Number One With a “Bullitt”
A Double Dose of Movie Magic
By Gregg Leary

“Bullitt”
DVD
Starring Steve McQueen
AND
“The Greatest Movie Car Chases of All Time”
By Jesse Crosse
Foreword by Peter Yates, Director of “Bullitt”
Review by Gregg Leary

This is the first TWOFER review I’ve done for the SPEEDtv.com website. It had to happen. The DVD and book go together...like a Highland Green Ford Mustang GT and a satanic black Dodge Charger R/T.

Before you even OPEN “The Greatest Movie Car Chases of All Time” you know you’re in for something special. The dust jacket shows “bad guy” Bill Hickman launching his 1968 Dodge Charger R/T above the streets of San Francisco. This book may just be “Number One…with a Bullitt.” (Bad pun totally intended.) The “back jacket” depicts scenes from “The French Connection,” “The Blues Brothers,” “The Rock,” “The Road Warrior,” and even “The Keystone Kops, “ and asks the intriguing question, “If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have twenty car chases to watch, which would you pick?”

O.K., I’m hooked. Author Jesse Cross is uniquely qualified to bring us his Top Twenty List of the greatest car chases of all time. He is an automotive writer and former racer…and a film buff to boot. In the Foreword, Peter Yates, director of “Bullitt,” calls this book, “the definitive guide to-and analysis of-car chases on film. Anyone fascinated by the history of the car in film cannot fail to be riveted by this book.”

What constitutes a great car chase? Crosse’s rules are: “A car chase is a pursuit scene that has its own beginning and end within the movie. It must be real enough to flood your veins with adrenaline, make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck, and leave you with a tangible sense of relief when it’s over.”

Jesse takes us all the way back to 1912 with Mack Sennett’s Keystone Kops, as some of the earliest examples of car chases. They had “no stunt doubles, no blue screens and no computer generated images” to help them document their celluloid craziness. Perhaps “under cranking” the film was their only “special effect.” I remember being spellbound as a kid watching their chases as well as marveling at the unique racing contraptions the “Our Gang” crew concocted in “The Little Rascals” episodes. I guess I was born a car chase fan.

“The Greatest Movie Car Chases of All Time” is divided into seven well researched chapters…with Chapter 8 being the payoff…The Top Twenty Car Chase Films of all time.

Chapter One, “Dynasty,” tells of the People who made the great films…the directors, stunt drivers, actors, cinematographers and special effects masters.

Chapter Two, “Dancing in the Street,” tells How the great chases were made. Peter Yates employed light weight Arriflex cameras and actually rode along in the back seat of Steve McQueen’s Mustang in “Bullitt” to give theatre goers “in car camera footage.” John Frankenheimer used professional stunt drivers in “Ronin” but wanted realistic expressions from his actors, so he employed right hand drive cars with the actors sitting behind dummy steering wheels on the left. Robert De Niro’s looks of terror were genuine…he was actually IN the car at speed as the stunt driver did the real driving. (I’ve ridden in pace cars that were driven at speed by professional drivers and am glad there was no camera to capture my expressions.)

Chapter Three, “Mustangs to Minis,” tells of famous cars that became stars through their roles in great car chase films. The Mustang and Charger in “Bullitt,” the Dodge Challenger in “Vanishing Point,” and the Minis in “The Italian Job,” are profiled in detail.

Chapter Four, “Licensed to Thrill” traces the great James Bond rides…from the Aston Martin DB5 through the Lotus Esprit and BMW 750…and on to the Aston Martin Vanquish and Jaguar XKR.

Chapter Five, “Cut to the Chase,” tells of the specialized equipment necessary to capture the chases on film. Low loaders, tracking vehicles, nitrogen cannons, pipe ramps, stunt turntables, and even the “Spit Roast Rig” are explained and illustrated with breathtaking photographs.

Chapter Six, “Lights, Camera, Action,” describes the various cameras, mounts and techniques used in filming great action sequences.

Chapter Seven, “Playing Rough,” chronicles a “day in the life” of a movie stuntman.

Chapter Eight, “The Top Twenty,” is the payoff. Think of it as twice the fun of David Letterman’s Top Ten List. I have seen exactly HALF the films on Jesse Crosse’s list. So I’ll give you my “HALF-fast” comments in parentheses at the end of some of the films I have seen. However, to get the Complete Top Twenty List, you’ll have to BUY the book.

20. “Thunder Road.” (1958) (One of the first films I remember seeing as a kid. Robert Mitchum was cool…almost as cool as Elvis Presley playing race driver Lucky Jackson in “Viva, Las Vegas.” I just found out that Elvis wanted to be in “Thunder Road” but Colonel Parker made him turn it down.)

19.

18. “The Rock” (1996) (A chase scene through San Francisco? Déjà vu? “Bullitt’ did it better but the pyrotechnics and special effects in “The Rock” are worth seeing. Nicholas Cage makes the Top Twenty twice.)

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15. “The French Connection” (1971) (When I interviewed Gene Hackman at Mid-Ohio in 1993, he was a partner in the Galles Team with drivers Al Unser Junior and Danny Sullivan. He grew up in Danville, Illinois, about 80 miles from Indianapolis and had seen many races there. He admitted to being a “Petrol Head,” and said he was very proud to have done most of the driving in “The French Connection.”

14.

