_____ Meets _____
Last night, for the first time, I saw Bullitt from start to finish. Let me start by saying that Steve McQueen is a stone-cold bad ass. And let me follow that up by saying that Steve McQueen is not Blake.
I’ve been pitching the Untitled Late Night Project as Doctor Zhivago meets Bullitt, with emphasis on Bullitt’s car usage and Zhivago’s poetic, thoughtful landscapes (note: damn good book, too). And to be perfectly honest, now that I’ve seen it in its entirety, Bullitt seemed less exciting to me.
Christine credits the lack of excitement to MTV. Let’s face it: compared to action movies of today, Bullitt is slow. Not much really happens until the car chase except maybe a handful of Steve McQueen glory shots set to some pretty sweet 1960’s jazz (which, I should note, Barry does not want to emulate).
As much as I may claim the rest of the movie was slow, the car chase through San Francisco had us all on the edge of our seats. It was damn exciting, even by the rapid cutting techniques of today. And even if the Charger threw 7 of them, the hubcaps added a pretty cool element to the chase.
So, I’m rambling. The basic point is this: rent Bullitt, skip to the car chase and don’t expect our movie to be its identical twin. Fair enough?