An eight-minute-long car chase with speeds of up to 110 miles per hour, screeching tires, cars in the air and cars slamming into one another. Yes, it is a movie, but what you see on the screen is what really happened -- and it all took place on the streets of San Francisco, not a movie studio back lot.

"Bullitt" was Steve McQueen's idea of creating "the best car chase ever done." It is unlikely that we will see such realism in an automobile chase scene again in a movie.

McQueen refused to take the conventional route to filming the eight-minute-long chase scene, which brought about some industry firsts. It was the first time a complete car chase was filmed at normal camera speed. It was also the first time that live sound was utilized.

It was around Easter of 1968 that the "Bullitt" chase scene was shot. Initially, the city of San Francisco refused to let the proposed high-speed chase happen in their streets and laughed at the fact that part of the scene would take place on the Golden Gate Bridge. McQueen and others were persistent, and ultimately the city agreed to block off a few city blocks to accommodate the chase.

McQueen's character, Frank Bullitt, drove a 1968 390 GT Mustang, and the "bad guys" drove a 440 Magnum Dodge Charger. After some modifications, the Mustang sported reinforced shock towers, added crossmembers and reinforcements, a reworked carburetor and an aftermarket high-performance ignition, amongst other stabilizing equipment.

Apparently the Dodge did not need as many modifications. It received revised torsion bars, and heavy-duty shocks were added.

McQueen was known as a rebel of sorts in Hollywood, and his own love of car racing and motorcycles gave him insight into what the scene should look and feel like. McQueen wanted to drive the Mustang himself and actually did drive in some of the scenes. He eventually was taken out of the driver's seat, because he overshot some turns and smoked the tires. That was a mess-up, but they left that scene in the film. Also, it came out later, in a book, that McQueen's wife of the time had issues with him wanting to do all of his own driving in the film; she insisted that he step down.

The day before the chase scenes were to be filmed, the actors, stunt drivers and production crew went to test-drive them on a racetrack near Santa Rosa, Calif. McQueen was the motivator behind this event; he wanted to test-drive the car. Normally, a production manager would not let anybody race the cars before production; anything could have happened, they could have been severely damaged and production would come to a halt. Bill Hickman, the stunt driver who drove the Dodge, and McQueen hit the racetrack in their souped up vehicles to practice for the next day's shoot.

The chase scene was choreographed and rehearsed at a quarter of the speed, then at half the speed, and finally was shot the third time at full speed. The in-car shots were taken with cameras, which were mounted in the cars and painted black. The cameras were secured tightly vs. being cushion-mounted. Most of the close calls and incidents during the chase scene were not meant to happen, but since they looked good on film, they were left in. McQueen recalled that his Mustang started to fall apart during filming; the door handles fell off, the shocks in front broke, and the steering armature on the right front side broke.

Many movie critics have said that the chase scene was the only thing that saved the movie. They said the movie itself was mediocre and slow.

I'm not a movie critic, but I do have to be honest and say that I do not remember the full storyline. I do remember that chase scene, however. It was extremely impressive, especially knowing that it was shot in real-time, real-speed. So if you are a movie or car buff and you have not seen "Bullitt," go try it out.

Note: Here are a few things to watch for when viewing the movie. Notice that Volkswagen Bug during the chase scene? Again and again? Also during the chase scene, watch for McQueen in the rearview mirror; he pops up at a time that he shouldn't.