...it's a historical document. Society ladies showing off their trophy furs. Defunct airlines (Pan Am) and collapsed freeways (the Embarcadero). Cops without cell phones, or two way radios. Billboards showing how little has changed ("Need Money for Taxes ?", "Mothers Day Brunch May 11, make your reservations now") and how much ("ENCO" gasoline). Backstreet USA in all its slovenly glory. Moribund corner stores with fading signs. And of course an airport where you walk in and out, neat as you please, past the luggage left standing unattended at the curb.
Before Bullitt only the Europeans produced cinema that actually photographed society instead of re-creating it in a studio. With a few exceptions (The Conversation, The French Connection) Hollywood didn't exactly pick up the ball and run with it. Hollywood makes money, not historical documents. No matter. Watch this movie for its action and its background - and ask yourself if your time is better than Bullitt's.
Before Bullitt only the Europeans produced cinema that actually photographed society instead of re-creating it in a studio. With a few exceptions (The Conversation, The French Connection) Hollywood didn't exactly pick up the ball and run with it. Hollywood makes money, not historical documents. No matter. Watch this movie for its action and its background - and ask yourself if your time is better than Bullitt's.