Saw it last night.....Ok as a show, off on several points...entertaining...
Biggest glares: early Mini in back of Miles shop looked to have side light in front fender.... Silver 275GT (?) in lot at Ferrari was too new to be there when Ford tried to buy them (the 250 America might have been possible..).... too many GT40s in race scenes (seemed he as always passing other GT40s)...only a few Porsches 904s with 906s and what looked like a 908... nothing French or small, didn't recall any Corvettes or such, either, ("Via Las Vegas" had better mix).....seemed like a lot of extra race cars in shop, while races were going on...minute by minute radio coverage of LeMans in Calif. in 65? (we had pay to view for Indy 500 that year at Tulsa civic center and radio... nothing else.) How long was Peter in US...seemed like heavy accent for kid of that age...born here/not?...no "Indianapolis turn" on his track map...was that a fuel cell in trunk of #98?....can you really run high/over hay bales and keep speed? (I never did...almost always broke/bent something when I hit hay...big slow down afterwards..)
Disappointments: Set box office $ first weekend, I saw it on next/last Tues....about 20-25 souls in theater...most older women with big tubs of popcorn and giant soda...plus a few of us old grubby/duffer/racers,... no young folks, showing was after quitting time, but not too late on a school night..... took 30 minutes after listed start to finally get to movie...had to watch a lot of noisy ads to get to show...... 2 1/2 hrs...butt got tired even with cushy seat... 6-8hr. Firehawk endros were easier to sit thru...guess it's where one sat....and when...
Pluses: minimal computer animation... Matt came closer to Shelby than I thought he could...(still too short)...best coverage of Ken Miles seen so far/actor "fellar" done good.......Remmington came out looking good, deserved to be promoted to good part.........great subject matter to us old duffers...Loved the Ford Station wagon....
Artistic license at work. Ok with it here...
Probably go again, if it doesn't close within a week or 2.... 25 paid customers....not looking good for my second visit. Popcorn was $8.75...2 bits more than price of admission....didn't buy any corn, so, still have the $8.75....ride again....!
Okie
It is a movie, I really liked it.
Thanks (to whomever it was) for answering the question I had on my mind when I left the theatre (IMAX was great), what happened to Ken's son?
There are thousands of in-car camera videos on YouTube maybe you would enjoy those more ? They are unlikely to make $30 million in the first week !
It was the number one movie the weekend it was released with box office receipts of almost $31.5 million.
I have not seen it. Will wait for it to come out on DVD... yes they still have those... and watch it at the track probably after a test day while I am falling asleep. How will I, a racer, manage to watch this? Same way I watched Rush. I will suspend disbelief and realize that it is not made for racers or race fans.
It is funny that we complain about the dwindling number of racers but then expect a movie to be "true to life" when those exact events have driven the masses away from our sport. I would imagine that if someone went to a studio and said that their target market is members of all of the racing sanctioning bodies the studio would throw them out and get a restraining order on them. So they dramatize. Ask someone that is a real life fire fighter or lawyer or police officer or FBI agent or superhero if their life is accurately depicted by any of the top television shows out there.
Fitfan is right, the movies will show that the key to winning is downshifting... while accelerating. If you want the best take on that, watch 'Taladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby'. At least they seem to understand the humor in it. And yes, it means that when people that are not racers find out you are, they will talk about the movie and ask about things like:
The broom stick test being conducted just before the formation lap (Rush)
Running Willow Springs backwards (Ford v. Ferrari) (okay, they will not know it was backwards but those that have run it know)
Starting a Champ car from the cockpit and battling it out in traffic on the streets of Toronto (have you already forgotten 'Driven'?)
Laughing at the line, Sundance: "I Can't swim!" Butch: "Why you crazy? (laughing) The fall'll probably kill ya!"..... errrrr.... wrong movie
etc. You will then have to decide if you want to correct their understanding for the more mundane reality or if you smile and nod politely.
Eric (smiling and nodding politely) Little
Last edited by Eric Little; 11.23.19 at 1:26 PM. Reason: Corrected to make the street plural. Pretty sure there is more than one street in Toronto. Right?!?!
On a related note to this excellent resurgence of ShelbyMania, Adam Carolla has co-directed a new documentary!:
https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/wha...ber-22nd-2019/
Scroll to second video, Dolly and Carroll are indeed not the same person. :-)
Could all this generate a new wave of crazed speed fandom? I have a dream...
Adam Carolla just did an interview on KROQ the other day (where he first got his shot at "show biz" as a boxing coach to a station employee). He was promoting a few of his movies and said he started on a "Ford V. Ferrari" show 5 years ago, before he knew Hollywood was working on a similar story. His is on Netflix called the 24Hr War. I found it pretty darn good. It's been out about 3 years now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csFnDoXQKvg is the trailer.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...e-24-hour-war/ review by Road and Track
https://ca.flixable.com/title/80158800 Netflix link
Enjoy!
Thanks, Daryl!
The seller's website below looks great, even a new documentary on Willy T in the works!
I may order the digital version of the LeMans piece -- or it'll be months to ship in a DVD and forward it to wherever our travels land. I have 2gb phone data left, might do it tomorrow.
https://chassy.com/product/shelby-american/
https://chassy.com/product/24-hour-war/
Thanks Again.
Adam Carolla is a huge car guy, not quite Jay Leno status, but he's headed in the right direction Adam is a comedian, car collector and racer. Has an extremely popular podcast. He owns 11 of Paul Newman's race cars. The LL's in his last name are done in font and color as a nod to the BRE Datsuns. You just may catch him at a Vintage race racing one of them
Someone spent $7 million on a GT40 five years ago. With this movie, I wonder if real GT40s are going to go even higher....
