Bullitt (1968)

There are car chases, and then there is the car chase in Bullitt. Released in 1968 by Warner Bros.-Seven Arts through Steve McQueen's own Solar Productions, the film follows Lieutenant Frank Bullitt, a San Francisco cop assigned to protect a mob witness for the politically ambitious Senator Chalmers (played with oily conviction by Robert Vaughn). When that protection goes badly wrong, Bullitt finds himself chasing leads, loyalties, and eventually a pair of hitmen through the city's streets in a sequence that has since passed into cinema legend. At 113 minutes, it is a film that takes its time building atmosphere before letting loose, which puts it very much in the company of late-sixties American crime thrillers that trusted their audiences to sit still for a while.

Director Peter Yates was a relative newcomer to Hollywood when he took the job, having made his name in British television and film. McQueen, who had seen Yates's work and specifically sought him out, was himself a driving enthusiast, and his hands-on involvement in the production shaped the film's texture considerably. (McQueen reportedly did a significant portion of the driving himself, which is the kind of detail that still impresses people at pub quizzes.) Yates would go on to direct further films, including Murphy's War (1971), but Bullitt remains the work most associated with his name. The screenplay, adapted from Robert L. Fish's 1963 novel Mute Witness, strips the source material back to something leaner and more procedural, less interested in plot mechanics than in mood and physical presence.

McQueen is, as ever, an actor who communicates through stillness as much as action. His Bullitt is cool without being cold, and the film is largely built around the audience's willingness to watch him think, drive, and occasionally run. Robert Duvall appears in a small but well-judged supporting role, and Jacqueline Bisset brings a quiet intelligence to what could easily have been a decorative part. If you want a sense of what McQueen could do when given the right material and the right amount of space, this sits comfortably alongside his other work from the period, including his earlier turn in The Magnificent Seven (1960) and the later, scrappier energy he brought to The Getaway (1972). For those who enjoy the action genre at a more considered pace, it is also worth comparing Bullitt to something like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), where choreography and craftsmanship are similarly front and centre, even if the idiom is entirely different.

The mustang is another character. What a legendary film. Great example of old school film making. I think it even won an award for it's editing The pacing is a little slow which is common for the time but the finale and the chase scenes are fantastic. Overall a really good film.

The editing point is worth underlining, for me, because it speaks to what holds the whole film together. The chase itself won the Academy Award for Film Editing, and you can feel why: it is assembled with a kind of rhythmic confidence that a lot of modern action films, for all their processing power and budget, never quite manage. I find myself returning to Bullitt every few years and noticing something different each time, whether it is a background detail, a reaction shot, or just the way McQueen carries himself across a car park. The pacing is what it is, and fair enough if that tests your patience, but the film earns its reputation. They do not make them quite like this anymore, and some days that feels like a genuine loss.

Rating: ★★★½  | Year: 1968  | Watched: 2025-05-11

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Trailer

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Related on Movies With Macca

More from Peter Yates: Murphy's War (1971)
More with Steve McQueen: The Magnificent Seven (1960) · The Getaway (1972)
More from the 1960s: Viy (1967) · Persona (1966) · Carnival of Souls (1962) · Daisies (1966)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
More crime: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Angst (1983) · Stolen Face (1952) · Cairo Station (1958)