1:30:27: After the bloody shoot-out at "Fever",
Max has finally had enough,
and decides to take control of the situation:
He accelerates his cab to a high speed, and then deliberately causes
a spectacular car crash,
sending his taxi flipping out of control,
and injuring both himself and Vincent.
This crash scene itself was shot near what is now L.A. Live / Nokia Plaza
(that center was beginning construction when this movie was shot)
on S. Figueroa Street, at W. Olympic Blvd., in downtown L.A.
But before they reach that Figueroa moment, we see a few earlier shots
of the trip as Max takes Vincent on that wild ride. Those scenes were shot
almost a mile to the north of the final crash scene.
1:30:32: As Max first begins to speed up, and Vincent first tells him to slow down,
he is traveling east on W. 4th Street, towards downtown, on the overpass
that crosses over the Harbor (110) Freeway:
(Here is a matching Google StreetView of that acceleration street.)
Max continues speeding east on W. 4th Street, and when Vincent warns him
of an upcoming red light, he blows right through the intersection.
That is the intersection of W. 4th Street and Figueroa.
(Here is a matching Google StreetView of that red light intersection.)
Max continues east on 4th Street, until he reaches the top of Bunker Hill, where he turns right (south)
on S. Hope Street, curves past the rear entrance to the parking garage of the former ARCO Plaza
(now City National Plaza - where S. Hope Street turns into Hope Place),
and then he swerves south onto S. Grand Avenue.
But then they cut abruptly from that initial route and jump to the final crash stretch...
1:31:37: When Vincent pulls a gun on Max and demands that he slow down, they are suddenly
heading north on the 1100 block of S. Figueroa, past the Staples Center.
(Here is a matching Google StreetView of the scene.)
1:31:44: Getting into the meat of the final crash scene, Max dares Vincent to shoot him,
knowing that, at this high speed, doing so would likely kill them both.
Up ahead, we see three blue murals of football players, on the side of a building:
The building with
the blue murals is the Hotel Figueroa, located at 939
S. Figueroa.
The murals are on the hotel's south side.
(Here is a matching Google StreetView.)
(Those murals were advertising a 2003 ESPN TV series called "Playmakers".)
1:31:54: Seconds later, Max deliberately rams the taxi into a roadwork
barricade, causing the speeding car to flip & roll over and over...
The roadwork barricades were set up on S. Figueroa Street, just south of W. Olympic Blvd.
The momentum carries the spinning car north into the intersection (and just past it).
1:31:57: The wrecked taxi comes to a rest upside down.
It ends up (upside down) just past the northwest corner of Figueroa & Olympic,
next to the Figueroa side of the Downtown Car Wash (811 West Olympic).
In the screencap above, the camera is looking southeast.
The old
Holiday Inn, which you can see in the background, was located
at
1020 S. Figueroa Street. ( It is now called the Luxe City Center Hotel. )
Here is a matching Google StreetView.
Crawling from the wreckage, and knowing the police will soon arrive, Vincent runs away.
Max stays and speaks with a policeman, but is soon in trouble again, when the
cop spots one of Vincent's dead victims (Ramone) in the taxi's trunk.
1:33:00: The police arrive on the scene of the accident, after Vincent has fled:
In the shot above, the camera is looking south/southwest down Figueroa.
The police car is parked in the crosswalk of the intesection of Olympic & Figueroa.
You can see the Staples Center behind the police car. You couldn't see that today.
That view is now blocked by the new L.A. Live/Nokia Plaza complex,
which was just beginning to be built when this movie was made.
Here is a Google StreetView of what that view looks like today.
Here is a map showing all of the related locations of the crash scene:
