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Smitty's Retired
01-13-2013, 08:17 PM
The movie "Bullet" with Steve McQueen on TCM. I never get tired of that movie. Sure messed up a nice Charger R/T tho.

dagger dog
01-13-2013, 08:22 PM
Bullit,Bullet or Boolit? Great car chase ! Like his Diamondback Colt.

marlin39a
01-13-2013, 08:32 PM
I just picked up the movie at Christmas. Watched it twice. No AR-15's, WonderNines, computers, cellphones. How about the Pre-Fax machine & the Ancient Hospital!

Smitty's Retired
01-13-2013, 08:37 PM
Bullit,Bullet or Boolit? Great car chase ! Like his Diamondback Colt.

Your right, I spelled it wrong. :groner::bigsmyl2: It's actually "Bullitt"! :redneck::popcorn:

cbrick
01-13-2013, 08:41 PM
Don't worry too much about the charger. When they crash expensive cars they buy a wrecked junker, do whatever it takes to make it run for the scene and crash that. Odds are that the one crashed in the scene had the opposite side (away from the camera) wrecked or something about it that made it worth little. They also will have a really nice one of the same car that does not get wrecked, or dinged, or scratched.

In the TV series Dukes of Hazard they kept a running count of 80 "General Lee's" across three model years. The only real changes in the model years were the tail lights and most of them weren't worth much. Whenever you saw them "fly" the General Lee over something the car you saw drive off was not the same car you saw fly, it destroyed them. A close look at the tail lights often showed this. Whenever you "fly" a car like that the motor in front is so heavy it always lands on the grill, to counter this the trunk was filled with sand bags.

Rick

dagger dog
01-13-2013, 08:42 PM
Your right, I spelled it wrong. :groner::bigsmyl2: It's actually "Bullitt"! :redneck::popcorn:

Yeah but they ought to do a remake, and add the parts to the script about him casting his own LSWC and then they could call it BOOLIT.

They could show the part of him pulling wheel weights off the burning Charger !

DLCTEX
01-13-2013, 08:46 PM
One one episode of Dukes O H I saw the front fender wrinkle as the car hit, then it drove away unwrinkled.

L1A1Rocker
01-13-2013, 09:07 PM
The movie "Bullet" with Steve McQueen on TCM. I never get tired of that movie. Sure messed up a nice Charger R/T tho.

I want that mystery transmission from McQueen's Mustang. That thing had something like 10 forward gears in it man! (yes, that's sarcasm but it still fun to count the gear shifts lol)

L1A1Rocker
01-13-2013, 09:13 PM
Don't worry too much about the charger. When they crash expensive cars they buy a wrecked junker, do whatever it takes to make it run for the scene and crash that. Odds are that the one crashed in the scene had the opposite side (away from the camera) wrecked or something about it that made it worth little. They also will have a really nice one of the same car that does not get wrecked, or dinged, or scratched.



That for the most part is correct. New motorcycles are wrecked a lot. You used to see Harley's all the time in movies. Until HD stopped "giving" the studios the bikes under their advertising budget. Why? Because the bikes were always wrecked. I think the last movie that had HD as a "sponsor" was Bakaroo Bonzi. Also, do you know how many brand new Trans-Ams were wrecked filming Smokey and the Bandit? IIRC it was double digits.

But, like I said you're mostly right. I recall touring Alamo Village (the studio in west Texas) one summer. The folks there were just finishing on putting a wrecked helicopter back together to blow it up. One of the skids was re-made with 2X4s. No kidding.

Gliden07
01-13-2013, 11:31 PM
When I was a kid my Father was a school Teacher, every once in a while he would borrow a movie projector from the school and we would have a movie night at home (obviously pre VCR)!! He would get different movies from a friend of his in the Audio Video Dept (he had 4 or 5 different ones). Bullet was one of the movies he had and my favorite!! It was a Big Deal back then we would make Popcorn and get to have a Soda or two!! Great memories with my Family and a Great movie!! Bought it on DVD but its no where near the fun I had when I was a kid!

cbrick
01-14-2013, 12:13 AM
That for the most part is correct.

