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Whew! Thought this might be a bourbon thread...

I was always curious if the car chase scene was filmed driving through the same neighborhoods over and over or if it was just an editing snafu because it looks like they pass by some of the same vehicles either parked or moving more than once.

Have to agree;
The chase scene was the best part of the movie, and, I like the chase scene in "gone in 60 seconds" WAY better...Plus it's a better movie!


Virgil B.

Good article about the chase scene:

http://selvedgeyard.com/2009/09/26/required-viewing-bullitt-the-granddaddy-of-car-chase-scenes/

And another:

http://classicmustang.com/bullitt_motor_trend.htm

IMO CGI is the best thing to happen to movies since sound as far as adding realism and imagining scenes that would be impossible without it. But that said, it doesn't make up for basic film making or especially basic story telling.

The judgement of any film or book is whether it is a good story well told. Way, way too many movies these days look like they spent their entire budget on tremendous CGI special effects and left about $110 to pay the writers. Bad dialog, bad directing and overall really bad story telling in a lot of them. If you start with a great story and tell it well then great special effects can really add to the overall movie going experience, but the effects are still just gravy, the story is and always will be the meat.


I like Casablana a lot because it's a good story well told even though the plane taking off at the very end is really fakey looking.

I agree with Jim - story trumps all.

Watching Ghost and the Darkness - GREAT story, limited CGI but still a good movie. Even tho I HATE the way Michael Douglas plays his character.

THIS!

I really think that is part of it. The average attention span lasts about as long as it takes to read a tweet. Carefully developing characters and building up a story takes time and I don't think the average movie goer wants to invest that time.

As far as movie making styles, they come and go. I'm not enamored of the angry 50's actors as I call them. Serious "adult" movie acting of that time consisted of really angry shouting actors, Rod Steiger or George C. Scott being some examples. Then in the 70's the "film it through gauze" look became popular.

Things like that can detract from a movie but if one can overlook those period fads the basic movies can still hold up. Now that I have Netflix and other streaming channels I like to watch a lot of old silent movies that I'd never seen before. Growing up all I ever saw on TV were the old slapstick comedies but there were a lot of serious movies made back then. The acting is necessarily melodramatic since they had to tell the story by their faces and body language with minimal written dialog, but the stories themselves are pretty good. And this was before the Hollywood code of 1934 so folks were allowed to get naked and have sex. There is a scene in one movie where everybody gets drunk, takes off their clothes and goes for a swim off of a yacht, and in another scene Barbara Stanwyck flips a definite middle finger bird at someone who'd made a snide remark to her. You wouldn't see a gesture like that in movies for another 50 years.

The relevance of Bullitt doesn't hold up quite as well as others. Shaft for instance.

Jim in Idaho- I will take a movie from the 30's or 40's over dang near anything since. I find CG as annoying as it is advanced. Still seems faked and most often a case of where less would be more. What was the stupid movie where John Cusack is flying a plane through an earthquake dodging falling building- just thinking it elicits far more groans than gasps.

Great case- King Kong, none can touch the original for suspense and excitement. The last one was plain stupid. Overdone ad nauseum. What believability is there is Jack Black running between the legs of brontosaurus herd in a narrow valley. Real suspense trumps action. It costs less but is harder to produce. Comparing the first Alien movie to the next proves that. Remember the scene in the Godfather where the cop walks to the door is silhouetted while e guy stealing the rug inside has his revolver poised at the ready. Betting many do. Can anyone remember any scene from say, Avatar? (If they bothered seeing it?)

Watch Miami Vice! Fast car, fast boat and gunfights. What more could you want?

Well maybe most but not all. I watched The Shootist last week and its still great.

I still like that one a lot, even if John Wayne did die in it.......

The green VW Beetle. I think you see it four times.

Another I'm pretty sure was the same vehicle they passed by at least twice is a VW 'bus'. Both times it was parked over on the right, bumper toward the street, along with some other parked vehicles.

There's a white Firebird that makes a couple appearances as well.

What I like about Bullett is they didn't appear to speed the film up in the car chase scenes. The stunt car drivers were realty getting after it.

Maybe someone who knows how to shave?

I think "Ronin" has the best chase scene of any movie, period, running thru Paris.

I watched "Bullitt" the other night, too. Good movie without the really silly stuff seen today.

I like the chase scene, but there aint no way that 289 Mustang hangs with that 440 Charger.



Clyde