'Reunion in Terror': The car-chase scene
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — McMillan & Wife
urgeking — 10 years ago(June 23, 2015 07:40 PM)
Saw this episode last night on MeTV. (Actually I was sort of half-watching while working on something.) There's a chase scene where the killer, in a full-size early-1970s Chevy sedan (IIRC), and Mac, in an early-1970s Lincoln Continental, chase each other around the San Francisco streets.
Those cars are very heavy, usually have a pillowy suspension meant for comfort rather than handling, and by today's standards they're absolutely
huge
certainly NOT what you'd use for crisp sports-car cornering with good grip and controlled body lean! Typically they would get used in '70s TV chases at fairly low speed, using closeups and quick edits to amp-up the excitement in an artificial way. I was expecting this episode's director and stunt guys to fudge it like that. But give 'em much credit for not taking the easy way out. Putting on some real speed, they absolutely THROW those huge, ungainly Detroit land-yachts HARD around city street corners again and again tail ends spinning out, the whole bit. Those two behemoths get slalomed around oncoming traffic as if they're Camaros or something, and for comic effect (I presume!), they get airborne on the SF hills just like 'Bullitt'. There
might
be a couple of shots where the film was cranked to jack up the speed, but not many you can tell by how wildly those big sedans are sliding around! Quite a spectacle, and I'll have to watch more closely the next time it airs. -
richard.fuller1 — 10 years ago(June 27, 2015 06:28 AM)
I don't know beans about cars, but I record McMillan & Wife (and McMillan now, it seems) as I liked the show back then.
When I saw that 'jump' as well, I thought about the hoopla over 'Bullitt' was it (I have never seen it. Just not a Steve McQueen fan), as well as all the commotion over Starsky and Hutch, which I also didn't watch that much.
When McMillan's car came down, his left blinker came on. I was wondering if that was just a mechanical failure and they left it in. I'm sure it was.
I've marveled at things like the handling of automobiles in Mad Mad Mad Mad World and Race With the Devil, as well as potentially the bus in Speed (tho it has been divulged when the bus made that jump, it didn't land intact), and even silliness like The Big Bus.
I don't know about how the cars back then would have held up, I'm told the '63 cars used in Mad World were very durable and would do all that stuff they did for real, such as Phil Silvers' downhill drive and all. -
urgeking — 10 years ago(July 04, 2015 10:36 PM)
OK, I just watched the chase again, online (guess where), and it didn't look as impressive the second time around. That shows the effect a chase scene can have on your mind when it catches you by surprise. Still, not bad.
The blinker Ha, I missed that the first time. Probably a case of, "Oops, my hand banged against the turn-signal lever when the car slammed down." Nice shower of sparks from underneath the Chevy when it bottoms out.
I went on imcdb to find the Chevy's model year, and
what?
No car identifications posted for 'McMillan and Wife' at all??
'Mad (x4) World' yeah, a 1940s Ford could be pretty rugged. Many of the rounded, bulbous sedans of that era could roll over a couple of times and come out with the shape of the roof nearly intact. On the other hand, a book called "Car Crashes (and other sad scenes)" shows just how much damage COULD be done to those cars at high speed (but, warning, it's
not
for the squeamish!). My favorite in 'MMMMW' is Dick Shawn's red '62 Dodge convertible flying
over
a rural intersection at about 80 mph and coming down hard, with only a lap belt (if that) to protect the stunt driver if he lost control upon landing. -
jerry6-1 — 10 years ago(July 27, 2015 02:48 PM)
They modify the suspensions , big time , also have skid plates and reinforcements on the car , as well as using high numeric gears to get them tires spinning . Those old boats were not great handlers , but they cold be made decent with a few mods . Looked to b a 74 or 75 Impala , Lincoln was chasing
Wrong ep . I'm thinking of Dark sunrise , where he is thought to be killed by a bomb . The ep above is where he is in a rallye with old fiends no ?
Same car chase in BOTH EPS !!! JUST WATCHED , EXCEPT MAC IS IN THE LINCOLN exact same streets exits scenes , check it out -
urgeking — 10 years ago(July 27, 2015 05:57 PM)
They re-used the chase in a different episode?! Now that's just
cheapness!
"C'mon, trust me, no one will remember that they've already seen this chase" Ahh, the things they could get away with in the pre-Internetz era!