When we asked you to name every single James Bond car ever, it did my heart good to see so many of you chime in to stick up for 2008's Quantum of Solace. Nearly every review I've seen of Skyfall so far has mentioned what a "dud" or a "disaster" its prequel was, and I don't think that criticism was fair at all.
Sure, Quantum isn't a perfect movie. Its story is kind of all over the place. But there are a lot of things to love about it too, like Daniel Craig's general lethality from start to finish, bad guys that were detestable in a real world sense, a great set piece with the burning hotel at the end, a satisfying conclusion to the events in Casino Royale, and Gemma Arterton as Ms. Fields.
But my favorite part of the movie comes within the first three minutes when we're treated to one of the better car chases in Bond movie history. It's short, it's intense, it's brutal, and it's a lot of fun to watch.
Our hero is driving an Aston Martin DBS with a throaty V12 engine, while the bad guy vehicle of choice is an Alfa Romeo 159 with a 3.2-liter V6. Under normal circumstances that isn't even remotely a fair fight, except here there are two Alfas, their drivers have assault rifles, and the chase takes place on a winding, two-lane roadway in heavy traffic. Do not try this at home, kiddos.
It's such a desperate, frenetic, obstacle-laden chase, and through it all the Aston gets tore the fuck up. (This shouldn't surprise anyone since Daniel Craig's James Bond goes through Astons like normal people go through cigarettes.) The moment about 50 seconds in where Bond loses a door, spins into a wall and narrowly misses an oncoming truck? I still get chills seeing that.
Plus, the scene is awesome because it's made pretty clear that this DB9 has three pedals and a stick. An automatic for 007? Please.
Eventually Bond manages to dispatch the last Alfa using his rifle, after which he drives into town and nonchalantly opens the trunk to reveal his cargo — a tied up Mr. White, one of the baddies from the previous movie. "It's time to get out," he says. BAD ASS.
I haven't seen Skyfall yet but I plan to this weekend. Hopefully it won't disappoint on the car chase front.
What's your favorite Bond movie car chase? Paste it in the comments below if you can find it online!