I like cop films, but they have to be done correctly. Films like Bullitt, and the French Connection, have a depth to them that make them better than the average fare.
Steve McQueen plays San Francisco police Lt. Frank Bullitt (a silly name to be sure, but in 1968 they wanted you to know he was a cop that hit hard and fast. I'm pretty sure they went to the Stan Lee school of naming heroes to get that one). Bullitt is assigned a protection detail to guard a witness who is going to testify against the Chicago mob. The hearing is spearheaded by Senator Chalmers (played by Robert Vaughn) who is used to getting his way, no matter what his way is. He tells Bullitt, "just have the witness at the hearing Monday morning.
Never mind that Chalmers picked out the hideout (a seedy hotel in the bad part of San Francisco), and never mind that even though Chalmers told Bullitt to keep a tight lid on things, Chalmers doesn't share with Bullitt who else knows about the witness being in town. Uh oh. Needless to say (but I'm going to say it anyway), someone shows up at the front desk claiming to be Chalmers and a guest, rushes up stairs and blows a hole in the witness and the cop who was part of the protection detail guarding him. Bullitt shows up minutes later and secures ambulances for the men. Chalmers shows up at the hospital, throwing his weight around, placing all the blame on Bullitt.
Chalmers leaves, the witness dies, and Bullitt (thinking that things smell bad) has the corpse transferred to the morgue under a John Doe. He then pretends to relocate the (presumed still alive) witness, and Chalmers goes ballistic. The rest of the film has Bullitt investigating what really happened, who was actually involved, and what was Chalmers purpose in the whole mess.
The film became famous for (at the time) the most amazing car chase in film. Bullitt drives a green 1968 Ford Mustang GT Fastback, with a 390 cubic inch V8. He is followed, and then begins following the two hit men involved in killing the witness. They drive a 1968 Dodge Charger powered by a 440 Magnum V8. They tear through the streets of San Francisco for over 10 minutes film time before Bullitt takes them out. Another noteworthy item is that the chase was filmed over a couple of weeks, and when the chase was edited together, viewers noted that the Mustang and Charger both passed the same green Volkswagen Beetle more than once.
Bullitt is a good cop film, a good chase film and a good Steve McQueen film. IMDB gives it a 7.4/10. Correct. It's car chase would be considered the best ever until it was replaced by the even better chase in the French Connection with Gene Hackman.
John Wayne even tried to get into the chase race with his similar cop film McQ. In it, Wayne drove a "Green Hornet" Trans Am, emulating a lot of the Steve McQueen San Francisco chase, but in Seattle. That chase didn't measure up to French Connection, but for fans of cop car chases, it was almost as good as Bullitt. Almost.
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