But, like I said you're mostly right.

Gee thanks. :mrgreen:

I spent 34 years working in the transportation dept. of motion picture and TV. That's what I did for a living. I spent 2 seasons working the Dukes show among numerous others and feature films. It's not for the most part correct and it's not mostly right, it is correct.

In 34 years I watched an awful lot of vehicles get destroyed in front of a camera, in 34 years I never once saw a new Harley get wrecked on purpose. Such vehicles are loaners from PR houses (not from the mfg) who contract with the mgf for whatever the product may be. The PR house is paid by the mfg when they get their product in front of a camera. The PR house works with the studios to supply the studio with the vehicles and contracts are signed before any vehicle is released. The studio is 100% responsible for that vehicle, if it's wrecked they bought it. Cars, bikes, trucks and nearly anything else of any value you could name is obtained this way. If it is to be wrecked they don't get it through the PR houses, they buy it outright upfront whether it's a car or a toaster oven.

Rick

Idaho Mule
01-14-2013, 12:14 AM
cbrick, somehow, someway I detect that you have experience with this "flying car syndrome". Years ago I too studied this phenomena, and I found that the front end would dive EVERY time, regardless of launch velocity--those particular experiments were conducted with a 1964 Plymouth Valiant powered by the huge 273 cubic inch V8. After a few years break there in research (had to wreck one marriage) I began experimenting again. This time was with a '51 Willy's PU retrofitted with a 283 Chevrolet motor. Same results, only worse front end "sink". My only conclusion is that the Valiant was a much more aerodynamic vehicle and thusly "flew" better. More studies will be reported on soon as youngest son just got his drivers licence. JW

frkelly74
01-14-2013, 08:47 AM
Oddly, The thing that captured my attention in the brief amount of time I was able to watch this movie was the lack of tempered glass in the doors when the fugitive bad guy was shot through the glass and then fell forward through the glass finishing its destruction. Just look at all those knife like shards of glass, danger danger danger.

cbrick
01-14-2013, 08:54 AM
Just look at all those knife like shards of glass, danger danger danger.

Not glass. It's a plastic, looks very much like glass but breaks without sharp edges. They use it for windows or things like when a guy gets hit in the head with a beer mug. It's rather fragile stuff but they make all sorts of stuff out of it because of the safety. Just a special effects trick & why it didn't break like safety glass.

Rick

WILCO
01-14-2013, 09:16 AM
I love that movie! Bought it for myself many moons ago at Walmart. Sure do love seeing all that old detroit steel burning rubber.

frkelly74
01-14-2013, 09:34 AM
Not glass. It's a plastic, looks very much like glass but breaks without sharp edges. They use it for windows or things like when a guy gets hit in the head with a beer mug. It's rather fragile stuff but they make all sorts of stuff out of it because of the safety. Just a special effects trick & why it didn't break like safety glass.

Rick

Well, now my disillusionment is complete. I will hereafter be unable to suspend my disbelief.

cbrick
01-14-2013, 11:59 AM
Well, now my disillusionment is complete. I will hereafter be unable to suspend my disbelief.

Hehe . . . If you only knew how much of what you would swear you just saw you didn't. :mrgreen:

Rick

bob208
01-15-2013, 01:08 PM
bunch of us went to see it when it came out we were seniors in high school. i always liked the white pontiac firebird that showed up in every where in the chase.

thehouseproduct
01-15-2013, 07:45 PM
Gee thanks. :mrgreen:

I spent 34 years working in the transportation dept. of motion picture and TV. That's what I did for a living. I spent 2 seasons working the Dukes show among numerous others and feature films. It's not for the most part correct and it's not mostly right, it is correct.

