Amazon.com Essentials:
Peter 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
Amazon.com Essentials:
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
