VIDEO: 'Making Of' Bullitt short is period awesomeness
Making of Bullitt - Click image above to watch the video
When megastar Steve McQueen and director Peter Yates set out to make Bullitt, the object was to make a "real" film with one of the most ambitious chase scenes in the history of cinema. And they did it before computers and CGI enabled filmmakers to do the lion's share of the dangerous work with the click of a mouse. The chase scene in Bullitt remains an all-time classic, with McQueen's 1968 Mustang Bullitt going head-to-head with a black 1968 Charger R/T 440 Magnum.
The chase was real, with speeds surpassing 100 mph on the hilly streets of San Francisco. Steve McQueen teamed up with stunt driver extraordinaire Bill Hickman, and the other cars in the scene were driven by eight of the best stunt drivers around to create an epic high speed chase for the ages.
Hit the jump to view a 10-minute "making of" documentary of the movie Bullitt. It's an excellent work that shows how much thought and emotion was invested in the making of the film. Our favorite part comes when McQueen describes the chase scene in Bullitt:
"The big problems, of course, with doing a chase as dangerous as this on the street is that nothing comes off like wheels, axles, shock absorbers, because the things we did on the streets with automobiles I don't think will not be done again for a long long time."We're still waiting, Steve, and we're not holding our breath. As an added bonus, we've added the video from the chase scene in Bullitt to refresh your memory. Hat tip to Richard!
[Source: MySpace via Auto-Focus]
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Benfolio 8:09PM (8/18/2009)
Ah, smoking IN a hospital. Them were the days.
Reply
tankd0g 8:14PM (8/18/2009)
Stunt driving without so much as a seat belt or a head rest. Those were the days.
Reply
Paul 1:23AM (8/19/2009)
Oh, they used seat belts alright. My dad worked on the film and was friends with Bill Hickman and I heard plenty of stories from both of them as a kid. Hickman died around '83 (incidentally, he was driving the support wagon following James Dean's race car the day he was killed).
Oddly, I used to live in an apartment on Chestnut Street, right where the cars turned after the chase started on Columbus. Over the years, I saw many a Mustang -- including some ringers for that green '68 -- trying to recreate that chase...
PJ 2:41AM (8/19/2009)
In terms of cinematic badassness, it's tough to beat the scene when the Charger overcorrects a slide and rams the camera... *and they leave the shot in!* (2:52 in the above clip)
Benfolio 8:19PM (8/18/2009)
AB getting quotes wrong in stories. Those... are.... everyday.
Reply
Brian Hillman 8:28PM (8/18/2009)
is that a gutted shelby cobra being used as a camera car at 7:12 and 7:22? haha
Reply
83gtragtop 9:50PM (8/18/2009)
Highly doubt that. They were valuable and rare cars even then. Looks to be your typical custom built camera car that many movie sets have.
Bullitt Bob 11:09PM (8/18/2009)
I heard that they used a 427 Corvette for the camera car.
Grand Marq1215 12:31AM (8/19/2009)
I had read somewhere a while ago that it was a Cobra used as the camera car. The studio had used it on another movie as well, but of course I forget which.
83gtragtop 4:52AM (8/19/2009)
"He did a real good job on it. It was a Corvette chassis, and he had stripped all the stuff off and built a good suspension, good engine and everything. But it looked like hell.""
http://www.hottr6.com/triumph/BULLITT.html
I guess I was half wrong.
bgkeen 8:34PM (8/18/2009)
Steve McQueen is a legend.
Reply
Berto 8:42PM (8/18/2009)
Steve McQueen is a F*cking Bad Ass.
Regardless of the bloopers, ridiculous amount of hubcaps, explosion missing Charger, etc. this car chase remains epic and one of my favorite automobile related scenes ever.
Reply
Jared 9:00AM (8/19/2009)
If you look up cool in the dictionary, there is a picture of Steve McQueen.
After all these years, I still love this chase scene.
PJC_8_8 12:32AM (8/19/2009)
Let's see Lewis Hamilton do THAT!
Reply
Stuka 9:17PM (8/18/2009)
Amazing movie with an amazing actor/driver. RIP McQueen...
Reply
Edsel 9:19PM (8/18/2009)
In 1968, doing 100 mph in any muscle car was insanity. They couldn't corner, they couldn't stop, and the bias ply tires sucked. I own a restored '68 GTO and it drives like a Flintstones vintage car compared to even the cheapest sports car on the road today. This is why the driving scene in "Bullitt" was so special in 1968.
Reply
John P. 9:42PM (8/18/2009)
true, but the sounds of those V8's NEVER gets old. :)
arash 3:01AM (8/19/2009)
Agreed. That engine sounds terrific.
Also how many hubcaps did that charger have? I'm pretty sure I saw 2-3 of them fly at some point during the chase. But it seemed to have atleast 3 of them towards the end. And then 2 more fly off right before it exploded.
Andre 9:28PM (8/18/2009)
Best car chase scene ever why?? No dialog just pure engine on engine roars..
Then 2nd all time fav in recent memory is Bad Boys 2 the freeway chase - reason it felt like a roller coaster ride when I first saw it at the Movie theater
Reply
S.P. 11:22PM (8/18/2009)
Ya ever seen the last 45 minutes of the ORIGINAL Gone in 60 Seconds? Kinda hard to beat that one too...kicks butt even if there weren't no McQueen in it...plus they don't use the same shot over and over and over and over again (notice passing the same GTO and Beetle at least 3, 4 or is it 5 times? I lost count.). Still cool...I'm just sayin', is all. Can't really dis this for what it is & was in its time.