Which Star Wars Movie Has The Best High-Speed Chase?

**Tycho** · 07-12-2005

I had to think hard before I answered this one.

I chose the SPEEDERBIKE CHASE in RETURN OF THE JEDI.

It is awesome!

Here you have the Skywalker twins in action, with no shields, and nothing but their skill and the Force between them and blaster bolts and giant trees whizzing by.

The prequel trilogy's best challenger was the Pod Race - especially with the extended footage on Lap 2 restored to the DVD. The maneuvers as well as the gauntlet of obstacles well outdoes Obi-Wan vs. Grievous (in spite of how cute Boga was). While it's true that the AOTC trailer shocked me when I saw Obi-Wan jump out of Padme's window so high up in a tower on Coruscant, the chase did not have as many participants as did the one on Boonta Eve.

In some respect or another, all of these chases had some shooting, but the heroes weren't testing their aiming skills like Luke does on the speederbike.

Coming into the Classic Trilogy, Han's a great pilot and the asteroid sequence was awesome from back to outmaneuvering the star destroyers. It's really hard to put this one down. However, the Falcon was running and not directly fighting back...I guess what Luke did took even more skill - with no shields.

As to the original trench run in A New Hope - they had sheilds, there wasn't as many blatant obstacles unless you use the video game as your standard, and I guess it seemed Luke had time to relax and use the Force (inspite of the fact we know he barely had any time - but R2 bought him a little with his sacrafice, as well as that of Biggs).

I guess the Speederbike Chase in ROTJ looked absolutely crazy. I didn't check how others voted before I did. In fact, I was a little surprised that ROTJ is strongly positioned to "win" this poll. But I think in the end, it deserves the accolades!

"Move closer!" "I take these two; you stay on that one!"

**nomad** · 07-12-2005

I voted before seeing the results as well... and I am certainly surprised at the results so far!

Anyhoo...

I voted for the Death Star Trench Run.

It's a really great question and I was just talking about all of these different speed scenes with some friends.

I love them all, but having to choose one... I thought about it and I just cannot go against the Death Star Trench Run.

That could easily be the greatest scene in all of the saga (Let's not go there, hehe)...
Just from the standpoint of directing and editing all of it together... it's quite a long and suspenceful sequence.

The environment is one we've never been introduced to before and the importance of the event sort of puts it over the top for me.

You've got Luke being chased by Vader in the sequence as well!

My second vote just may have been the AOTC chase of Zam.

I will NEVER forget watching that in the movie theater for the first time. (I'm also a spoiler-free maniac and certainly never saw any trailors or footage of the scene before).

When Kenobi just jumps right through the window... Haha, spectactular!
Then flying through the air on the droid and all of the vehicle obsatcles and on-coming traffic... to the funny interactions between the two heroes and the whole comedic approach to just how amazing the Jedi truly are... I do love that sequence. (Obi-Wan just nonchallantly plucks Anakin's falling saber out of the air as he's driving)

Nonetheless... my choice stands... ANH: Death Star trench run!!

You've got high-speed, serious turbo-laser cannons stationed along the way, multiple waves of Enemy Fighters in pursuit, a Squadron of allies interacting with eachother over comlinks, allies and enemies crashing and exploding, concerned observers, climactic plot elements, the main Bad Guy vs. the Main Good Guy, the greater wisdom of the instructor influencing the young student and thus creating the emergence of the young hero, and the aid of a friend (thought to have let you down) just in the nick of time!!

Whew!

May the force be with you.

**Slicker** · 07-12-2005

Falcon chase through the asteroid field. Nothing is better than that.

**Mandalorian Candidat** · 07-12-2005

An interesting poll. I really like all the chases, especially the speeder bike one since it made me feel like I was going to bash into a tree at any moment when I first saw it. However, I'll be the first one to say that I voted for the EP1 podrace. It has that fast feeling of being in a race/chase without having jerky camera movements or angles switching too fast to get a good feel of what was going on. The CG was done well and the extended view on the DVD makes it that much better due to the extra maneuvering Ani goes through. Plus having those Sandpeople taking potshots at the Jawas was too funny.

