Bullitt (2005, DVD)

A while back my father and I were having a discussion of what defines cool. We dismissed many of the stars of today that are considered cool (Vin Diesel Fuel) and agreed that the quintessence of cool character in the world of film is definitely Steve McQueen's title character in Bullitt. His character is the type who can walk away from a car chase scene and still be able to tell off the bureaucrat who is constantly on his case.

McQueen plays San Francisco police Lieutenant Frank Bullitt. As the film begins, he is introduced to aforementioned bureaucrat Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) a politician with aims of making it big in the political world. Chalmers is responsible for a witness that will be testifying in a major court case in 48 hours. He assigns Bullitt to guard the witness for those two days. Bullitt assigns two policemen to protect the witness and puts them up in a hotel room. However it isn't long before two gunmen have made short work of both cops and witness. So Bullitt sets out to get to the bottom of this mess while tangling with Chalmers.

When I say McQueen is the quintessence of cool in this movie, I'm not mincing words. He's tough, always in control and knows haw to keep the situation under his command. He's also not intimidated by whoever may get in his way. Even someone like Chalmers.


Chalmers is just the sort of opponent that a character like Bullitt needs. Appropriately slimy on the surface and even more corrupt underneath, Chalmers is the classic "I Only care about what happens to me and fooey on anyone else who may get gunned down in the process" villain.

Norman Fell (Later to star on Three's Company, an example of how the mighty do fall) plays a senior police official who is usually sympathetic to Bullitt, unlike in many of the films that steal from Bullitt where the police chief is a screaming bastard. Then there is Jacqueline Bisset as Bullitt's girlfriend who at one point says to him "How can you be so cold. You're living in a sewer Frank". His reply is the best one he could give as he answers "It's what keeps me alive".

The movie also stars Robert Duvall in a brief role as a cab driver that becomes slightly involved in a surveillance operation by Bullitt.

Now what many people remember best about this movie is the famous chase scene that takes us through the hills of San Francisco. We see the build-up for the chase scene as Bullitt follows the car with two hitmen in it in his Camaro. We see the pursuit take time to let a trolley pass instead of smashing right into it as many of the chase scenes that followed did. The chase goes on for nearly 15 minutes and extends into the countryside. In order to appreciate it, it needs to be viewed on a big screen.

In addition there are also the scenes with Chalmers, realistic police and hospital procedures on display throughout the film and the final shootout at an airport. It is in a scene leading up to this where the cool aspect of McQueen is defined. Chalmers has tried to excuse his actions with a long line of hyperbole. Bullitt replies with one simple word "bullsh**" and walks away. Viewed today, this wouldn't seem quite as effective. At the time this movie was released (1968) however it worked very well.

Bullitt is definitely one of the leading action movies of all-time. With great action scenes, memorable characters and a plot that draws one in, even a few of the slower scenes don't detract much from this movie. See it if you haven't done so. In fact, it's worth buying on Video or DVD. Make sure you see it on a big screen TV.