Bullitt and is widely regarded as one of Steve McQueen's most memorable roles and has become a classic in the thriller police movie genre.
Steve McQueen stars as Detective Frank Bullitt, a hard-driving, tough-as-nails San Francisco cop. Bullitt has just received what sounds like a routine assignment: keep a star witness out of sight and out of danger for 48 hours, then deliver him to the courtroom on Monday morning.
But before the night is out, the witness will lie dying of shotgun wounds, and Bullitt, a no-glitter, all-guts cop, won't rest until he nabs the gunmen and the elusive underworld kingpin who hired them.
From opening shot to closing shootout, Bullitt crackles with authenticity : on-location San Francisco filming, crisp dialogue and to-the-letter police, hospital and morgue procedures.
An Oscar winner for Best Film Editing (1968), this razor-edged thriller features one of cinema history's most memorable car chases. Buckle up... and brace for unbeatable action.
Bullitt can claim that it is the movie that kicked off the rogue cops who make their own rules inspiring Dirty Harry and every similar movie since.
By 1968 Steve McQueen's career was at it's peak with the release of Bullitt and The Thomas Crown Affair he cemented himself as the King of Cool.
Yet McQueen didn't play Frank Bullitt as a wise talking maverick cop instead he portrayed him as a quiet man who did what he needed to do but took no pleasure in it.
But what Bullitt is most famous for is it's legendary car chase through San Francisco, when everything was done for real and not in a studio with special effects.
The director called for speeds of about 75 to 80 mph (120 to 130 km/h), but the cars (including the ones containing the cameras) reached speeds of over 110 mph (175 km/h) on surface streets.
This is still the greatest car chase sequence in any thriller ever made why? Because it had a touch of true to life in it there was no over dramatic music and no clever camera work it was just simply two cars in a flat out race.
It wasn't a perfect Hollywood chase either as they left mistakes in the final cut the unplanned collisions with other vehicles and the missed corners.
It set the trend that so many other car chases would follow over the coming years, yet never surpassed.
Bullitt is a fast pace police thriller that has never been equalled and in 2008 this classic movie celebrates it's 40th birthday. Nd it remains as groundbreaking and exciting today as it did forty years ago.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Steve McQueen