He had a motorcycle collection. It starts off in slow cat-and-mouse style, accompanied by a nerve-tingling Lalo Schifrin score, as Bullitt is tailed by two hit men. "British Director to Film U.S. Dilemma" Lesner, Sam. Mafia men in a Dodge Charger tail Frank Bullitt, but he . Lalo Schifrin wrote the original jazz-inspired score, arranged for brass and percussion. Fine, Loftin replied. Tex929rr(View Comment): I think it really saved the film, because most people dont remember the story, they remember the chase. 33. When city officials were first approached about shooting in the streets of San Francisco, they balked at the proposed high speeds and the idea of filming part of the chase on the Golden Gate Bridge. The film also received the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography (William A. Fraker) and the Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing Feature Film. [65] In a 2004 commercial for the 2005 Mustang, special effects are again used to create the illusion of McQueen driving the new Mustang, after a man receives a Field of Dreams-style epiphany and constructs a racetrack in the middle of a cornfield. They were replaced with two 1968 375-hp 440 Magnum V8-powered Dodge Chargers. If making the movie today, they could use a stock GT350 with the Voodoo engine not need dubbed in sound. The other less banged-up Mustang was purchased by a WB employee after all production and post-production was completed. BULLITT was also the first picture done with live sound (some of which was added later as needed). The chase sequence combined several locations, located miles apart and edited together. They scared the hell out of him. There was class to the BULLITT chase, there was a reason for it, and thats one of the key things people forget: the greatest stunt in the world is worthless if there isnt a reason or story to it and BULLITT had a story point all the way through and a reason. I dont really know; but, if I had to pick one Id pick the chase scene from the 1968 movie Bullitt. Bud Elkins said, I think it was the first time they did a complete car chase at normal camera speed. Mr. Riner posed an interesting premise: did you realize that there wouldnt be an 01 car (the General Lee in Dukes of Hazzard) if we hadnt done BULLITT and Dodge hadnt sold so many Chargers?. The island of Alcatraz appears in the windshield of the heros Ford Mustang Fastback GT 390, before giving way to the Coit Tower as the vehicle climbs Filbert Street. I thought it was terrific when the guy whips the shotgun out and the way the special effects fellow devised how those pebbles cracked the windshield and it made it so realistic like he really shot the windshield. Bud Ekins did that., In the Motor Trend interview, McQueen recalled there were some close calls and incidents that looked good on film but werent exactly planned to happen, some of which occurerd in the memorable downhill sequences. in.) Eventually, it was agreed to keep the chase within only a few city blocks. We use cookies to optimize our website and service. I think its the best car chase of any James Bond movie (though the parking garage chase from Tomorrow Never Dies and the chase down the Greek hills from For Your Eyes Only give it a run for its money). As far as Bud Ekins can recall, he feels the reason they used the Mustang was because they wanted it to look like a cop car. "[48], In 2004, The New York Times placed the film on its list of the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made. The jarring landings after the cars were airborne are the result of the cameras being tightly secured and not cushion mounted. All Rights Reserved. We werent even using a big super Panavision or anything. The next morning they were spraying my hair down and cutting it. In order to be as immersive as possible, it opts for ingenious camera angles that allow you to follow the action as closely as possible. Yeah, that was a good one! "[25], At the time of the film's release, the exciting car chase scenes, featuring McQueen at the wheel in all driver-visual scenes, generated prodigious excitement. The twin towers of Sts. Adore galement voyager la recherche des lieux les plus emblmatiques de la pop culture. Hed run into a parked car or hit a tree just to miss me. The Ford Mustang name has been closely associated with the film. It ends outside the city, at the Brisbane exit of the Guadalupe Canyon Parkway on San Bruno Mountain. Now youre going to make me count the number of hubcaps that fly off the Charger again, arent you? The guy who did special effects devised the chain balls that bust the Mustang windshield. There may have been chase scenes before, but nothing before or since has equalled the intensity and impact of