Every lean, every swerve, and near-miss was completely real. Cruise seems to have a pathological need to up the ante in every single one of these films.
9. The Tank Scene in Fast & Furious 6
That tank barreling down a Spanish highway was actually a real decommissioned military tank, modified for safety and speed. When it crushed the cars, those were actual cars being flattened. The digital tweaks that came later were mostly to add debris to the scene.
10. The Flip Car in Fast & Furious 6
Yes, same movie, only a different kind of madness. The “flip car” that launches police cruisers into the air was a fully functional car designed by Dennis McCarthy. It used a lightweight frame and low wedge nose to physically toss other vehicles during filming.
11. The Barrel Jump in Smokey and the Bandit II
Burt Reynolds’ Pontiac Trans Am soaring over a collapsing bridge was a genuine stunt with no special effects involved. They used multiple ramps, reinforced the frame, and still destroyed several cars in the process. The stuntman reportedly said afterward, “I saw Jesus on the way down.”
12. The Plane Grab in Tenet
Christopher Nolan found it cheaper and more visually convincing to buy an actual retired jet and blow it up than to fake it. The stunt crew meticulously planned every second, from the plane’s descent to the precise explosion timing, making it one of the most insane practical effects in recent cinema.
13. The Train Chase in The General (1926)
Silent-era stunt work was another level of insanity. Buster Keaton actually drove a real steam locomotive over a burning bridge and watched it collapse. The shot cost $42,000 (a small fortune in those days) and almost cost him his life.
14. The Dock Jump in Gone in 60 Seconds (1974)
In the original Gone in 60 Seconds, stuntman H.B. Halicki launched his Mustang over 30 cars and landed so violently he compressed his spine. He barely managed to walk away from the stunt, but the legendary scene was cemented in cinematic history.
André Karwath aka Aka on Wikimedia
15. The Hill Climb in Quantum of Solace
Those tight cliffside turns and screeching Aston Martins were shot in Italy’s Lake Garda region. Several stunt cars were destroyed during filming, including one that plunged into the lake. The driver survived, emerging soaked and furious.
16. The Parking Garage Drop in The Bourne Ultimatum
That police car Bourne drops off the roof was a real car making a real drop. They used a massive hydraulic ramp to launch it off the structure and timed the explosion perfectly.
Matti Blume (MB-one) on Wikimedia
17. The Bridge Collapse in Terminator 3
That massive crane chase scene with trucks smashing through buildings and bridges collapsing used real vehicles. They demolished parts of an abandoned freeway to make it seem real. Arnold was in the cab for some takes, though the heavier impacts were all stunt crew.
18. The Iceland Chase in Die Another Day
Say what you want about the invisible car, but the chase on the frozen lake was legitimate. They built a real ice track on a real frozen lagoon in Iceland to pull it off, and some of the cars actually sank during shooting.
The original uploader was Hansjorn at Danish Wikipedia. on Wikimedia
19. The Tanker Chase in Licence to Kill
Another Bond flick, but can you blame us? The tanker trucks performing those impossible wheelies on mountain roads were inexplicably real. The crew used modified Kenworths, weighted to balance on two wheels. The drivers rehearsed for months so their defiance of gravity would seem realistic.
20. The Airplane Drop in Furious 7
You’d think the skydiving scenes would be green screen, but they actually dropped several real cars from a C-130 at 12,000 feet with parachutes attached. The drivers weren’t inside, but the footage shows real cars making a real descent.
