"One jump ahead of the slow pokes
One skip ahead of my doom
Next time, gotta use a nom de plume
One jump ahead of the hitmen
One hit ahead of the flock
I think I'll take a stroll around the block!"
One skip ahead of my doom
Next time, gotta use a nom de plume
One jump ahead of the hitmen
One hit ahead of the flock
I think I'll take a stroll around the block!"
— Aladdin, "One Jump Ahead," Aladdin
One of the most basic action scenes in fiction: one party is trying to get away from another. The variations you can hang on this premise are endless. Chases featuring Cool Cars is practically a trope unto itself, and whole genre of films has cropped up dedicated to it. Bonus funny points if it's accompanied by Benny Hill music. Tends to happen if a writer is trying to do a procedural of some kind.
See also Distraction Tropes, Escape Tropes, Motor Vehicle Tropes, Fight Scene.
Common elements:
- 1-Dimensional Thinking
- Acrophobic Bird
- Advancing Boss of Doom
- Advancing Wall of Doom
- Aerial Canyon Chase
- Automated Automobiles
- Baby Carriage
- Banana in the Tailpipe
- Big Heroic Run
- Blind Alley
- Bringing Running Shoes to a Car Chase
- Broken Heel
- Car Chase Shoot-Out
- Car Hood Sliding
- Car Skiing
- Catch a Falling Star
- Chain-Link Fence
- The Chase (when an entire plot is built on this)
- Chased by Angry Natives
- Chase Fight
- Chased Off into the Sunset
- Chase-Scene Obstacle Course
- Chase Stops at Water
- Cliff Stack
- Climbing Climax
- Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are
- Convenient Decoy Cat
- Convenient Escape Boat
- Crashing Through the Harem
- Crisis Catch And Carry
- Crowd Hockey
- Dangerous Clifftop Road
- Danger with a Deadline
- Decoy Convoy
- Dodge by Braking
- Down L.A. Drain
- Dramatic Chase Opening
- Dramatic Slip
- Drives Like Crazy
- Elevator Escape
- Elevator Snare: In a chase, whoever took the stairs arrives first and ambushes whoever took the elevator.
- Emergency Cargo Dump
- Escalating Chase
- Every Car Is a Pinto
- Everyone Chasing You
- Excuse Me, Coming Through!
- Exit, Pursued by a Bear
- Flashed-Badge Hijack
- Fluorescent Footprints
- Follow That Car
- Fruit Cart
- Getaway Driver
- Give Chase with Angry Natives
- Gone Behind the Bend
- Hall of Mirrors
- Hammerspace Police Force
- Handcar Pursuit
- Helicopter Blender
- Hero Stole My Bike
- He Went That Way
- High-Speed Hijack
- Hood Hopping
- Hot Pursuit
- Improvised Zipline
- Incredibly Obvious Tail
- Instant Convertible
- Jammed Seatbelts
- Just Keep Driving
- Kitchen Chase
- Lemming Cops
- Lost in a Crowd
- Low Clearance
- Low-Speed Chase
- Magic Brakes
- Mobstacle Course
- Money to Throw Away
- Multi-Track Drifting
- My Car Hates Me
- No Escape but Down
- Off Bridge, onto Vehicle
- Oil Slick
- Outside Ride
- Pedal-to-the-Metal Shot
- Pop the Tires
- The Precarious Ledge
- Pursued Protagonist
- Pushed at the Monster
- Racing the Train
- Race Against the Clock
- Ram by Braking
- Ramp Jump
- Ramp-rovisation
- Removable Steering Wheel
- Road Block
- Road Runner vs. Coyote
- Road-Sign Reversal
- Rollercoaster Mine
- Roofhopping
- Rope Bridge
- Scooby-Dooby Doors
- Searching the Stalls
- Sheet of Glass
- Slippery Skid
- Slo-Mo Big Air
- Stairs Are Faster
- Stairwell Chase
- Suicidal "Gotcha!"
- Take the Wheel
- Television Geography
- Theme Park Landscape
- They Have the Scent!
- Thundering Herd
- Toyota Tripwire
- Train Escape
- Try and Follow
- Twisted Ankle
- Unconventional Vehicle Chase
- Under the Truck
- Vehicular Sabotage
- Wasn't That Fun?
- Wronski Feint
