User reviews

There were so many great things about this film. You've got to love late 1960s cinematography. Contrary to being even a "typical" cop film of its day, many of the scenes here were shot in such a way as to convey a message to the viewer which goes beyond the plotline itself. The is an "urban" film--numerous scenes reflect the city and the mood of 1968 by occasionally commenting on racial issues of the day (the black doctor who is asked to be replaced), and conspicuous shots of blacks, other minorities (after Ross is shot at the hotel) and hippies, porn shops on the corner, etc. I found the airport tarmac chase scene even better than the car chase, the dwarfing of the characters and deafening din by the jumbo Pan American 747s completely pulls the viewer in as if he or she is right there. There were some other great scenes which could almost stand alone, such as one in a restaurant where a jazz quartet (with flute-nice 1960s touch) is playing. It fades into the next scene in which Steve McQueen is laying in bed the next morning, reminiscing about the mood in that restaurant.

Many people complain about the slowness of the film, and it is slow, and the use of such "pointless" scenes as the one in the restaurant, but I find this is one of the things that makes it so great. It conveys the complexity and mundaneness of everyday life. This is a refreshing contrast to hollywood films which are always action-packed and one-dimensional. This film is a pleasure to watch. You come away from it feeling like you have experienced many things, and you're not sure what all they are.

Steve McQueen gave perhaps his greatest performance here in this memorable 1968 crime thriller. He plays a San Francisco cop assigned by a publicity hound of a politician (Robert Vaughn) to protect a mob witness for the weekend. But when two men break in to the hotel where the mob witness is staying and kill not only the witness but wound one of McQueen's partners, it is McQueen who must find the men that did this while keeping Vaughn off his back.

Getting information on the dead witness' history, with ties to the Organization in Chicago, McQueen soon spots the killers--and thus ensues the screen's most hair-raising and thunderous car chase ever! Although the two mob killers bite the dust at the end of the chase, McQueen soon learns that the witness who died at the hotel was a decoy, and that the real witness is about ready to leave the country. This results in an expertly paced climax at San Francisco International Airport.

With solid support from actors like Don Gordon, Robert Duvall, and Simon Oakland, McQueen makes the most of his role in a totally low-key fashion, as was his custom. British director Peter Yates is well on top of both characterization and action, aided by the Oscar-winning editing of Frank Keller, and a superlative score by master composer Lalo Schifrin. That crazy car chase up and down the hills of San Francisco remains one of Hollywood's ultimate action set-pieces, but there is more to BULLITT than just that. See it as being a solid example of how good crime dramas can be made on the big screen without a profuse spilling of blood, and with plenty of charismatic performances, particularly McQueen's.

I haven't read through all the comments, but I've yet to see one which points out that along with the exemplary and minimalist use of music, the sound work in "Bullitt" is extremely good, especially in the use of environmental sound. It's something to pay particular attention to if you see if for a second or third time. The vivid and ultra-realistic (sometimes almost, but not quite, to the point of stylization) but never superfluous sound allows the long passages without dialogue or music to exist and not seem empty.

As with many other aspects of this excellent film, current practitioners could learn more than a few lessons from the sound in "Bullitt."

"Bullitt" was released in 1968. and today,in 2007. I watched this movie for the first time.For one reason only that is good.It's because know I can compare old thrillers with new ones."Bullitt" is everything but old movie(only by year).That car chase is brilliant and the whole plot is great too.

Director Peter Yates had luck when big star like Steve McQueen decided to join in project.McQueen with Robert Vaughn,Jacqueline Bisset and other stars shines in this movie.Vaughn is good as usual and it is interesting to mention small role from great actor.I'm talking about Robert Duvall as taxi driver.So Yates had good script,good actors and with his talent he made an excellent movie that will last forever.Today,modern generations don't want to spend their time on watching some "prehistoric" movies.Children today rather watch stupid action movies,like all Seagal's ones.One advice:take a look on past movies cause you may find some excellent works.Excellent like "Bullitt".

Today,there are few thrillers like this.Smart,sharp and action packed;with excellent actors too.That's why I liked this movie that much."Bullitt" isn't boring,not for a minute.McQueen and Vaughn are great,script is great and all together we've got good thriller.Two thumbs up for "Bullitt".

