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Bullitt

7.2

20,180

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Original title

Bullitt

Year

1968

Running time

113 min.

Country

United States

Director

Peter Yates

Screenwriter

Alan R. Trustman, Harry Kleiner

Cast

Music

Lalo Schifrin

Cinematography

William A. Fraker

Producer

Warner Bros.

Genre

Action. Mystery | Crime. Cop Movies

Synopsis

Robert L. Pike's crime novel Mute Witness makes the transition to the big screen in this film from director Peter Yates. In one of his most famous roles, Steve McQueen stars as tough-guy police detective Frank Bullitt. The story begins with Bullitt assigned to a seemingly routine detail, protecting mafia informant Johnny Ross (Pat Renella), who is scheduled to testify against his Mob cronies before a Senate subcommittee in San Francisco. But when a pair of hitmen ambush their secret location, fatally wounding Ross, things don't add up for Bullitt, so he decides to investigate the case on his own. Unfortunately for him, ambitious senator Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn), the head of the aforementioned subcommittee, wants to shut his investigation down, hindering Bullitt's plan to not only bring the killers to justice but discover who leaked the location of the hideout.

Rankings Position

#70 Best Action Movies

Awards: 1968: Oscar: Best Editing. 2 Nominations

1969: BAFTA Awards: 5 Nominations including Best Director

1968: National Society of Film Critics (NSFC): Best Cinematography.

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Critics' reviews

"About the best action movie of recent years. (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"

Roger Ebert: Chicago Sun-Times
"It is simply one of the most exciting and intelligent action films in years, probably the best good-cop film we can expect to encounter."

John Mahoney: The Hollywood Reporter
"'Blessed' with the fresh eyes of newly landed Englishman Yates (and genius cameraman William Fraker), the movie makes San Francisco fresh and alive"

John Patterson: The Guardian
"An extremely well-made crime melodrama (...) Good scripting and excellent direction by Peter Yates maintain deliberately low-key but mounting suspense."

Variety Staff: Variety
"'Bullitt' is a return to the old, tough crime movies so expertly played by Bogart and Robinson, but made modern here by great technical advances and McQueen's taciturn, antihero stance."

TV Guide
"A terrific movie, just right for Steve McQueen—fast, well acted, written the way people talk."

The New York Times
"The action sequences are brilliant, done without trickery in real locations to lend an extraordinary sense of immediacy to the shenanigans and gunfights."

The New York Observer
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Bullitt

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