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12. “Vanishing Point” (1971) (A friend and I saw the film the summer we graduated from high school in Ohio. We decided to take a “road trip” to Florida. He may have had a cooler car than Kowalski’s Dodge Challenger… a 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda convertible with four on the floor and pistol grip shifter. We didn’t race any Jaguar XKE’s or see any naked girls on motorcycles. Fortunately, we didn’t see any bulldozers in the middle of the road, either.)

11. “Gone in 60 Seconds” (1974, 2000) (The Halicki Garage in Dunkirk, NY was still surrounded by cars used in the original “Gone in 60 Seconds,” and “The Junkman,” when I visited in 2003. Toby was killed on the set of “Gone in 60 Seconds 2” when a water tower collapsed on him in Buffalo, NY.)

10. “Smokey and the Bandit” (1977) (Jerry Reed as Cledus Snow utters the line “Boogity, boogity, boogity!” many years before Darrell Waltrip used it on his race broadcasts.)

9. “The Blues Brothers” (1980)

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4. “The Italian Job” (1969, 2003) (You know you’re getting old when you pay as much attention to the MINIs as you do to Charlize Theron.)

3. “The Seven Ups” (1973) (Watch for the great stunt driving of Bill Hickman, who plays “Bo.” Hickman was one of the first to reach James Dean at the controls of his crumpled Porsche Spyder, and held him until the ambulance arrived too late in Cholame, California on September 30, 1955. Hickman also did stunt driving in “Bullitt,” “The Love Bug,” “The French Connection,” and “Vanishing Point.”

2.

1.“Bullitt” (1968)

How many years has it been since you’ve seen “Bullitt?” How well does the film stand up 40 years later? The other night I fired up the DVD player to find out. The answer? Remarkably well.

The famous chase scene is even better than I remembered it. I first saw the film as a 15 year old at Ames Theatre in Jefferson, Ohio. I remember the incredible feeling of wanting to buckle a seat belt on the theatre seat as the Mustang and Charger careened and launched through the hills of San Francisco. It was better than the roller coaster called “The Blue Streak” at Conneaut Lake Park in Pennsylvania. I was a year from my learner’s permit so the “E Ticket Ride” in McQueen’s Mustang was an unprecedented experience. I’ll take you on a time-coded “review” of what many consider the greatest car chase ever filmed.

1:05:12 The demonic Charger appears and lurks in the shadows.
1:05:22 Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) looks out the windshield of his Mustang. He seems to see the Charger in the shade. (Theme music begins) Steve clicks his seat belt and fires up the ponies under the hood. The Charger follows the Mustang and taps his brakes 5 times.
1:07:15 “Here kitty kitty!” The Charger occupants search for the Mustang.
1:07:21 It appears in the rear view mirror. Bad guy driver does a double take.
1:07:34 Close up of Steve’s intensity. Coit Tower in background.
1:07:47 Trolleys cross for San Francisco authenticity.
1:08:28 Charger driver buckles his seat belt with driving gloves. It’s gonna get serious very soon! The Charger bolts…the theme music stops. The first 3 ½ minutes have been a low speed “chase.” In the final 7 minutes the only “music” is the sound of the engines.
1:08:55 Right side damage to the Mustang. How?
Bill Hickman, who plays the “bad guy” driver was a superb stunt driver. Steve McQueen was also very good and did much of the stunt driving in “Bullitt.” Both make mistakes.
1:09:20 The Charger overcorrects and hits the guard rail causing left side damage.
1:09:23 Steve misses a turn…does a quick reverse with tire smoking wheel hop…almost like a 60’s “bleach burnout.” Closeups show it was Steve driving.
1:09:47 The “bad guy” gunman/passenger gives a hand gesture to the driver. It is the only “conversation” or “dialogue” in the 10 minute chase. Steve McQueen went over 36 minutes before he said his first line in “Le Mans.” Action speaks louder than words. Literally.

Continuity errors go largely unnoticed due to the intensity of the chase. Two fun errors are the multiple appearances of a green Volkswagen Beetle and the shedding of hubcaps by the Dodge Charger. Try to find the glitches yourself then use this time code as a guide.

The VW appears:
1:10:00
1:10:08
1:10:28
1:10:37

Hubcaps are lost:
1:10:13 (Right side)
1:10:33 (The Charger appears to lose a hubcap here)
1:10:53 (Right side)
1:15:10 (Both left sides)

1:11:09 (RF missing)
1:11:19 (Has both left side hubcaps)

1:12 Bad guy passenger is getting nervous.
1:12:20 Motorcycle dumps in front of the Charger and Mustang. Steve slides into the dirt on the shoulder of the road to miss the biker. Waits a second to make sure he’s OK. (Like Kowalski did in “Vanishing Point” a few years later.)
1:12:35 Bad guy driver sees dust from accident in rear view mirror and smiles.
1:12:41 Steve rejoins the fray.
1:12:50 Tires chirp as the rubber meets the road.
1:13:41 Bad guy passenger/gunman loads lethal Winchester pump shotgun.
1:13:52 Bad guy driver catches gear in Charger. Cheek muscle clenches.
1:14:09 Gunman shows fear.
1:14:33 Gunman climbs behind driver.
1:14:37 Gunman back in passenger seat
1:14:38 He’s back behind driver
Fires 3 shots at the Mustang
1:15:10 Mustang forces Charger off the road and into a gas station.
1:15:14 (Look closely, the Charger exits the flames.)
1:15:27 Bad guy barbeque with the horn signaling “Done!”

“Bullitt” rates five out of five lug nuts. You MUST add it to your DVD collection.