Faster

Rating:
Summary: Faster, if you want to understanding racing
Review: Hands down, the best documentary I've ever seen (regardless of subject) is Mark Neale's "Faster." The subtitle is "Two wheels. 200MPH. Every man for himself." That pretty much tells the story of what this movie's subject matter might be. However, the real story is the people who ride, maintain, and write about these machines and riders.

Neale incorporates the current war on wheels between kid-phenom Valentino Rossi and his near enemy, rival, Max Biaggi, as a vehicle for examining how vicious and unreal the battle at 200mph can be when it's done at a world class level. As a side show, riders like Gary McCoy and John Hopkins demonstrate the character traits/flaws that create super riders in the world's most dangerous sport.

The incredible insight offered by past-greats, Mick Doohan, Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Rainey, Kenny Roberts and Barry Sheene, provides something between sports commentary, personal insight, and some of the funniest dry humor ever put on screen.

I've watched "Faster" a half-dozen times and I still get something new from on each viewing. I own very few videos, but this one is an absolue necessity for anyone who drives ANYTHING and can imagine motorsports as "sport."

Rating:
Summary: Great Flick!
Review: I love this movie! Nice behind the scenes look at motoGP. Nice history lesson too. The footage is cool, and the commentary was great. This one gathers very little dust in my collection.

Rating:
Summary: The finest motorcycle documentary in 30 years
Review: I purchased the pre-release version, which only contains the first documentary, so I can't address the second season. I really enjoyed this film, and when a fellow rider and I viewed it with his non-riding wife, she liked it as well.

This film portrays riding at the higest levels in a quite balanced way. While the dangers are certainly not ignored, and in fact addressed regularly throughout, neither does it become a documentary about extremely painful injuries. The danger serves to underline how special the men who ride MotoGP (the current Superstar series) really are. To race again after some of the injuries these men have suffered is nothing less than heroic.

The video quality is good, and serves to capture the beauty of a motorcycle race - like a brutal ballet. Oh, the things these men can do with a motorcycle! This film is really one form of art capturing the essence of another. Ewan Mcgreggor's voice over is very good, well written and delivered, as one would expect. For some reason, it would sound odd to to me for an American accent narrating MotoGP.

I agree with an earlier reviewer that it was a little unkind to Max Biaggi, with a lot of emphasis placed on the Rossi/Biaggi rivalry. Biaggi is very good, but NOBODY is as good as Rossi, so anyone suffers by comparison. I also thought the focus on Gary McCoy was a little less interesting than the rest of the film, but of course, the filmakers had no idea of how the season would turn out when they shot the footage, and showing the flip side of Rossi's mastery only serves to highlight his brilliance. My only other criticism was that interviews were generally done in cars. It may be difficult to get time with these riders, but inside a vehicle is not the perfect place for an interview. A minor complaint, particularly considering the pleasure of hearing Barry Sheene, Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Raney, Kenny Roberts and other truly great riders discuss what many consider the ultimate sport, and critique todays great riders.

After writing this review, I decided to change my rating from 4 stars to 5. The film may have some minor flaws, but it is the best motorcycle film in my lifetime, and one of the greatest ever.

Rating:
Summary: Motorcycle racing at its best
Review: If you have an addiction to speed, this is the must own DVD. This is REAL racing, not the go around in circles NASCAR. MotoGP racing is the Formula 1 Racing of the Motorcycle world!

Rating:
Summary: Everything you hoped it would be.
Review: If you're into motorcycle roadracing and haven't been living under a rock, then you've heard about "Faster" by now. It naturally draws all of the inevitable comparisons to the immortal "On Any Sunday," though its singular focus, effective editing, and engrossing backstory development make this the definitive roadracing movie. Like O.A.S., it has a beautiful knack of presenting the material in a manner that both interests and educates those with little prior knowledge of the subject while still including everything necessary to keep the most hardcore roadracing afficionado hooked. If you're reading this review, then you already want it. I'm here to tell you to cough up the cash and buy a copy. You won't be dissappointed.

See you at Seca in July!!!
- CC Hausman

Rating:
Summary: Check This One Out
Review: In a sport virtually unknown to most Americans Faster brings understanding, drama, and fierce action to all. Focusing on the 2001 season and the top riders in that year. Rossi, Biaggi, and McCoy. All who ride this sport are hero's, some are just better then others. I felt the film as a little too hard on Biaggi, making him out to be a prima donna. Biaggi is an extremely talented rider just a notch below Rossi, who has the distinction of being better then everyone. The film also highlights some of the early rivalries like Sheene (May he rest in peace) / Roberts, Rainey / Schwantz, and Doohan / Schwantz. Fun will be had by all. Five stars.

Rating:
Summary: Inside the world of Moto GP
Review: Moto GP is a world lesser known to most Americans - the exception of course are American motorcycle racing fans. In Europe, especially Italy and Spain, Moto GP is wildly popular. This is true for Japan as well. What I like about the video is the objective almost analytical insight it provides into the cloistered and exotic world of 28 superior riders - the world's best - where speeds on the track are routinely over 200 mph.

