BBC The Tourist truck chase is copied straight from two other movies
We’re all enjoying The Tourist for different reasons. One minute, Jamie Dornan is driving through the Australian desert singing along to his radio. But the next minute a crazed truck driver screeches up behind him in a giant, menacing vehicle, hell-bent on smashing our beloved Jamie Dornan to smithereens.
A heart-stopping chase ensues which had us all screaming at the TV and resulted in Jamie, first getting away but then, being smashed into from the side and waking up in hospital but with *suspenseful music* amnesia. Always keep an eye on what’s going on over to the side if you’re in a car chase.
Anyway, whether it’s the gripping mystery you’re tuning in for, as Jamie Dornan tries to piece together his past through the fog of amnesia. Or whether it’s just Jamie Dornan in a t-shirt, The Tourist is an excellent start to the New Year and bravo to the schedulers for getting us through the start of January.
Jeremy Vine even made space on The Jeremy Vine Show this morning to pay homage to The Tourist and that truck-chase scene in particular but pointed out, if you hadn’t already noticed it, that the truck chase was almost completely identical to scenes from two other movies. First, here’s the trailer which shows part of that scene again.
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Now see if you can spot the difference in this scene from Jeepers Creepers.
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And what about this scene from Duel?
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To be honest, it even looks like they’ve used the same truck. But is it OK to use movie tropes like this?
Or is it better to be completely original? Editor of Novara Magazine and panellist this morning, Ash Sarkar said: “What’s interesting is when a film maker is aware they’re using a trope but find a way to make it new.” And panellist James Max from Talk Radio isn’t bothered either saying: “I do like a good old car chase.”
The Tourist is on BBC iPlayer.