Bullitt Special: behind the scenes
Jon Patrick of The Selvedge Yard (fascinating blog btw) posted an article from The Muscle Car Review (March 1987) that was titled ‘The Greatest Chase of All’ and that was fully dedicated to a behind the scenes look of how they filmed Bullitt, the grandaddy of car pursuit movies. Required reading for all of us.
We set out to learn what the recipe is for such a successful chase sequence. What we found out was that there is none; it was pretty much a hit and miss thing and, as Ron Riner put it, “other people have tried to put the same combination together to get the same results and haven’t really done it. Before we’d shoot a scene, everyone, the location people, the police department, the stuntmen, the director and Steve, would get into discussions. We realized we didn’t know what to do because no one had ever done this before.” What hadn’t been done before was a chase scene, done “at speed”(up to 110 miles per hour) through the city streets and not on a movie studio back lot. Bud Elkins said, “I think it was the first time they did a complete car chase at normal camera speed. What you saw is what really happened. It was real!”
Don’t wait any longer, head over to The Selvedge Yard to read the whole piece.
Bullitt special: The Making Of
aka Steve McQueens ‘commitment to reality’.
“Short film on the making of the 1968 feature ‘Bullitt’. If you think you know street racing and fast cars, you should check in for a quick history lesson.”
Click on the image to see 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.”
That clearly worked out nicely :)
[Via Autoblog]
Bullitt special: the chase
Yes I’ve posted this one here before, probably even more than once. But you cannot expect me to make a special around the movie without showing you the chase again don’t you think? And yes I know you’ve seen it before, just watch it once more – it still is the best car chase of all times remember ;)
Bullitt is a 1968 thriller film starring Steve McQueen. It was distributed by Warner Bros. The director was Peter Yates. The story was adapted for the screen by Alan Trustman and Harry Kleiner, based on the novel titled Mute Witness (1963) by Robert L. Fish (aka Robert L. Pike). Lalo Schifrin wrote the original music score, a memorable mix of jazz, brass and percussion. The movie won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing (Frank P. Keller) and was nominated for Best Sound. Writers Trustman and Kleiner won a 1969 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. Bullitt is most-remembered for its central car chase scene through the streets of downtown San Francisco, one of the earliest and most influential car chase sequences in movie history.[1] The scene had Bullitt in a dark “Highland Green” 1968 Ford Mustang G.T.390 Fastback, chasing two hit-men in a “Tuxedo Black” 1968 Dodge Charger R/T 440 Magnum. (In honor of the Mustang in the film, the Ford Motor Company produced a limited edition 2001 Ford Mustang GT “Bullitt Mustang,” which took styling cues from the ’68 movie car and even mimicked its exhaust note).
Bullitt Special: Intro
The greatest car chase of all times? You bet it is. The next couple of days will be dedicated to the movie and the car chase in particular. Over the last few months I collected some cool content that every Mustang and Bullitt geek will definitely like.
Stay tuned!
Jalopnik ‘Forza Motorsport’ GT500KR
Jalopnik had their own branded Mustang built in Forza Motorsport 3 – the 1968 Ford Shelby Mustang Jalopnik Forza Motorsport GT500KR – as it’s named. Could have been a shorter name right?
Anyway, here it is.
If you play Forza Motorsport, you’ll have to figure out for yourself how to get this one, but it sure looks worth finding out.
Hot Rod sees the light [AdClassix Week III]
This entry belongs to the 3rd edition of the AdClassix special we’re organizing here this week – all in honor of some great classic Mustang ads. You can find the full collection here at the end of the week.
“The Cobra Jet will be the utter delight of every Ford lover and the bane of all the rest because, quite frankly, it is the fastest running Pure Stock in the history of man” – Hot Rod Magazine (March 1968)
Only Mustang and Carroll Shelby could make this happen [AdClassix Week III]
This entry belongs to the 3rd edition of the AdClassix special we’re organizing here this week – all in honor of some great classic Mustang ads. You can find the full collection here at the end of the week.
In line with yesterday’s AdClassix post about the Shelby Cobra GT’s, here are two more specific ones…The road cars.
“The fact that everybody looks at you is the last reason on earth for buying a Shelby GT.”
With the ‘subtle’ subtitle: (unless you love to be looked at!)
And here’s one for the convertible version of the Shelby GT:
Try the complete surprise… [AdClassix Week III]
This entry belongs to the 3rd edition of the AdClassix special we’re organizing here this week – all in honor of some great classic Mustang ads. You can find the full collection here at the end of the week.
This one’s a variation of an ad I posted long time ago (December 2008 to be exact) promoting the Shelby Cobra GT 350/500.
“Try the complete surprise… Carroll Shelby’s COBRA GT”
Bonneville Mustang
After seeing a documentary about the Bonneville Speedweek only recently I wondered about the history of the Mustang at that same event. I know they’re all highly modified cars but surely in the past some Mustangs with ‘slightly’ moderated engines must have made it to the Bonneville Salt Flats.
Here’s Mario Andretti in the 1967 Autolite Mustang for instance, one that I found here. The Indy Ford engine they used had around 480hp.
“This was a project done on a stock bodied 1967 Mustang to see how fast it would go at Bonneville Salt Flats. Chickie was working for Autolite Sparkplugs and the car was driven by Mario Andretti. He recorded a best speed of 175.875 mph. They had a piston go away and the runs were ended.”
And here’s another one:
"The Mach could hold its own against the competition in any theater. Racing veteran Mickey Thompson flogged a couple of specially prepared Mach 1s at the Bonneville Salt Flats in some of the heaviest endurance testing ever performed on a production automobile."
More vintage sightings on the Mustang at the Bonneville Salt Flats? Let me know in the comments.
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