As I go through the process of replacing my regular DVDs with Blu-ray versions, I’m always looking for bargains. This week, Best Buy has Bullitt [in Blu-ray] (and a few other movies I had no interest in) on sale for a mere $7.99. This may have been Steve McQueen’s best movie. It’s a movie I watch every year or so. The classic car chase, the rogue cop persona, and the stylish (for its day) action sequences never fail to fascinate me. Bullitt was ahead of its time. Yes, AMAZON has Bullitt [in Blu-ray] for the same price, but if you’re a REWARD ZONE member, buying Bullitt at Best Buy helps you accumulate those $5 Bonus Coupons. Either way, Bullitt looks fabulous in Blu-ray.
Well, we don’t have Blue-Ray but we did just pick up a few of Jackie’s favorite movies cheap in DVD from Amazon.
BULLITT has always been a favorite of mine too. And that car chase! Wow. The only one that came close to it was Walter Hill’s THE DRIVER with (surprisingly) Ryan O’Neal.
When you switch to Blu-ray, Jeff, it will seem like you just got a new set of eyes. Everything is sharper and brighter. BULLITT stunned me when I first saw it decades ago. It still has the power to make me gasp.
Now there’s a face to find at 7:30. I like the THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR too, but this holds up better.
McQueen is iconic, Patti. I like THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, too. But, you’re right: BULLITT holds up better.
Hill’s THE DRIVER is a fine film that seems pretty much forgotten.
I admire almost all of Walter Hill’s movies, Drongo. THE DRIVER seldom gets mentioned as the underrated film it is.
When it comes to car chases, I’d say Vanishing Point, the whole film is a car chase, and that white Dodge Challenger is a beaut, or was at the beginning of the film.
The car chases in VANISHING POINT are dandy, Rick. That Dodge Challenger was a hot car in its time.
Rick, I like the chases in BULLITT and THE DRIVER because of the danger inherent in driving at those speeds through a crowded city, like THE FRENCH CONNECTION, with the scene under the el filmed a couple of miles from here.
Jeff, I was always in awe of the car chase scene in TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. William Friedkin was at the top of his game in this one.
I’d forgotten about VANISHING POINT. In addition to being an exciting chase movie, it also seems to be very much of its time, an interesting look at the late 60’s and early 70’s.
VANISHING POINT not only has a classic car chase, it has a stylish look that was ahead of its time, Drongo.
Does anybody remember 1998’s RONIN, directed by John Frankenheimer with a screenplay by David Mamet? Some nifty car chases through Paris.
Sure, I remember RONIN, Drongo. Great action scenes! I was hoping they’d film a sequel, but that never happened.
Yup. The score, the cinematography, the nearly perfect role for McQueen (and who better than Bisset or Vaugn for theirs?), the brilliant opening/credits sequence, and smart source material from Robert Fish (aka Pike occasionally, as here).
Certainly helps make up for THE GETAWAY. TWO-LANE BLACKTOP and DEATH RACE 2000 come to mind as the good movies unmentioned in the thread so far from that latest ’60s/early ’70s period with notable gear-stripping. AMERICAN GRAFITTI doesn’t quite rate that way.
The thing I like most about BULLITT, Todd, is that I can watch it again and again and still find something new. Hitchcock films affect me that way, too.
Another swell car chase was in The Seven Ups. As for McQueen’s best movie, I go with The Magnificent Seven. I guess you could argue he wasn’t the top dog in the credits, but he was close.
McQueen was solid in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, Bob. Plenty of fans liked him in THE GREAT ESCAPE, too.