Steven Soderbergh was only five years old when “Bullitt” was released, but based solely on the similarities between the slick opening credits of this film to Soderbergh’s retro-fitted Ocean’s series, one would swear that Soderbergh was in his twenties and in the front row on Bullitt’s opening night. I guess he’s just a good student of film. I’m trying to catch up on my classics and while watching this film, I couldn’t help but think that forty-one years after it’s release…wait…forty-one years?! It is absolutely phenomenal how well this film holds up against the many cops and robbers, good cop bad cop, and hard-boiled action flicks that have come since. There are movies that were released five or ten years ago that don’t hold up as well to the test of time. Why does “Bullitt” still entertain and why is it still relevant? Because of it’s faith to reality and its simplicity.
The story is very straightforward, just like its main character. Steve Mcqueen plays Frank Bullitt, a San Francisco Detective assigned to protect a witness against the mob. When his protection fails, the only thing he cares about is finding the ones who did it. Not even the Mayor can get in his way. Throughout the entire process he never once looses his cool. Mcqueen plays Bullitt calm and collected with a hint of his past boiling over underneath. It’s right there behind the eyes. The film captures a normal period in his life where he has to catch a bad guy; he’s been there before and he’ll be there again.
“Bullitt” has everything a cop movie should; a super cool lead man, a “bad” guy that always gets in the “good” guy’s way, attractive girls, a chase scene and a few shootouts. These elements are all done with a real-life approach. The chase scene is perfect and set a standard for ones to come. Hubcaps fly off around turns, cars react as they should to impact and other traffic, and no unbelievable jumps are made. I couldn’t help but giggle when one man climbs into the backseat and awkwardly shoots his shotgun out of the tiny rear seat window instead of hanging half way out of the passenger window un-phased by the movement of the car or recoil of his gun. You wouldn’t see that in most action films today. Real doctors and real nurses are even used in the hospital scenes. This technique was being used forty-one years ago, and now it seems like a fad in film.
One aspect of “Bullitt” that is glaring today is the use of music and sound effects, or the lack thereof. I felt that scenes went on far too long without any use of score and that sound effects were lacking that attention grabbing pop. I can understand this if the director wanted to stay true to reality, but it is one thing that doesn’t hold up to the test of time. What may have seemed to create the feeling of being in the middle of a police chase then only creates distance for viewers today. Audio is one thing filmmakers are truly masters of today. They fully understand how sound and music can impact the pacing and intensity of the film.
Indeed “Bullitt” is a classic and it is still a great film. The fax machines are massive telecopiers and the clothes are different, but everything else is the same. It’s interesting to wonder what the equivalent of “Bullitt” will be for me when I’m sixty years old. Will it be “Bourne Supremacy?” Maybe it will be “True Romance” or “Pulp Fiction.” Whatever it is, I will agree that film wouldn’t have existed unless “Bullitt” came first.
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