Le Mans ‘66, Ford vs. Ferrari - movie

[MikeT66]

It was touted a few years ago with Tom Cruise as the tall Carroll Shelby, before hitting funding issues.

Looks like a big screen version one of the great sporting rivalries is back though - with better casting.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1950186/

https://www.motorsport.com/lemans/news/damon-bale-...

https://variety.com/2018/film/news/james-mangold-n...

Brilliant!

[MikeT66]

Really looking forward to this - even though some of the recognised story will probably be embellished and other parts reduced. It's a film, after all.

Motor Sport magazine have joined in the celebration too this month with a superb main article on Ken Miles and the GT40 story.- well worth looking out for.

[MikeT66]

MissChief said:

P5BNij said:

Compression and stretching of timelines is common in films based on true events, another example is 'The Krays' from 1990, watching it you'd think they killed George Cornell and Jack McVitie just hours apart, in reality it was several months.

Back to LM '66, were any real GT40s used or were they replicas / continuation cars from (say) Superformance…?

I believe any cars that moved or were shot on track were Superformance replicas but some of the stationary cars were the real deal.

Yes, that's what I read, too.

Finally got around to seeing this at my local Everyman cinema yesterday. Both looking forward to it ever since the original Cruise/Pitt film was planned, and yet also dreading it in case it was terrible.

Having numerous books about that whole racing period (luckliy some original prints from the late 60's, too) I had a good idea of the timeline, and I think that can be too distracting sometimes - so you end up almost suspending belief on the understanding that you are watching a movie, not a documentary - like for the film Rush.

Anyway, the film. Yes, there were some obvious errors (James Bond in Iacocca's slide show, Miles being left behind in the US in 1965 (when he did race alongside McLaren), and I thought having Enzo at the track was a plot mistake in that it would have shown better with him sat alone in his office in Modena waiting for the news, as a counterpoint to Henry Ford II being at the race.

Some mentions of Phil Remington and even Roy Lunn (all too briefly, IMHO), but as suspected no mention of Broadley or Wyer (as much the king of the GT40 as Shelby, really).

I thought it was a bloody great film (as did Mrs.T66 - she absolutely loved it). So glad I saw it on the big screen to get the full effect. And I thought Bale and Damon were excellent, actually. 9 Le Mans wins out of 10 - one deducted because of timeline errors that bug me, even though I know it's a film and not a bloody documentary.

Edited to add...

I also liked the fact they got Alex Gurney to play his dad Dan, Jeff Bucknam playing his dad Ronnie, and Alex Hill (Phil Hill's son) was involved.

I thought the 'film treatment' in the muted soft glow was superb in the early Califonia scenes, and the street shots of 60s LA were brilliant. How bloody good does Shelby's black Cobra look and sound!

Edited by MikeT66 on Saturday 23 November 07:55

[MikeT66]

unsprung said:

Alongside the story on the big screen, there's been a wave of interest in Ken Miles, the man. The following is but a partial sample. Each is only from the last 30 days:

"I liked very much that Ken isn't that sort of manly man image"
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/showbiz-tv/w...

"He replicated Miles's test, right down to lap speeds and time of day."
https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/28057564/ford...

"among the Americans, Ken earned the nicknames Teddy Teabag and Sidebite."
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/10349767/le-...

"a sarcastic bd who would race his grandmother to the breakfast table"
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/le-mans-66-bri...

"the Flying Shingle, undoubtedly the most exciting special ever to appear in West Coast racing"
https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a29790086...

"He really did move to Hollywood and ingratiate himself with Southern California’s hot-rodding racing scene."
https://slate.com/culture/2019/11/ford-v-ferrari-f...

unsprung said:

For those who may have questions about the authenticity of the Ken Miles portrayed by Christian Bale... Or if you're just curious...

"I gave Christian Bale info about my dad from press clippings and magazine articles, and I showed him personal photos and shared audio recordings with him. Bale was looking to remain as faithful as possible to my father."

- - - Peter Miles, son of Mollie and Ken Miles

emphasis mine; article here
https://www.lemans.org/app_dev.php/en/news/le-mans...

Some great links there, unsprung - thanks for posting them.

Interesting how actors approach roles. I remember reading that for Rush Daniel Brühl had many meetings with Lauda to understand the man... yet Chris Hemsworth apparently showed no interest in meeting any of Hunt's family or learning about his background other than the media portrayal. Bale's approach doesn't surprise me at all, having read about his preparation for previous film roles.

[MikeT66]

JustALooseScrew said:

Interesting thread!

... it was beautifully shot, the sound track was excellent and we laughed out loud to many of the Ken Miles bits and agreed he seemed a bit like Guy Martin.

'No.... he can get his own fizzy pop' after the scrap out side his house was brilliant.

Plenty of roller coaster emotions portrayed and to be honest I really don't care how 'technically correct' it was - it was just a window into the lives of these people and that time in history.

Brilliant and worth every penny spent to watch it.

(I'd go and see it again tonight but sadly it is finished now at our local cinema.)

100%.

Petrolhead entertainment for me (and Mrs.T66).

[MikeT66]

BenLowden said:

Finally got around to going to see this last night and loved it. Was great to bring the characters and story to life after reading 'Go Like Hell' a few years ago before my first trip to Le Mans. Just a little disappointed that there was nothing on the development of the GT40 in Blighty, but 2 1/2 hours was long enough!

I'm expecting a bumper turn out at Le Mans Classic now next year – how could you not want to go after watching that film?!

DVD is out early next year. It will be the first film I've bought in years - and I'll certainly be watching it prior to heading off to the Goodwood Revival.

BenLowden said:

... but 2 1/2 hours was long enough!

I wanted at least 6 hours!