Detour to the Movies: 8 Blockbuster Road Trips
Charging down a desert highway towards an infinite horizon, racing through city streets, or in hot pursuit along a curvy coastal road. These are the movie scenes that car fans remember.
If you want to follow the stars of the silver screen on an unforgettable blockbuster road trip of your own then let Detour be your director.
C’Etait un Rendez-Vous
Claude Lelouch’s 14-minute movie is a single shot from the bumper of a mysterious motor as it hoons through Paris in the early hours of the morning touching speeds over 120 mph past the city’s famous landmarks. To follow the route and learn more about how the French filmmaker pulled off this motoring masterpiece check out Gavin Conway’s story.
No Time to Die
Norway’s Atlantic Ocean Road is the start point of the epic off-road chase between 007 in his Toyota Land Cruiser and Safin’s Defender-driving henchmen in No Time To Die. Although the 4x4 action was actually filmed in Scotland, the FV64 road and its Storseisundet Bridge are a beautiful backdrop to Norse road trip.
Bullitt
It took two weeks to film what’s widely regarded as the best car chase in cinematic history. Steve McQueen insisted on doing as much of the driving as he could over a route that featured the steep streets of San Francisco, before reaching a fiery conclusion. Rent yourself a Mustang and then chase the King of Cool.
The Italian Job
No alpine driving adventure is complete without paying homage to The Italian Job. The film’s iconic opening sequence was shot on the Great St Bernard Pass, to the accompaniment of Matt Munro’s On Days Like These, while the classic, “Hang on lads, I’ve got an idea,” finale took place on the Colle de Nivolet.
Basic Instinct
California’s Highway 1 has featured in many a movie, but it’s the wild coastal chase between Michael Douglas, as homicide cop Nick Curran, and Sharon Stone’s Catherine Tramell that car enthusiasts will always remember. Currans’ police Dodge is no match for Tramell’s Lotus Esprit in this hair raising pursuit. Follow the route with Ben Barry’s guide.
Two Lane Blacktop
US Highway 219, aka The Tail of the Dragon, is one of America’s best-known drivers’ roads, and it was also used for the final sequence of the wild road race movie Two Lane Blacktop. The road which passes through North Carolina and Tennnesee also featured in the Fugitive. Tame the Dragon with our guide.
Vanishing Point
Nevada’s Route 50 is known as America’s Loneliest Road and its very emptiness made it perfect for shooting Vanishing Point. There’s not much plot, the hero, Kowalski, played by Barry Newman, has just 15 hours to deliver a Dodge Challenger from Denver to San Francisco, but then there’s not much of anything in the Nevada desert, either.
Fast and Furious 6
In the speedy opening sequence of Fast & Furious 6 Brian (Paul Walker) and Dom (Vin Diesel) race side-by-side in their Nissan GT-R and Dodge Challenger along the TF 445 in Gran Canaria. There’s plenty more action in the Canary Islands featuring a diverse array of automobiles from a Ford Escort RS2000 to a Chieftan Tank! Get Fast and Furious with our guide to the roads of the movie.
If you want to follow the stars of the silver screen on an unforgettable blockbuster road trip of your own then let Detour be your director.