A taxi isn't just a way of getting from one place to another for a vastly inflated fee. It can be a place for confession, for the beginning or end of relationships, or a something to be followed in a high-speed chase.
In movies, a cab ride is very rarely uneventful. Here is a selection of the best taxi scenes in movie history.
The Fifth Element
Whether you consider Luc Besson's future-fantasy an explosion of unique imagination or big ol' mess of nonsense, it would be hard to deny the brilliance of the car chase sequence in which Bruce Willis's taxi driver first meets gibbering sprite Mila Jovovich in a gravity-free zip through the city's skyscrapers.
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Taxi Driver
An example of the director cameo being a good thing, Martin Scorsese shows up in his scuzzy classic as a wired customer spying on his philandering wife. Makes you wish he'd act more often.
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Total Recall: Homicidal Johnny Cabby KirkCliff2
Total Recall
Really, this should be the scene in which Douglas (Arnold Schwarzenegger) first meets Buddy the annoying automated cab driver, but good luck finding that on YouTube. However, this following scene in which Douglas has ousted Buddy from his position, driving the yammering robot to self-destruction, is just as good.
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Roman Holiday
This is the turning point for William Wyler's great romance. The moment at which Gregory Peck's weathered journalist decides not to simply send Audrey Hepburn's incognito princess away, but instead accompany the 'tired and emotional' royal home. Then the two gradually fall in love. Extra points for the taxi driver for making his mark in a fleeting scene with some really big acting.
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On The Waterfront
One of the most famous speeches in cinema history, in which Terry (Marlon Brando) reflects on the different path his life could have taken if his brother hadn't persuaded him to deliberately throw a boxing match and sabotage his own career. He coulda been a contender...
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The Bourne Supremacy
There are many excellent car chases in the Bourne series, but this is a contender for the best. After Russian agent Kirill (Karl Urban) kills Jason Bourne's girlfriend, the ex CIA agent takes his chance for revenge, chasing him through the streets of Moscow.
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Breakfast At Tiffany's
Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) has always insisted that she doesn't need anyone, that she's better off alone. That changes in the film's closing scene when she realises that a life on her own is no life at all and flees her taxi to find the man she loves. And her cat.
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