Bullitt [Blu-ray]
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 02/27/2007 Run time: 124 minutes Rating: RPeter Yates’s 1968 cop drama has its existentialist pretensions, but there is something seductive about its strained seriousness and Steve McQueen’s intentionally stoic performance as a San Francisco police detective on the trail of a murderer. A couple of key action sequences boost the film’s stature, the most memorable of which is a vertiginous car chase that Yates almost approaches as a dance. Jacqueline Bisset provides window dressing as Bullitt’s girlfriend–worried about how much his job strips away his humanity–and Robert Vaughan is almost reptilian as an opportunistic politician. –Tom Keogh San Francisco has been the setting of a lot of exciting movie car chases over the years, but this 1968 police thriller is still the one to beat when it comes to high-octane action on the steep hills of the city by the Bay. The outstanding car chase earned an Oscar for best editing, but the rest of the movie is pretty good, too. Bullitt is a perfect star vehicle for cool guy Steve McQueen, who stars as a tenacious detective (is there any other kind?) determined to track down the killers of the star witness in an important trial. Director Peter Yates (Breaking Away) approached the story with an emphasis on absolute authenticity, using a variety of San Francisco locations. Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Duvall appear in early roles, and Robert Vaughn plays the criminal kingpin who pulls the deadly strings of the tightly wound plot. –Jeff Shannon
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars One of McQueen’s Best on Blu-ray
This movie looks great on Blu-ray considering it is 40 years old. Some darker sceens are not as clear as the rest of the movie but considering the age they still look good.
The famous car chase through the streets is a must see in HD!
5 Stars SEE SAN FRANCISCO ON A BUDGET
Even though this is an oldie but goodie I just love it. That car chase is the greatest. The whole movie is good and has plenty of action and lots of shots of San Francisco. It’s a movie that’s just as good today as it was back then and that includes all the actors as well as the story. The bad guys are really annoying and they look the part. It’s a great movie and I highly recommend it–enjoy!
4 Stars Timeless, visually spectacular work, thiller
Bullitt (1968), is a modern thriller, even 40 years later,
incredibly, which is proof that skill, experience, professionalism
and team work sometimes results in a timeless filming achievement.
The cinematography is simply outstanding, superb, the clarity of
the DVD release is remarkable, with a glossy visual quality present
throughout the movie, whether the closeups of the actors, the
transparency through glass doors and windows or the bright
reflections on the painted finish or chrome of American
automobiles shown.
Despite the hard-edge reality to the story, the authors had the
wisdom to counter-balance a lot of the horror (blood packs going
off, shotgun and pistol action) with the calmness, relaxed mood of
Charles Mingus-style jazz music during even the most tense action
scenes, so as to not freak out anyone in the paying audience.
There does seem a conscious effort by the script writer to
demonstrate American technology to viewers, underlining the modern
times having arrived … ready-made foot products, wide-scale
airports, mega-cities, telephones, fax machines, coroner and
autopsy work, emergency rooms and the medical teams and equipment,
radio communication in cop cars, intercontinental flights a moment
away (Italy, London), ambulances, superhighways, automatic garage
car washes, etc.
At the same time, a traditional story-line is present with the
classic tug of war between process and objectives, the ends
justifying the means, the merit of a supervisor taking the heat
allowing the street level employees in doing their jobs, confronted
with a necessary bureaucracy, with many parties following events,
whether the public, the high level of management in law
enforcement, the detectives, the gangsters.
McQueen makes his mark, as a police detective, by always having a
solution to minor (or major) obstacles along the way, impeding
progress to his objectives, whether it’s by greasing the wheels to
make them turn, ( favors or small gifts) so as to get information,
get access, keep the ball moving. He also does by realizing in a
split second how the high level cop, played by Robert Vaughn, is
more than ready to place all of the blame on the low level cop, so
he needs to take steps to avoid seeing his career end.
As well, it brings into focus the houses of mirrors that a conman
can create to throw the blame on another person, as easily as the
house of mirrors he created to misappropriate off 2 million USD
underworld mone.
The actors are splendid in their maturity, professionalism,
no-nonsense approach while maintaining a warmth to the viewing
audience. There is something for everyone in this work - romance
with a baby-faced 16 year old looking Bisset,( seen in a long dress
shirt and underwear), or the thrilling car chases in San Francisco,
(with a magnificent view to the blue sky and bay in the backdrop,
as the cars descend steep streets at full speed), or the
astonishing clarity of filmed street chases (reckless, insane
speeds, death defying, during which actual public in broad daylight
is present as well as other cars, buses.)
Norman Fell, got his break here, later starring as “Quincy MD, in
his own series. Robert Duvall has a very brief spot as a cab
driver. The release is wide-screen, with subtitles.
5 Stars OH YEAH!
Do you drive a Ford Festiva with a blown head gasket?
Do you have a crappy job where you sit in a cubicle all day?
Do you need some action and pizazz in your life?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions then you need to buy this movie NOW!
This is the one of the best car movies ever made. Do yourself a favor and make your life worth while buy buying this movie.
5 Stars One of the Best Car Scene chases in Cinema(You have to wait-long Movie)Bullitt.
Cool movie, a little long, and you have to wait for the one of the best car chase scenes. But good Overall. I don’t care much for Mustangs Or Fords or Mopars(the bad guy drives a Sinister black Dodge Charger) . It’s a Good movie, and steve mcqueen does not act much, but it’s good, it’s street, gritty. This was in the era of GOOD COP Movies and Shows 60s-70’s. Not like today. A Cinematic Masterpiece even if you wished it would had been a Corvette As the Main star not a Green Ford Mustang Fastback.
Filed under: Blue Ray Movie Reviews