- The Legacy

The most common thing that Bullitt is famed for is the epic car chase it has midway through the film. This is the aspect of the film that influenced it’s successors the most, mainly because Bullitt used new technology that allowed the chase to be filmed live as it happened. It thrilled most people who had never seen such action before, and it has weathered the winds of time well – it still looks brilliant today!

Detective Inspector Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) is one of the best officers the police have, although his methods can sometime be a bit 'unorthodox' (naturally!). When Senator Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) gives him the responsibility of protecting a key witness in a huge case to expose 'the Organisation' (the Mob to you and me), he doesn't really realise what he's letting himself in for. Sure enough, barely a day passes, and both his partner and the witness are gunned down, and Bullitt is left with an injured partner, a witness knocking heartily at heaven's door, and a politician who's about as happy as the cat that didn't get out of the bag. Bullitt is off to try and solve this mystery, one way or another, and he's going to have to negotiate corruption, people who want him dead, and a girlfriend who suddenly decides that her bloke isn't the man she thought her was! Poor chap…

The way the film is shot gives the impression of a very 'real' scenario – you see Bullitt getting home from work, picking up his food, and going to bed. I'm not sure what it is about the camerawork, but it certainly enhances this 'natural' feel (even if it is sunny all the time!). This was the main aim of the director (Peter Yates), and there's many other ways in which he's tried to incorporate more realism into the film. For example, the car scene was all filmed live, with Steve McQueen actually driving his souped up Mustang GT and doing all the stunts himself! Impressed? You should be.

I couldn't really write a Bullitt review without dedicating a section to the film sequence that became a landmark of filmmaking. The Bullitt car chase isn't just a tacked on addition to an action movie, as with so many other action films, but an integral part of the plot. McQueen's frankly stunning performance in driving the car shocks the audience even more if they know that it is the actor, and not a stunt driver, driving the car that is skidding and doing impressive wheelspins across the San Francisco tarmac. It's a wonder the cars had any rubber left on the tires at all! The camera angles, while subtle, are positioned at just the right places to get you right in with the action, and giving you all the thrills of seeing cars shooting past at speeds of up to 115mph. Superb.

Steve McQueen is fast becoming one of my favourite actors – 'The Great Escape', 'The Towering Inferno', and now Bullitt all owe a debt of gratitude to his acting prowess. He is perfectly suited to the part of Frank Bullitt, and his icy yet gritty performance lends an air to the character than I think would have been hard to attain otherwise. Frank becomes a kind of laid back, self-assured character, holding himself steady in a world of madness, simply by not letting it get too near to him.

- The End