**Hellboy** · 07-12-2005

For me it's easily the Death Star trench run in Ep IV.

Out of all the chase sequences it has the most players involved and with the fate of the Rebellion hanging in the balance the galactic ramifications were at an all time high. Most of the pilots knew it was a suicide mission but went anyway and the pressure on Luke to pull out a victory at the last possible moment couldn't be more intense.

It was also the first time we really see Luke's ability to stay composed under extreme circumstances. Most people would have lost it after seeing the majority of their wingmen shot down including his best friend who he had just reunited with for the first time since leaving his home planet of Tatooine.

Not only do I think it's the best chase sequence but it's also one of the highest points in the entire saga.

**Ji'dai** · 07-12-2005

Boy, this is a tough one, but I chose the Endor speeder bike chase. The speeder bike has been a favorite vehicle of mine (next to the Falcon) since I first saw this chase. Even the Scout Troopers were cool looking and remain my favorite type of Stormtrooper as well.

If you had a bike, you easily relive the Endor chase at home. My parents had a few acres and hundreds of pine trees so I would often dart through them with my own bike, pretending I was there on Endor being chased by the Empire.

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The Death Star trench run would be a close second. I still find myself quoting dialogue from that battle when driving in my car.

The asteroid chase was cool too, made even better by John William's score. I remember watching clips of that chase in the old Burger King TV ads for the ESB glasses.

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I did enjoy the Boonta Eve pod race, even though I'm not a racing enthusiast. The Zam Wesell chase was fun too. I really liked the speeders designs used for that sequence.

Of all the choices, the Grievous chase has to be the worst in my book.

**JediTricks** · 07-13-2005

Well, the question is "which movie has the best chase", so even though Lando's flight into the DS2 isn't listed, it's still part of that movie and you could vote that way - I went with the options Hellboy chose but I think they were all the best representations for their films, that DS2 interior scene is great and very fast, but I never thought of it as a "chase", the TIE Interceptors never seemed to be menacing the Rebels IMO and those rebs never seemed to be trying to outrun the Imps - of course, that's pretty cool on its own too, the Imperials think they're hunting the Alliance fighters but the Fighters are only concerned with getting the job done immediately. And ROTJ isn't the only one with multiple chases, AOTC also had Jango chasing Obi-Wan and the Republic Gunship chasing Dooku, but I could certainly not fit all that onto the option.

Ultimately, I had a really hard time deciding on this, all 3 originals were calling to me very hard, then I finally whittled my options down to ANH and ESB, and ultimately found the ESB chase to be the most thrilling because it is so incredibly fast and dangerous and crazy and out of control. I am not exactly sure how I was able to cut ROTJ from my list in the first place though, it's a great chase too, I guess it's just that it ends poorly for both our heroes - not a bad thing, certainly a change of pace for the saga to have both heroes not keep using their machines, just somehow that let the other squeek by.

**Kidhuman** · 07-13-2005

Understood JT about the movie and all its chases. I was under the impression of justvoting on those specific chases. Either way I voted ROTJ and that includes DS2.

If you really think about it, Luke was chased by Vader in ANH, and Lando by the TIE Fighters in ROTJ. Both were chasing them to stop them from blowing it up, IMO they are both the same thing, so both can be chases.

**TheDarthVader** · 07-13-2005

I voted for the Return of the Jedi speeder bike chase. I agree with others here; the best chase was the Lando DS2 chase. The best prequel chase was the Phantom Menace pod race.

B.
TDV

**Turbowars** · 07-13-2005

I voted for the Endor Speeder Bike chase. Jedi was the only OT film I was able to see on the big screen and man let me tell you, when the bikes took off my jaw dropped to the ground and I had the biggest smile ever.

I think the EP1 Pod race would come 2nd. It was perfect.

The SD trench chase kind of bores me. I know chop my freaking head off. I do like it, but it seems too long.