Entertainment
In Just 4 Minutes, the Decade’s Greatest Movie Redefined Epic Car Chases
55 years ago, The French Connection laid the foundation for the perfect movie car chase. William Friedkin‘s iconic crime thriller, as well as 1968’s Bullitt, nailed this type of riveting, elaborate action set piece so well that anyone trying to re-create its magic was foolish. Nevertheless, car chases remained an enduring aspect of action thrillers, with the occassional innovation like Mad Max: Fury Road, a movie that’s practically one long car chase.
However, everything changed with the release of Paul Thomas Anderson‘s Best Picture-winning masterpiece, One Battle After Another. After experiencing the film’s exquisite and breathtaking climactic car chase across a desert highway, not only did we realize we were watching pure greatness; we also discovered that car chases would never be the same.
Paul Thomas Anderson Takes a Minimalist Approach to Car Chases in ‘One Battle After Another’
One Battle After Another, which finally brought Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio together, is the director’s most ambitious film to date. The acclaimed auteur behind There Will Be Blood and The Master never seemed interested in including heists, shootouts, and high-octane chase sequences in his repertoire, but Anderson took an incredible leap as an artist with his latest achievement, which earned him his long-awaited Oscar for Best Director. Having cited The French Connection as one of his influences for One Battle, Anderson reminded audiences of the vigor and dramatic propulsion possible in a classic car chase — which fit perfectly into this story about a washed-up revolutionary, Bob Ferguson (DiCaprio), on the trail of an old foe, Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), who himself is on the hunt for Bob’s daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti).
The film culminates in a breathtaking, four-minute car chase on an empty desert highway, set against a backdrop reminiscent of a John Ford Western in Monument Valley. Following her escape from Lockjaw, Willa is running for her life as she is chased by Tim Smith (John Hoogenakker), an assassin for the white nationalist group the Christmas Adventurer’s Club. Chasing him from behind is Bob, who is trying to protect his daughter, unaware that Willa is capable of standing her ground. What manifests is a chase sequence that is so effortlessly crafted that it’s a wonder Anderson hasn’t directed more action movies.
Anderson takes a minimalist approach to directing the climax of One Battle After Another by removing any musical score and extraneous dialogue. The cinematography is surprisingly straightforward, cutting between close interior shots of the drivers inside the cars and sweeping panoramic shots of the cars as they ebb and flow along the hilly road. What it lacks in over-the-top spectacle is made up for by the scene’s jaw-dropping visual scope, as the vast horizon of this open yet ominous land shrinks the presence of each car down to a molecule. Anderson keeps the camera steady and focused, which only makes the extended sequence more hypnotic, and the film’s expert production design and location scouting allow for this unique road to act like a roller-coaster ride for the viewer, creating an immersive experience that outmatches anything put out by the Marvel Cinematic Universe in years.
The Grand Dramatic Weight of the Car Chase in ‘One Battle After Another’
A true full-meal movie, One Battle After Another perfectly infuses Anderson’s idiosyncratic vision, as he reflects on aging, generational divides, and the rise of fascism in contemporary America, while also handling the demands of a big-ticket blockbuster event. With each action set piece, you’ll forget that you were previously watching a strange, darkly comic movie about radical revolutionaries and a military general with particular fetishes. The film’s sweeping climax carries the weight of American democracy, with this chase symbolizing the older generation, represented by Bob, trying to wake up and face the dangers of today, only to be encouraged that the youth — Willa in this case — is ready to fight back against fascism, including the Christmas Adventurer’s Club. The patience and methodical blocking of the desert chase create a distinctly cerebral action climax that reflects on America’s past, present, and future.
In an era where action keeps getting needlessly bigger and more boisterous, this triumphant sequence in One Battle After Another proves that expert filmmaking, location scouting, and attention to orientation and blocking are essential to providing awe-inspiring thrills. Bells and whistles are overrated—sometimes, all you need is an unsettling stretch of road in a desert.
One Battle After Another
- Release Date
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September 26, 2025
- Runtime
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162 minutes
- Director
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Paul Thomas Anderson
- Writers
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Paul Thomas Anderson, Thomas Pynchon
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