Celluloid Heroes

Look, you work your side of the street, and I’ll work mine.

Because of its legendary car chase through the streets of San Francisco, Bullitt probably has a reputation as a more action-packed movie than it really is. In reality, it’s a fairly realistic and low key cop drama about a witness protection detail that goes horribly wrong.

Bullitt is also the film that makes the best use of the onscreen image of Steve McQueen. He remains, to this day, the quintissential embodiment of “cool.” Almost without effort, he exudes a presence that most actors would kill for and he does it with a minimalist style that sometimes makes Clint Eastwood look like Al Pacino.

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