In 34 years I watched an awful lot of vehicles get destroyed in front of a camera, in 34 years I never once saw a new Harley get wrecked on purpose. Such vehicles are loaners from PR houses (not from the mfg) who contract with the mgf for whatever the product may be. The PR house is paid by the mfg when they get their product in front of a camera. The PR house works with the studios to supply the studio with the vehicles and contracts are signed before any vehicle is released. The studio is 100% responsible for that vehicle, if it's wrecked they bought it. Cars, bikes, trucks and nearly anything else of any value you could name is obtained this way. If it is to be wrecked they don't get it through the PR houses, they buy it outright upfront whether it's a car or a toaster oven.

Rick
I heard the A-team van had a custom mid mounted motor to prevent it from landing grill first....

Echo
01-15-2013, 07:55 PM
I read somewhere that the bottles they broke over guys heads (gals, too) were made from rock candy, and thin, so they would break nicely without putting a bunion on the receivers headbone...
And it makes sense that a car will nosedive when driven off something - the front wheels become non-supporting while the rear wheels are still on solid ground. I saw a stunt driver doing it off a ramp, and there were collapsible mini-ramps that dropped after the front wheels went over them, to give a bump up to counteract gravity trying to drop the front end...

pressonregardless
01-15-2013, 08:02 PM
Ran across what's supposed to be an original "Bullitt" car this morning.

http://bringatrailer.com/2013/01/14/million-dollar-claim-the-bullitt-1968-dodge-charger/

wallenba
01-15-2013, 08:07 PM
I was an usher in a movie theater (yeah we had those in 1968) saw it more that 60 times. I never get tired of the chase. Count how many times the green VW gets passed, filmed from different angles LOL.

cbrick
01-15-2013, 08:19 PM
I read somewhere that the bottles they broke over guys heads (gals, too) were made from rock candy, and thin, so they would break nicely without putting a bunion on the receivers headbone...

No, no rock candy. It's a plastic that breaks very easily without sharp edges. It's called break away glass & they mould all sorts of things out of it from windows to bottles & glasses etc. The production company (normally the effects dept) orders in advance whatever it is the script calls for along with extras so that when they get to take 8 or 10 they still have some.


And it makes sense that a car will nosedive when driven off something - the front wheels become non-supporting while the rear wheels are still on solid ground. I saw a stunt driver doing it off a ramp, and there were collapsible mini-ramps that dropped after the front wheels went over them, to give a bump up to counteract gravity trying to drop the front end...

Perhaps but I've never seen that, they weight the trunk with sand bags so the front end doesn't out weigh the rear end.

Houseproduct, not sure what you mean by "A team van". If it's a vehicle used in multiple episodes they don't jump it at all, at least not the primary vehicle.

Rick

thehouseproduct
01-16-2013, 01:57 AM
No, no rock candy. It's a plastic that breaks very easily without sharp edges. It's called break away glass & they mould all sorts of things out of it from windows to bottles & glasses etc. The production company (normally the effects dept) orders in advance whatever it is the script calls for along with extras so that when they get to take 8 or 10 they still have some.



Perhaps but I've never seen that, they weight the trunk with sand bags so the front end doesn't out weigh the rear end.

Houseproduct, not sure what you mean by "A team van". If it's a vehicle used in multiple episodes they don't jump it at all, at least not the primary vehicle.

Rick
I meant the black van from the TV show, the A-team.

Argentino
01-16-2013, 09:25 AM
Excellent movie!

The amazing car chase scene was filmed with professional stunt drivers.

One of them was Bill Hickman, a very well known Hollywood stunt driver at that time. In fact, he played the character of the Charger driver in the movie.

He also drove in other Hollywood car chase scenes like the one in "The French Connection" (another excellent movie, BTW!):
the guy behind the wheel of that brown Pontiac LeMans wasnīt Gene Hackman but Bill Hickman. Hickman also played a small character on that movie (he plays the detective who is always trying to piss off Gene Hackmanīs character: "Popeye" Doyle).

bob208
01-17-2013, 08:01 AM
he also drove the bad guy car in the seven ups.

Sasquatch-1
01-17-2013, 09:08 AM
I agree that Bullit is the father of the modern chase scene but, the ultimate 70's chase movie has to be Gone in 60 Seconds (1974). I watched the remake and I beleive it was on that set's special features that they brought the original 1972 Mustang(?) out of the garage in the exact shape it was in after the movie was done, put a new set of tires on it and drove it till the tires popped.

