When hit men, working for a bigwig mobster, make the big mistake of knocking off the state witness being protected by Detective Lieut. Frank Bullitt. Bullitt (Steve McQueen) starts off on a relentless man hunt to track down and nail the man's killers, the mobster behind it all, and the person who leaked where the witness was staying. In the midst of his investigation, things get more complicated, as he finds out that the man he had been protecting wasn't the real witness, and he looks for that person as well. But not only is he conducting an investigation, he has to deal with an annoying congressman, Senator Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn). Chalmers had hand-picked Bullitt to guard this witness, and has a real hissy fit over the killing of this supposed witness, blaming Bullitt for it, for political reasons as it turns out. Chalmers wants to be seen in the public eye as the one prosecuting the mob, to further his political career. How typical; art imitating life!

The tenacious, no nonsense super cop, Bullitt, knows no fear, and doggedly perseveres until the grand shoot out at the end of the picture. This screenplay calls for plenty of razor-edged thrills and action, twists and turns and contains one of the best car chases ever filmed, which takes place in hilly downtown San Francisco. Yates had some insight into car chases as he at one time was a race car driver himself.

This movie, filmed on authentic San Francisco locations, qualifies as a real manly man action movie! Bullitt has the guts, the really cool car that he has the skill to drive really fast in, a beautiful love interest who worships him, (Jacqueline Bissett), his own brand of justice, (no police procedure for him), the ability to kick villains in the pants, hanging them out to dry and can put a calculating, ruthless congressman in his place. All this ability is rolled into one man, who is also cute and rugged looking! Yeah!!

Trustman's and Kleiner's screenplay, based on the novel, Silent Witness, by Robert Pike, is well-written dialogue -wise, well paced and well directed by Peter Yates, no stranger to action genre films; (The Robbery, The Deep). The film received the academy award for best film editing.

Thus, the excellent cast had great material to work with, under expert direction.

The cast did an excellent job. Steve McQueen plays a silent but tough cop very well, as he searches for clues and follows up on them, tangling with trouble along the way.

If you liked BULLITT you may like "The French Connection," "Gorky Park," "The Rock," "Kindergarden Cop," "Gone in Sixty Seconds," "F/X," "Beverly Hills Cop," "The Seven-Ups," "McQ," and "Lethal Weapon 2."