Bullitt
With the loosening of restrictions by the MPAA towards movie violence that had been put to grand use in 1967’s Bonnie And Clyde, Hollywood got the idea to apply that style to the cops and criminals genre, and that produced this 1968 film, which in many ways makes it one of the first true action films. The story, compared to what we have today, was no great shakes, but its main legacy was that it established the template for what was to come. To star in it, they got the 60s King Of Movie Cool, Steve McQueen, and his always enigmatic presence elevated it to something that still has legions of fans to this day. The curious thing about McQueen was that he was so adept at underplaying his roles that many of his films come off as almost being underwritten, and this is no exception. The plot comes off as something seen regularly in 80s cop shows: A key witness in a mob trial goes into hiding and Lt. Frank Bullitt (McQueen) is assigned the task of protecting him from the mob killers that are surely looking for him. What follows is a series of bizarre twists involving the witness’ authenticity, with a classic example of a deus ex machina brought out by the end to wrap things up. The shootouts and violence here are just as visceral today as they were back then, with the villain’s final fate being particularly gory, but the element added by director Peter Yates that innovated the genre lies in its chase scene, a ten-minute full-speed jaunt through the streets of San Francisco between the killers in their Dodge Charger and McQueen in his ultimate badass Mustang. Thrilling as it is (and it must have rocked audience’s worlds back in 1968), it still doesn’t compensate for the fact that the script is not exactly riveting material. Supporting McQueen is a pretty decent lineup, including Robert Vaughn as a smarmy politician looking to use the case (and Bullitt) to advance his career; Norman Fell as the captain and Vaughn’s yes-man; a very young Robert Duvall as a cab driver with key information; and the extremely gorgeous Jackie Bisset as Bullitt’s artist girlfriend, whose sole purpose to the film is to look good and serve McQueen breakfast, save for one part where she walks in on a crime scene and throws a shit-fit at Bullitt for being so reserved about the horrible things he sees on a daily basis. Some aspects of the plot were a little lost on this viewer, such as whom exactly the killers were working for, but as previously stated, the plot is of little importance here while laying the groundwork is, including a final chase across an airfield where one can pick up entire shots that were later referenced by Michael Mann for the ending of his masterpiece, Heat. Overall, an OK movie that laid the foundation for its genre…
7/10