Bullitt: Strong Buy

Several epinions have already roughly outlined this movie's plot, so I chose to write about those qualities which I feel contribute most to this great film.

Steve McQueen's performance as Frank Bullitt is a tribute to realism in film making, and for all the movie's action, it's through McQueen's rock solid attention to character detail that the audience is taken along on a ride as a crime fighter. The DVD is an excellent source of material to learn more about the making of the movie, and the elaborate steps taken by the director and cast to capture the realism of police work in the late sixties.

If you haven't seen this movie, you may find some aspects of the film to be reminiscent of modern day police/medical dramas like ER, NYPD Blue, among others. Considered by many directors as the prototype for action films which followed, 'Bullitt' captured the essence of life and death situations through the use of actual crime labs, emergency room physicians, and locations throughout San Francisco.

In the spirit of realism, very little gets in the way of how the story is told to the viewer. The film dispenses terse dialogue between characters with an economy of words and actions, creating a tension throughout the film which explodes in the mother of all movie car chase scenes. A great film.

McQueen insisted on performing the film's stuntwork, and he's actually the driver of the Mustang in the chases through San Francisco. The DVD contains additional footage of McQueen strutting his stuff in the car on a racetrack in preparation for filming.

For those of you who have seen the movie, the memorable scene pitting the Mustang and Charger against each other is always worth a second look. The Ford Mustang used in the film was sold by the studio to a private party, and despite McQueen's attempts to purchase the vehicle, it was never offered for sale again during his lifetime. All of the Chargers used in filming were destroyed in the making of 'Bullitt' according to published sources.

If you enjoyed 'Ronin', I recommend a viewing with your local Ford Dealer's number at hand. 'Bullitt' is part and parcel of the Mustang lore. Of interest to old car buffs also are the numerous Lincoln Continentals pictured in the film (same as the 'Matrix' car), with their very cool suicide doors.