This article is just crammed full of super cool info/insights.. Some may have read it......just figured I'd post the link.

Steve was a real kindred spirit to everyone on these boards. I think he would hev loved the new Stangs, just like us.

(it kinda hurt to read how the Charger just trounced the Stang though...yeesh) Well, that sure aint the case today!!

http://www.hottr6.com/triumph/BULLITT.html

 

I made my son and daughter stay up and watch Bullitt on AMC this week. I told them it was the greatest chase seen in cinematic history.

They both loved it.

 

I agree that the camera angles were unique for its time... and the jumps were cool, but after watching Bullitt for the first time last night I found that it nowhere near lived up to its hype I was somewhat disappointed. The end of the chase scene was actually kinda cheesy. Overall, the movie wasn't that good. Similar dated Dirty Harry movies rocked in comparison. The only positive was the car itself, but the better car in that scene was admittledy the Charger. My rating... eehhh.

 

The first time I start up my 08, I want to get the sound track for Bullitt and play the song right before the chase scene. My face will probably crack from the ****-eating grin on my face

 

Steel,

I agree that strictly as a movie, it is not happening. However, the thing that makes the chase so cool is:

a) it was concieved by the lead actor, NOT some studio exec.
b) alot of the driving was done by McQueen, and admitted Mustang guy
c) the visceral reality of the scenes, which actually feel/look like a real chase scene would look, rather than the glitzy digitally altered fast & furious crappola we see today
d) oh yeah, it's a freekin MUSTANG, and that's the real sound it made
e) it includes driver errors, again not just super impossible slick stunt driving

To be honest, in my 44 years of movie watching, the only thing that comes close is "Vanishing Point"..........oh, yeah, did I mention I also owned a 71 Challenger??!!

PS I also loved the first Smokey & the Bandit,.....but feel that movie had alot of that glitzy Hollywood crap...I remember the scene where they briefly flash to the speedo,... the car is going a whopping 65mph, but the soundtrack thatTA doing what sounds like 140!! Too funny.
The pre-curser to Dukes of Hazard.........That being said........did I mention that I owned a 78 Trans Am??!!................... LOL!!!!

IMO, Bullitt remains my vision of how I would try to drive, if I had the streets of SF to myself......and a tweeked 68 FB GT......yeeehhhaaaaaaaaa, hey wait, did I mention I have an 06 fastback GT!!??!!

 

The movie overall was about a C+, but the car chase scenes were revolutionary for the time. A car chase like that hadn't been done in a movie before "Bullitt"...

After "Bullitt" , look how similar car chases became pretty common in movies.

 

78 Trans Am. You Rock! My favorite all time car. As for the movie, yeah I know what mean. Like a I said... the chase scene had some cool things, but I guess that I was expecting more...

 

That car chase is THE car chase.

 

Steel, did you watch Bullitt on TV? I watched the chase scene on a big movie screen the first time I saw the movie when it was released. I held onto my theater seat. This is one movie where it makes a tremendous difference whether or not you see it on TV or in a movie theater. If Bullitt played at a movie theater, I'd go see it again.

 

I still love watching that scene time to time (I taped it a long time ago)...just the "chase scene" mind you.

 

Jon, your right on all accounts (except one and I hate to burst everyones bubble. More on that in a bit). It was (and still is) a great car chase scene. Steve died WAY too early, as I think had he still been alive, Ford would have had him help introduce the new S197's in Detroit at the Auto Show. Would have been an awesome site. And the thought that he made the idea up for the movie was brilliant. Plus, Steve was an amazing race car driver. Did most of the driving in LeMans (a rather cool movie).

Now, just wanted to let you all know, that the sound the Mustang makes at WOT is not the real car. Its from a Ford GT40 at LeMans in 1967. How do I know? Remember the Motor Trend Article when the Green 2005 Mustang and the Black Charger R/T were on the cover? There was a section in there that talked about the movie. They had real info from the studios about the rumors of things. One was about the hubcaps the Charger lost. Another mentioned about Steve driving in the chase, but also Steve's friend was also doing some of the chase scene driving too. They say, you can see a difference in the watches (either it was on the wrong arm, or it was a different watch). Another was that Steve had his own Momo Steering wheel added to the car to be more comfortable, and they said the sound the Mustang made during the chase scene was from a GT40. It was dubbed in. If I had the magazine handy (I'm actually in the hospital as I type. Nothing big, just a check on my transplant), I would scan the page, but they had some interesting behind the scene info on the movie.

 

That's exactly what I plan to do if I get a Bullitt (ADM-dependent)...

 

I think that for it's time, and all time, Bullitt is one of the best, if not the absolute best car chase. The movie itself wasnt all that great, but the car chase is what people remember. And besides, it's really the one of the only somewhat realistic ones out there, with the cars overskidding and squealing and hittin on parked cars.