Review of Bullitt (1968) by Daniel B — 02 May 2011

Bullitt is one of the few cop movies made to be hailed for it's realism and gritty portrayal of police action. It's style is as much it's groundbreaking success as it is it's dated lack of appeal.

The ass-kicking Steve McQueen stars as Bullitt, a San Francisco detective with the guts and the determination to get the job done, who is under a lot of pressure with his latest case. He is responcible for the protection of Johnny Ross, a gangster who has evidence to bring down his organization. The problem being, Johnny Ross gets killed. But Bullitt is still determined to bring down the organization, which leads him to see a startling set up. It takes a long time to get to it's point, but Bullitt is a truely well written mystery that has a uniquely realistic perspective. This movie focuses on situations and characters, who perform with suttle but effective emotion. But through it's uncovering mystery and realism, the film's pacing is more than often really slow going. It takes a while to get to the point, but the movie is pretty rewarding is you love classic crime movies, or are a Steve McQueen fan, who gives a gritty and great performance.

Bullitt has a hell of a lot of good and creative cinematography. Different angles of the camera, creative tracking and panning shots, a sence of watching these events happen as though you where there, Peter Yates definitely directs a great crime thriller to be the best it could be. But like I said, if only the pacing of the movie wasn't so slow. Through it's lack of music at times, there are some great uses of sound mixing and some terrific editing of the scenes. But this movie reaches it's most excellent moment when it reaches it's famous car chase scene. Though it might be going a little out of it's realistic angle, the car chase is very thrilling, well executed and edited to create an exciting movie moment.

This movie is a bit dated, but an inspiration none the less. Bullitt gives the cop and crime genre a new, more serious face with all guts and no glory. Classic film lovers shall be very excited to watch this movie of thrills, twists, and gritty violence.