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| DIRECTED BY |
| Peter Yates
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| STARRING |
| Steve McQueen |
| Robert Vaughn |
| Jacqueline Bisset |
| Don Gordon |
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�Bullitt� is quite a bit more than just a standard cops versus criminals tale thanks to its seminal action sequences, Peter Yates� appealing depiction of San Francisco, a reasonably complex storyline, and Steve McQueen�s hardboiled charisma.
Because I had viewed Michael Mann�s 1995 film �Heat� just a few days prior to viewing �Bullitt,� the two airport foot chase sequences seemed awfully familiar to me. It�s clear that Mann drew from this film for inspiration for �Heat,� and he did improve upon its premise in the long run. Today, Yates� film just doesn�t have the same level of characterization that Mann�s has, but since time has withered down much of the plot of �Bullitt� to conventional status, perhaps comparing the two is unfair.
The final scenes seem forced and awkward; it concludes as if the editor realized that he should have rolled the credits a few minutes earlier but felt too lazy to go back and do it all over again. But the plot itself refuses to throw anything into the face of its viewer; it has a surprisingly methodical pace, and details are slowly revealed to us over the course of the film before much sense can be made. This may frustrate more than annoy people looking to completely understand the storyline, but it�s intelligent nonetheless.
The acting is stellar, particularly from McQueen � who shows us why he�s mainly remembered as a �movie tough guy.� It�s also interesting to see Robert Duvall in such an insubstantial role as a cab driver in this film a few years before he �went big.� I couldn�t help but feel disappointed by the screenwriter�s decision to make McQueen�s girlfriend into a na�ve caricature, however, and as a result this relationship loses all of its appeal and ultimately detracts from the film.
The car chase sequence is just about as impressively high octane as it�s been made out to be over the years, but the sheer pace of the sequence doesn�t go by without a few errors that keen viewers may pick up on � a black buggy uncannily reappears on numerous occasions, and the criminals� car appears to lose about six hubcaps. But who really cares if it�s as entertaining as it is, right?
