Reviews

Its 39 years since I first saw Bullitt. I have seen it quite a few time since then. Once even in South Africa while on a holiday. I believe the film has stood the test of time. When my kids saw it on video about six years ago. They said "Dad its so slow and boring ... and look the same VW appears 2 or 4 time in the chase. Well, they were correct. Well, this is how Movies used to be made. It is slow and probably too long and the plot is a little convoluted. However, the chase(now on U TUBE)is still a true classic. Just take the time to enjoy the build up as two cars travel in tandem along the streets, through the traffic, the moment when the Mustang appears in the rear-vision mirror,and the double take by the driver of the Dodge Charger. This was inspired stuff at the time and it still gives me goosebumps. The Chase is best viewed as a part of the overall story. This is classic detective movie in every sense of the word. No blazing guns,over the top stunts or needless violence that audience get belted with these days, just good solid performances, enhanced by the lack of dialogue and good use of musical score and lack of music. Bullitt swears once in the Movie at Robert Vaughn and its entirely appropriate, that is statement in itself. Bullitt is committed and not out of control, compare that to how modern police and detectives are represented in film. The focus of the movie is on Bullitt's obsession with work. I agree with others on IMDb about the finale of the film, a foot chase at an airport (707's)and through the terminal has Bullitt searching for the criminal (Ross)and firing two shots from his pistol and that is the only time he uses his gun in the ENTIRE movie. That is realistic. This film demonstrates that action can be delivered as a result of a character's emotions and not a director's ambition to blow people away with excessive use of force. Three cheers for the Bourne Trilogy as the Bourne character reminds me of Bullitt in some respects. Bullitt wants to get the bottom of the case (like Bourne wants to find his identity.In the end Bullitt is a bit too long but a classic and Frank Bullitt is a character to remember. 8/10.

Pete H, Sydney, Australia

Combat! have not seen it since 1966/1967. But I remember it as a most realistic, exciting and emotional TV series developed by Hollywood at the time. As a 10 year old I was fascinated by the exploits of SGT Saunders and the squad of sometimes, dirty, dazed, exhausted and fallible soldiers battling through the country side and villages of post D-Day France and NOT glorifying War. I remember, the sound of the Artillery rounds "soaring" in over head! the classic Black & White look and the great sound and music. There was lots of action. However, the show focused on the individual soldier and how he dealt with the war at a personal level and as part of a team (the squad). I agree with those above that there were some brilliant episodes. There were also a some unbelievable ones like the time Saunders fought a Tank single handed to save the guest star who was down the road with a flat tire. Even my mother thought that episode was unbelievable. However, the majority contained terrific scripts, superb direction, some great-acting and believable characters. Yes,the guest stars nearly all got killed and in real War the guys in the squad would have been killed or injured on many occasions, but hey its Hollywood! In the scheme of Hollywood TV entertainment Combat is a true TV classic. It set a high standard in Direction, script's, acting, and production values. The series regulars were superb in their roles. Vic Morrow (SGT Saunders),Rick Jason (LT Hanley), Jack Hogan (Kirby & his BAR), Piere Jalbert(Caje), Dick Peabody (Littlejohn) and Conlan Carter(Doc). "Caje, take the point". Yep, and the the Germans seemed to actually speak German. So what if they were plastic copies, and they were so easily blown out of their trenches and half-tracks. The thing was we didn't know what they were saying? Whatever it was, it was bad news for the Squad. I believe that Jack Hogan, who played Kirby is still around, well done mate, good job!

Regards Pete H,Sydney Australia

The first season of 12 O'clock High was a credit to all involved. As a 10 year old watching in 1965 there was not enough action. However, the story lines were good and the acting and production seemed believable. You really felt an empathy for COL Savage as one of his planes and 10 men took a hit and went down in flames. Filming in Black & White added that "look" that was also the trade mark of that great TV series "Combat". It is a shame that Lansing did not get along with Quinn Martin (mentioned above) as the series went down hill when he left. I still recall the episode when he did'nt come back from a mission. Twelve O'clock High is a memorial to those Pilots and Aircrew of the US 8th/5th Air Force as the majority of the young men did not make it through to their 20 odd missions and return to the States. Imagine sitting in a B-17, cold and miserable, freezing to death for up to 8 hours or more then having to fly through the wall flak on that final run to the target. Being jumped by enemy fighters on the way in and out of the target with nowhere to hide. They were sitting ducks. The British gave up daylight Bombimg.

Regrads Pete H, Sydney, Australia

Cades County had a great opening sequence with Glenn Ford riding his Jeep V6 through the desert landscape to the arrangement by Henry Mancini. It was a Big Picture title sequence for Television. I enjoyed this series and some of the episode's were well written and addressed some of the more difficult American issues of the time. Unfortunately, the budget,screen writing & direction was not of a consistently high standard (I am a fan of the Series). Some episodes were great, others very ordinary. I heard at the time that the network was selecting scripts from independent writers for each episode. If that was the case, a better idea would have been to stick with one set of writers so as to develop the characters and the story lines and retain an audience. We should recall that the early seventies was a time when older Movie stars were attracted to TV. Ford did an admirable job as Sam Cade as he did in all his movie roles. But in the end I believe it was the budget and the poor scripts that killed the series. Glenn Ford travelled to Australia to promote the Series in 1971/72 for the Australian TV Logie awards.

Regards Peter H Sydney, Austraila