I never noticed the e34 in...

[Kulasstar]

Ronin.

Im sure everyone has seen this movie but it is only until now that i watched it agian and notice the car was a e34. good sense too.

http://www.ifilm.com/video/2825522

[liquidtiger720]

Yup, I love that movie, Bought the DVD just for the e34 scene :)

[TETSUO]

one of my all time favorite chase scenes. everytime i watch it makes me want to drive my baby all reckless ;)

[Renman]

Ambush has a pretty good chase with a 7series
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RkPoMnK1lBA
Ronin is a great movie though.

[jrobbo]

It's an M5! Well, at least the one the drive is an M5, the one that gets flipped is a 518i

John

[RallyD]

the thing that gets me about Ronin is the cheezy explosions and how they kept reusing the 'right turn in the city' shot with the S8

[MTechnik540i]

It's an M5! Well, at least the one the drive is an M5, the one that gets flipped is a 518i

John

John, I'm not even sure if there's ever even a scene with an M5 after watching it over and over.

Once in a while the car will have M-System Is and then it'll randomly have basketweaves. I think they use a non-M, throughout the scene though.

Could be wrong though.

[LunatiC]

Yup, I love that movie, Bought the DVD just for the e34 scene :)

Same reason why I bought the DVD :D

[jrobbo]

John, I'm not even sure if there's ever even a scene with an M5 after watching it over and over.

Once in a while the car will have M-System Is and then it'll randomly have basketweaves. I think they use a non-M, throughout the scene though.

Could be wrong though.

You're right Trevor in that it's always been a point of much discussion. As you say though, there are 2 cars there, one is a 518i with the basketweaves on it (that's the one that gets rolled), and one that looks identical to a 3.6 litre M5. Whether it actually is an M5 or not, I don't know, I just choos to beleive that it is :)

John

[Gayle]

It is a fake M5.

We have Ronin night here when it is on the tube. One of the last times it was on, they had it interspersed with clips of the movie being made. It was a bit too expensive to crack up a bunch of m5s in the filming, so they gave some average bmws makeup. After all, it is a movie.

The interesting thing about ronin was the sequel and how different the feel of the chase scene is. In the first one, the film crew is external. In the second one, you feel like you are in the car and see it as the driver did. I think in the second one the car is on somelike of sleigh like appartus that allowed it to be filmed with the crew there.

[jrobbo]

That all makes sense of course, the only thing that doesn't is why did they only choose to give some of them makeup, and yet the left the one that rolled without any adornment at all? Regardless of the obvious continuity glitches in the film. It seems to me that if they went to the trouble of giving some of them making, they would have done it to all of them to avoid the continuity goofs.

John

[LunatiC]

The interesting thing about ronin was the sequel and how different the feel of the chase scene is.

Whoa, stop the presses!


There is a sequel to Ronin?! What is it called?

[Gayle]

Agreed. It is bugging me that I can't find internet verification to what I remember seeing on the tube. I have learned other interesting things though..


John Frankenheimer, the director, was a former race driver. He made the movie Grand Prix in 1966. He did the driving in Ronin himself. There were up to 150 other stunt drivers in other cars in those scenes. 150! It was filmed a year after Princess Di bit it a Paris tunnel.


Another peice of weird trivia is that Frankenheimer was friends with Robert Kennedy and was the one who drove him to the hotel the night he was assassinated.

[Gayle]

Whoa, stop the presses!


There is a sequel to Ronin?! What is it called?

Senility strikes. I will see if my husband remembers. If I could just remember his name.

It doesn't make sense that there was a sequel cause there is not another movie on Frankenheimer's bio. He croaked about 2 years after making that. But I have a very vivid memory of seeing the documentary on the filming. I think the second one was filmed in Moscow. It must have been a different director.

Edit: I think I must be remembering the difference in Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremcy. My bad. Rosa Rosandana. Never mind.

[repenttokyo]

Another fun fact: The 6.9 in the movie was Frankenheimer's own car, from his private collection, and the scene where it slides around a corner and cracks into a parked car was NOT in the script.

