1968 vs 2002

April 28, 2005 9:27 AM

Bullitt location images in San Francisco then and now. Some haven't changed at all . Others are radically different.
posted by Mitheral (19 comments total)

...as you would expect in any major city.
posted by Doohickie at 9:30 AM on April 28, 2005

McQueen was the man. And an incredible wierdo.
posted by bardic at 9:32 AM on April 28, 2005

Jeez, couldn't the site owner have posted the comparison pictures side by side on the same page...?
posted by twsf at 9:40 AM on April 28, 2005

Something like this has been posted before, but it's still enjoyable.
posted by fire&wings at 9:42 AM on April 28, 2005

SF in particular, as compared with other major cities, has had some radical changes since Bullitt. The '89 earthquake took out a huge stretch of highway 101 and a bunch of other stuff that didn't get rebuilt in the same way. Cool idea.

Yeah, though... crappy site organization.
posted by gurple at 9:45 AM on April 28, 2005

there are no telephone and power wires in the second shot of the Chalmer's House. And the wooden phone poles have been replaced with metal street lights.

They also apparently have cable tv at the Chalmer's House now.
posted by crunchland at 9:48 AM on April 28, 2005

The site for the Hitchcock film Vertigo was much better. This could be interesting if they actually did some design. The thing about these sites for me is they make me homesick for Northern California....
posted by Eekacat at 9:52 AM on April 28, 2005

I find this interesting. I enjoyed my trip to San Fran, and I thought it was neat seeing all the places that I have seen in movies like Bullitt. San Fran is the perfect setting for action and romance movies, and its neat to see how the city has changed from a movie I remember. I get the same feeling when I am in Chicago... I can't stop thinking about the Blues Brothers when I see the L.
posted by dios at 9:54 AM on April 28, 2005

I love seeing how humans change the landscape.
I find that after a while, I have a very hard time remembering how a street looked before it was diverted/changed...
posted by Busithoth at 10:11 AM on April 28, 2005

Someone recently did this with scenes from a Hitchcock film (forget which one) in SF too. Saw it on MeFi.
posted by terrapin at 10:18 AM on April 28, 2005

A Short History of America, R. Crumb
posted by crunchland at 10:19 AM on April 28, 2005

Vertigo Then and Now (on MeFi here).
posted by obloquy at 11:34 AM on April 28, 2005

Doohickie: ...as you would expect in any major city.

Well of course. I thought it cool that someone took the time to visit all those places (after figuring out where they were) and take the new pictures then post it where we can see them.

The '89 earthquake took out a huge stretch of highway 101

He makes mention about how the hotel where the murders take place along with the elevated highway behind it are missing.

What I found most amazing is the small businesses that are still in the same place four decades later.

Thanks obloquy, I don't feel to bad about posting a site in a similiar theme to one posted two years ago.
posted by Mitheral at 11:47 AM on April 28, 2005

"crappy site organization"

From the linked page: "Last Modified: Sunday, September 22, 2002"
posted by mischief at 12:20 PM on April 28, 2005

As a fan of San Francisco, Steve McQueen, action movies and architecture, I thank you for this link.
posted by cali at 2:39 PM on April 28, 2005

Fun stuff, Mitherall.

I like that scene where they're revving their engines before the chase and the boys buckle the lap belts. It caught me, too, how different the Charger and the Mustang sounded as the film switches back and forth; one was distinctively deeper sounding than the other.

Frisco looks like an old city; it's great there's so many old buildings still about.
posted by philfromhavelock at 4:43 PM on April 28, 2005

I live 2 blocks from the Grace Cathedral, on the other side of the Gramercy Towers. I recognize a lot of places in these pictures; I guess I'll have to watch this Bullitt movie now.
posted by fleacircus at 5:44 PM on April 28, 2005

Someone recently did this with scenes from a Hitchcock film (forget which one)

The shower scene from Psycho comparison was here just the other day. (Not that that has much landscape in it.) Also the Blues Brothers mall.

And yes, McQueen was the man, but I must say I've always thought this car chase is overrated. The famous hills of S.F. bounce the cars like big cartoon frogs, and it's hard to take seriously until they get out of town. My favorite (and the best?) movie car chase only has one car in it — full speed through the (flat) streets of NYC for The French Connection.

Of course, that was almost 35 years ago, and technology now provides all sorts of new ways to wreck cars. (Listen to director John Frankenheimer's commentary track for Ambush, one of the short BMW films that are little more than car chases.) But I saw Popeye Doyle's car chase again a few months ago, and it holds up very well.
posted by LeLiLo at 6:46 PM on April 28, 2005

True lelilo, Bullitt gets some slack just because it was so early. The best parts of the chase are the early in town bits the end especially is a little anticlimactic. One of the things that makes the chase so dramatic I think is the lack of any voice over. The bad guys are coldly competent and of course Steve has no one to talk to.
posted by Mitheral at 7:35 AM on April 29, 2005