Bullitt

Rating:
Summary: Bullitt confuses and captivates.
Review: "Bullitt" in its oft overlooked camera work is a film worthy of highest praise. People I know usually focus on the car chase as this film's "raison d'etre," and they are right at one level. This film was the first to stage so complex and so dangerous a car chase, the grandaddy of all the cheap hollywood action today that attempts and fails to replicate Bullitt's authenticity. Ignore the car chase, and focus instead on the clever camera work and photography conceived by Yates. The opening shot reflected from a lamp shade, the deceptive image of "Ross" in the glass of the hotel's revolving door, Duvall and his communication with McQueen via rearview mirror in the cab, Bisset's and McQueen's kinetic figures reflected in the mirror of their dresser, McQueen's suprize appearance in the villians' rearview mirror, and finally, McQueen's self-appraisal in the bathroom mirror at the close of the film. This picture is replete with imagery and visual motifs usually reserved for complicated prose. Watch this movie without sound and you will notice and appreciate the images Yates creates, and their importance in the development of the Bullit character. If you miss all of this highbrow stuff, whatever. The chase is worth the price of admission. Turn up the volume and give yourself the chills listening to that mustang go!

Rating:
Summary: Steve McQueen does it again
Review: A sometimes difficult to follow movie with a great (and) famous car chase. The story is about Bullitt protecting a key witness for a trial (wonder whats gonna happen?). Steve McQueen is his usual self "there are good cops, there are bad cops, then there's Bullitt". Robert Vaughn is also in this, now in Indianapolis we know him as spokesman for "Keller and Keller", but thats a different story. The DVD transfer is almost scary at first with a grainy opening shot of the Chicago Sun-Times building, but eventually looks acceptable for not being restored. The sound is adequate and then there is the trailer and brief making-of on how they filmed the car chase. If you are a McQueen fan or enjoy car chases or even enjoy cop movies you should have this DVD in your collection

Rating:
Summary: Great movie, I really enjoyed it !!!
Review: A movie that was made in 1968, that features:
Color, WideScreen, Surround Sound

I enjoyed watching this movie, and happy
to have it part of my dvd collection !!!

Rating:
Summary: Steve McQueen and the Car Chase
Review: Steve McQueen is Lieutenant Frank Bullitt, a San Francisco police detective embroiled in an organized-crime case after professional hit men kill a star witness awaiting a Senate subcommittee hearing. Prominent politician Walter Chalmers, played by Robert Vaughn, handpicks Bullitt to protect the witness over a weekend. It looks to be a simple job until the witness and a fellow police officer are brutally gunned down in their safe house hotel room. Bullitt now finds himself in a major investigation with few clues to go on and his career on the line as Chalmers holds him personally responsible for the incident. Conditions are worsened further as Chalmers begins to meddle in Bullit's investigation for immediate closure. Under all this heat, Bullitt maintains his cool and commences to uncovering some surprising answers to this perplexing problem. Despite the good story, the film is more well remembered for its classic car chase sequence when Bullitt makes contact with the hit men who are still lurking in San Francisco. Driving a 1968 Mustang Fastback, Bullitt chases the hit men fleeing in a black Dodge Charger R/T. The match up of the men in their respective muscle cars (now classics as most will agree), flying at high speeds through downtown San Francisco, wowed audience back then and will still stir viewers' adrenaline today. There are no special effects, the car chase was done with great stunt driving at speeds of up to 115 mph according to the DVD's extra feature notes. Particularly worth noting is that Steve McQueen did a lot of his own driving for realism. The car chase may not impress today's youngsters who are used to more action-packed contemporary movies, but mature viewers will appreciate the stunt work and editing that went into the Bullitt sequence and will understand why it and the rest of the movie set a new trend for cop movies. Director Peter Yates' work is smart and McQueen under his direction is in fine form as a slick police officer who carries out his investigation without excessive machismo or silly rhetoric. The film has a nice style, enhanced by a soundtrack filled with '60's jazzy music. The DVD edition is very good with the film stock evidently well preserved, having transferred nicely to digital, as well as the audio track. Some nice features are included, especially a short documentary about the movie production.

Rating:
Summary: Great murder mystery
Review: Bullitt is a great murder mystery\thriller that never really slows down from the beginning. The story begins with an important informant being placed in the care of Lt. Frank Bullitt and two other detectives. When the informant is murdered inside his hotel room, Bullitt must find out who the murderer is, and what else is going on behind all of this. The film is very realistic will all of it being filmed on location somewhere in San Francisco. While everyone knows this movie because of the famous car chase( it is the best chase ever filmed), there is much more to this movie that will keep the viewer interested.

Steve McQueen gives another great performance as Lieutenant Frank Bullitt, the officer placed in charge of mob informant Johnny Ross. His performance is very good as the tough cop who will not let anything get in his way. Robert Vaughan is also very good as Chalmers, the slick politician who constantly chases down Bullitt for information about his witness. The film also stars Jaqueline Bisset as Bullitt's girlfriend, Robert Duvall in an early role as a taxi driver, and Don Gordon as Delgetti, Bullitt's partner. While I do not like the snap case DVDs, this one is not too bad. The DVD offers widescreen and fullscreen presentations, theatrical trailer, and also a documentary about the making of the movie which includes shots of McQueen working on the famous car chase through San Francisco. The movie looks great in the widescreen and should not be missed. Check out Bullitt for an exciting murder mystery with another great performance by Steve McQueen!

