Grand Prix

Forget about cinematic technique or even plot: This movie will blow you away. Yeh, the plot is cookie-cutter, but they took the trouble to hire performers who could make it work well enough to not detract from the outrageously realistic action sequences. Part of the whole point is that personal lives become somehow smaller (and thus dearer) next to something like the Grande Prix F1 circuit.

I don't recommend pairing this in a screening with _Days of Thunder_ for two reasons: First, GP is LONG; second, DoT will pale by comparison.

BTW, if you can rent it in DVD, get it that way and watch it on as big a TV as you can find. The soundtrack is incredible and the widescreen work is like nothing you'll ever see anywhere else.

It's hard to rate this film. Its got a soap opera plot pasted on to some really fine cinematography, editing, music and racing sequences. The real stars of this film are the cars, the beautiful F1 'cigar' cars of the 60's with their exposed engines and elegant lines. Within a handful of years aerodynamics and advertising would change the look of racing forever. Even the plot hints at the change taking place at the time-- from the gentlemen's league of the 50's to the ravenously commercial and brutally competitive environment that Formula 1 was to become. Frankenheimer followed the tour through a season, to the storied old tracks such as Nurburgring, Spa and Monza (before safety and television considerations changed them to much shorter, less idiosyncratic shadows of their former selves). There are cameos by Graham Hill, Bruce McLaren, Jim Clark and Lorenzo Bandini, names tinged with tragedy in retrospect. Technically this film is quite an achievement. Many of its developments, however, did not really take, such a multiple images, and the splicing of soft music to intense action scenes. The film, then, is not one of great importance in movie history. But there are a lot of racing fans who hold a special, if not top, place for Grand Prix in their lists of favourite films.

If you are a car racing fan, you'll love this movie automatically. If you are a cinephile, you will appreciate it technically. If you are a writer, you will spit on the script. No matter.

"Titanic" wasn't about that pathetic love triangle story. It was a vehicle to get you into the night the great ship was lost. Grand Prix uses a relatively lame storyline about the private lives of the drivers to get you into their circle. I think it's all just a part of putting the audience into the car.

And I DO mean the car. Not a green screen half car and a CGI effect. A car. Several cars. At high speed, with cameras mounted and actors trained to actually drive them. No phony backgrounds projected. Watch NASCAR or INDY coverage on the SPEED Channel any weekend and you will see on-board shots from vidcams in real time. We're used to that now. Prior to "Grand Prix", there was NO such thing. Grand Prix stands with "Bullitt" and "The French Connection" as the greatest "cut to the chase" movies of all time.

Nothing is done like this any more. If you want to see the masters at work, rent these movies. This is pure analog fun at it's best, and it just doesn't get better with the switch to digits, because the thrill leaves along with the risk factor.

So tolerate the maudlin romantic claptrap. Laugh as you watch some of the stars of Formula 1 racing standing around grimacing into the camera at the infidelities of the British driver's wife (it is a riot), but stand and applaud in awe at the astounding achievement of John Frankenheimer and company at shooting a fictional Grand Prix season against the background of an actual Grand Prix season. It is awesome and worthy of your viewing time, even though the basic story falls short of Oscar caliber scripting.

Without a doubt, the greatest motor racing movie of all time! Steve McQueen's Le Mans doesn't come close. The storyline is OK but where this movie excels is in the groundbreaking cinematography. The shots of the old tracks particularly Spa and Monza are truly superb. Ever wanted to know what it's like to blast along the Masta straight down to Stavelot at Spa, you'll see it here. Want to know what driving on the steep Monza banking was like at 160+ mph, you'll see it here with in car footage. On top of that you've got circuits like Zandvoort in Holland which is not used for today's F1. These were the days when drivers partied the night before and after the race, when the sport was glamorous and exciting. The soundtrack is also brilliant. When oh when will we get the DVD version?

This movie simply put, is the greatest racing film of all time. Filmed during F1's glory days of the 1960's. I saw it a the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood in 1967 when I was 7 years old. My brother and I made our father take us back several time more, and to this day it's wonderful action sequences and amazing score (by Maurice Jarre) have never left my top 5 list. It was filmed in Super Panavision (a format log gone because of cost), ULTRA wide screen. The lives and loves of 4 drivers are followed during the Grand Prix season, with authentic racing scenes, fantastic locations (especially Monza's old bank turns & Spa's road circuit) and a good story line. Eva Marie Saint & Jessica Walter are great.

Nothing ever attemped since has even come close. Drivin is a pathetic joke next to it.

Just waiting for the DVD to come out!