Grand Prix DVD
Discussion
Arrived on my doorstep yesterday, a couple of days before release so that was a pleasant surprise!
Well I've had a look at the special features and played a few of the race sequences from the film (nice and loud
). I can wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone with an interest in either the film or motorsport. The film is remastered so looks and sounds wonderful, the race sequences are still stunning and stand up to today's footage. Not only that but much of the footage was filmed during the races themselves so makes for a great historical document, too.
The special features are not an afterthought, either - someone has gone to great effort and clearly has an interest in the subject matter. You have:
A making-of. Half an hour in length - would have been nice to double it's running time, there's plenty of material and stories to tell. But what impresses is that it features interviews with Garner (looking rather old these days), Frankenheimer (from 1998), Mrs Frankenheimer, a few of the surviving stars, then some of the drivers - Phil Hill, Bob Bondurant and Dan Gurney, for example. Plus Peter Windsor and Simon Taylor giving the fan's perspective. Best of all is some contemporary footage from Whicker's World, interviewing Frankenheimer about his 'forceful' style and a great scene where Garner is threatening to 'put out' a Monegasque shopkeeper who wants more money to shut down for the day!
A featurette on F1 in the sixties. Short but will cover a lot of familiar ground for fans. Worth it to hear from most of the drivers mentioned above plus Stirling Moss talking about how it was then. Again, journos are involved, the above two plus Matt Bishop and Mark Hughes so it's finely observed.
A featurette on Brands Hatch. Good piece, this - Johnathan Palmer talks us round the track, interspersed with footage from a FBMW test session and A1GP footage from last year (including that roll). You can see how the circuit has barely changed and it's veyr well done.
A featurette on the look and sound of the film. Explains the great work of Saul Bass, Maurice Jarre and how they replicated the engine sounds to go over the film footage of F3 cars. Good insight.
A contempory film on the production. Haven't seen all of this yet but very much in the style of 60s American documentaries - a bit dry but interesting all the same.
Plus there's a trailer and the obligatory "Don't drive fast" message.
All in all it's an excellent package and highly recommended. The only drawback is that the film is spread over two discs but since it was made in the Hollywood studio epic style (if you've seen the Spartacus DVD, you'll know), there's an Overture at the start and the changeover point happens at the interval, so it's not too bad.
Well I've had a look at the special features and played a few of the race sequences from the film (nice and loud
). I can wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone with an interest in either the film or motorsport. The film is remastered so looks and sounds wonderful, the race sequences are still stunning and stand up to today's footage. Not only that but much of the footage was filmed during the races themselves so makes for a great historical document, too. The special features are not an afterthought, either - someone has gone to great effort and clearly has an interest in the subject matter. You have:
A making-of. Half an hour in length - would have been nice to double it's running time, there's plenty of material and stories to tell. But what impresses is that it features interviews with Garner (looking rather old these days), Frankenheimer (from 1998), Mrs Frankenheimer, a few of the surviving stars, then some of the drivers - Phil Hill, Bob Bondurant and Dan Gurney, for example. Plus Peter Windsor and Simon Taylor giving the fan's perspective. Best of all is some contemporary footage from Whicker's World, interviewing Frankenheimer about his 'forceful' style and a great scene where Garner is threatening to 'put out' a Monegasque shopkeeper who wants more money to shut down for the day!
A featurette on F1 in the sixties. Short but will cover a lot of familiar ground for fans. Worth it to hear from most of the drivers mentioned above plus Stirling Moss talking about how it was then. Again, journos are involved, the above two plus Matt Bishop and Mark Hughes so it's finely observed.
A featurette on Brands Hatch. Good piece, this - Johnathan Palmer talks us round the track, interspersed with footage from a FBMW test session and A1GP footage from last year (including that roll). You can see how the circuit has barely changed and it's veyr well done.
A featurette on the look and sound of the film. Explains the great work of Saul Bass, Maurice Jarre and how they replicated the engine sounds to go over the film footage of F3 cars. Good insight.
A contempory film on the production. Haven't seen all of this yet but very much in the style of 60s American documentaries - a bit dry but interesting all the same.
Plus there's a trailer and the obligatory "Don't drive fast" message.
All in all it's an excellent package and highly recommended. The only drawback is that the film is spread over two discs but since it was made in the Hollywood studio epic style (if you've seen the Spartacus DVD, you'll know), there's an Overture at the start and the changeover point happens at the interval, so it's not too bad.
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