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PETER YATES GIVES MORE THAN CHASE IN THE CLASSIC 'BULLITT'

Steve McQueen in BULLITT Year: 1968 Rating: *****

The iconic car chase is the only thing that seems to matter in BULLITT, and not just for the media since director Peter Yates's prior chase in his British heist thriller ROBBERY was so admired by Steve McQueen, Yates got this gig... 

But like there is far more than just action throughout the strategically tempered neo noir cadence of ROBBERY, Yates's cop/crime classic BULLITT is also more about words than wheels...

Justin Tarr with Steve McQueen as BULLITT

In particular, McQueen's Frank Bullitt taking a blind chance to prove climbing politician Robert Vaughn wrong, and without even realizing what's not exactly right in the first place... 

Hiding a dead witness (based on the novel Mute Witness) that Frank and partner Don Gordon were hired to protect, the best scene has McQueen and Vaughn facing off in a quasi-polite conversation ("who else knew where he was?") leading to several less sterile confrontations... with police chief Simon Oakland as a wishbone...

Steve McQueen in BULLITT

And what occurs before and after that hilly San Francisco road romp epitomizes the Police Procedural sub-genre: putting the viewer into the slow-paced, ultra-realistic, concentrated and methodical shoes of Lt. Frank Bullitt and, after proving what needed proving, there's only one big action scene left... 

Giving BULLITT two climaxes for the price of one edgy, daring and timeless (though sporadically psychedelic-era dated) cop flick that should be celebrated beyond a speedy green Mustang. Although that's pretty damn cool too, making the legendary action-packed aspect icing on a cake... with layers.  

Steve McQueen as BULLITT
Steve McQueen as BULLITT
Steve McQueen as BULLITT
Steve McQueen as BULLITT
Steve McQueen as BULLITT
Steve McQueen as BULLITT

Steve McQueen foot chase in the hospital in BULLITT
The best scene with Steve McQueen in BULLITT with Robert Vaughn
"Who let him in?" says Steve McQueen to Robert Vaughn in BULLITT
Unlike Steve McQueen, Frank BULLITT can't stand being around rich people
Don "Drink your Orange Juice and shut up Delgetti" Gordon from BULLITT
Robert Vaughn and his personal cop-in-pocket Norman Fell in BULLITT
Police procedural sequence with Don Gordon & Steve McQueen in BULLITT
The tail-end of the legendary mustang car chase in BULLITT
Rat Patrol driver JUSTIN TARR as Eddie the Snitch in BULLITT w/ Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen in BULLITT
Steve McQueen in BULLITT
Simon Oakland (left) in BULLITT
Simon Oakland last role on the series TUCKER'S WITCH from 1983
Simon Oakland in BULLITT
Steve McQueen in BULLITT
Felice Orlani as Johnny Ross doppelganger in BULLITT
John Aprea as Killer in BULLITT
Robert Duvall as Cab Driver in BULLITT
Pat Renella as Johnny Ross in BULLITT
Steve McQueen in BULLITT
Steve McQueen in BULLITT
Steve McQueen in BULLITT with Justin Tarr
Norman Fell, Simon Oakland, Don Gordon & Steve McQueen in BULLITT
Justin Tarr in BULLITT and his series THE RAT PATROL

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