McQueen's Le Mans: Time For Tea?
Still not convinced by hybrids? Indulge in some 12-cylinder LM nostaligia courtesy of S. McQueen
Everyone has seen Bullitt, probably more than a few times now. Le Mans is a little less known but perhaps even more memorable for petrolheads. As Porsche racer Michael Delaney, McQueen takes on the Ferrari 512s in a Gulf 917. The whole film is pretty spectacular, with even the backmarkers in beautiful early 911s and the like. There's the odd Matra or two to spot moreover.
If you haven't seen the film, you really must. The cars truly are the stars due to McQueen's commitment to make a proper car film and covering Le Mans in detail. That one of the coolest actors ever known is involved just makes it that bit better. Of course there's a Hollywood sheen to Le Mans but it doesn't detract from the enjoyment too far. This little clip will give you a good impression of the film, with absolutely no dialogue and plenty of screaming prototype racers. It's fabulous.
[Pic: LAT]
what is great is some of the rare metal in the background ....like at 1.41 there is a white porsche 914 -6 ...this was a rather standard car that came home 1st in class ...but a amazing 6th or 7th overall ...against porsche , ferrari prototypes and full on racers !
leMans 2014 ........cant wait !
From the opening shot of McQueen in a 911 arriving at the track, to the climatic 917 vs 512 duel, the love of the cars shines through. The plot is rubbish, but who needs plot when you have hours of footage from the 1970 race? Semi-documentary, it is a unique time capsule of the best time in Le Mans' long history. It's a film that could never be made today.
From the opening shot of McQueen in a 911 arriving at the track, to the climatic 917 vs 512 duel, the love of the cars shines through. The plot is rubbish, but who needs plot when you have hours of footage from the 1970 race? Semi-documentary, it is a unique time capsule of the best time in Le Mans' long history. It's a film that could never be made today.
I fired up the log burner, put the kettle on, and put Le mans DVD on pause at the start ready for the cuppa, and warmth of the fire, then hit play............bliss!
A film I could watch over and over and never tire of, a true classic that seems to get better as time goes by.
Same for The Italian Job (1969) I never tire of it.
http://www.europeanlemansseries.com/ml/images/cont...
Yeah, the story is wafer thin, but it is the bare minimum required to string the race footage together. No other car film does such a great job of putting the cars front and center in my opinion. Best of all none of the film is ruined by CG as, when they made Le Mans, is wasn't an option! It was either filmed for real or didn't get put in the film at all.
As has been said above it is a snap shot of time and a film that simply wouldn't/couldn't be made today.
Which leads to when as a marshal at the FoS one year in the late 90's while waiting to push out onto the track some of the Lemans racers that were parked in front of the house, I was able to engage messers Bell and Redmond in a quick conversation about McQueen and their role in the making the film. It was memorable 5-6 mins for me.
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