. The vehicles get a chance to show off their abilities while beautiful people fawn on them. Just like car commercials starring famous actors, they are a natural setup for admiring the product.

The setup can be marred by poor driving, so directors have to find skilled drivers for their movies. Sometimes that means training the lead actor or hiring stuntpeople.

If it’s done right, the real, skilled driving that’s seen doesn’t just make those scenes work, they’re awe-inspiring.

Performing some of these driving stunts can be really dangerous, but they added an element to the film we didn’t know we needed.

'Ronin' shows exhilarating car chases

Ronin is a car chase movie, through and through. Released in 1998, it featured real cars speeding through the streets of Paris.

The director, John Frankenheimer, had all the essential elements to make Ronin. He was an avid car collector and a massive car racing fan. Most of all, he directed another famous car-centric movie in 1966 called Grand Prix.

Ronin is remembered for its action and the performances of Robert de Niro and Natascha McElhone. However, neither actor did much of the stunt driving throughout the movie. Frankenheimer hired 50 other people to do that.

With a car-enthusiast as a director and dedicated stunt driving professionals flexing their expertise, it isn't a surprise that

Supercars.net

praised this movie as one of the best car chase movies.

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'Spectre' is a flex of luxury cars

MORE: 4 Tips to Help You Get Back Into Driving

The car in Spectre was an Aston Martin, of course.

The Aston Martin in this particular movie was a DB10. It’s based on the V8 Vantage, and there were only 10 of these sleek sports cars ever made. You would expect James Bond to ride such a car, but it was Mark Higgins who did all the driving.

After 25 years as a professional rally driver, he had plenty of experience to bring to the movie. He also acted as the stunt driver in two other Bond movies, Skyfall and Quantum of Solace.

Higgins got into driving in Bond movies because they needed a rally driver for a scene in Skyfall, but he was driving the bad guy's car. This time, he got to drive as Bond in the iconic scene where he escapes capture.

'Drive' features tons of driving stunts

Not every movie hires a stunt driver for their car chase scenes. Ryan Gosling did his own stunts in Drive, a gritty 2011 movie about a getaway driver who started out as a Hollywood stuntman.

Yes, it’s a little ironic, but Gosling learned a slew of driving tricks in order to portray a stuntman who is never even named in the movie. These stunts included reverse 180s, forward 180s, break stands, and a bunch of others.

Gosling's training mimicked the training of regular stunt drivers for a reason.

The director, Nicolas Windig Refn, put the camera rig inside the car for most of the movie. This means that the viewer sees everything from the driver's perspective, and Gosling had to look like he knew exactly what he was doing while acting.

Since most of the movie involves driving, Gosling got a lot of practice. It's no wonder that Drive scored 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.

You shouldn't do trick driving unless you’re trained, and when you do, you’ll want to make sure your car has adequate protection. Let the AI-powered

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Written By

Serena Aburahma · Expert Insurance Writer

Serena has a BA in Honors English Literature from California State University, Northridge. She has worked as an editor and writer for several years and has had various forms of content published in magazines, websites, anthologies, and more. Serena calls herself a modern "Renaissance woman" since she has a hunger for learning and strives to succeed in many fields. During her free time Serena enjoys acting, singing off-key to songs in the car, and working on her novel.

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