Opening

73% Fast & Furious 6 May 24
21% The Hangover Part III May 23
63% Epic May 24
97% Before Midnight May 24
88% We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks May 24
83% Fill the Void May 24
17% A Green Story May 24
—— Alyce Kills May 24

Top Box Office

87% Star Trek Into Darkness $70.2M
78% Iron Man 3 $35.8M
50% The Great Gatsby $23.9M
46% Pain & Gain $3.2M
69% The Croods $3.0M
77% 42 $2.8M
55% Oblivion $2.3M
99% Mud $2.2M
36% Peeples $2.2M
8% The Big Wedding $1.2M

Coming Soon

—— After Earth May 31
—— Now You See Me May 31
100% The Kings of Summer May 31
90% The East May 31

Bullitt (1968)

tomatometer

97

Average Rating: 7.8/10
Reviews Counted: 34
Fresh: 33 | Rotten: 1

Steve McQueen is cool as ice in this thrilling police procedural that also happens to contain the arguably greatest car chase ever.

83

Average Rating: 7.2/10
Critic Reviews: 6
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 1

Steve McQueen is cool as ice in this thrilling police procedural that also happens to contain the arguably greatest car chase ever.

audience

83

liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 38,383

My Rating

Movie Info

Robert L. Pike's crime novel Mute Witness makes the transition to the big screen in this film from director Peter Yates. In one of his most famous roles, Steve McQueen stars as tough-guy police detective Frank Bullitt. The story begins with Bullitt assigned to a seemingly routine detail, protecting mafia informant Johnny Ross (Pat Renella), who is scheduled to testify against his Mob cronies before a Senate subcommittee in San Francisco. But when a pair of hitmen ambush their secret location,

Nov 18, 1997

Warner Home Video

Watch It Now

Cast

ADVERTISEMENT

All Critics (35) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (35) | Rotten (1) | DVD (19)

Good scripting and excellent direction by Peter Yates maintain deliberately low-key but mounting suspense.

March 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There isn't much here, and what there is is awfully easy.

March 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comments (16)
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The action sequences are brilliant, done without trickery in real locations (including a great car chase which spawned a thousand imitations) to lend an extraordinary sense of immediacy to the shenanigans and gunfights.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Even though the story almost makes no sense and the Oscar-winning editing has several illogical cuts, Bullitt is an exquisitely satisfying motion picture, particularly if there is still an adolescent boy lodged somewhere in your psyche.

June 21, 2005
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic IconTop Critic

McQueen is great in Bullitt, and the movie is great, because director Peter Yates understands the McQueen image and works within it. He winds up with about the best action movie of recent years.

October 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A terrific movie, just right for Steve McQueen -- fast, well acted, written the way people talk.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A low key, tough guy cop thriller, Bullitt does not go over the top with its action sequences and stays away from the usual cop movie clichés, lifting the bar in regards to how cop movies should be made.

July 6, 2010 Full Review Source: Matt's Movie Reviews
Matt's Movie Reviews

Bullitt takes a rather simple nugget of a story and turns it into a crime classic through the expert use of location footage, editing, music, mood and timing, not to mention the laconic, stoic performance of ultra-cool star Steve McQueen.

May 7, 2010 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid
Combustible Celluloid

Surprisingly austere and very much of its time, Bullitt is a lot less fun and a lot more impressive than you might expect.

May 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4
Film4

Expert chase film, breathless and modern, that sent McQueen to the top of the box office heap.

March 1, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide
TV Guide's Movie Guide

You think of Bullitt, you think Steve McQueen and cars, no? But obviously the movie is much more than that. (HD-DVD Edition)

March 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis
Movie Metropolis

Apart from the classic chase scene, there many other pleasures to be had in this stylish policier, one that changed considerably the entire vocabulary of Hollywood's action-thrillers.

February 7, 2007 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com
EmanuelLevy.Com

In this fantastic 2-disc edition, you'll find an illuminating documentary, Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing, narrated by Kathy Bates, and a revelatory look at McQueen, the man and the star, in The Essence of Cool.

February 7, 2007 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com
EmanuelLevy.Com

Menos focado na trama e mais nos procedimentos de seu protagonista, Bullitt busca o realismo constantemente, criando um personagem não apenas crível, mas complexo.

November 17, 2005
Cinema em Cena

A not-very-good movie redeemed by a car chase for the ages.

August 29, 2005
Flipside Movie Emporium

Stlick, stylish and ineffably cool, this was perhaps McQueen's defining role. Also mention goes to the uncreditied star of the film; San Francisco.

July 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine
Empire Magazine

Audience Reviews for Bullitt

If you were a kid in the 80s, you can rest assured your dad or grandad was parked in front of the tv on a sunday afternoon. Because if it wasn't football or baseball season, then right after wrestling, the local channel would air either one of the many classic John Wayne movies or "Bullitt", starring Steve McQueen. It has that kind of reputation. But, and 'sssh, don't tell anybody' this has a lot more going for it than the average brain-dead Jason Statham movie. Granted, there isn't a whole lot to McQueen's character, but the movie that surrounds him is enthralling and clever.

McQueen plays "Frank Bullitt", a San Francisco police lieutenant who is put in charge of protecting a mob informant. It's a job he doesn't particularly want, and he especially doesn't like the smell of the way things are set up. His suspicions are confirmed when the witness and the cop on duty are both shot up in the hide out location. Who did the shooting and how did they know where to find him? Bullitt has only 48 hours to solve the crime before Chalmers pins everything on him and makes him the fall guy.

Steve McQueen personally hand-picked director Peter Yates after seeing another film Yates had done which featured an intense car chase. With Bullitt, the car chase is the centerpiece of the film. Set in the streets of San Francisco, it takes us through harrowing twists and turns and flying up and down hills. It's tense, fast and gritty. As intense as that car chase is, the rest of the film keeps up the pace, but the twists and turns come from following the plot. Bullitt isn't a complicated guy, but he knows that what he does and sees is disturbing to the average civilian.
April 10, 2013
Mr Awesome
Devon Bott

Super Reviewer

Steve McQueen is as attention-demanding and sauve as any James Bond, and Bullitt is a perfect showcase for the actor. With the famous car chase thats shows off the equally arresting camera work, the film has enough style and bravado to almost make up for the generic crime story.
January 1, 2013
Sam Barnett

Super Reviewer

No quotes approved yet for Bullitt. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Discussion Forum

Topic Last Post Replies
Does Bullitt have a counterculture subtext? 38 days ago 0

Latest News on Bullitt

January 10, 2011:
Peter Yates: 1928-2011
Peter Yates, the Oscar-nominated director of films such as "Bullitt" and "Suspect," has passed away...

August 22, 2007:
Steve McQueen Returning to the Big Screen (Sort Of)
He was nicknamed "The King of Cool" during his Hollywood career, and even more than 25 years after...

July 6, 2007:
Brad Pitt to Remake "Bullitt"?
If he does, he better hire a good action director. The original "Bullitt" has one of the...

Foreign Titles

  • Bullitt (1968) (UK)
  • Bullitt (1968) (CA)
Help | About | Jobs | Critics Submission | API | Licensing | Mobile