Shot-by-shot: "The Seven-Ups" car chase

The car chase in the 1973 police thriller "The Seven-Ups" is one of the most celebrated in movie history. But there are errors that are jarring to anyone familiar with New York City geography. Here is a shot-by-shot analysis of the chase - and how it's all over the map.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• The Seven-Ups
• car chase
• New York City
• The Bronx
• Brooklyn
• continuity
• errors
• mistakes
• geography
• filming
• movies

[ERIELACKU34CH]

i need a little help here. im tracing the route on google maps. hoffman and 3rd doesnt quite add up. there's a subway station in the background there, and hoffman doesnt exactly meet third. do you have the right location for the funeral parlor.

[ERIELACKU34CH]

Well done!!

[GavinJ37]

Hey davidsmorgan, you think you could do a video like this for Bullitt. That one had plenty of inconsistencies.

[wiedep]

well, as phil told me years ago  "...the story works..."

[smh6669]

I agree with "speeta".

And since we are critiquing the best of all car chases on film...

At 2:05 minutes into this review, when Scheider drives out of the alleyway, you can plainly see the windshield is crushed, which happens, ostensibly, after he klls the fruit stand.

[speeta]

At 2:43 there's a minor omission. The big black car is driven through one garage and into a second garage connected by a doorway - presumably on the other side of the building, where Roy Scheider and Victor Arnold park their car and gain entry. It's not intended to be the same garage door seen at 2:35. It's their way of "covering" the change of location.

[TheCactusjack1]

Film makers do this all the time. A great example is the Lost Boys witch is set in the fictional town of Santa Carla, which is actually Santa Cruz, Ca. Anyone who is a local or at least familiar with the town would see similar liberties taken with the geography. The thing is, unless it is over the top terrible editing no one will notice. It is fun to see though. Good video.