BULLITT (1968)

San Francisco police lieutenant Steve McQueen is brought in to protect (for 40 hours) a key witness for a upcoming Senate Subcommittee hearing on organized crime.  The witness is holed up in a cheap hotel, so McQueen goes over there and does some of the worst witness protecting in movie history.  The witness is killed and then McQueen decides to get serious.  Any by "serious" I mean: doing average movie detective investigative work, buying a lot of disgusting looking TV dinners, stealing a newspaper, causing a shoot-out in a crowded airport terminal and going on a highly dangerous car chase without using any sirens/lights or calling for back-up.

I'm sure back in 1968 BULLITT was fresh and exciting (it was the 5th highest box office draw that year), but I'm also sure that in 1968, 1968 porno was exciting.  But ain't nobody watching that shit nowadays!  That said, BULLITT is not a bad film.  I enjoyed it alright and can see how it was influential on countless other police movies, but it's just too slow for me.  Also, the entire story was moved forward by McQueen's bad decisions.  Nice editing, great-looking San Francisco scenery, laid-back acting, a hip jazz score, ancient technology (including some bizarre and extremely unsafe looking coffee heating device), cool old muscle cars, very minor roles by Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Duvall.

Worth watching for the historical importance, but if you're looking for an exciting action movie that'll knock your socks off, this ain't it.