Jump to content

Le Mans


RobL

Recommended Posts

I watched it on BBC 2* a couple of months ago. It was slated by some critics back in the day. And to be fair, there are some slightly boring bits.

But, to counter that there are plenty of action bits, some glorious sounds, and lots and lots of visual goodies.

One of my top twenty films.

 

*No adverts! Yay!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I queued up the movie after reviewing the new Meng Ford GT40 Mk.II, but haven't got round to watching it yet.  I've never watched the real thing live before, partly because it's probably only on Sky, but also because I struggle to stay awake for long periods, nevermind 24 hours! :tired:

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It did get about an hours coverage on BBC on and off in the 80's I think,so when the Silk Cut Jaguars started racing I forced myself to go the race to see it live,I just had to! The best race in the world still even though they keep changing everything including the food choices believe it or not. Hoping to watch as much as possible on Eurosport this weekend....Chris.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watched it today, and the problems it went through during production really showed. Very little in the way of dialogue or story, just lots of cool old cars hurtling round the track. It was a bit dull at times… have to say :shrug: 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Mike said:

Very little in the way of dialogue or story, just lots of cool old cars hurtling round the track. It was a bit dull at times

They were going for authenticity 😁

 

cheers

 

Colin

  • Like 1
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Kitkent said:

It's literally just about the cars and the racing,I don't think anyone speaks till about an hour in. Chris.

I think the first line of "script" is spoken at the 37 minute point according to IMDb, and it's literally just someone mumbling something. :blink:

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was on Eurosport last night.  

 

There seemed Med a lot of ‘checking out the parameters of the track’, testing of gravel traps and the limits of adhesion yesterday.

 

Lots of sand bagging going wrt Balance of performance....

 

Looking forward to it.....

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 17/08/2021 at 00:55, Mike said:

Watched it today, and the problems it went through during production really showed. Very little in the way of dialogue or story, just lots of cool old cars hurtling round the track. It was a bit dull at times… have to say :shrug: 

 

On 17/08/2021 at 07:53, ckw said:

They were going for authenticity 😁

 

cheers

 

Colin

 

 

Yep.  That's what McQueen wanted.  If you watch the documentary made in 2015 called Steve McQueen: The Man and Le Mans, it sheds quite a bit of light on the problems, most of which seem to be Steve McQueen himself.  That's also on the iPlayer at the moment (apparently it was aired on Tuesday on BBC Four) - https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000gg35/steve-mcqueen-the-man-and-le-mans 

 

He was an actor turned racing driver making a documentary about racing.  They had no script to begin with and were a bit rudderless.  The initial director, John Sturges quit.  The movie studio took over.  And so, we ended up with a mishmash of racing documentary and movie.

 

However, it is the greatest Hollywood racing movie so far, for a few reasons, including, the fact that a lot of the footage was filmed during the actual race in 1970, and where they staged the footage the cars were all filmed at racing speeds - something that had never been done before.  You'll never see such good footage of those cars at any time period and the cars were as near to being as they were on race day.

 

Grand Prix (the Hollywood racing movie that came before Le Mans) can't make that claim, nor Rush, nor Le Mans '66 (Ford vs Ferrari).

 

I guess it's a film for aficionados like me.

 

Anyhow, not long now until the start of the real event this year.  Looks like it's a bit wet for the start!  🏁

Edited by RobL
typos
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 17/08/2021 at 07:53, ckw said:

They were going for authenticity 😁

😁 For added realism, it should have been shown at drive-ins so that people could turn up with camper vans and tents.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
On 8/17/2021 at 12:55 AM, Mike said:

Very little in the way of dialogue or story, just lots of cool old cars hurtling round the track. It was a bit dull at times… have to say :shrug: 

I think I lasted about 15 minutes with this one. There's something about this kind of "impressionistic" documentary I really don't like. The lack of a voice-over or on-screen captions really pushes you away from the subject, IMHO. They make the assumption you know a lot about the race - I don't, so this seemed very dull.

 

Chris.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...