Bullitt McQueen like a Panther in minor classic
 Nov 2nd, 2001
Advantages:
Once unique, gritty realistic, crime thriller still dazzles .
Disadvantages:
It's much more subtle than what today's audiences are used to .
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
Soundtrack
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  ChrisJarmick
About me:
Thank you for the warm welcome and over generous comments. THE GLASS COCOON is the name of my first...
Member since:29.10.2001
Reviews:15
Members who trust:3
Review rated by 29 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
Bullitt is a no-nonsense police procedural crime drama from 1968. It's a very 70's kind of film arriving to screens shortly after and probably because of Bonnie and Clyde. If you're familiar with films like Point Blank or the original Get Carter, you'll get that same kind of raw uncompromising tone from this film. Perhaps you've heard of the famous car chase through the streets of San Francisco… a car chase that isn't based on pyro-technics, explosions or MTV styled editing. Bullitt is an extremely influential American film that features one of Steve McQueen's finest performances. Steve McQueen became the American Anti-hero in Bullitt. He wore the part very well, becoming a police detective who was interested in doing the best job he could with least amount of politics and brown-nosing. He could be trusted and he had been involved on several high profile cases which received media attention which resulted in the press and the public having a high opinion of him. But Frank Bullitt is just a cop doing his job. He's seen a little too much, and has a developed a thick skin.
The plot is a little difficult to follow because it's presented almost entirely from Bullitt's perspective. Therefore some of the major plot points are not emphasized and might slide by you un-noticed if you aren't playing Detective along with Bullitt. And if you are… well there are clues that he misses so you will too. The film is also somewhat leisurely paced from what most audiences are used to seeing. It's the antithesis of a dumb action thriller--even though its a film famous for it's still hair-raising car chase which takes
place mostly on the hilly streets of San Francisco. And another thrilling chase scene on an airport runway.
In fact it was a film that was shot entirely on location and great attention has been taken to details. The hospital scenes were actually shot in a wing of a hospital and real doctors and nurses played the doctors and nurses in the scene -- not actors. Robert Vaughn magnificently plays the utterly untrustworthy and oily slick rich politician. He's used to having people say yes to him and do exactly what he wants, when he wants it. And he's also used to keeping his nose clean and being portrayed by the press as a squeaky clean, near perfect conservative politician. He's requested Bullitt to keep a valuable mob informant safe from harm over the weekend, so he can present the informant to the Senate to testify. Vaughn is playing a dark Bobby Kennedy on a quest to grab headlines and political power by exposing the mob.
Bullitt accepts the assignment but notices right away that people have already been sloppy in choosing the room the informant is in, and other matters. It's not a particularly hard assignment, and Bullitt is not overly concerned about it. It's his job, no big deal. However, the mob informant is acting rather strangely, and while another office is on watch duty, two hitmen enter the hotel room and blow away the informant and shoot the police officer. The informant isn't quite dead yet and is rushed to the hospital. When the officer tells Bullitt the informant let the people who shot them into the room, Bullitt realizes something is very fishy about the set-up.
Vaughn is of course furious and he will need a scape-goat to take the fall if his star witness can't testify. That scapegoat is going to be Bullitt. When the informant dies, Bullitt keeps his death a secret at first. He wants to get to the bottom of things, not because he's worried about Vaughn but because its his job and maybe somehow Vaughn was involved with it also.
Robert Duvall pops up in the film as a taxi-driver. Jacqueline Bissett looks beautiful as Bullitt's devoted girlfriend, who is worried his job is making him too cold, too tough and too distant. Norman Fell is also quite good in a supporting role. There is beautifully realized scene back at the crime scene, where Bullitt is going over (in his mind) all of the information he has. He is re-playing what may have happened in the room, seeing if there is some piece of information or piece of information he's over-looked. There are
several cuts in the scenes, showing us what Bullitt is looking at, how he is focusing intensely on solving this perplexing and high profile case. There is no music in the scene, and no dialogue. It's a brilliant scene and one only a handful of directors today would have the power to keep in their film. Literally nothing happens for several moments in the middle of an action film. Not music, not a voice over, not an actor slapping forehead going… I must figure this out… I must figure this out…. You can hear the studio executive yelling at the filmmaker to cut the scene or at least cut it in half. Wow.
Throughout Bullitt, you will notice how sound and particularly silence is used. There's a great late 60's jazzy score by Lalo Schifrin (who is best known for his Mission Impossible theme), but there's also the sound of silence which is used very effectively in the film, and the sounds of those wonderful late 60's (muscle car) automobiles racing through the streets of San Francisco. Director Yates is a cameraman and editor himself, he knows how to make a sequence work to its fullest effect. In this film he used William A Fraker as his cinematographer who create a realistic yet smooth (as opposed to a rough documentary type) look for the film. The film was written by Alan R. Trustman. It was nominated for a Best Sound Oscar and won an Oscar for Best Editing. This is one of the best performances Steve McQueen ever gave. He gives the role the intensity and depth it warrants while still moving about as gracefully as a Panther. Bullitt and Junior Bonner remain my favorite McQueen performances. He is certainly no slacker in either The Great Escape or The Sand Pebbles either.
DVD STUFF The Warner DVD is a bare bones release. A good print was used, but not meticulously restored so there are scenes that have faded color and fluctuations and there is excess grain throughout the film. It doesn't hurt anything since the film has almost a documentary feel to it anyway. The 1:85:1 anomorphic transfer looks very good considering.
The audio is Dolby Digitial 2.0 and no imagination or creativity has been used to bounce sound around your room. However everything is sharp and clear and the powerful sound of the car engines have just enough bass oomph in them to be very effective. The silences reveal a little bit of hum and hiss but not as much as you would expect from a film of its era that has not undergone a full restoration. EXTRAS
The original theatrical trailer is included. The too short behind the scenes feature made just prior to the film's being released is titled: Steve McQueens Commitment to Reality. It's covers a lot about how the film was shot on location and we see how closely McQueen worked director Peter Yates in making this film.
BOTTOM LINE: Bullitt was produced by the same guy who went on to make The French Connection and worked very hard to be able to top the car chase in this one with the one in 1971's The French Connection. The film directly inspired things like Dirty Harry and encouraged location filming To bring a truer sense of reality to films. It works on several levels when viewed today. It's a bit dated, but in ways that make the film more interesting than it ever was. Even if you can't quite follow the plot or understand exactly what's going on it does have a great McQueen performance, is done with a uncompromising style and has a couple of great chase sequences.
Don't miss it.
Too bad there doesn't seem to be any plans to make a special release of this film like they just did with French Connection. It could used one.
Christopher Jarmick, is the author of The Glass Cocoon with Serena F. Holder a critically acclaimed, steamy suspense thriller. For more information visit the web site at:
http://www.radiofreegallery.com/jarmicknholder.htm
Original portions of this review Copyright© Christopher J. Jarmick 2001. The above work is protected by international copyright law.
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03.11.2001 13:10
I keep hearing about this film all of the time and I still haven't seen it. Maybe I should. Excellent op.
02.11.2001 20:14
Great op about a great film, Susan
02.11.2001 20:08
Excellent detailed review.....Robin