There is something delicious about seeing the nugget of a thought develop into a demonstration for film lovers. Every Frame a Painting‘s author Tony Zhou, whose been the source of many great video essays and articles, explored a singular thought: what if 1971 was the best year for car chases in film history?

I’m starting to feel that 1971 was the single greatest year for car chases in film. As proof, I will now rank ten car chases from 1971. — Tony Zhou (@tonyszhou) June 16, 2015

The full list of films has been made available on Storify by Zhou, but I took so much pleasure going through the list and (re)watching the scenes that I felt it was worse ‘archiving’ on the site too. I hope you’ll enjoy this trip through time and style:

#10 – THX 1138

“Ignore the horrible CGI from the re-release. Marvel in some (brief) shots where cars drove 140 mph”:

#09 – THE BUS IS COMING

#08 – DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

#07 – THE ORGANIZATION

#06 – LE MANS

#05 – THE LAST RUN

“Very low-budget blaxploitation film but the chase was actually shot in Compton & Watts.”“Famous for a car entering an alley balanced on its right two wheels & exiting on its left.”“With Sidney Poitier as Mr. Tibbs. Short chase but the star is the score by Gil Melié (Gil Melle)”:“A 90-minute ad for the Porsche 917 (& Steve McQueen). One stuntman lost a leg after this very bad crash”: (scene starts at 1h06m30sec)“George C. Scott as the getaway driver of a BMW 503. Shot in Andalusia, Spain by Sven Nykvist (really).”(Scene starts at 1h08m24sec)

#04 – LE CASSE (THE BURGLARS)

“9 mins of insane stunt driving in Athens. No joke, this scene has no effect on the plot”:

#03 – DUEL

“Shot entirely on location in 16 days. Low-budget Spielberg would murder any action filmmaker working today (scene starts at 20min)”:

#02 – THE FRENCH CONNECTION

“Needs no introduction”:

#01 – VANISHING POINT

“Hey Kowalski, you out there?”

All 10 of those car chases were released in a 12-month period from January to December 1971. I rest my case. — Tony Zhou (@tonyszhou) June 16, 2015

One Step Further With Tony Zhou:

Tony Zhou’s 3 Tips to Learn How to Deconstruct a Film’s Visual Narrative

What Does David Fincher Not Do? The 4 Things that Set Him Apart

The 5 Movements Akira Kurosawa Used to Compose His Work

How Academy Members Should Evaluate Directing (and Probably Don’t)

3 Techniques Spike Jonze Used in HER to Achieve Suspension of Disbelief

The Spielberg Oner: How Spielberg Uses “Wallflower” Long Takes in His Films

Is Edgar Wright The Last Dodo of Visual Comedy?