BULLITT. In 2020, one of the fastbacks was sold at Mecum Auctions for a record price of $3.7 million. in. The screenplay by Alan R. Trustman and Harry Kleiner was based on the 1963 novel, Mute Witness, by Robert L. Fish, writing under the pseudonym Robert L. Pike. Cathy, who has followed him, is left horrified by the scene. Of course, this isnt a fair comparison the technology had vastly improved a quarter century later and audiences also expected more realism. You rehearsed at about 1/4 speed or 1/2 speed, then you went in to film it at full speed., For the in-car scenes, two cameras were mounted in the cars and painted black. The Bullitt chase is archetypal, easily the best Ive ever seen. [40], In the restaurant scene with McQueen and Bissett, the live band playing in the background is Meridian West, a jazz quartet that McQueen had seen performing at The Trident, a famous restaurant in Sausalito.[42]. It ends with stairs, close to the Coit Tower, an Art Deco monument built in 1933, reaching a height of 64 meters. He was told that Mr. McQueen wouldnt like that. We did it several times. [10][11] Lalo Schifrin wrote the original jazz-inspired score. It starts around 47:00. I told Steve I knew a lot about camera angles and speeds to make it look fast. Shooting from multiple angles simultaneously and creating a montage from the footage to give the illusion of different streets also resulted in the speeding cars passing the same vehicles at several different times, including, as widely noted, a green Volkswagen Beetle. [19] Joe Levine, whose Embassy Pictures had distributed Robbery, did not much like the film, but Alan Trustman, who saw the picture the very week he was writing the Bullitt chase scenes, insisted that McQueen, Relyea, and D'Antoni (none of whom had ever heard of Yates) see Robbery and consider Yates as director for Bullitt. When you cant afford to hire Robert Redford, theres always Ryan ONeal. In the ensuing decades, the car was assumed to be lost. No one has duplicated the electricity or the savage ferocity that manifested itself in BULLITT chase scenes, and its doubtful anyone ever will. And all these are sort of like the Wilhelm scream an in joke for movie buffs, I think. At the time of the films release, the car chase scene generated a great amount of excitement. What was the greatest car chase scene of all time? Id rather have his girlfriend with or without the car. DePalma has done quite well by only stealing from the best. The effect was more than McQueen had bargained for. Graysmith, Robert. Filming of the chase scene took three weeks, resulting in 9 minutes and 42 seconds of footage. McQueen was the prime motivator behind the chase sequence, and then director Peter Yates and Carey Loftin worked out logistics behind the scenes. [20][21] McQueen even copied Toschi's unique "fast-draw" shoulder holster. Steve McQueens cool never goes away. In the next cut, Ft. Mason is again visible in the background as they once again round the turn on Marina onto the Marina green. Among all of Hollywoods road movies, BULLITT unquestionably made film history with its original car chase sequences. Pike. The problem never came up again, or I never saw a problem. Incredible, considering there were only two policemen on the scene as compared to the 40 policemen utilized for the chase in MAD MAD WORLD. He was hired after McQueen saw his 1967 UK feature Robbery, with its extended car chase. McQueens car in the movie has an interesting history as well. McQueen and Hickman were both tickled with the cars. McQueen, at the time a world-class race-car driver, drove in the close-up scenes, while stunt coordinator Carey Loftin, stuntman and motorcycle racer Bud Ekins, and McQueen's usual stunt driver, Loren Janes, drove for the high-speed parts of the chase and performed other dangerous stunts. We stopped and brought in more stunt people and more cars and I think the theory was if anybody had a problem, theyd make a barricade out of the vehicles. A child, Riner told us, maybe five years old, came out of a building and stepped out on to the street. Sure, Bullitt wins for a straight car chase but for a comic car chase,Blues Brothersrules: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz81ZO0qfvI. But the movie's other star was its 1968 Ford Mustang GT Fastback. The chase scene was probably better than most at the time but its just not that realistic when compared to Bullitt. I had suggested using a Mustang, and a Dodge Charger, or else there would be too may Fords in the picture. It's no wonder that Steve McQueen has the nickname "King of Cool." Watching him drive one of the most iconics car in the world; a 1968 Ford Mustang GT fastback, in the hit '60s movie Bullitt . Car '558 was used