Grand Prix [Blu-ray]

Probably the best F1 racing car movie ever made a must see for people who love F1. I thought i would share a picture of the great jim clark who drove for the lotus team around the same period as the movie was made.

The better f1 film.

There aren't many feature films about Grand Prix racing anyway - most films are documentaries. Steve McQueen's Le Mans was a great achievement, but blighted by disagreement and financial trouble. But Grand Prix really has the edge and is the sort of film which couldn't ever be made again. Made in an age without health and safety and a navel-gazing, money-obsessed, blame and claim society. John Frankenheimer (French Connection II, Ronin) went to tremendous lengths to achieve reality when green-screen and CGI were decades away. Even the main characters played by James Garner and Yves Montand were coached by racing drivers so they could handle the cars at speed for the shots showing them driving. In fact Garner was said to be so good he could have been a racer. And at one point in the film in a scene at Brands Hatch he caught fire and bailed out - his insurance company withdrawing their cover for the rest of the shoot. F1 was much more relaxed back then, and drivers unaffected by the nonsense of corporate big business, marketing and all the other rubbish that goes with sport today. - they were real people, not automatons. For historic F1 enthusiasts it's a must - the story follows the characters at Monaco, Clermont Ferrand, Spa and Brands Hatch - each shot at the actual Grands Prix of that year - 1966. And the shots of the actual races are interspersed with the characters of the story driving on track - seamless and convincing - with all the speed and superb sound of those newly introduced 3 litre engines for that season. The opening scenes at Monaco are superb. The DVD is packed full of extras, with Frankenheimer's commentary of the entire film, the making of the film, and plenty of stuff about F1 of that era. I'm not sure they make director's like Frankenheimer anymore. What a bloke. What a film.

I have very fond memories of being taken to see this by my father when I was a boy. Re-watching it now I can well understand how my 8-year-old self would have loved the racing sequences. They are magnificent and stand up well, if not exceed, the equivalents in Rush. It's fascinating to see the "cars-eye" view of Monaco. Monza, etc. as they were nearly 50 years ago - minus many of the safety barriers - and to spot the cameos of the famous drivers of the time. Much less fascinating, however, is the soap-operatic plot in-between the racing sequences, charting the complicated love-lives of several of the main characters who, unfortunately, do not exhibit much of the way of chemistry on-screen (probably at least partially the fault of the wooden dialogue). At less than a tenner, however, this disc, with its perfect image quality and excellent sound is worth getting for the racing sequences alone. Play on as large a screen as possible with the sound turned up loud.

A piece of motoring racing history in its own right and clear and sharp on blu-ray. So sharp that you can see instances where a racing car is seen at top speed on a straight but you can see the tachometer is reading about half the revs you'd expect. You can also see where one car was swapped for another that was mocked up. Clermont-Ferrand still exists as a race track (track days and historics) yet back in the day really did host the French Grand Prix. Some of the in-car cinematography is outstanding and other parts less so. There is some occasional humour and the film draws you into itself as you watch it to the final climax (but not a Cooper-Climax) of the ending. The special features are also worth watching (James Garner really could drive fast!). So a good film of an age or era that's passed but well represented, in places, in this film.

-> BLU-RAY review Very good sound + vision (50 GB double-layer BD). Original aspect ratio. Highly recommended! This sixties big time melodrama in glorious 70mm Cinerama with stellar cast also sports some of the best racing footage ever - this is rivetting stuff! The live action sequences from 1966 Monte Carlo- and Spa- Grand Prix will make you feel like the proverbial documentary "fly on the wall" ...only this time it's the wall of an F1 cockpit - take off and enjoy! Film: 6,5/10 Racing sequences: 10/10 Picture quality: 9/10 Aspect ratio: ca. 2,35:1 (orig.) Run time (24 fps): 2:55'57" Chpt.: 46 Audio: GB; F;D;E;POR ST: GB; F;D;E;POR;DK;FIN;N;S o/- Region free Bonus, all in SD: - Making-of, 29' - Formula 1 in the sixties, 17' - Style and Sound of Speed, 11' - Brands Hatch, 10' - Grand Prix - Challenge of the Champions 12' - Trailer Studio: MGM

Fantastic film A great transfer Extras are interesting

A very well crafted car-film. IN a way it's the bible of car-race films. All the private and sentimental scenes are superfluous and just slow it down without adding nothing special. But all the race scenes are absolutely spectacular and like never you've seen before or after (even the so well-reviewed Ron Howard's Rush is derivative and incomparable to this one, considering it's been made 40 years later). The bitter subtext of the story (loneliness and masculine challenge vs one's own limits and danger) is not so well developed and original, ma still this film rocks. Director John Frankenheimer will never be enough reconsidered even now that he's passed away, but he's the perfect example of a great professional and a director who, although never posing or being regarded as an author, introduced a lot of new ideas in editing and film direction and could basically do anything with just what's needed to shoot a film: direction, editing, sound, photography. See Seconds, Ronin, The Manchurian Candidate, The Train, French Connection 2. Stunning blu ray