1. The Great Escape
Number 1 on this list, and rightly so, is the iconic motorbike chase from the legendary World War Two film The Great Escape. The 1963 production stars Steve McQueen, among others, as a group of allied prisoners who escape a German prison camp, based on real events from the war. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaFBFmJG-LI The climactic scene of the film is known to many. Steve McQueen's character Hilts, having escaped the camp, captures a German motorcycle and attempts to ride to the freedom of Switzerland. The images of him riding over the open fields of Germany, being pursued by what seems like the entire German army, Hitler included (probably), are some of the most iconic in cinematic history. The chase ends with a daring stunt by Hilts, as he tries to jump the motorbike over a huge fence of barbed wire, only to fall short and become entangled. The chase was filmed with Steve McQueen actually riding the motorcycle, as well as the pursuing Germans such was his riding ability whilst stunt rider Bud Ekins performed the memorable jump over the barbed wire. A brilliant parody of the scene was made by oil company Shell, and features a more successful ending than The Great Escape. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9LzcT8ZRIE