And considering the chase scene lasted 45 minutes in the movie and most of it was done without proper permits from the city it was filmed in makes it even more impressive.

alamogunr
01-17-2013, 09:36 AM
I had a '68 Charger the same color as the one in the movie. We bought it before seeing the movie. It wasn't the R/T model and had a 383 engine w/auto tran. As I recall, the 426 Hemi engine was an $800 option. I'm a little fuzzy on the sticker price, but it was in the neighborhood of $3400. OK! Maybe a lot fuzzy.

This thread brought back a lot of memories. I still remember "The French Connection". IIRC, It had a chase scene too.

Smitty's Retired
01-17-2013, 04:09 PM
I agree that Bullit is the father of the modern chase scene but, the ultimate 70's chase movie has to be Gone in 60 Seconds (1974). I watched the remake and I beleive it was on that set's special features that they brought the original 1972 Mustang(?) out of the garage in the exact shape it was in after the movie was done, put a new set of tires on it and drove it till the tires popped.

And considering the chase scene lasted 45 minutes in the movie and most of it was done without proper permits from the city it was filmed in makes it even more impressive.


Or "Vanishing Point"

rockrat
01-17-2013, 07:13 PM
Love both those movies.

When my Grandfather was sick, on of the girls that came during the day to help take care of him, had a "General Lee" from the series. Her brother worked on the set and bought the car when it was cancelled. Tried my darnedest to buy that thing from her, but she wouldn't sell it.

Sasquatch-1
01-18-2013, 08:40 AM
One one episode of Dukes O H I saw the front fender wrinkle as the car hit, then it drove away unwrinkled.

I can remember an episode where the car change 3 times in mid air. One wasn't even a Chrysler product let alone a Dodge Charger.

popper
01-18-2013, 02:40 PM
Kind of like the western movies with 200 round revolvers. Or 2000 rounds from a 20 clip in the zombie movies.

cbrick
01-18-2013, 02:47 PM
Kind of like the western movies with 200 round revolvers. Or 2000 rounds from a 20 clip in the zombie movies.

Hehe, my favorite is that all of those firearms are completely recoiless. That they never run out of ammo is a close second.

Rick

BruceB
01-18-2013, 03:43 PM
I can remember an episode where the car change 3 times in mid air. One wasn't even a Chrysler product let alone a Dodge Charger.

'Way back in the '50s, my Dad took me to see "The Dam Busters", a movie about the RAF attack on German hydro dams.

Even at my tender age, I noticed that a Lancaster bomber crashing into a forest miraculously morphed into a B-17 as it hit the trees....

Trail Finder
01-18-2013, 04:01 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuDN2bCIyus

With all the fake **** in movies today it makes movies like Bullitt legendary. This youtube video is how Steve would do it today. No CGI, No BS. Just hammer down and in it to win it!

cbrick
01-18-2013, 04:42 PM
With all the fake **** in movies today

It's no worse today than it's ever been, in fact probably fewer bloopers today because of all the computer animation. Much of what you see on the screen is not what you were led to believe it is. Bullit was no different, just a better script & better director than some. Scenes such as the chase scene could well have taken a week or two to film, never in a single set up. A shot from this camera angle, another from a different angle. Some scenes that are but a few seconds on screen take days to film.

Bloopers however have been a part of filming since the camera was invented. Several years ago I was watching pirates sword fighting on the deck of the sailing ship, one of them was wearing a digital watch. Oops. In another movie watching the cowboys & indians fighting there was an airplane on the horizan.

No, it's not that there is fake stuff in the movies today, it's always been fake. Always.

Rick

reloader28
01-18-2013, 11:26 PM
I've had the Bullett DVD for years, but have never seen the whole movie.
I have watched the car chase about 30 times tho.
In fact because of this thread I'm going to watch it again in about 2 minutes.:mrgreen: