Not the best McQueen vehicle, but serviceable if you enjoy auto racing. McQueen loved auto racing, and this was done primarily for him. He was actually a good racer in real life, and could have chosen that as a profession if he'd wanted to. The race scenes are done well, but character development is lacking.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
50 years after its release, LeMans stands up for racing fans as the best movie ever made about racing. It's short on dialog, but the racing sequences are the best ever filmed. Non-racing fans may not be enamoured with the file, but it is a MUST SEE for any racing fan. Amazingly, after half a century, the cars and racing still seem timely. In 1970, a movie about racing showing cars from 1920 would have been laughable. But not so with Steve McQueen's pet project. The Porsche 917s and Ferrari 512s look like they could race in this year's LeMans race Five best racing movies ever: 1. LeMans 2. Ford vs. Ferrari 3. Grand Prix 4. Rush 5. Last American Hero
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Le Mans is an excellent film, and quite correctly has been called the greatest racing film ever made. I purchased Le Mans because I am interested in the racing cars of that period. Nevertheless, this film is about more than just cars. Racing was undergoing a transition at that time (late-60s/early-70s) and the cars and the sport still had a spirit of individuality about them that is missing from today's racing. The Porsche 917K and the Ferrari 512S long tail are, in my opinion, the most exciting racing cars ever produced. With these two models Porsche and Ferrari had "maxed out" on the frontiers of brute power and good looks. In the wake of these machines, the science and the organization of motor racing was overtaken by safety, technology and bureaucracy. Auto racing lost much of the human element. Not only individual drivers, but racing teams themselves became obscured behind a patchwork of corporate logos, stickers and emblems. The spectacle of national colors in auto racing--British in green, Italian in Red, French in blue, etc.--would be replaced by the colors of multinational corporations; for example, Porsche in the orange and blue of Gulf Oil, as seen in the film. I think it's rather sad to see the greatest car in racing history painted in the colors of a gas station sign, although people have argued (and perhaps correctly) that the Porsche 917 looks very handsome in those colors. British driver Graham Hill was a significant pioneer of this transformation in auto racing finance, and those interested in pursuing this theme should begin with a review his career. Meanwhile, as the seventies wore on the cars would become billboards, and the new commercial attitude took over the sport, eventually transforming auto racing into the vulgar corporate circus represented by NASCAR and F-1 today. The film subtly documents some of the elements of the emerging corporate mindset: Steve McQueen sacrificing a first place win so that the "Gulf-Porsche" team takes first and second place, rather than taking first himself, which would have resulted in a second place for Ferrari. But of course we don't watch this film to study corporate history, but rather to enjoy at the great cars. --Carter Kaplan www.carterkaplan.blogspot.comRead full review
What more can be said about this 1971 Motor Racing Classic that hasn't already been written? What more can be said about the late Steve McQueen's ability to dominate the screen with his signature understated delivery and subtle acting skills, when combined bring a to the viewer the truest example of the over-used word, LEGEND. Mcqueen's love of motorsports is as well know as his active participation in these events. He wasn't just an actor playing a race driver. He WAS a race driver who who just happened to be a great actor. His participation in the 24 Hours event along with his motorcycle racing, usually under ridiculous aliases, bears this out. To my thinking, LeMans was the best of Steve's movies which featured a racing theme. The photography and cinematography, while being the types which easily lend to dating the film to that late 60's/early 70's era, are nonetheless beautiful and add a tremendous contrast to the frenetic activity of motor racing. The use of fast zoom and out-of-focus effects add to this. Even the mandatory female love-interest in the form of a late competitor's widow is, like everything in this movie, not overdone or shoved down the viewer's throat but rather, develops out of a mutual love and admiration of the sport. It's a movie about racing first and the people whose lives are affected by it second. Like the planets revolving around the sun, it's racing that brings the characters into orbit around it. Not the other way around. Even Steve's silent response along with that trademark slight, confident smile when thanked for winning the race by the team manager add to the point: Racing is life. Everything else is merely waiting for participation in the next event. A MUST HAVE for any McQueen fan. A MUST HAVE for any race fan. Having this on DVD is just icing on a very tall cake.Read full review
Love this movie. Great action and filming. The movie was done on location. Cars are super too. Anyone who likes this kind of motorsport will like this movie. It is history at its best. Thanks for the great show. Sincerely, Rick L.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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