Bullitt

1968's "Bullitt" by Peter Yates.

Starring Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset, and Robert Duvall.
Nominated for Academy Awards for Best Sound Mixing (seven arts studio sound department) and winner for Best Film Editing (Frank P. Keller).

McQueen stars as a San Francisco cop who needs to get to the bottom of a corrupt police department that's killing witnesses. Along the way, he has to not only stay alive but keep his job as his opponents aren't just of the criminal mercenary variety, but also his superiors. Featuring 1 of the best car chases in film history (likely inspiring "The French Connection's' sequence"), "Bullitt" also clearly inspired many a Michael Mann and Nicholas Winding Refn film, with it's lean procedural story of professionals working (and airport foot chases).
Wonderfully grimy, with (non) lighting prominent on 60's film stock, you can feel the shine of the 60's flower power being greasily wiped away as if by an unkept busker (manifested by such special events as Vietnam and Nixon). Yet McQueen never loses his cool, whether in a foot chase or matching wits with his superior, the wonderfully calculated and bureaucratic Vaughn.
 

More than a grime house B picture, the story is a delight as it's machinations click away, and the characters represent generations no longer present.

4/5

Trailer:Click Here.