Bullitt (1968)

Bullitt: Directed by Peter Yates. With Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset, Don Gordon. An all-guts, no-glory San Francisco cop becomes determined to find the underworld kingpin that killed the witness in his protection.

“This movie is a great example of how style can prevail over substance in a film. The story is straight-forward enough, but nothing outstanding – Det. Bullitt is assigned to protect a witness who will testify against the mob. He must protect him for about 40 hours, but somehow, hitmen discover the location of the witness and gun him down before he can testify. Then Bullitt must find the hitmen, as well as deal with an identity twist concerning the witness.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHowever, the music score, tight direction, the car chase, McQueenu0026#39;s performance, and especially Robert Vaughnu0026#39;s performance as a ruthless politician make u0026quot;Bullittu0026quot; worth watching. In fact the performances are excellent all the way through the cast (with the exception of Jacqueline Bisset, whou0026#39;s there only for eye candy and brings nothing special to her role).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOf course, the car chase is the most famous aspect of the film. Simply put, itu0026#39;s the best car chase ever filmed, bar none. Itu0026#39;s been copied, and with todayu0026#39;s technology, should have been exceeded. Yet it still stands alone. Why? u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFirst, the presence of Steve McQueen – who else could bring it off as well as he did? Second, the era it came from, the late 60u0026#39;s. Films in those days didnu0026#39;t have chases, so it set the standard. Thereu0026#39;s no camera tricks or special effects to screw it up, what you see is what you get. Itu0026#39;s just wouldnu0026#39;t be the same if one of todayu0026#39;s big stars got in his BMW to chase another guy in a Porsche, complete with special effects, the obligatory explosions and slow-motion techniques.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIf youu0026#39;ve never seen it, watch it. If you have seen it, it still holds up after repeated viewings. 9 out of 10.”