Lalo Schiffrin - Bullitt (1968 Film)

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Music reviews of Bullitt (1968 Film)

Music Review: A mixed bag
Rating: 4 Stars

The recording itself is generally excellent, though it's a little bass-heavy. I need to attenuate the 60 Hz band when I get a hankering to crank this disk at high volume. The highs are crisp and clear, and the presence is astonishing. It's like having the WDR in my living room. The sequencing of the tunes is a little illogical. Why segue directly from the main theme to "Shifting Gears" (the car chase), thence to "Ice Pick Mike" (hospital basement footchase)? The LP at least tried to arrange the music parallel to the movie's plot line, putting "Shifting Gears" midway through Side 2. Thank God for programmable CD players. The cover art is a little cheesy, but the liner notes are good.

The musicianship is generally good, but something seems to be missing. Swing? The players sometimes seem to be going through the motions. The drummer in particular gives a lackluster performance, especially in "The First Snowfall", a pretty tune (the only one Schifrin did not write) marred by overly obvious stick work. Likewise, "Hotel Daniels" (heard in the movie for about two seconds issuing from the bedside radio of the about-to-be-murdered witness) seems watered down in comparison to the brutal urgency of the LP version. It's almost too polished. If you listen to the LP carefully, you can even hear a horn player coming in off-cue; there are no such mistakes on the CD. Too bad. This new recording seems occasionally a triumph of technique over soul.

Still, this is far and away the ballsiest arrangement ever of the main theme: measured, deadly, wonderfully Schifrinesque. (I can almost see scrolling text "...and Jacqueline Bisset, as The Girl" when the flutes take over!) The movie version of "Room 26" is so unlike the LP version I didn't recognize it at first - a big-band treatment, with no shortage of swing. My only complaint is that it's too short. "Cantata for Combo", a bit of easily overlooked filler on the LP, is perhaps the only tune from the LP to benefit from re-recording. Here the half-stops in the rhythm clearly identify it as a tango, and it's become one of my favorites. The solo acoustic guitar version of the main theme doesn't really fit in, but I'm glad it's here just the same. The shuffling treatment of the end title is unlike that heard in either the film or the LP, but it's so good I used it to close out a mix tape to play when I'm on the road.

Overall, not a perfect CD, and likely to disappoint listeners expecting an exact recreation of either the soundtrack or the 1968 LP; but one I don't regret buying.

Now if we could just prevail upon Mr. Schifrin to issue or recreate the score to "The Hellstrom Chronicle"...

Description of Bullitt (1968 Film)

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• Music > Styles
• Pop
• Soundtracks