Bullitt (1968)

Action | Crime | Car Chase

A steely San Francisco cop becomes determined to find the underworld kingpin that killed the witness in his protection.

MG – “A classic car chase cult flick from the last 60’s, with a most memorable car chase between two duelling muscle cars of the era (Although common run-about vehicles at the time).

Now, I know this is under the classic film banner, and it has star Steve McQueen playing solemn spoken Detective Frank Bullitt. But really, apart from the chase scene and some ‘guns-a-blazing’ moments, it’s a pretty drawn out, and bland film. The car chase is the most exciting and worthwhile part of the film. Sure Steve has his furrowed brow, brooding going on, but there could have been a bit more pep to the edit to cut down for a more entertaining viewing. 

Seeing a dark green ’68 Ford Mustang GT and a black ’68 Dodge Charger R/T (a stock version of Dom’s Fast and Furious brute force muscle car) fang around San Fransisco’s Bay area hillside streets is pretty amazing. Easily getting airborne, and sliding corners with near misses. One funny moment is a cut-edit where the Charger clearly loses control, skidding head-first into the car and camera setup. Then immediately disappearing.

Director Peter Yates did make use of actual locations for shooting though, making for a more authentic story. Robert Vaughn plays brilliantly no ‘BS’ and very unlikeable character, lawyer Chalmers. And an attractive Jacqueline Bisset plays the role Cathy. 

It’s 2 hours with an 11 minute chase of thrills. Maybe just skip to that part.”

MG 5/10  For car chase glory.