The Greatest Car Chase Ever Filmed

This is by far the best car chase that I have ever seen. I was home on leave from the Army and a few of my friends suggested that we go see this new movie "Bullitt" staring Steve McQueen. I always thought of him as action type character and I was not disappointed.

Steve stars as Frank Bullitt, a San Francisco police officer who is assigned to guard a Mafia informant.The informant,Johnny Ross,works for the Chicago mobster Peter Ross, his brother. The mob is after Johnny Ross because he siphoned off $2 million of their money.In April 1968 Johnny Ross escapes two attempts on his life and flees to San Francisco, where he is placed in protective custody by politician Walter Chalmers, who hopes to use Ross to further his own national aspirations. 

Bullitt's friend is shot and the witness is left at death's door by two hit men who seem to know exactly where the the witness was hiding. Bullitt begins a search for both the killer and the leak, but he must keep the witness alive long enough to make sure the killers return. But the politician,Chalmars, played by Robert Vaughn,has no interest in finding out who the cop killers were. His only interest in in his own political ambitions and this is where he starts to but heads with Bullitt.

Bullitt actually kidnaps his witness to protect his life.Bullitt gets a break when the gunman appears at the hospital to finish off Ross, and Bullitt gets a good look at him; now Bullitt must smoke out the gunman and his backup man before Chalmers carries out his threat, leading to a high-speed pursuit.

After being dropped off at his own car - a Ford Mustang - Frank notices that a black Dodge Charger has been following him around the city. He drives about some of the hilly side streets and eludes his pursuers enough to become the pursuer himself.This is where the chase goes into high gear.The two mob assassins, realizing they've been outmaneuvered, make a break and a mad high-speed pursuit ensues through the hills of the city and eventually spilling onto a two-lane freeway. The shotgun man finally opens fire on Frank but Frank rams his Mustang into the Charger as they approach a gas station repair shop; the Charger flies off the road, plows through the gas station, and explodes as pumps are sheared off, killing both gunmen.

I was sitting in the front row of the local theater watching this whole chase scene unfold and I have to admit that it felt like my heart was up in my throat. It actually felt like you were in the Mustang driven by Bullitt, as he was chasing the would be assassins. The squealing of the tires, the smoke emanating from the rear of the cars and those unforgiving hills of San Francisco, made this the greatest car chase scene in the history of film making/