Ferrari: Race to Immortality

This movie is not about very badly designed and constructed racing cars in the fifties. It is more about poor judgment drivers who were regularly killed driving those flying coffins. How come this all sport was not banned at the time is beyond me. Profit above people, I guess! Enjoy if you can, but it is pure horror, if you ask me.

Glorious 16mm and specially 35mm footage from one of the most aesthetically pleasing eras in motorsports history. Harsh testimonies of what racing was all about back then. The movie is a tremendous showcase of a bygone era we will never come close to.

Of course the movie is absurdly British, specially considering the topic (they care more about Stirling Moss than about Ferrari's Alberto Ascari). If you have ever watched motorsports-related media, you would already know nothing ever gets produced if there are no Brits triumphing in it either at the wheel or as a manager.

Those cars, those courses, those people, the absolute "vibes" as the kids would say... Tremendous through and through, horrific at times, and it is all presented with great competence.

Very interesting picture of a decade that lived this sport with such glamour and at the same time fierceness.

One of the points that I DIDN'T like is the little spotlight director puts on Juan Manuel Fangio... documentary was like "and there's Fangio, the Scuderia leader.. meanwhile Peter Collins blabla", "and there´s Fangio, the best driver of all time, anyway here we have Mike Hawthorn", and was like "I want to know more about Fangio, damn"

But anyway, documentary was interesting, I´ve enjoyed and learned from it.

Recommended.

What a disappointment. This is not a documentary about either Ferrari the manufacturer or Enzo Ferrari, the iconic owner. Most of the documentary is about some of the drivers in the 50's, probably 2/3 of the whole film is about Mike Hawthorn. And a lot it's very repetitive with so many other documentaries about how dangerous was F1 in the 50s. But other documentaries, take a clear storyline on that topic, take a more broad view and show how safety in the sport improved from the 50s to the 2000s, particularly during the 70s. In this case, they stay in the 50s. I was expecting learning either about Enzo (his origins, how he built the empire, his personality, the way he managed the team and the company, his quirks) or learning about Ferrari team and the evolution of it and the unique philosophy to manage competition and drivers. But nothing, besides a few short quotes and recordings of Enzo Ferrari, nothing much more about Ferrari. An absolute waste of film and time.

Another great documentary about motor racing and Formula 1 after McLaren and Williams, two films that also came out this year. Ferrari: Race to Immortality takes place in the mid 50's and tells the story of Enzo Ferrari, his complex character, his famous racing team and the drivers with emphasis on two great British masters of the wheel, Peter Collins and Mike Hawthorne.

The film is beautifully made, the archive footage of the races and cars are great. The story is told through interviews and narration by Enzo Ferrari, fellow drivers, wives and girlfriends. Drivers back then were a special breed of people, their determination, passion and love of racing is hard to understand sometimes but it is also hard not to find it beautiful and inspiring. They lived their lives on the edge and to the fullest, basically trying to cheat death every time they drove those cars. They were warriors, gladiators, stars and gentlemen. It is impossible to compare Formula 1 of today to those times, it almost seems like a completely different sport.

The film has quite an emotional punch as well, many young lives tragically ended, families lost sons, brothers, fathers and husbands in their pursuit of speed and dreams.

Strongly recommended to all motor racing and Formula 1 fans regardless if you are a Ferrari supporter or not, I believe you will not regret it.