The chase was a staple of silent movies. In addition to the famous 11 minute long car chase between the green Mustang (yay) and the black Charger (boo), we have lengthy chases in a hospital and an airport. In fact, the whole movie is a chase, as Det. Steve McQueen tracks down the culprits. Much of the film is silent or the sparse dialogue is understated or clipped. Sometimes what you might expect a character to say is left unsaid or deferred. This is a silent movie, circa 1968. It captivated audiences with visual story telling as foundational films did in the 1920s. Director Peter Yates was greatly aided by Frank Keller's Oscar winning editing. Lalo Schifrin's deft, jazz score was as supportive as the organ music in the old movie palaces. Producer Phil D'Antoni established the template for his Best Picture Oscar Winner: "The French Connection" (1971).

A good story + maybe the best car chase ever filmed + Steve McQeen. How could this film possibly be a 4 / 5 / 6 like many people here are rating it?

7.4 as the average rating? Don't be ridiculous.

Given that the movie is 50 + years old, it stands up remarkably well. Elements of the movie could be picked apart as people do here but it is still head and shoulders above 99.9 % of the drivel that is produced today.

A god like McQueen, who raced cars on the side and did much of the driving here or a midget Scientologist like Cruse or a ridiculous nerd like Cumberbatch (he has a Masters in acting) as the hero? Cmon. Who even needs to go there?

If you are tired of the endless CGI and the endless and ridiculous comic book superheroes, go here.

Loosely based on 'Mute Witness' by Robert L. Fish, the central character of the weary, overweight Lt. Clancy has become the cool, streamlined Lt. Frank Bullitt of charismatic Steve McQueen. Released the same year as 'The Thomas Crown Affair', this is McQueen at the height of his popularity when his personality alone guaranteed a healthy box office.

By all accounts Englishman Peter Yates was hired as director based on the chase sequence in his earlier film 'Robbery' and to say he has come up trumps would be something of an understatement as he has not only given us what is arguably the most thrilling car chase committed to celluloid he has also delivered a stylish and gripping crime thriller/police procedural, notable for its attention to detail.

Editor Frank P. Keller deservedly picked up an Oscar and his piecing together of the ten minute chase filmed over a five week period on locations miles apart is exemplary whilst cinematographer William Fraker has combined excellent location work with penetrating close ups of the players.

Robert Vaughn is ideally cast as a practitioner of the 'glib and oily art' and Jacqueline Bisset provides the requisite contrast to the film's overriding machismo whilst stalwarts Simon Oakland and Norman Fell add further substance.

McQueen again brings a sense of unpredictability and an air of danger to the role plus that 'intangible element' which made him so compelling throughout his relatively short career.

This is one of the best action movies that Steve McQueen made. The car chase scene says it all. McQueen really stepped into character in this one. He plays a San Francisco detective assigned to protect a witness in a critical case. The man who gives him the assignment is Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn)..Chalmers is a very political figure, and wants his witness protected at all costs. When the witness is murdered, Bullitt has to cover it up to find the killers. He does, and it generates one of the best car chase scenes ever used in a movie. It is understood that Steve McQueen did some of the stunt driving. I have this movie on DVD, It took me a long time to find it, and I am glad to own it.

This is how movies should be made. Non-stop excitement and suspense throughout this excellent movie. The car chase was outstanding, in it's time, but Steve McQueen and the finely paced action make this a movie to see. My only regret was not seeing more of the beautiful Jacqueline Bisset but that was, relatively speaking, a small disappointment. Highly recommended.

I wish today's action movie directors could watch this and learn how to be quiet. I saw this for the first time last night and was struck at how quiet everything in the movie is. Steve McQueen hardly even talks, and it makes him that much more cool. The action scenes pack a lot of suspense because there's virtually no sound except for that jazzy, 60's Lalo Schifrin score. A quiet action picture. Now there's an oxymoron for you.

Definitely one of my top ten and one not to miss. Never mind the terrible continuity with the green Beetle etc it grips you right from the start. It simply doesn't get any better and with a fabulous cast including McQueen you absolutely are assured of a thriller with the best car chase scene ever - and that's up to 2019.

Watch it now is my advice

Over and above its deserved reputation as a quality action movie, I find Bullitt a fascinating study of the character portrayed by Steve McQueen. The latter is one of my all time favourites and he delivers what surely ranks as the most complete performance of his career. As a principled cop, he will not bend to a San Francisco mayor more intent on his election image than on serving the public. On the other hand, Bullitt has no qualms about taking a newspaper from a stand without paying for it.

He is as vicious as any of the "organization" baddies hunting him down or fleeing from him; he is a stickler for law and order yet he is not above ordering an ambulance to float about with a dead body so the mayor will not know that his star witness is dead. The film's initial sequence sets the tone, followed by an effectively filmed attack on the star witness; the chase in the streets of San Francisco is justly famous, with a purring V8 Mustang engine, and an abrupt and chancy ending.

