Bullitt (Blu-ray)

It's a real shame, in this, Bullitt's 40th anniversary year - and with Steve McQueen fever at its highest for decades - that the HD release (on Blu-ray and HD-DVD) is the same sorry-looking print already available on standard-def formats. If anything, the interiors look even grainier than they do on standard-def, because the 1080p transfer picks up more grain...and although the exteriors are better (the ultra-realistic lighting style doesn't help), this is one of cinema's great car chases, and it's a shame that it hasn't been granted a decent restoration. Likewise the sound, which is still in 2.0 like all the other editions, and is badly in need of cleaning up, even if some of the hiss has been Dolby-reduced. Really, Warner, this classic police procedural - whose central character is based on San Francisco's Inspector David Toschi, played by Mark Ruffalo in David Fincher's ZODIAC - deserves more attention. What's the point of even releasing HD releases, especially when consumer takeup is a crucial part of the whole business plan, if the prints look this shoddy?

One positive note: all the extras from the 2-disc Special Edition are here, one of which is upgraded to HD.

Ignore the bad reviews. They're by people who have no idea what film actually looks like. Some movies are naturally grainier than others, and this Blu-ray does a beautiful job at representing Bullitt in its purest form outside of a cinema.

No, Bullitt won't melt your eyeballs in HD, but then again not every movie will look like Transformers. Until people realise this, we'll keep getting ignorant reviews like those above.

Please,if you own this on dvd dont waste your money on buying it on blue ray!what a dissapointment!picture and sound are awful!commentary could send you asleep!extras include a docummentry about film editing!nothing to do with bullitt!avoid like the plague!

Ignore the poor reviews, this film is great and the blu ray pic is very good, there's better blu rays for sure, but this is stil very good! Buy it!