7. The goggle rig Chasing the Past Déjà vu (2006)
More lunacy, more Denzel, more Tony Scottmore action. 2006 capped the end of a busy 3 years for Tony Scott with Déjà vu following hot on the heels of Domino in 2005 and Man on Fire, 2004. Despite, as with so many of his films, a lukewarm reception from the critics, Déjà Vu more than doubled its money at the box office. The film literally starts with a bang as a ferry containing hundreds of returning sailors and their families is blown to pieces. This time Washington plays Special Agent Doug Carlin, the supporting cast includes Val Kilmer, Adam Goldberg and Paula Patton but this ones all about Denzel, hes at the centre of everything, all the audience needs to do is figure out which Denzel, on which timeline theyre following. The responsibility of figuring out and possibly even retroactively stopping the attack is firmly on Carlins shoulders. The plot is one huge contrivance but Scotts steady hand and faith in his leading man just about carry us through. The contrivance is a little bit Strange Days, Val Kilmer and co. have a machine that can recreate 4 days in the past, its this that they use to try and figure out who the bomber is and its using this contrivance that Scott is able to create the standout scene of the movie. As the bomber leaves the area that the machine, which creates the past, covers (make sense?), Carlin must adorn the goggle rig, a device that allows the machine to cover ground previously out of range. Effectively this leads to a pretty unique car chase, Carlin is chasing somebody by following the route they took 4 days ago, though he has the now to contend with. That was almost as much exposition as there was in the film and it still doesnt make sense. What does make sense is Scotts handling of the scene. Car chases are a dime a dozen, unfortunately not every car chase can be Bullitt, Escape From L.A. or Ronin, though thankfully this is one of the good ones. Music pulses as Scott cuts back and forth between Carlin and the command centre, the urgency is immediate. Cars crash and burn as shards fly in slow motion, Denzel talks us through it but the real assured hand here is Tonys.