The Prey & the Pursuer, a Juxtaposition, Pt 2

If, as Erin Valenti told her mother, it’s all a Game. It’s a thought experiment. We’re in the MATRIX, why not use counter measures to foil the controllers of this game?

In the context of prey and pursuer, a pursuer is typically a hunter or killer that seeks to capture or hunt down a prey. In gaming, a pursuer is often the first killer in a game, known for its speed and powerful abilities. In a broader sense, the term "pursuer" can refer to any entity that seeks to capture or hunt down another, such as in various games or scenarios.

You can also see the old Geneva Towers at 8:19

The famous car chase features a wild drive through several picturesque parts of San Francisco. The chase was filmed in a variety of disparate locations and there is little continuity. It took two weeks to film the chase, not surprising since the locations are spread out over a considerable part of the city. The lack of continuity is due to the logistics of filming in a working city. There are several basic locations from which the film crew operated, and many shots were filmed at locations close to these areas. For example San Francisco General Hospital is close to the chase scenes filmed around 20th Street, Kansas Street, and Rhode Island Street, while Russian Hill served as the base for many of the chase scenes, with the Marina District only a short distance away.

The chase segment starts off, with the Charger trailing the Mustang, near the intersection of Potrero and Army streets in Bernal Heights. Here is this view in 2002. It then proceeds west on Army Street for a few blocks. Here is the view west on Army Street (now Cesar Chavez Street) in 2002.

Bullitt makes a U-turn on Army at Precita (note the Pontiac and the lighting: here is the very next frame with a 1956 Dodge Coronet where the Pontiac was and different lighting), and here is Army and Precita in 2002 with the gas station still in operation but no longer a Phillips 66. Bullitt then makes an immediate right turn on York Street (here it is in 2002).

The Charger follows and this view of Army eastbound is visible just before they make the right onto York. Here is how Army Street appears in 2002. He disappears up York Street (1968 and 2002) and the bad guys stop at the corner of York and Peralta and look west trying to find him. Here is the view looking west on Peralta in 2002. They continue on York at this odd little intersection of York with Peralta (here it is in (2002).

The two cars then magically appear on 20th Street at Kansas Street (here it is in 2002) in the Potrero Hills district where McQueen appears in their rearview mirror (thanks to Brian Hollins for his sleuthing). Here is that view in 2002. They continue north on Kansas Street for about two blocks.

The chase then suddenly jumps to the Russian Hill/North Beach area. It heads east on Filbert Street, with Coit Tower and Saints Peter and Paul Church visible in the center of the frame, at the corner of Taylor. This is a view looking east on Filbert Street in 2002.

The chase crosses Mason Street (you can see the cable car) (here is the intersection in 2002), then heads northwest on Columbus Avenue past Greenwich Street and the North Beach Playground (now named after Joe Dimaggio) through North Beach. At Chestnut and Columbus (home of Bimbo's 365 which is still there in 2002), the bad guys make an illegal left turn (note the white Pontiac Firebird) and head west (uphill) on Chestnut. Here is that view in 2002. In this view looking east on Chestnut the San Francisco Art College is visible. Here it is in 2002.

They then make a left on Leavenworth and head south toward Lombard.

The chase then continues at the intersection of 20th and Rhode Island in the Potrero Hills district again. Here is the same intersection in 2002. They continue on 20th Street and turn right heading north on Kansas. This is the same intersection in 2002.

Once again the chase makes a gigantic leap back into the Russian Hill district. The Charger appears making a right turn onto Larkin Street (heading north) from Lombard (headed west). They continue for one block on Larkin. Here is that view in 2002.

At the corner of Larkin and Chestnut streets Bill Hickman gets the Charger into a serious oversteer condition and then over-corrects and crashes into a 1956 Ford parked at the corner. The crash itself can be seen in the movie from one camera angle but the shot from the second camera angle was not used in the film. In a rather impressive demonstration of driving skill, Hickman continues east on Chestnut Street after the impact, seemingly unaffected. Here is the view from the first camera angle in 2002. Trees have completely obscured the view west.

