Bullitt is a 1968 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Peter Yates and produced by Philip D'Antoni. The picture stars Steve McQueen as the title character, San Francisco police detective Frank Bullitt, who pursues a group of mobsters after they kill the witness he's been assigned to protect. The cast also features Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset, Don Gordon, Robert Duvall, Simon Oakland and Norman Fell. The screenplay by Alan R. Trustman and Harry Kleiner was based on the 1963 novel Mute Witness by Robert L. Fish, under the pseudonym Robert L. Pike. The film was made by McQueen's Solar Productions company, with his partner Robert Relyea as executive producer. Lalo Schifrin wrote the original jazz-inspired score.
Theatrical release poster by Michel Landi
McQueen in 1968, the year of the film's release.
Dave Toschi, the real-life San Francisco police officer that influenced Bullitt's characterization.
Mayor Joseph Alioto helped the production obtain permission to film at the San Francisco International Airport, over two weeks of night shoots.
The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as David Bordwell suggested they were films that favor spectacle to storytelling, others such as Goeff King stated they allow the scenes of spectacle to be attuned to story telling. Action films are often hybrid with other genres, mixing into various forms ranging to comedies, science fiction films, and horror films.
John Cena performing a stunt in the 2006 American action film The Marine
The popularity of Bruce Lee (pictured) attracted a global audience for kung fu films, however his career was cut short following his untimely death in 1973, which lead to a decline in popularity for the artform.