I think I'll go see it again. This time I'll take ear plugs.
I don't expect much out of Hollywood when in comes to car movies so I just wanted to be entertained and I was. I read the Art of Racing in the Rain and was disappointed by the movie. The book was way better. I was born in1962 so the Shelby Cobra was one of my favorite cars along with the Shelby Mustangs. In addition to all the racing and beautiful cars, I enjoyed the scene when Ken Miles goes into his son's room the night before he leaves for Le Mans. The kid had a ton of cool stuff. A model kit for a Lola T70, an Erector Set Ferris wheel. And his Schwinn bike. The model bike I wanted but could not afford.
As a west coast racer it was nice to see so much of Willow Springs. But using Cal Speedway in place of Daytona just seemed wrong. And the back country roads they used for Riverside. That was just weird. My wife asked me what track was that? I said I have no idea. I had to look up where Ken died because I did not know much about him. If he was at all like the character in the movie, he lived to race. Great with cars, not so great with people. Great dad and husband. The stuff that really matters in life. Loved the scene at the end with Shelby and Ken's son. Cried at that point.
I am sure I will watch this movie many times in the future. Now I want to go back and watch Grand Prix and Le Mans again.
Thanks to those above who mentioned the two Adam Carrolla films on Netflix. I saw him once at Willow Springs in a Datsun 510 racecar.
Eric, go see it on the big screen. It's worth it. IMAX is probably way better too.
The parts I liked:
- I thought Matt Damon did a great job sounding like Shelby.
- The LeMans pits looked good, realistic.
- The sound of the big block (and other) engines was great.
- I enjoyed recognizing track sections, like Road Atlanta's T7 and Hutchinson Island (I'm pretty sure).
... but found too many distractions to totally enjoy the movie, even though I went in knowing I'd need to suspend belief for a few hours.
Racer Russ
Palm Coast, FL
Sherrie and I just saw Ford v Ferrari.
The emotions and the interaction between Shelby and Miles were outstanding. Other acting was also quite good.
The racing scenes, not so much. In addition to things mentioned above:
1) staring down the driver you're passing at 200 mph? Distracted driving like that is not what one does at 200 mph.
2) brake rotors glowing bright red while braking in a downpour?
3) revs going up like you're in 2nd gear at 200 mph?
4) shifting down to go faster when you're already at 200+?
However, overall it was very intense and emotional for me to watch. I give it a 4 out of 5. Definitely worth watching.
Dave Weitzenhof
"Emotional" is the right word for me, too Dave. Racing was the only bond I ever had with my Dad, and he left the grid 20 months ago.
We were never again as tight as we were in the '60s, and it genuinely felt like he watched the film with us. Funny, my Uncle felt the same thing -- and he never even liked racing.
I had been ambivalent about watching the movie, then read Weitzenhof's post this morning and decided right then and there to go watch it, so Patti and I hopped in the car and made a day of it. Like most here I was a bit put off by all the gratuitous shifting and pedal pumping, but still give it a 4-4.5/5. Strong acting. Great story line. Go watch it.
Stan Clayton
Stohr Cars
I think the rule of thumb is (in movies), it doesn't matter your current speed (or RPMs), or what gear you are currently in, if you theed that little bit more speed, right now, you shift!
And it doesn't matter what gear you shift from or to (shift up or down).
Oh, and also please show where the driver suddenly decides to push the gas pedal all the way to the floor. :-)
Racer Russ
Palm Coast, FL
What? You mean there's not a detent between full throttle and really, really, I mean it this time, full throttle?
My first PC had "Turbo Mode."
Caldwell D9B - Sold
Crossle' 30/32/45 Mongrel - Sold
RF94 Monoshock - here goes nothin'
Have you ever trained a camera on yourself driving? I did. Once. Insanely BORING.
So, although my wife got tired of me rolling my head at the driving scenes, I understand they have to Hollywood it a bit.
Well I thought the movie was quite good especially since I go to the movies to be entertained. I don't care about acting as long as it isn't terribly bad and I am old enough to know that Hollywood has to ad their creative stuff to movies. I also was not paying attention in the days of the actual events so I didn't know if any of the story was altered or not.
As for the racing scenes yes they did use some seemingly ridiculous things but that is because we know that doesn't happen in real racing. That is the reason that after 8 years of going to the Rolex 24 hours at Daytona I have had it with NASCAR/IMSA rigging the race to get the result it wants I am done with going to the race. Besides I can watch it on TV when I want to.
So my friend and I are off to see the new Star Wars movie today and I only want to be entertained and that is what my expectations are and I do like the Star War series since watching it from the very beginning.
Ed
We are 66 posts into this thread and I am surprised that not one of them brings up them mentions the early scene about SCCA, and especially the SCCA scrutineers. Ken altering his trunk lid was one of the funnier scenes.
The movie is not a documentary. Aside from the hokey down shifting, and staring each other down at top speed, I thought the movie was well done.
Race tires squealing in the rain It was painful for me to watch some this stuff.
IMO it was OK, could have been a knockout classic, but just OK.
BTW, just a few years later, I worked alongside the winning chief mechanic, on a Can-Am car.
Jim Gustafson
The T294, Jim?
(or was it a T292?)
That thing was a sweetheart. A long lost friend, Rick Villate, ran one, too.
My greatest disappointment: Matt Damon's driving double had a TERRIBLE wig.
Damon and Bale were excellent. 4 stars.
Caldwell D9B - Sold
Crossle' 30/32/45 Mongrel - Sold
RF94 Monoshock - here goes nothin'
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