REEL ACTION: Bullitt, starring Steve McQueen!

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

BULLITT (1968)
Rating: 2.5 out of 4 /Buy the DVD Here

Directed by Peter Yates
Starring: Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset, Don Gordon and Robert Duvall

THE PLAN: A Chicagoan mob snitch about to give important testimony to the grand jury is moved to San Francisco and put under protection of Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen), the city’s best detective; when an attempt is made on the witness’ life, Bullitt has to track down the perps and bring ’em to justice!

THE KILL: BULLITT is a film with a reputation based on about five minutes of screeching tires. Okay, more accurately, when you think of the Peter Yates joint, you think of two things: The car chase, and Steve McQueen. The former is one of cinema’s most beloved chase sequences, the latter is just such a charismatic figure that any scene he appears in is immediately taken over by his cool nonchalance. Together they give BULLITT a bit more credit than it deserves. Just one schmuck’s opinion.

What happened during my recent viewing of BULLITT was what might happen to many people who watch the film for the first time in a long time (or for the first time in general). It did not quite play out the way I remembered it. It’s that damn chase scene, of course. It comes in a little after the hour mark of the film – and the sad reality is, nothing much of real interest happens before or after. It’s a police procedural in every sense, almost like a cop show extended into feature length. While its story is interesting, as are the revelations that come with it, there’s a peculiar… inertness to the proceedings. For a film made in the swingin’ late 60s and starring Steve McQueen, you’d imagine a jump, a spark, a snappiness to its rhythm. But it isn’t really there…

Steve amused the crew by playing “imaginary bullfight”. A lot.

Take Bullitt himself. He’s a laid back dude, calm, mature, smart. Perfect for McQueen. So why isn’t he more engaging? Perhaps it’s the fact that I expected something more along the lines of the prototypical rogue cop – the guy who doesn’t play by the rules. Bullitt isn’t really that guy. Sure, he takes a shortcut or two here and there, but he’s actually just a good policeman who sometimes fibs to his superiors. Not exactly a renegade on that score… His personal life is rather perfunctory. He’s got a hot chick in the slinky, sophisticated form of Jacqueline Bisset, but their relationship is pretty much undefined and random. There’s a moment where she sees Bullitt working a crime scene; it doesn’t seem to affect him much that there’s a dead body laying on the ground, but of course it completely damages her. Later, they have a conversation about his impassive reaction in the face of such gruesome tragedy. The scene feels forced and unearned – we don’t really know either of them, not really, so for this suddenly emotional scene to pop up when the movie has mosied along at a rather disinterested pace just doesn’t cut it.

The original trailer

Another problem: Bullitt doesn’t have a strong adversary to tangle with. While he’s got a career-obsessed bureaucrat on his back the whole time (of course) and a bad guy or two that pop up intermittently, he’s really missing that one sonofabitch you want to shake your fist at. The real villain is the case itself, which is just a routine mystery; once solved, it doesn’t satisfy a whole lot, and the climactic moments play out in leisurely fashion. Not unlike the rest of the movie, as you may have surmised.

It could be that this is all a case of skewed memory and/or expectations not met. It had been a very long time since I’d last seen BULLITT – so long that this last time felt like the first. But BULLITT was a disappointment for me through and through. It may not be a popular opinion (I’m sure it’s blasphemy for some) but it’s my own. Want a cop movie that seriously moves, with a cop who doesn’t play by the rules and a car chase that’ll kick your ass? Check out THE FRENCH CONNECTION. It’s like BULLITT, but with heart and muscle.

TOP DEATH: A couple of bad guys meet fiery deaths after a car crash. Someone order extra crispy?

TOP ACTION: You kiddin’? That grandiose chase (which is mostly a silent, stoic affair) is the only real game in town. It’s fun, but not as epic as you’ve heard.

FEMALE EXPLOITATION: As I mentioned, Bissett shows up once in a while to remind us that Bullitt has a personal life. The movie gives her absolutely nothing to do.

HOMOEROTIC MOMENT: None. Zilch. Nada.

TOP DIALOGUE:Loved this, from Bullitt’s superior officer: “Play it by the book from now on.” And then, almost in the same breath: “All I’m interested in is results. Do whatever you think is best. I’ll try to back you up.” Way to go, Captain.

DRINKING GAME: Drink every time Bullitt reacts laconically to something the he should be more unnerved by. You’ll be drunk before the car chase, and asleep before the end credits.

TRIVIA:Stuntman Bud Ekins drove Bullitt’s Mustang for most of the famous chase; Ekins also drove the motorcycle for McQueen in THE GREAT ESCAPE.

The film won an Oscar for Best Editing.

BUY THE DVD HERE!