The car chase is as great as advertised, but this is a pretty flawed film. The scene with Bullit's girlfriend opening up about how his job is changing him is so poorly conceived.
The movie that reinvented the car chase for Hollywood, it's got great atmosphere and realism, but don't look at the plot too closely. It's pretty hard to follow and doesn't reward close examination. Steve McQueen is great as usual though.
The problem with the girlfriend scene is they are attempting to be profound about the subject of violence and how that can possibly change a person, but they seem very, very naive about it. Any normal person would be aware of what a homicide detective would be exposed to simply by hearing the words “I am a homicide detective.” Figuring out six months later that means he investigates homicides just means you might be an idiot.
Small point on a great film. One of the fine things about Steve McQueen's acting in this movie is how often he acts with facial expression only, no dialogue. Next time you see it watch his scenes with the police captain, Robert Vaughn, and Jacqueline Bisset especially to mark this. One of my friends watched this and remarked how it hadn't aged despite being made in the sixties. McQueen's acting is a major reason for this.
This is a movie about people who are looking to hurt others, mixed with a movie about those who want the truth. It is known as an action film, but watch it again and see how much of it is not that way at all.
Not an action film is just a ridiculous statement. This is a brilliant movie whose technical achievement and influence on future films is still being realized. It's underrated and under-appreciated. It deserves to be on the action, 60s, and crime lists. It's a cool crime film with a ton of realism and an atmosphere and the best car chase sequences ever, because they were really driving as fast as it looked.
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Comments 1 - 11 of 11
Jonathan_Hutchings
The car chase is as great as advertised, but this is a pretty flawed film. The scene with Bullit's girlfriend opening up about how his job is changing him is so poorly conceived.StigAnder
Not an action film by far, that's right.Siskoid
The movie that reinvented the car chase for Hollywood, it's got great atmosphere and realism, but don't look at the plot too closely. It's pretty hard to follow and doesn't reward close examination. Steve McQueen is great as usual though.essaywhu
The problem with the girlfriend scene is they are attempting to be profound about the subject of violence and how that can possibly change a person, but they seem very, very naive about it. Any normal person would be aware of what a homicide detective would be exposed to simply by hearing the words “I am a homicide detective.” Figuring out six months later that means he investigates homicides just means you might be an idiot.Jane_or_Debbie_I_cant_decide
Small point on a great film. One of the fine things about Steve McQueen's acting in this movie is how often he acts with facial expression only, no dialogue. Next time you see it watch his scenes with the police captain, Robert Vaughn, and Jacqueline Bisset especially to mark this. One of my friends watched this and remarked how it hadn't aged despite being made in the sixties. McQueen's acting is a major reason for this.Earring72
Exciting police drama! Steve McQueen is great. Terrific car chase. Great double bill with Dirty Harry.TheMajor
Very good. Way better than I expected.. I expected a cheap car chasing movie, but it wasn't.sinnobite
Boring and uninteresting story. Too slow-paced for my taste.aussieflickfan
This is a movie about people who are looking to hurt others, mixed with a movie about those who want the truth. It is known as an action film, but watch it again and see how much of it is not that way at all.Thief
I agree with Jonathan_Hutching's comment about the girlfriend scene. That was the one weak scene for me, but I really loved the rest.Here's a blog entry I made about it.
seithscott
Not an action film is just a ridiculous statement. This is a brilliant movie whose technical achievement and influence on future films is still being realized. It's underrated and under-appreciated. It deserves to be on the action, 60s, and crime lists. It's a cool crime film with a ton of realism and an atmosphere and the best car chase sequences ever, because they were really driving as fast as it looked.