Le Mans

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie of a Bygone Era In Racing, Despite Weak Plot
Review: I first saw Lemans on the big screen back in 1971 - actually at a drive-in - and recently saw a 30-minute documentary on its making, co-hosted by Steve McQueen's son. The film is timeless and the racing sequences are as exciting today as they were then, considering the technology of the time. The cars, too, speak volumes of that particular era of racing, when the sport was still a sport and not the technology it is today, where he with the most money usually wins.

Over a million feet of film were shot during the actual race (a 24-hour endurance marathon that familiar names such as Foyt and Andretti have won), but Hollywood was concerned that, despite Steve McQueen's desire to film the consummate racing movie, there was no script. Indeed, the semblance of a romance thrown in is thin, but again, at least for the purists, the racing sequences make up for the lack of a solid, well-defined plot.

Four stars for the cinematography, two stars for the storyline.

Rating:
Summary: Le Mans
Review: One of the best racing/car movies of all time. It was the first movie to extensively use in-car footage. I must have seen it a dozen times when it came out. +'s: Great racing footage, gets inside racers minds (like Steve's famous line, "Racing is life. Everything else in-between is just waiting." Like Top Gun, you'll find yourself skipping the plot line just to see the racing of the great Porsche 917's and Ferrari 512's. Steve McQueen loved speed and it shows throughout the movie. -'s Like most racing movies, the plot is pretty lame. But who cares about a plot when it's a great racing movie.

Rating:
Summary: LeMans - the best
Review: I think Steve McQueen's film LEMANS is the best film about motorsport ever made! I love it really very much!

Rating:
Summary: Best Year at Le Mans
Review: Not only is this one of the greatest car races, it just happens to be filmed durning the most important climax in Porcshe automotive history.
Porsche had been working on winning the World Championship and had been focusing on making the ulimate race car. The 908s just did not have what it takes against the big Ford GT40s, but when the rules changes to 5 liters - Porsche had been working on the 917 which would rule over the next couple of years.
Steve McQueen was at the right place at the right time. He was heavily into racing and was about to race in the Le Mans in a Porsche 908. He had just finished the 12hrs at Seabring, in second place - just barely losing to Mario Andretti in the Ferrari 512, which was meant to compete with the 917. Steve shocked the motor world with his placing in Seabring. He was not the typical actor to race driver - it was more the other way around.
That year (1970) the film company refused to let him race again, even though LeMans was his dream.
But most amazingly, Steve did what no other person had done before. The movie of LeMans is almost all actual footage of the 1970 LeMans race.
Steve had a Porsche 908 entered in the race with a front and rear film cameras mounted onto the car. It was an officail race entry. What is even more amazing the 908 camera car finished 8th overall - it had completed the race, while having to make twice as many stops to reload film.
After filming 24hrs of car footage from the race - almost all in car. Steve had to rap a movie around it. He kept it a pure race movie. The whole movie is the race, except for 10 minutes in the begining. Other then the GT40 of Jackie Ickx beating the 908 of Hermann in 1969 by a matter of seconds, only does the movie Le Mans have an equally exciting finish.
I have seen several Le Mans Races on TV and video and I actually went last year to see the Audis take it again (2001), but except for the 1999 LeMans (Mercedes flipping) the movie Le Mans captures the excitment and a bit of important history.
This movie could also be called GULF 917 vs Ferrari 512!
If you are a Porsche fan, a sports car history buff, Le Mans fan, or just like car racing - this is it.
(If you are into auto racing - specially the pinicle years of 69 - 73 check out the movie "The Speed Merchants" it is hosted by Mario and Elford - it covers the 72 Sports Car Championship, and has LeMans, Targa Florio, Seabring and more - more of a documentary. Also check out these books: "French Kiss of Death", "917 the winning years", and "The Unfair Advantage".

Now go and watch Le Mans!

Rating:
Summary: Le Mans
Review: Hey it might be light on story-line & dialogue but the on-board camera work plus those magical sounds,to me,are what make this movie something really special.After all the years since this movie was made,I'm finding it pretty hard to recall another movie on racing that comes even close to this classic.

Rating:
Summary: Stunning action and realism
Review: Fantastic if you are a motor racing fan, especially if you love Porsches. Probably my all time favourite film which shows McQueen's passion for racing and his desire for realism. From the first sight of his road going 911 'til the credits, I'm sure I don't blink sometimes.

Rating:
Summary: Music to an enthusiat's ears
Review: If you love endurance racing, this movie is for you. You will love the sound of McQueen heel-toe rev-matching his Porsche as he enters Le Mans front straight, and the Ferrari just screams.

I like this movie because it concentrates on what I really bought it for; the cars. I didn't buy it for McQueen's mug, or their plot line. I bought it to drool over the cars. It's kind of the same way I watch "Ronin" for the car chases.

I just wish they would release this on DVD. I would love to crank this on a DTS or Dolby system and listen to the cars scream by.

If you love the cars, buy it. If you're looking for a good plot, move along.

Rating:
Summary: Best movie ever created.
Review: There is no other movie that comes close to this. To enjoy this movie you have to have a love for the cars and the race itself. I went into the video store with 20 bux. The blue and orange gulf Porsche 917k on the cover struck my eye. I grabbed this and it was the best 15 dollars I have ever spent in my life. This is my favorite movie and since the day I bought it I watched it probably 25 times. Sometimes more than once a week. You can't get enough of the dueling Porsche 917k and Ferrari 512 of the 70s. I bought this movie before I could even drive and I've watched this with a few friends and they don't know what they are even looking at, a true example of how much of a fan you have to be to enjoy it.

Set in 1970, they year of the rain and Porsche's first overall win at the 24hrs. The main car in this movie is the Porsche 917k sponsored by Gulf with their trademark baby blue and orange paint scheme. The 917 was considered by many as the greatest racecar of all time with it's domination in the early 70s. Ferrari tried so hard but Porsche=Racing so you know who wins. What's great about this movie is it's not the cliche racing movie where you know who wins at the end. ...

Rating:
Summary: The Best Ever Racing Movie? Yes.
Review: For the true race car enthusiast, LeMans, after more than 30 years remains the most realistic racing movie ever made. Steve McQueen was a true sports car enthusiast and a racer himself, and he hired director John Frankenheimer to film him (Steve) in the world's most important sports car race -The 24 Hours of LeMans. Real factory race cars from Porsche and Ferrari were used to make the movie, and cameras were mounted in the cars during the race for much of the movie footage. The action was real, the crowds, the location.

The only thing lacking was a story, an afterthought hastily written after the movie was halfway through production. But still, much better than the scripts in more recent films like "Days of Thunder" and "Driven" where we are led to believe an inexperienced rookie (Tom Cruise) and a washed-up has been (Sly Stalone) can roll onto a race track without practice, break the track records, stick quarters to their tires at 160 mph, start CART race cars without starters and race through downtown Chicago at night without lights and not draw the attention of police, and then go out and beat the established champs in the race the next day.

Another old movie like LeMans, "Grand Prix" with James Garner was good. Real tracks like Monaco, real drivers in the background scenes, but the cars were mocked-up Formula 3 cars -not Formula 1, and you could tell. Get LeMans, and get Steve McQueen's "Bullet" for the epic streets of San Frabncisco car chase scene, one of the best chase scene ever (now only recently relegated to 2nd place by the chase scene in "Ronan").

Rating:
Summary: Great Race Action Movie
Review: I saw this movie as a kid and feel in love with it then. Spent most of my adult life trying to find it. One of the "great" race movies ever... even the stunts were great! Well worth the $($$$)!