McQueen attempts to follow the Charger as it turns right on Chestnut and heads EAST. The Mustang understeers badly and he is forced to stop and back up in order to make the turn. Note the skid marks and also note the fact that the Mustang does not have a limited-slip differential as evidenced by the single long black tire mark left by the right rear tire as McQueen accelerates east on Chestnut. Here is the corner of Larkin and Chestnut as it looked in July 2002.

They then appear heading WEST on Chestnut then turn south on Jones (you can see the street sign and the distinctive building at Jones). They continue south on Jones Street. They make another left from Jones onto Lombard and head east on Lombard.

The locale now shifts to what is probably the most famous part of the chase. Taylor Street headed north crossing Vallejo in 2002 (that's Alcatraz Island in the background) and in 1968. They continue north (downhill) on Taylor, passing Green Street, approaching Union Street, passing Union Street, and arriving at Filbert Street. They turn left headed west on Filbert and pass the Chinatown campus of San Francisco City College.

At this point the film editors inserted footage shot from different (uphill facing) camera angles of the procession down Taylor Street. Here is Taylor at Vallejo looking south, Taylor just above Union Street looking south just before Green Street, and Taylor above Green Street (where the Mustang oil pan bursts after a hard landing) looking south. This is the view looking back up on (south) Taylor above Filbert, where they cut in front of a yellow taxi cab and a Cadillac.

During this portion of the chase, a green Volkswagen appears in the path of the Charger (and the Mustang) several times. It is the same green Volkswagen in each frame. There are also two Pontiac Le Mans (one white, one green) which also appear in several frames, always appearing in front of the chase, which is an obvious continuity lapse. The reuse of the Taylor Street footage may have gone unnoticed were it not for the green Volkswagen. Another car, a Pontiac Firebird, also appears in several sequences (once at Bimbo's 365 at Columbus and Chestnut, and again on Larkin Street at Francisco).

The chase next winds up on Larkin Street (again) and this time the two cars pass Chestnut street and continue on Larkin. The Dodge Charger hits the wall where Larkin Street curves left and becomes Francisco Street and loses another hubcap (which magically gets reattached in later frames). Note the white Pontiac Firebird. Here is the curve as it appeared in 1999. Here is the view looking back up Francisco. The cars head down Francisco past Polk Street (Galileo High School is visible behind the rearview mirror: It is still there).

They continue north on Laguna, which turns into Marina Boulevard. The intersection looks very different in 2002. Interestingly, you can see a gas station above and behind the Charger in this frame. It was located across Laguna Street from the Safeway parking lot but is no longer there. The entire area is a grassy hill within Fort Mason now part of the Golden Gate Recreation Area.

The chase passes the famous Safeway supermarket, which is still in operation, and Fort Mason. In the summer of 2002 the view had changed little. The railroad tracks, which connected Fort Mason's piers with the Presidio of San Francisco, are gone.

The chase continues west toward the Golden Gate Bridge on Marina Boulevard (2002). This sequence features several repeats, with the cars passing the Fort Mason area (2002) and the Safeway twice.

According to several printed sources, the chase was supposed to continue across the Golden gate bridge but the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District refused permission since even in 1968 it would have created a traffic nightmare, so the chase picks up again on University Street, which is all the way across the city to the south. Here is a shot from the film of the chase turning out of Olmstead Street passing the intersection of Mansell and University. Here is the intersection of Mansell and University in 2002. The chase continues into McLaren Park. Here is that road in 2002.

The chase picks up again on Market Street in Daly City headed eastbound past John F. Kennedy Elementary school at 785 Price Street and Guadalupe Canyon Parkway. It continues eastbound on Guadalupe Canyon Parkway through a road cut which looks remarkably the same in 2002. At various points during the eastbound portion San Francisco Bay is clearly visible (here is a section in 2002 showing San Francisco Bay in the background). The direction changes and the cars are shown heading westbound, passing through the same road cut they passed through headed east. In the scene where stunt driver Bud Ekins lays down a motorcycle, there are several radio towers visible on the hill in the background. Those towers are still there and this section looks very much as it did in the film. Shortly afterwards the chase ends when the Charger crashes in flames at a gas station at the corner of Guadalupe Canyon Parkway and North Hill Drive (in Brisbane, San Mateo County) which is now an office building.

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