Product Details

• Actors: Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Vaughn, Don Gordon, Simon Oakland
• Directors: Peter Yates
• Writers: Alan Trustman, Harry Kleiner, Robert L. Fish
• Producers: Philip D'Antoni, Robert E. Relyea
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Special Edition, NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: February 3, 1998
• Run Time: 114 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (296 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0790733897
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,046 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Peter Yates's 1968 cop drama has its existentialist pretensions, but there is something seductive about its strained seriousness and Steve McQueen's intentionally stoic performance as a San Francisco police detective on the trail of a murderer. A couple of key action sequences boost the film's stature, the most memorable of which is a vertiginous car chase that Yates almost approaches as a dance. Jacqueline Bisset provides window dressing as Bullitt's girlfriend--worried about how much his job strips away his humanity--and Robert Vaughan is almost reptilian as an opportunistic politician. --Tom Keogh

From the Studio

Comes with the paperback guide Barbecue: 101 Essential Tips (ISBN 0756602203).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

163 of 176 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Steve McQueen scorches the streets of San Francisco, November 20, 2000

By 

P. Ferrigno "firehouse444" (Melbourne, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bullitt - Limited Edition Collector's Set (DVD)

Arguably the best crime film of 1968, and certainly one of the most influential films of the genre...."Bullitt" established new directions in the mood and style of crime thrillers, and firmly established McQueen as one of the key anti-hero stars of the 60's. Based on the gritty novel "Mute Witness" by Robert L. Pike, this was the first, and only, time McQueen portrayed a police officer (albeit a maverick one) in his movie career. In 1968 Steve was then riding high on the success of his previous heist film, "The Thomas Crown Affair", and "Bullitt" just propelled his star even higher into the cinematic heavens !

The plot is tight, economical and well crafted....taciturn, moody Detective Frank Bullitt (McQueen) is charged with the protection of a key witness vital to an upcoming trial involving Mafia connections. Whilst hidden away in a supposed secure location, the witness and his police guard are brutally gunned down by unknown assailants. The heat is turned up on Bullitt by his tough Captain (Simon Oakland) and the manipulative, opportunistic politician Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) to come up with the right answers fast ! Between the draining investigation, Bullitt struggles to maintain his relationship with his cultured, sensitive girlfriend, Cathy (Jacqueline Bisset)

Primarily coming from a TV series background, Englishman Peter Yates (directing his fourth movie) did a commendable job as director on "Bullitt"...producing a complex, intense crime thriller with a unique style that would ultimately influence many other films. Yates would later to go onto direct tough guy Robert Mitchum in the excellent 1973 "sleeper" crime film "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" !

And of course "Bullitt" is reknowned for it's now legendary car chase between Frank Bullitt's 390 GT Mustang and the two hitmen in their black, Dodge Charger 440 Magnum barrelling through the city streets and highways of San Francisco....just don't pay too much attention to how many times they pass that slow-moving, green VW Beetle !!

The DVD transfer is excellent in both sound and picture quality, and the Limited Edition Collectors Set with the additional goodies (Single sheet poster, shooting draft, lobby cards etc.) is a real bonus for keen film fans !!

One of my favourite cop thrillers....McQueen sizzles on screen !!

75 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Few Thoughts ... about an American Style Icon, September 11, 2005

By 

Curtis Chambers "Curtis Chambers" (Clearwater, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bullitt (DVD)

I have read GQ and other men's fashion magazines for the last 20 years. No single person is mentioned as a men's style icon more often than Steve McQueen, and this movie defines his style most clearly. What I think that is not often understood, is why his style is so beloved. It is minimalist, yes, but also, this is someone not playing the middle class America game.

1) He lives in a small apartment. The furniture is ordinary, with a few hip 60's touches. (Watch for the picture over his bed, his paisley bathrobe, the cool paper hanging lampshade, and a couple of hippie style items on the walls). You get the impression he owns about six pairs of clothes at most. He eats cheap frozen dinners (except for the occasional date at the cool San Fran Restaurant). He is not wasting this time and life keeping up with the Jones's.

2.) He is not climbing the career ladder. On this case, he doesn't give a thought to politics. He is not chasing the American ideal of success.

3.) Look closely and you will see his car, the most famous in any movie ever, is a olive drab color. Not candy apple bright red. It is a Mustang, a symbol of blue collar America. It is dusty, and he parks it in the street, not a garage. He does not inspect it for door dings every time he goes out to it. It has dents in it. You get the impression he doesn't spend his free time polishing and waxing it.

4.) He doesn't spend his time chasing money. He spends it on his job, trying to do what he thinks is right, not what is good for office politics and promotion.

5.) His clothes are 60's pre-hippie fashion perfection (look for the extremely tapered legs, the suede loafers, and of course the famous tweed blazer and blue turtleneck).

In summary, I think it is funny that people idolize McQueen's personal style in this movie and yet they don't realize why. It is not just the stoicism, or minimalism. It is the old fashion American values (think Old West). Just something to think about as you watch one of my favorite movies of all time.

60 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Film: ***** Blu-Ray Disc: * Rent it, or buy it used or on mark down..., May 5, 2009

By 

APC Reviews "APC Reviews" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bullitt [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

Better view than the DVD. But only worth renting, or if it can be purchased used or on mark down at $5 or less.

A great film with very problematic picture and sound quality on Blu-Ray. The source transfer for "Bullit" has obviously not been re-done for Blu-Ray, and appears to be the same source transfer used for the older DVD edition of this film. Although the superior medium and capabilities of a 1080p Blu-Ray disc make this an upgraded way to view this material, the limitations of an aging source transfer abound and call attention to themselves. Detail is OK in well lit scenes, much less so on indirectly lit surfaces and shadows. Blacks are unstable and milky, and there is motion judder and blur of in motion detail in shadows. Skin tone and texture show the waxy effect of DNR (digital noise reduction). Surface detail is mediocre at best. Sharpening is obvious and annoying. All in all a better view than the DVD version. But only worth renting, or if it can be purchased used or on mark down at $5 or less.