The final sequence in the airport is top notch even though the main criminal naively takes long distance shots in the dark, making his position known to Bullitt. Some details inevitably date the film while others keep it very modern such as the menace in McQueen's eyes; the way he combs his hair with his hands; and his "bullshit!" remark to the mayor. You know this man can and will do his job. And the viewer will stay riveted!

The script is a trifle murky but it doesn't matter much. McQueen dominates this film and makes it a pleasure to watch again and again, even 30+ years later. British director Peter Yates may not have ever again matched the promise he showed with this, his first American assignment, but what he and his team accomplished is more than enough.

This cop thriller is lean, mean and linear. There's no mucking about with a lot of character development -- McQueen's laconic charisma takes care of that. In the course of his career he was renowned for his continual efforts to pare down his acting style even at the expense of dialogue that other actors might horde. Often he'd take his script and delete lines for his character that he felt unnecessary: "I'll do it with a look," he'd tell directors. And he could, and did, and this film is a fine legacy.

Other assets: action sequences that really get the adrenaline going, chiefly a superbly-edited car chase that deserves its classic reputation, and a climactic foot chase at the airport that again gets high marks for pacing and realism. William Fraker's exemplary location photography in and around San Francisco probably influenced DIRTY HARRY's being set there a few years later. Great use of ambient sound and Lalo Schifrin's score. Plus an excellent supporting cast: Robert Vaughn perfectly smarmy, Simon Oakland tough and gruff; Jacqueline Bisset babe-alicious.

Another example of how low the cop genre has sunk, when you compare the perfection of BULLITT with silliness like the LETHAL WEAPON series.

I have seen a lot of movies in my short(19 years) life. Some have amazed me, some have been awful. Bullitt is not quite among the best movies I've seen, but it is a wonderful movie and I think too special and important.

Why is it important? Many things really, starting with it being the first mainstream film to be shot entirely on location, with the use of real doctors and architects and it actually made an effort to be accurate with police procedures.

One might argue that these don't necessarily make a good movie. Maybe, I am not saying that because of the film doing all this it is automatically good. What I am saying is that whether I didn't like or loved the movie(in this case loved) I would always try to acknowledge its importance, if it has any.

I can understand in a sense why some mayn't enjoy Bullitt as it is a slow and talky movie. That said, I don't consider any of these flaws in any way. The dialogue is intelligent and clever even in the talky moments, and even though I would hardly call Bullitt a fast-moving movie I personally wouldn't call it a dull one either, thanks to Peter Yates' taut and efficient direction.

For starters Bullitt is very well made, with wonderful locations and interesting cinematography. Sparse it may be, but the music by Lalo Schriffin is very effective, slick and very jazzy.

Bullitt's story is straight-forward but compelling, the violence even then and even now is unashamedly unapologetic. I have seen my fair of movies that had at least one shocking scene, but the killing of the man standing in for Johnny Ross is on a whole new level of shock and engagement value.

The cast are great. Steve McQueen with his piercing eyes and charisma, like he did in The Great Escape, epitomises cool and grit, and Robert Vaughn and Robert Duvall give their usual rock-solid performances. Jacqueline Bissett is perhaps the least exceptional, but even she manages to not be in the shadow too much.

And I cannot talk about Bullitt without mentioning the car chase. It is electrifying, not only was it shot entirely at speed with no under-cranking in sight but McQueen did most of his own driving.

In conclusion, a wonderful movie, and I think it is too an important and interesting one. 9/10 Bethany Cox

"Bullitt", released in 1968, and starring Steve McQueen as the title character, represents the essence of the McQueen screen personna. Steve McQueen always gave the laid-back image a new meaning, and "Bullitt" is no exception.

McQueen's character is a police detective in San Francisco. He is given a routine assignment-that of protecting a material witness safe for 48 hours until trial, in which the witness is to give important testimony. However, the safety of the witness is compromised, and Bullitt takes that personally.

In trying to get to the answers, Bullitt runs afoul of the subcommittee's head, played by Robert Vaughn. Other members of the cast include Simon Oakland, as Bullitt's police captain, Norman Fell, a detective in Vaughn's pocket, and Jacqueline Bissett as the love interest, and a small role by Robert Duvall. Each cast member contributes greatly to the pace and flow of the movie; no member was miscast, or out of place.