for the harsher driving (including the skid at the end of the chase), while '559 was used for lighter driving. [32] In one scene, the Charger crashes into the camera; the damaged front fender is noticeable in later scenes. Wed put the hubcaps back on, but I suppose it probably would have been better if we had left them off., Ill tell you this, said Max Balchowsky, I was really impressed with the Mustang after I got done with it. He had a motorcycle collection. Steve handled the Mustang real well, recalled Riner. It was successful at the 1970 Laurel Awards, winning Golden Laurel awards for Best Action Drama, Best Action Performance (Steve McQueen) and Best Female New Face (Jacqueline Bisset). In 2016, though, Hugo Sanchez purchased a pair of Mustang coups from the backyard of a house near Los Cabos, Mexico. "[38] This chase scene has also been cited by critics as groundbreaking in its realism and originality. See where the "Fast and Furious" movies and "Mad Max: Fury Road" land on our list. Loren Janes tells us, I loved to see a lot of the little things in Steves films. Lalo Schifrin wrote the original jazz-inspired score. "The Rock" (1996) Nicolas Cage in "The Rock." Buena Vista Pictures. Yates and Steve were particular. Before Michael Bay brought nerve gas to Alcatraz, he had a Hummer wreak havoc on the streets of San Francisco. The next cut puts them eight miles away, back in the Vistacion Valley district, turning right from University St. on to Mansell St. From there they cut to Western entrance to Guadelupe Canyon Parkway on San Bruno Mountain in Daly City three miles away, heading East. The engines in both Dodge Charger models were left largely unmodified, but the suspensions were mildly upgraded to cope with the demands of the stunt work. In the emergency room operation scene, real doctors and nurses were used as the supporting cast. Exactly! In 2008, Motor Trend Magazine did an article promoting the 40th Anniversary Edition Bullitt Mustang. Before the filming could be done, the Charger and the Mustang required preparation. They really described Bill Hickman., Steve McQueen chats to young fans on location, The screenplay of the movie was written by Alan Trustman, based on the novel, Mute Witness by Robert L. Pike. Chalmers drives away in his limousine, its bumper sticker reads, Support Your Local Police.. Loftin insisted, and threatened to quit unless he could view the daily work. To prepare himself, his crew and the cars for the movie sequence, McQueen and company went to the Cotati race course near San Francisco. Hence, I appreciate the original Gone in 60 Seconds (1974) because they used only a single Mustang throughout the movie (though they had to do some significant patching after a stunt driver missed a mark and the Mustang hit a lamp post it wasnt supposed to). But, Bullitt is a dividing. Ross used Renick, a used car salesman from Chicago, to elude both the mob and Chalmers. One of the few modern car chases I like is from The Bourne Supremacy (2004). Hickman and Steve were buzzing around the tracks, and it was pretty even. In 2009, the never-before-released original recording of the score heard in the movie, recorded by Schifrin on the Warner Bros. scoring stage with engineer Dan Wallin, was made available by Film Score Monthly. In 2000, the Society of Camera Operators awarded Bullitt its "Historical Shot" award to David M. Walsh. It's the longest car chase scene in film history, surpassing the other famous and exciting car chase, in William Friedkin's 1971 Oscar winning, The French Connection. We did lose a lot of hubcaps on the Charger. Throughout the chase sequences, some of them were accidents but, they looked fantastic- Hickman was terrific.. Said Ron Riner, "Pat Houstis was excellent and he was in his prime at the time." After two or three time we almost had to bodily put tranquilizers in him, and put him in the car. Bullitt reveals that Ross died. A production manager would have cut your throat if you wanted to do something like that. A F-type street car is seen coming the opposite direction. The chase in Bullit doesnt have a baby carriage in it, now does it? Naturally, it won that year's Academy Award for Best Editing". Bullitt boards the plane as passengers are disembarking, but Ross escapes through the rear cabin door and flees across the runway, through taxiing aircraft to the crowded terminal, pursued by Bullitt. [39], The original score was composed by Lalo Schifrin to track the various moods and the action of the film, with Schifrin's signature contemporary American jazz style. Then when its run, itll look like high speed and the car will appear to be handling real well. McQueen refused to hear of it, and advised Loftin that money was no object.