Review: Bullitt

Bullitt (1968):

Synopsis – Steve McQueen plays a man named Frank Bullitt, a cop or detective or something law related (with a name like that there are only so many jobs you can get). When a man being held under police protection is murdered, Bullitt takes it upon himself to track down the killers. Along the way he must dodge politicians and higher ups, all with their own agendas.

Starring - Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Vaughn, Simon Oakland, and others including Robert Duvall in a small role.

So, Bullitt. This is the next movie from my March blog project. I asked my mom what made this movie special to her. She said:

“Steve McQueen. ‘Nuff said.”

I had never seen Steve McQueen in a movie before this. He is striking in appearance; light eyes the color of faded blue jeans, lined and handsome face, able to wear a turtle neck without looking like a dink. His acting will be judged at a later date. In this movie he was just fine, but I don’t think he was required to do much other than look determined. This movie was something else. While I was watching it I began to feel sad for the weirdest reason: I realized I will never be able to make a film like this because it is no longer the 70s. I realize this was a 68 film, but I still associate the fashion and cars and mannerisms with the 70s. This movie branched off to give us The French Connection and Dirty Harry, and you can see how much Bullitt obviously influenced them. Bullitt the character is not a cop on the edge like Harry Callahan was, but he is ready to push the boundaries of the law in order to catch the real crooks. I want to get into my break down, but I want point out first that the chase scene is amazing, better than the one in the French Connection in my opinion. I noticed that they reused a section of the chase, shot from a different angle, but obviously the same because the cars they passed were the exact same cars they had already passed. I mean, there could be a bunch of green Volkswagen bugs all over the place. But anyway, that didn't take away from the excitement in the moment.

What I Liked:

-The cinematography was superb. William A. Fraker could have gone with the standard steady cam, stationary cam sort of action, but he found a lot of places to insert shots from below, shots from hallways, just lots of really tight good work. No doubt he went on to do great things. Let’s see, Rosemary’s Baby, yeah that’s the stuff, Tombstone, cool movie, WarGames, ok, Street… Fighter? Uh, sure, everyone has a stinker sometimes. Father of the Bride part 2? You know what, let us remember him for the great stuff he did rather than the mediocre to terrible. Honeymoon in Vegas and Vegas Vacation? That’s it, I’m out.

-I really dug the dialogue in this movie. There wasn't a lot of yelling or arguing. Mostly it was quiet scenes where Robert Vaughn would be trying to apply pressure to McQueen or McQueen and Simon Oakland would have a conversation that mostly relied on the looks they gave each other. One of my favorite bits of the movie takes place in the hospital after one of the crooks gets shot. The doctors and nurses never yell or back talk to each other like what is so normal to see in medical dramas from today. Even when a man is bleeding out on a table everything is very calm and collected, the medical team doing what they can but never panicking. It is pretty groovy.

What I Didn't Like:

-I’ll be honest, even though I know this isn't a perfect movie there isn't much I can single out to complain about. Other than the chase scene and the camera work I don’t think there is anything revolutionary about this movie. It is just a solid thriller/drama.

What I Hated:

-This movie is rated PG. Like Jaws, I can only assume that its lack of sex kept it from an R rating, but PG? I can see why they made the PG-13 rating, as useless as it seems nowadays. There is a lot of blood in this movie, even though it seems like it is rather light on the gun play. When someone does get shot, the guy with the red paint runs over and douses the offending area.

Verdict:

I really enjoyed Bullitt. I am actually kind of jonesing to watch it again. That’s a pretty good sign. I hope I get to see it projected someday. Here’s what you do: Cuddle up with your cutie or a big bowl of popped corn, or both, turn down the lights and enjoy a few hours of atmosphere. I watched it on Amazon Prime.