The latest release includes interviews with the sport's former champions including Barry Sheene, Mick Doohan, Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz as well as current champions. The interviews help you to understand the fierce competitive nature of the pilots and also the vast sums of money to finance the sport. I found the interviews fascinating as it gives you the human side of the sport (80% rider & 20% machine), a chance to compare the rider's very different personalities and their view of the sport as a whole. Barry Sheene, for example, liked " the crumpet."

I enjoy competitive motorsport and I found that the video is one I can watch again and again and still learn something new and interesting about Moto GP each time I watch it. Non-race fans will enjoy it too although obviously not to the same extent as enthusiasts. If you are interested in learning more about Moto GP you will enjoy this video.

Rating:
Summary: 2005 is going to be terrific!
Review: They're nothing else like it on earth! If you're interested in MotoGP, the most elite road racing series in the world, this dvd is the bible. Beautifully narrated by Ewing McGregor, the rest of the world's 2nd most loved sport, behind futbol ofcourse, we are guided through the nitty gritty world of factory backed MotoGP.

In the world of MotoGP, 2004 was one of the most historically profound seasons ever. Most of you will already know because Valentino Rossi moved from the tried and true Honda to the inferior Yamaha, just to prove a point. That it's 80% rider and 20% bike. When Vale took home the 2nd MotoGP championship in '03 on a Honda, Honda started getting big headed. Implying that with their machine, good racers will become great racers. Vale could only take so much. He decided to move to the big underdog known as Yamaha for '04. During his previous battles on the Honda, great riders such as Max Biaggi would whine about how if he only had a Honda to ride, he could win. Vale went to Yamaha with his chief mechanic Jeremy Burguess to ride in the greatest epic journey in history.

And against all odds, against everybodies doubts, and against great advisaries, Valentino Rossi took his 3rd MotoGP championship in a row. On a different bike. On a bike that even he thought at the beginning of the season, wouldn't even be competitive for two years. We are living in an era that'll forever be written in MotoGP history.

For 2005, MotoGP will come to U.S. soil. July 10th, the madness will reign here at Laguna Seca. Yamaha has donated more than $2-million to rennovate the track for MotoGP standards. Tickets are almost sold out.

And that brings me back to Faster. With the purchase of Faster, you'll receive Faster and Faster. Faster (part 1) starts with MotoGP still racing 500cc two-strokes from 2001-2002. Faster and Faster (part 2) will start with the end of the two-stroke era and leads into a grid full of the much faster four-strokes.

The Faster collection is an essential prequel to the much anticipated 2005 season. The dvd is a must own in any motorcycle enthusiast's archive.

To step into the world of MotoGP you can visit www.MotoGP.com, www.fanclubvalentinorossi.com, www.ceracing.com, www.nickyhayden.com

Rating:
Summary: Great Documentary
Review: This is what motorcycle racing is all about. Probably the best documentary I've seen on the sport.

The first DVD focuses on the 01-02 seasons while the second focuses on the 03 season.

Get up close and personal with your favorite riders. I highly recommend this for any motorcycle racing fans.

Rating:
Summary: The Battle for Speed
Review: This movie is to the MotoGP world what "On Any Sunday" was to the weekend rider. It captures the extraordinary golden age we are witnessing in top-level motorcycle racing. The movie starts with the last season of the monster, high-siding 2-stoke beasts through the raw power of the new 4-stoke era. The top riders, Biaggi, Gibernau, Edwards, Hodgson, Capirossi and of course, the incomparable Valentino Rossi are all profiled along with their bikes: RCV211, the M-1 and the Desomosedici. The movie rounds out the cast with insightful perspective from Michael Scott, Wayne Rainey (you would be hard pressed for a more admirable profile in courage of this man, crippled by a deceptively graceful low side crash), Kevin Schwartz and Barry Sheene.

If all this sounds too technical, the human story comes through extraordinarily well. The racing is incredibly close, with riders often passing each other three times in the same corner. And there is a supporting cast of characters the like of which you could not invent: the lady mechanic who has to piece together the crash prone Haga's bikes, the Rosencrantz/Gilderstein banter of the Red Bull pit crew, the cod philosophy of the famous Dr Costa who pieces these warriors back together and the underplayed melancholy of the unfortunate Kato's fatal crash.

For any 2 wheeled fan or rider this DVD stands next to your "On Any Sunday". Like its famous predecessor, the narration is calm and pointed (thank you Obi Wan) and the film makers keep a low profile, letting the players speak for themselves. For anyone interested in an adrenalin paced, gladiatorial sport this is a great insight into one of the toughest around. And remember, MotoGP comes to the USA in 2005 for the first time in 10 years and most of the cast will be there. Buy it.