Rush Hour

EXT. HIGHLAND AVENUE – DAY

Speeding up, Carson precariously cuts in between traffic.

CARSON

(to himself)

Not just now, dear...

Seeing Carson approaching on his right, Javal pulls his Benelli shotgun from one of the saddlebags. He rests the barrel on his arm and FIRES a blinding-white load of magnesium at Carson.

Carson grabs the brake handles to slow down, and the BLAST crosses just in front of him. A few BURNING pieces pepper the front fender of the bike, but the bulk HITS the concrete art-deco statue in the entrance to the Hollywood Bowl. The statue shatters into a million FLAMING fragments.

CARSON
(continuing; grumbling)

I coulda had a ranch... maybe some horses... but no, we moved to L.A.

JAVAL

Speeds up. A car passing on the right BUMPS him. Javal grabs for the handlebar to stabilize himself, DROPPING the shotgun.

A HELICOPTER appears, and flies just above him.

Then, spotting some police cars ahead, he quickly hangs a right, ducking onto Alta Loma Terrace.

EXT. ALTA LOMA TERRACE – DAY

Carson stops at the entrance to the winding, hillside neighborhood, accessible only by footpaths. The area is covered by thick foliage, hiding Javal from the helicopter.

Carson revs down so he can listen for Javal's machine. He HEARS it up above and takes off, up a steep flight of stairs.

NEW ANGLE

Javal has reached the summit, only to find he's boxed in. He can either turn around, or take the neighborhood's unique, outdoor elevator, housed in a free-standing, three-story concrete tower.

He jumps off his bike. Carrying the saddlebags, he runs into the elevator – but it needs a key to operate.

Javal comes back out, panicking. He HEARS Carson coming up the hill. He spots a GARDENER watering nearby with a hose.

ANGLE WITH CARSON

As he reaches the summit. He sees Javal's motorcycle, abandoned, lying on its side...

And then he sees the Gardener, sprawled on the ground, a BULLET HOLE in the center of his forehead.

Carson turns off his motorcycle and pulls out his Sig 9mm. He moves slowly toward the elevator tower and looks inside.

HIS POV

The casement window in the back of the tower is broken. One end of the gardener's hose is tied to a grate, and the hose is hanging through the broken window.

Carson looks out the window as Javal climbs down the outside of the tower on the hose to High Tower Drive, the street below.

CARSON

(into radio)

He's on foot, at the base of the elevator tower!

But just as Carson is about to climb down the hose...

EXT. HIGH TOWER DRIVE – DAY

Javal spots a COLLEGE GIRL backing a tiny Geo out of her garage. He rips her out of the car, jumps in and tears away.

EXT. ALTA LOMA TERRACE – DAY

Carson jumps back on his motorcycle and starts it up.

CARSON

(into radio)

Goddammit! He's in a blue Geo!

EXT. HIGHLAND AVENUE – DAY

In the Geo, Javal drives out onto Highland. He muscles his way through traffic, then cuts across to Franklin.

Behind him, Robbins and Walther drive along the divider lane.

On the bike, Carson emerges from Alta Loma, joining Sabatini and Dave in Dave's Dodge and Colonel Lee in the Mercedes as they all try to catch up to Javal.

The helicopter flies ahead, then disappears past the hill below Franklin.

EXT. VINE STREET – DAY

Javal hangs a hard right off of Franklin onto Vine, putting him on top of a hill that drops down to Sunset.

Carson and Colonel Lee close in on the Geo.

Suddenly, the helicopter RISES UP from the bottom of the hill. It's less than fifty feet in front of Javal, at eye level.

Javal FIRES at the copter with his Beretta.

Colonel Lee indiscriminately FIRES his machine gun at the Geo.

Carson SHOUTS at Colonel Lee, furious at his carelessness!

INT. PURSUIT COPTER – (AERIAL SHOT) – DAY

Colonel Lee's BULLETS trace across the cockpit of the helicopter; one hits the PILOT in the neck. Clutching it with one hand, the Pilot loses control of the copter.

EXT. VINE STREET – DAY

Everyone on the road scatters to get out of the copter's way. It appears as though it's going to crash onto the street, then it gains altitude, GYRATING wildly just above the Geo.

Javal tries to move away, but one of its landing runners SMASHES through the top of the windshield, WEDGING itself against the inside of the Geo's roof.

Snared, the little Geo is LIFTED off the ground – instantly too high for a terrified Javal to escape from it.

INT. PURSUIT COPTER – (AERIAL SHOT) – DAY

The wounded Pilot, barely conscious, searches for safe area to set down – but there are cars and people everywhere.

The Pilot wrestles his stick; his copter is almost impossible to control with the car hanging from it. He's fading...

EXT. VINE STREET – DAY

The copter and Geo lurch over and past the round Capitol Records building, KNOCKING the spindle off the top of it.

The impact further destabilizes the copter's flight. It's heading right toward the 20-story Sunset Vine Tower, at the bottom of the hill.

INT. JAVAL'S GEO – (AERIAL SHOT) – DAY

Javal, trapped inside, looks through the windshield as the glass and steel side of the tower looms closer. He SCREAMS.

EXT. SUNSET VINE TOWER – DAY

The copter and the Geo CRASH into the side of the Tower, 12 floors up. Glass blows out in all directions; the rotor shatters; office furnishings are blown through the hole like backwash.

The Geo hangs passenger's side down from the runner.

CLOSER

From the series of jerking, slipping MOVEMENTS, it is clear the copter is not going to stay where it is for long.

The Geo's passenger side door pops open. Javal, panting with fear, jimmies his foot against the dashboard and holds the steering wheel to keep from falling out.

ANGLE ON VEHICLES BELOW

In the clog of traffic, cars swerve away, rapidly reverse... anything to get away from the area below the impact.

JAVAL

Reacts to another SLIP. The big saddlebags of money on the seat start to slide toward the open door.

He gingerly reaches over to grab them... the copter SHIFTS again... he loses his grip...

And, clutching the saddlebags, he TOPPLES out of the car.

We stay with him as he FALLS 12 stories, SCREAMING...

Then LANDING on top of a parking meter. It RIPS though his chest and he hits the sidewalk with a wet THUD.

EXT. VINE AND SUNSET – DAY

Carson rushes across the street to Javal's body. The teetering copter and Geo are right above it.

Grimacing, Carson tries to lift Javal's body up off the parking meter, but it's messy, slippery work...

Unable to move the body, Carson quickly searches its pockets. All he finds is the now-empty prescription bottle.

Above, the copter GROANS... it's about to come loose...

Carson pulls out his Sig 9mm and FIRES several times at Javal's right wrist, then TEARS the HAND off the body.

With a loud WRENCHING of metal, the copter and Geo break away from the building.

Carson grabs the saddlebags and runs like hell across the street, diving for cover behind a car.

BEHIND CARSON

The copter and Geo crash to the sidewalk and EXPLODE.

NEW ANGLE

Sooty, covered in Javal's blood, Carson crosses to the others. He throws Walther the saddlebags and Sabatini the severed hand.