The 1973 cop thriller called The Seven-Ups featured Roy Scheider in the starring role as the leader of a group of plainclothes cops that pushed the edge of legality to get the bad guys. The movie was directed by the same guy who did Bullit. That being said, you know that there’s a bitchin’ chase involved in this movie as well. Featuring a 1973 Pontiac Ventura and a 1973 Pontiac Grand Ville running full bore through the streets of New York City and then on the highway, it is a great watch.
Call us crazy, but we’re thinking that the car audio track when Roy is hammering on the Ventura is the same one used for the scenes when McQueen was full bore into the Mustang fastback in Bullit. Another Bullit connection is the fact that legendary stunt driver and car chase guru Bill Hickman (he was the driver of the Charger in Bullit) coordinated this chase and also drove the Grand Ville. You’ll see him at several points in this video.
The ending of this one is violent and awesome. Not as violent as the close of the Bullit chase, but it has a charm all to itself! When’s the last time you saw a big screen car chase that featured two Pontiacs other than Smokey and the Bandit? We can’t think of one!
We love the beginning of this one when Roy Sheider gets into the Ventura and takes off, roasting both tires. There’s no way in hell that thing was a stocker. We’re guessing that it was beefed up in the horsepower and suspensions departments for the making of this chase. This is a great one!
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE TOTAL PONTIAC ON PONTIAC VIOLENCE FROM THE SEVEN-UPS (1973) –
I noticed that the driver of the Grandville/Bonneville is the same actor that was “driving” the Charger in Bullitt. Kinda neat.
Bob J
Still better than anything you are going to see in The Fast and Furious.
Fast and furious is a joke. I have never seen a true car guy tread his cars like they do in that movie. If any of them was true gearheads im sure they would find a toyota to screw up and not a charger.
The chase was filmed at real full speed and not at slow pace and then rilled up, and the result is great . Big cars with softy suspension (Granville) were cool to watch wide open .
On youtube there is actual filming of the chase from different angles. Its amazing how much NYC has changed since then. I drive the section of road where the Ventura meets its demise every week!