I've now owned an e34 and a w116 v8 MB - next car for me in the Ronin chase scene is the S8 i guess :p

[Turbo Ready]

My wife bought this DVD the minute it hit the market about 8 years ago I think.
I look at it with friends nearly every year and use it to test my home theater set up.

I purchased a 50" wall mounted plasma TV and did a full up to date digital 7.1 audio upgrade along with a Velodyne 400watt sub for last Christmas.

I was working as fast as I could to do all the wiring so I can play Ronin chapter 25 (Chases to die for) and I was practically shedding tears of joy watching and hearing that chapter, my all time favorite.

BTW guys, if you select narration, there is an explanation about which cars they used and how the scenes were shot. They used many different cars cut in half to do most of the stunts.

[Denton]

You can hear the slight change in engine noise between the M5 and a 535i in the tunnel...

I was upset with the basketweave shot, I mean, COME ON!

[Panda]

Talking of car chase scenes;

I remember many years ago reading that the chase scene in Bullit used over-dubs of 2 Ford GT40's for the sound track. Can anyone confirm this or am I making it up?

Was it a 51thingy in Ronin? Sorry can't bring myself to give the car its full title. Have never understood the logic of fitting such a small engine in such a big car. They did well to get the thing to appear in a "chase" scene. I had the misfortune of driving one about 6 months ago, which was about how long it took to get to 60mph. Hateful car, does anone here own one? I can only laugh when I see one, they are never badged but that single pipe gives it away. Having said that, when my car gets the supercharger I keep promising myself, it will have a single pipe and a 51thingy badge. "Q" cars are more fun.

[Sam-Son]

By far the greatest movie ever. The E34 scene is the greatest car chase ever. Great car not to mention its driven by a woman. the only thing is I'm not 100% sure its an M5. It has 1 M5 badge on the bootlid but the interior appointments and the lack of an M5 badge on the front make me wonder. Either way the car looks and sounds great.

[BuckNaked]

:D Eh, just a scratch. A little clay bar and good as new:D

[granit_silber]

I remember while listening to the commentary on the DVD that the actors actually did a good portion of the driving stunts. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when you see deniro start to get really uncomfortable behind the wheel.
-ashley

[BigTed00]

i notice e34s everywhere in tv

jerry seinfeld drives an e34 for a few episodes

he tries to sell it in the one episode where the valet has BO and stinks up the car so bad no ones wants to buy it :p

good stuff

[Turbo Ready]

I remember while listening to the commentary on the DVD that the actors actually did a good portion of the driving stunts. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when you see deniro start to get really uncomfortable behind the wheel.
-ashley

No the actors did not do the stunts, but the actors were in the cars when the stunts were done. They used e34's out or the UK and installed fake steering wheels on the left side with a LHD dash. The stunt driver was actually driving on the right side.

All the sound tracks were captured from the cars while they were on a race track, none of the sounds were computer enhanced, they are "raw"

[MTechnik540i]

Another fun fact: The 6.9 in the movie was Frankenheimer's own car, from his private collection, and the scene where it slides around a corner and cracks into a parked car was NOT in the script.

I've now owned an e34 and a w116 v8 MB - next car for me in the Ronin chase scene is the S8 i guess :p

LOL. Where'd you hear this bit of cinematic trivia?

[repenttokyo]

LOL. Where'd you hear this bit of cinematic trivia?

I was reading an article about the cars in the film. I felt pretty bad for Frankenheimer.

[Ross]

Don't know what what used for the dub but can assure you it was not GT40s

[Panda]

Found this at http://www.moviemistakes.com/film224/corrections

Steve McQueen changes up a gear about 19 times. [Although it is technically a mistake, it can be explained by the fact that the sound of the 390 4V in the Mustang was dubbed over with the sound of a GT40's 427. The Mustang had a four-speed tranny, while the GT40 had a five-speed.] [At best, the Mustang goes through five distinct gears when accelerating after the slide to avoid the cyclist, then catching up to the Charger.

Knew I had heard the story somewhere:)