MOVIE REVIEW: Bullitt (1968)

In the 1960s, Steve McQueen was pretty much Hollywood's "It Boy" as we knew it. Or at least, that's what I learned after watching the extra features on the DVD for Bullitt. His legendary status, along with a reputation for being a hard-boiled action/thriller are what drew me to this film. Although Bullitt surprised me with an intense opening, it's pretty dated in terms of its pacing. And while the editing and action scenes are great, they're even outshone by its more recent successors like The French Connection (surprisingly, the two share the same producer).

Bullitt is about a San Francisco cop tailing a crime boss who murders a witness under the cop's supervision. Owing his sense of duty to the fallen gentleman, Bullitt decides to tail the murderer down on his own terms. While the dialogue in the film is minimal, it manages to be a bit more interesting to me than even some of the action. I'd estimate that at least 40% of the film is a parade of Steve McQueen mugging the camera and some really awesome muscle cars from the 60s...some of which, sadly, get trashed. But hey, at least they weren't in short supply over 40 years ago. This practice isn't really a bad thing, but it is quite ephemeral for a film.

Even if I found these drawbacks to be pretty surprising, the film still manages to be somewhat entertaining. I wasn't bored by the film or disinterested by the story, I guess I just expected a little more than what I had originally been led up to believe. Well, I guess that's what you'd expect from hype in any circumstance. I suggest if any of those criteria interest you, then give Bullitt a spin, just don't expect it to necessarily hold up to your general conventional knowledge of what an action/thriller should be.

7/10

Peace,
- Jon