Cars and Cops and Crime

When it comes to car chase sequences, there are a few specific stand outs that dominate Hollywood history. Gone in 60 Seconds (the 1974 original, not the Nick Cage-led 2000 remake) with it's 40-minute-long car chase. The Rock, with it's practical effects-driven carnage through downtown San Francisco. Anything going on in (at least the good entries in) the The Fast and the FuriousStarted as a film about undercover policing in the illegal street-racing community, this series has grown to encompass a number of different genres and become one of the most bankable franchises in the world. franchise. But while those are all great, they all get a certain inspiration from one of the granddaddies of the genre: Bullitt.

Filmed in 1968, Bullitt belongs in the same grungy cop genre as the later Dirty HarryInspired by the Zodiac killer's spree of murders, this series of action flicks finds the titular character, Dirty Harry, fighting all kinds of ruffians and ne'er-do-wells with gruffness, a gun, and (far too much) street justice. films. Steve McQueen's Lt. Frank Bullitt (which is just such a fabulously stupid name) isn't as dirty, or lawless, as Harry Callahan, but he is still a force unto himself. He goes it alone, shooting from the hip and taking down the bad guys where he can. And, yes, he drives like a mad man when the time calls for it and, man, does the film come alive when that happens.

The film is known for one sequence in particular: a solid, ten minute car chase through the streets of San Francisco as Bullitt chases two mob enforcers. It's an impressive sequence, going along main streets and side streets, up and down hills, around other traffic. And then it hits the highway and the film is able to present the speed of the chase. It's a solid, pulse-pounding sequence, shot without frills so that you feel the action. This is Bullitt at it's absolute best and it is, without a doubt, the part of the movie you have to see... just, maybe do it on YouTube or some other service where you can watch that one scene and move on.

While a cultural and critical success at the time, raking in $42.3 Mil against it's $4 Mil budget (which was big numbers back in the 1960s), the film hasn't aged all that well in the interim. It doesn't have any overt sexism or racism it has to account for (go watch the Dirty Harry films for your fill of that). No, the issue is that when the film isn't focused on its action it slows to an absolute crawl. This is the pacing of the era, with films that feels slower, more methodical. I used to wonder why certain films from this era (the 1960s and 1970s) felt so slow, and then I realized it was just the era, the style at the time for film making. It's part of the reason why I struggle to go back and watch older films even when people say, "oh, but you must!" They're so slow.

Now, I didn't go into this film expecting to hate it. As with everything I watch for this site I gave it the benefit of the doubt, hoping it would work out. And it's not that the film lacks charms; it's not a bad little cop movie powered by an oddly charismatic performance from Steve McQueen, who is stoic throughout the film but, somehow, in a way that actually feels charming. The car chase is amazing, a real showstopper that you wish the film could match again at any other point in its production (the later foot chase through an airport isn't nearly as thrilling). I feel like if the film could have been tightened up and made less plodding (by my eyes) it could be a real rip-roaring adventure. That's my modern sensibilities getting in the way, of course, but it does make me think there are others that will find Bullitt to be too slow and methodical to bear watching.

In the film Bullitt (McQueen) is called in by D.A. Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) to protect a star witness in a Mafia related case. Bullitt gets his men to set their witness in a seedy hotel they often use as a safe house, and they set about protecting him. The witness, though, isn't really interested in turning evidence and, given a chance, unlocks the doors to the hotel room so a couple of goons can come in, ice the cops, and hurry the witness off into the night. Only problem with that plan: the Mafia doesn't even want a chance that their man could become a rat, so once they get into the hotel room, they ice him instead.

Rushed to the hospital, the witness is put on life support while Bullitt is left to figure out what happened. Someone within the department, or the D.A.'s office, is a rat, and he can't trust anyone. That includes Chalmers, who keeps putting more and more pressure on Bullitt to protect the dying man just in case he can testify. Bu as more goons come to try and kill the witness, and the Mafia pressure builds, Bullitt has to take the matter into his own hands, chasing down the bad guys while he solves the larger case. It's one man against the Mob, and Bullitt might just be the man for the job.

Let us not undersell the performance from McQueen here. As methodically paced as this film may be, McQueen's presences does help to make it bearable. He's got that stoic charisma, the "quiet cool" as it was described, and his presence fills every scene he's in. This film would be far less interesting, and basically unwatchable, if McQueen weren't in the lead role. This is the Steve McQueen show, and it's easy to see why he was such a presence in Hollywood in the 1950s, '60s, and 70s, becoming (for a time) the highest paid actor in the industry. He carries it here with ease.

That is, however, as a problem for the movie because no one else in Bullitt is anywhere near as interesting as McQueen. The rest of the performers here feel like they turned up for a made-for-TV cop drama only to learn they were actually in a major Hollywood production. Their acting is flat, their performances nonexistent. They fill the space with bodies so that McQueen has people to interact with, but their roles feel perfunctory at best. They exist, and that's the best that can be said.

But I guess it doesn't really matter if what you want out of the film is an amazing car chase. For the time, this was one of the most spectacular put on screen, and it would take crazier daredevils than McQueen (who was also a stunt car driver) to pull off bigger thrills in films. The car chase does hold up, even now, being a solid work of downtown thrills. It has the feel of a guerrilla shoot, even if it was filmed with the authorization of the SF city government. It has a raw feel that can't be denied, and the action is great. It really is the reason to see this film, above all else.

Do you bother watching the rest of the film, though? Well, if you're like me you probably want the context for the scene, at least once. You want to know why Bullitt is chasing the bad guys and where he goes after the carnage is done. But once you've seen it once I doubt you'll want to again. McQueen is great, and the car chase is fantastic, but all of that can be seen in a clip Online. And once you've done that you've frankly seen all you really need of the film. It's an okay movie elevated by a good performance and a fantastic action sequence. Your mileage with that will, of course, vary from there.