Plot
Robert L. Pike's crime novel Mute Witness makes the transition to the big screen in this film from director Peter Yates. In one of his most famous roles, Steve McQueen stars as tough-guy police detective Frank Bullitt. The story begins with Bullitt assigned to a seemingly routine detail, protecting mafia informant Johnny Ross (Pat Renella), who is scheduled to testify against his Mob cronies before a Senate subcommittee in San Francisco. But when a pair of hitmen ambush their secret location, fatally wounding Ross, things don't add up for Bullitt, so he decides to investigate the case on his own. Unfortunately for him, ambitious senator Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn), the head of the aforementioned subcommittee, wants to shut his investigation down, hindering Bullitt's plan to not only bring the killers to justice but discover who leaked the location of the hideout. ~ Matthew Tobey, RoviReview
1968's surprisingly influential Bullitt is a precursor to the hyper-explosive action movies that ruled the box-office in the 1980s and 1990s. More immediately, it made car chases de rigueur for nearly every police film of the 1970s. Bullitt's chase scene, a roaring ten minutes up and down seemingly every hill in San Francisco, took about three weeks to shoot; along with the two in The French Connection and the more protracted one in The Road Warrior, the scene is still regarded as one of the best pursuits ever filmed. Apart from this rather dubious legacy, Bullitt is also significant for recharging the crime-thriller genre with its snappy, faux-naturalistic look. Finely stylized by director Peter Yates and editor Frank Keller (who won an Oscar for his work), the film wears its gritty, urban feel on its sleeve; such an attitude would become a major hallmark of American films in the 1970s. Bullitt also elevated Steve McQueen from the status of mere star to that of worldwide superstar. The actor delivers perhaps the most consequential performance of his career as the fashionably icy title character. ~ Brendon Hanley, RoviCast
- Steve McQueen - Frank Bullitt
- Robert Vaughn - Chalmers
- Jacqueline Bisset - Cathy
- Don Gordon - Delgetti
- Robert Duvall - Weissberg
Credit
Albert Brenner - Art Director, Theadora Van Runkle - Costume Designer, Tim Zinnemann - First Assistant Director, Peter Yates - Director, Frank Keller - Editor, Robert E. Relyea - Executive Producer, Lalo Schifrin - Composer (Music Score), William A. Fraker - Cinematographer, Phil D'Antoni - Producer, Robert E. Relyea - Producer, John K. Kean - Sound/Sound Designer, Bud Ekins - Stunts, Harry Kleiner - Screenwriter, Alan R. Trustman - Screenwriter, Walter Hill - Second Assistant Director, Robert L. Pike - Book Author| Bullin' the Bullsheviki (1919 Film), Bullies (1986 Film) | |
| Bullrider (2005 Film), Bullrun Presents: L.A. to Miami - Cops, Cars and Superstars (2007 Film) |
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