Let’s be honest. There’s nothing in cinema as pulsating and frenetic as a good ol’ fashioned car chase.

While flipping cars and handbrake turns are incredibly thrilling to watch, it’s also the steely-eyed badass characters in the driver’s seat that we’re really cheering for. These are the ones that don’t flinch at the first sign of danger and know the roads like the back of their hand.

Drivers in these movies are the type to use gum and sticky-tape to fix a broken engine, while many of us average folk will simply use a site like this to purchase car parts instead. In short, they know cars better than themselves.

Over the years, many movies have given us some incredibly ice-cool characters who feel most at home behind a steering wheel, yet here are three of our favourites…

 

Frank Martin in the Transporter movies

It’s his job to drive well, and boy, does he drive well. Played by Jason Statham in three Transporter movies, Frank Martin seems at one with BMWs and Audis, as he effortlessly dodges and weaves his way around traffic.

In the clip below, Martin brings out all the stops to evade police on his tail, as he drives a group of criminals to safety in the first Transporter movie in 2002.

 

Jason Bourne in the Bourne movies

A man of many talents, Jason Bourne is literally a walking Swiss Army knife. His super reflexive and instinctive skills additionally lend themselves well into driving vehicles, as Bourne constantly evades the Paris police force in a Mini in the clip below from 2002’s The Bourne Identity – the first in the series.

Though the sequels both contained edge-of-your-seat car chases as well, this chase through tiny streets, down stairs, and through phone booths will have your excitement levels hitting the max. Add a pulsating soundtrack from Paul Oakenfold’s ‘Ready, Steady, Go’ to the scene, and you’ve got a cinema classic.

A fourth film in the Bourne series was released in 2012 titled The Bourne Legacy (with Jeremy Renner in place of Matt Damon for the lead).

 

Driver in Drive

Perhaps one of the movie world’s calmest-yet-awesome character, Ryan Gosling character is simply known as ‘Driver’ in 2011’s sleeper-hit Drive. Initially a movie that may have confused some cinemagoers, as the trailer would have you think this is a Fast and Furious clone, yet Drive was much slower-paced and introspective than many expected.

Gosling’s character doesn’t say an awful lot or change his facial expression much, yet this only adds to his badass demeanour, especially when we do get to see him use his considerable driving talents in the scene below.

 

Who is your favourite movie driver? Let us know below…