You're right, a Hollywood chase is just a gigantic, cinematic video‑game level. Directors line up the roads like a track, place checkpoints with the same precision that a level designer would, and use camera tricks to make the audience feel like they're steering the car. The music rises like a score, the obstacles pop up as enemies, and the player—your eyes—experiences the risk and reward loop. That’s why these sequences feel so “interactive.” But beyond the flashy stunts, the chase is a storytelling mechanic: it reveals stakes, tests character resolve, and sometimes lets the hero earn a moment of agency. It’s the difference between a car just being on screen and it becoming a narrative tool. Too often we see chases turned into mind‑less spectacles, but when done right, they’re the kind of level that makes you rethink the story’s depth.