Most real police pursuits are quite drab affairs: one single car runs at a fairly high speed on a freeway that's been cleared by the police with a horde of squad cars following at a safe distance.
At one point, the fugitive realizes he's going to have to stop for gas - or a smoke, it's not appropriate to smoke in a vehicle - and so he has a sudden epiphany that he's not getting out of this one, so he cuts everyone's expenses and pulls over. If he's lucky (and we all know what that means nowadays), the pursuing officers will cuff him with minimum use of force. If he makes a run for it on foot, he'll risk being shot or apprehended in an even more brutal manner. But, after all, it's his choice, so there's no point in feeling bad for him.
This Tennessee chase, however, doesn't follow the usual formula. For one thing, the freeway is packed with cars, making things both more interesting and more dangerous at the same time. It's also raining, which adds some five percent to the whole situation's level of drama.
Around the 29-second mark, the first bit of action happens. The filming squad car tries to go around a police SUV on its right, but the driver in front doesn't see him coming so he too veers to the right. With another civilian car in the right lane, the driver is forced to make a spectacular exit on the grass, narrowly missing the foot of an overpass. Nice save from that officer, risking his life to avoid a collision with the innocent sedan.
The move that ends the pursuit is also sweet. It's basically a double PIT maneuver, with a T-bone thrown in between them just for good measure. However, the police officer who did all this makes a mistake and doesn't block the fugitive's escape path, leaving him enough space to reverse out.
It's time for some baton action - we told you it's got everything - as the officer attempts to break either the window or, more likely, the door lock. Finally, the suspect is pulled out and, given the length and difficulty of the pursuit and the fact that he opposed the arrest until the last minute, he's handled reasonably well. In fact, the whole thing appears to be done by the book. Apart from one police car forcing another off the road...
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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