And yes, one cannot review this film without recalling the car chase. McQueen did his own driving in the scene, which featured his car being chased, then chasing, another automobile with bad guys in it, at speeds that reached upwards of 100mph. The streets of 'Frisco may never have looked wilder.

A definite must see-or, better yet,--must buy. It only gets better with age.

This movie is a very good example of classic cinema. It has a special atmosphere that makes it different from other films. Some key scenes have no music, which gives them a strong sense of reality. The close-up shots of faces show nervousness and tension in a great way. Steve McQueen is fantastic in the main role - calm, strong and very believable. Even today, the film feels powerful and stylish. I give it 9 out of 10.

Steve McQueen is one of my all-time favorite actors, I rate BULLITT his best movie and performance, so this is one of my all-time favorite flicks.

I like the way BULLITT begins rather slowly, picks up with a terrific attack on a star witness in a hotel, slows down again, then turns up the heat with a pacy chase inside a hospital, then quietens again as BULLITT gathers info, then the famous car chase with McQueen behind the wheel of the mean Mustang machine, and the equally famous gas station explosion. And so it carries on, with fluctuations in mood and pace, but all tightly held by highly credible stunts and action, and a superb screenplay (apart from the completely spurious segments with the beautiful Jacqueline Bisset, the inevitable female figure to keep the female gender interested and contributing toward box office).

Best of all, Steve McQueen, whose eyes alone carry enough menace to keep the viewer riveted. He speaks seldom and then not very much, but he suffers no fools, is a pro, completely interested in his work, and not above stealing a newspaper. There is clearly a shady side to Frank Bullitt, but it only adds to the character's credibility.

Peter Yates' direction is first class. Pity that he may have been forced by the studio to include the completely unnecessary character played by Bisset. Apart from that, the acting, photography, stunts. soundtrack and script all interweave extremely credibly.

An example is the confrontation between McQueen and Robert Vaughn, preceded by the misuse of an ambulance, an example of institutional racism in relation to a black doctor, and disrespect for the work of police.

The climax at the airport is one of the movie's best sequences, in particular the search for the baddie inside the aircraft. Again, McQueen's eyes alone tell more than any amount of shots or words. He is completely mesmerizing and definitely towers above the film, raising it to heights that I doubt any other actor would have managed.

A word of praise for entire supporting cast, all of the highest quality, with particular plaudits for the highly convincing villains.

Finally, the ending - McQueen returns home, and settles back to routine, as happens with everybody.

I have now watched BULLITT some 10 times, and I have always enjoyed it more than the previous times. Definitely worth 9 stars.

Bullitt (1968) is a movie I recently rewatched for the first time in a long time on HBOMAX. The storyline for this picture follows a a San Francisco detective assigned to protect a whiteness who is scheduled to testify against a Chicago mob boss. Unfortunately the whiteness is murdered anyway leading the detective to stop at nothing to bring down those responsible, both inside and outside his department...

This movie is directed by Peter Yates (Krull) and stars Steve McQueen (The Getaway), Jacqueline Bisset (Casino Royale), Vic Tayback (Alice), Robert Duvall (The Godfather) and Robert Vaughn (The Magnificent 7).

The storyline for this picture is very well written and evolves well over time. The set-up is very good in terms of how it established the characters, circumstances and doubts and frustrations within the main character. McQueen was a great hero and the action scenes are very well shot and executed. The shootouts in the hotel and at the airport were solid and the car chase scenes are legendary. The cars used in this were beautiful and well selected. The conclusion reminded me of Heat.

Overall this movie is very well done and an absolute must see. I would score this a 9/10 and strongly recommend it.

I've seen "Bullitt" several times and although I don't watch the entire movie each time it airs, I do make it a point to amuse myself by at least re-watching one of the best car chase scenes in movie history. I fast forward to approximately the 1 hour 07 minute mark to watch about 11 minutes of a couple of iconic muscle cars of the era high throttling it and burning rubber thru the hilly streets of San Francisco.

In the shooting of this scene, two Ford Mustangs and two Dodge Chargers were used. After watching the scene a few times, one sees the bloopers involving multi-angled shots of the same scene, multiple hub cap rolls, mobile collision repairs, etc. But no less mesmerizing and very entertaining.

Good plot, good action plus, who doesn't like Steve McQueen in a action movie?! BULLITT !!

There are car chase scenes, and then there is Bullit. McQueen chases the bad guys through the streets of San Francisco in his supercharged Mustang leaving diving pedestrians and other movie chase scenes in his wake. McQueen was the real "Cool Hand Luke" bring a icy danger wrapped in a deceptively calm package. A good plot, great acting and lots of action.