6. Bullitt (1968)
Before Harry Callahan, there was Frank Bullitt.
The latter part of the 1960s saw a change in American opinion. Sentiment grew weary from the nightly reports of death and destruction in Vietnam. People grew tired of the violence on their streets.
Although many did not support the war in Vietnam, they grew weary of the war’s protesters.
“In 2004, The New York Times placed Bullitt on its list of The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made.[32]
In 2011, Time magazine listed it among “The 15 Greatest Movie Car Chases of All Time”, describing it as “the one, the first, the granddaddy, the chase on the top of almost every list”.
Saying “Bullitt‘s car chase’s a reminder that every great such scene is a triumph of editing as much as it is stunt work.”
Naturally, it won that year’s Academy Award for Best Editing“. Among 21st-century critics, it holds a 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, representing positive reviews from 34 of 35 critics with an average rating of 7.7/10.
The website’s critical consensus reads: “Steve McQueen is cool as ice in this thrilling police procedural that also happens to contain the arguably greatest car chase ever.”
On Metacritic the film has a score of 80 out of 100 based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating “Universal acclaim”.
Hollywood took notice and suddenly cops were cool. Leading the charge was San Francisco PD detective Frank Bullitt as portrayed by Hollywood legend Steve McQueen.
Bullitt would help to usher in a more nuanced portrayal of law enforcement officers. No longer the monosyllabic and righteous dealer of justice of the Joe Friday era, Bullitt would humanize the police.
An iconic actor, an iconic car in an iconic car-chase-scene, in an iconic film.
