Steve McQueen is the element of cool in this classic sixties cop thriller that sees him as Detective Frank Bullitt who is trying to stop a mobster responsible of murdering a star witness to a crime who had been placed in his care. While not as overblown with things like action sequences, special effects, explosions etc Bullitt has a very strong script that is carried by some brilliant acting from Steve McQueen (his eyes and facial expressions say it all!), Robert Vaughn (Hustle) and Jacqueline Bisset amongst others.

The plot itself is laced numerous great twists and turns, several sub-plots (Bullitts relationship with his girlfriend for example being realistically handled right up to that fantastic open ending), brilliant moments of dark humour and of course a few great action sequences of which the car chase is well known and has gone down in cinema history yet the final chase across and through the airport is just as outstanding and concludes the film nicely. In addition Lalo… more »

Steve McQueen is the element of cool in this classic sixties cop thriller that sees him as Detective Frank Bullitt who is trying to stop a mobster responsible of murdering a star witness to a crime who had been placed in his care. While not as overblown with things like action sequences, special effects, explosions etc Bullitt has a very strong script that is carried by some brilliant acting from Steve McQueen (his eyes and facial expressions say it all!), Robert Vaughn (Hustle) and Jacqueline Bisset amongst others.

The plot itself is laced numerous great twists and turns, several sub-plots (Bullitts relationship with his girlfriend for example being realistically handled right up to that fantastic open ending), brilliant moments of dark humour and of course a few great action sequences of which the car chase is well known and has gone down in cinema history yet the final chase across and through the airport is just as outstanding and concludes the film nicely. In addition Lalo Schifrin provides an outstanding but somewhat mysterious music score and the cinematography of sixties San Francisco in the film is simply stunning (especially during that car chase!).

On the whole Bullitt is a classic thriller of a film that makes strong use of a fantastic plot, its lead actors, the locations and of course the cars involved (the Ford Mustang mainly. What a car!!!), the latter of which is made all the more brilliant by not having music or dialogue over the top but instead the pure raw sound of the cars which helps the chase become so great. Thats not to say the rest of the film isnt good because it is, infact there is a lot more to Bullitt than the car chase as all round its an exceptional film and certainly one of Steve McQueens best starring roles.

Even aside from the car chase - which has passed into cinema legend and may never quite be toppled from the pinnacle of most people's best car chase lists - the film around that sequence is still a fine police thriller on it's own.

After an informant is murdered the chase is on to discover who leaked his whereabouts and the man assigned to his protection will do everything to find out who killed his charge.

From the classy opening sequence to the airport chase finale (so that's where Heat took some license from!) this is the epitome of cool, stylish yet gritty and murky thrillers that rarely get made anymore. It also may take a couple of watches to fully understand what's been going on, but it tends to thus reward the viewer more as they do.

The extras are decent if unspectacular. A feature commentary from director Peter Yates, a solid documentary on the legendary Steve McQueen with career retrospective and candid insights into even his dark spells, and a rather odd… more »

Even aside from the car chase - which has passed into cinema legend and may never quite be toppled from the pinnacle of most people's best car chase lists - the film around that sequence is still a fine police thriller on it's own.

After an informant is murdered the chase is on to discover who leaked his whereabouts and the man assigned to his protection will do everything to find out who killed his charge.

From the classy opening sequence to the airport chase finale (so that's where Heat took some license from!) this is the epitome of cool, stylish yet gritty and murky thrillers that rarely get made anymore. It also may take a couple of watches to fully understand what's been going on, but it tends to thus reward the viewer more as they do.

The extras are decent if unspectacular. A feature commentary from director Peter Yates, a solid documentary on the legendary Steve McQueen with career retrospective and candid insights into even his dark spells, and a rather odd (but quite watchable) Kathy Bates narrated documentary on the role and importance of the Editor in the film-making process.