Rating:
Summary: Glass Menagerie
Review: Director Peter Yates paradoxically mixes a documentary feel with glossy textures to create a the ultimate zen police drama. Although mostly known for its thrilling chase scene (and the throaty rumble of McQueen's Shelby Cobra) Yates makes some some interesting statements about urban cop life. The acting is superb. The score by Lalo Shiffren is wonderfully evocative of '60's San Francisco. Note the scenes shot through glass, from the opening credits through to the trapping of the killer in the revolving glass door. Yates is preoccupied with showing us human beings through windows, through windshields, through their reflections. By putting human nature "under glass" he's reminding us that appearance is always manipulated by film directors, even if it's only through the glass lens of the camera. A remarkable film.

Rating:
Summary: McQueen in a role that fit him like a glove!
Review: There are good cops, there are bad cops, and then there's Bullitt.
For his own good, Walter Chalmers(Robert Vaughn) wants Jonny Ross to testify against his mob buddies. So, to keep him alive, Chalmers assigns the best cop on the force, Lt. Frank Bullitt(Steve McQueen). But someone else has different plans and Ross ends up in the hospital, much to his own fault. When Chalmers finds out, he immediately blames Bullitt. Then Ross dies and Bullitt does not tell Chalmers because he knows that he won't let him continue on the case. Bullitt then takes matters into his own hands and follows his slim leads. One of these ends up as, I think, the best and still unmatched car chase in movie history.
I like the Dvd edition best because of the better sound and picture quality.
Bullitt is a great movie and one of my all-time favorites. Steve McQueen was always a great actor and I think this movie was one of his best. A definite classic!

Rating:
Summary: Epic Cop Thriller WIth THE Single Best Car Chase Ever!
Review: This classic cop thriller starring Steve McQueen helped define the "cool cop" genre, along with the Dirty Harry movies and a few others such as the original "Shaft". It is amazing just how well this epic tale has aged, for watching it one is not really very aware of the decades that have passed other than by the dress and car styles apparent in the movie. Here the cop anti-hero character is well honed into being a dark, moody, but very personable loner who also happens to have one of the loveliest screen paramours ever in a very young and desirable Jacqueline Bisset. This was before her turn in "Summer of '42", and she was a literal unknown at the time. She certainly caught a few eyes with her turn here as the girlfreind caught in the middle of Bullitt's violence.

Of course, for those us of struggling through our undergraduate school years at the time, the real star of the film was McQueen's throaty high-performance British racing green Ford Cobra Mustang. In what many consider the finest car chase sequence ever filmed, McQueen relentlessly and recklessly pursues the super-charged Dodge Charger in a drive to the death (ah, back when cars really rattled the pavement with their sheer horsepower and all that testosterone rumbled down the street!). Can we all say muscle car perfection? One recalls the terrific sounds of all those upshifts and downshifts as McQueen, who insisted on doing his own stunt-driving here, careened dangerously at high speeds through the streets of San Francisco in pursuit of the bad guys.

The film unrolls with a tight, interestingly written, and well-directed story, one that interweaves money, crime, politics, and suspense in a script that could as easily fall from today's headlines as from those populating the newspapers of thirty years ago when "Bullitt" was filmed. Detective Frank Bullitt (McQueen) is assigned for the weekend to protect a witness for a local hearing by one of California's senators (Robert Vaughn) the next Monday. When mob hit men fatefully interrupt such well-laid plans, the plot spins into overdrive, and a masterful cat and mouse game ensues. The supporting cast is terrific, and the hit men are well played with deadpan bad guy grimaces and suitable grunts and groans. These guys really seem both evil and professional. And yet the duel between McQueen and the hit men serves only to introduce us into the nuances and undercurrents in the plot, which Bullitt must somehow unravel to solve the crime and rescue himself from the aftermath. This is a terrific movie, and one you must see in DVD and a large screen to truly appreciate. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: A super cult movie
Review: This film, has been till now the major achievement of Peter Yates, there are several reasons for this statement, a dazzling direction, the charismatic presence of Steve Mc Queen playing the role of an emblematic anti hero cop , the best car chase ever filmed in San Francisco, the spectacular beauty and talented Jacqueline Bisset, the presence of a raising promise as Robert Duvall, the sinister character of Robert Vaughn as the corrupt senator, supported by a fine script without any hole, plentty of suspense and multiple reflections, this film has generated many similar films but without its shinning power and dynamical force.
Do you need any adittional reason to acquire this one?
Don't miss, you don't have any excuse. You'll be always rewarded.

Rating:
Summary: Bullitt Hits The Mark
Review: 1968's Bullitt is best known for its classic car chase scene that is still considered the best of all time. through the streets of San Francisco. The movie is worth watching for that scene alone as Steve McQueen's fastback Mustang chases down a Dodge Charger for a tense ten minutes through the streets of San Francisco. Even without that memorable scene, Bullitt is a classic 60's film. Mr. McQueen's performance as steely police detective Frank Bullitt is one of his best. The plot revolves around a seemingly routine job for Bullitt and his men to protect a mob informant (Pat Renella) who is set to testify before a Senate subcommittee. When two hitmen break into the safe house and fatally wound the informant and injury another detective, Bullitt begins to have questions and takes up investigating the case on his own with the help of fellow detective Delgetti (Don Gordon). Fighting them at every turn is ruthless and ambitious senator Chalmers played with unctuous smarm by Robert Vaughan. Jacqueline Bissett co-stars in one of her first roles as Bullitt's girlfriend and Robert Duvall has a bit part as a cabbie. Director Peter Yates crafts a gritty look to the film and editor Frank Keller won the Academy Award for his superb work.