9. The Blues Brothers – 106 Miles to Chicago

“Use of unnecessary violence in the apprehension of the Blues Brothers has been approved.”

It is exceedingly likely that this is the only action sequence in movie history that required the FAA to decertify a Pinto. But don’t quote me on that. That fact is an example of the brilliant excess that went into the making of the climactic chase from John Landis’ 1980 tour-de-wacky.

The decertification was necessary because the film wanted to drop a Ford Pinto from over a mile in the air over downtown Chicago. The FAA had to be certain that the Pinto was not airworthy and would hit its 50′ x 50′ mark instead of turning into an airfoil and crashing into the Sears Tower or something.

The amazing degree of on-location permissions doesn’t stop there. After Mayor Daley (Richard J., not Richard M.) banned film production in Chicago, filming a sequence like this seemed impossible. After Daley’s passing (a fact noted in a choice snippet of dialogue in the film) things eased up, and Mayor Jane Byrne signed off on shooting in Chicago while the Cook County Board (with some, um, influence from “legitimate businessmen”) signed off not only on shooting in the very plaza named after the contentious mayor, but on driving the Bluesmobile right through the lobby of the courthouse there.

This film, by the way, opened up movie production in Chicago. We would have nary a John Hughes film without the doors opened by The Blues Brothers.

Shooting was performed in the exact opposite way as The French Connection operated almost a decade earlier. Not only were permissions secured, but streets were blocked off for miles by production assistants and cops numbering in the hundreds to ensure no one got hurt. The only pedestrians onscreen were stuntpeople. As a result, those cars could take Lower Wacker Drive at 115 mph with a clear conscience.

At the heart of the sequence (and pretty much all of the action in the film) is the Bluesmobile, which deserves a place with the Mach 5 and KITT as one of the most bad-ass cars in fictional vehicle history. 13 different used cop cars depicted the vehicle, including the one that was set up for months to be able to fall completely apart at the drop of a hat. To maintain the level of carnage for those and the 60 or so other used cop cars in the flick, the production maintained a 24/7 body shop. This film held the record for sheer number of cars crashed, unparalleled until its regrettable sequel.

Another landmark for the truly geeky among you, this is the first use of a pipe ramp (used to launch cars into the air) in film history. This is nice because when cars pile up in this scene, they do so for no reason whatsoever. Cars just fly into shots, already flipping. Just because.

In many action sequences, it’s the use of discretion that creates power. What is not shown. The judicious use of camera angles and the efficiency of motion. Here, it’s the exact opposite. More is more. And better. The utter devotion to excess makes this one of the greatest car chases of all time.

Even conceptually this sequence revels in size. The chase goes on all night and into the morning, as is beautifully expressed by the fading down, but not out, of the music as we fade in and out from night to day. (Another prime use of music: Wagner for the Illinois Nazis.)

Learn more about the making of the chase here.

See also: The mall chase from The Blues Brothers, cop cars vs. tractor trailers battle royale in Smokey & the Bandit 2, race to save the Pope in Foul Play

Next: We’re not done with Wagner.