Bullitt, the 1968 action film starring Steve McQueen, is about cowboy cop Lt. Frank Bullitt. He has to guard a witness, Johnny Ross, so he can testify against mobster Pete Ross. Two hit men come and kill Johnny so Bullitt decides to find the person who ordered the hit on his own. He is chased by the men who killed Johnny but they are killed while chasing Bullitt. He finds out that Johnny hired Albert Simmons to be his body double while he fled the country. Bullitt goes to the airport and tries to track him down. Johnny is traveling under Albert’s name and makes a fake flight reservation to throw off the police. Can Bullitt stop Ross from fleeing the country?
In this movie, Bullitt’s girlfriend accuses him of being unfeeling in his job, but Bullitt’s real flaw is that he deliberately flaunts the law. What most people seem to forget is that the film was actually an indictment of the cowboy cop character. Although Johnny shouldn’t have run off, the fact that Bullitt kills him means it may be very likely that Pete Ross will walk free. The car chases were unique in its day and still holds up even when other movies have improved on their car chases. The ending is surprisingly quiet and bleak, but since a lot of it is Bullitt’s fault it doesn’t come out of nowhere. Because of all this the movie still holds up these days. Honolulu action film fans should add this movie to their collection.
More at: Tricia’s Retro Film Reviews
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