Ford vs. Ferrari movie poster and Trailer now added

[kenb]

Watched it myself yesterday with the lad at the local cinema 6.50 each.

Look at this way, Ford beats Ferrari, no stupid two men after the same woman storyline. Whats not to like ?

[strikey]

I'm guessing it wont be a big hit in italy?!! :-)

[Deleted]

Nov 16, 2019 22:58:40 GMT scimjim said:

Nov 16, 2019 22:45:00 GMT @thousandwords said:

Don't understand all the gripes about them not making a bigger point about the base car being a British built car.

Superficially it doesn’t matter at all, it’s still a good story - in the same way that U-571 is a good film, showing how the Americans captured the first Enigma machine.

Actually nothing like it at all. U-571 quite clearly took extreme liberties with historical facts to tell a fictionalised account of the capture.

Le Mans 66 tells the story of the relationship between Shelby and Miles, and what they achieved by working with the Lola as a starting point, but reworking the car substantially, as well as changing the entire powertrain. The Lola hadnt finished Le Mans previously, and a Lola never won at Le Mans since. So I think the line "the car has arrived from England" near the start of the movie is sufficient a nod for the purposes of the story they are telling. It doesnt tell any lies, it merely avoids spending time in a damp shed in England that would be tangential to the story being told, because it focuses on two men as the catalyst for plot progression not the technical aspects of developing a car.

If U-571 was a comparable example then Ken Miles would have been presented as an American not a brummy, and he'd have started the film racing a Corvette not an MG, and the film would have suggested they started the GT40 program entirely from scratch in America. It did none of these things. So I'm not sure what glory has been cruelly snatched from poor old Blighty's trophy cabinet on this occasion.

[surprisingskoda]

Went and saw it last night with a couple of buds, and yes got done for £15 each for VIP tickets + a fiver to upgrade us all to larger cokes.
I do like the way VIP includes a free latte or hot chocolate though. And while the VIP seats are so wide you can't chat to the person beside you, that's also the way I like to watch a film, undisturbed, so it's got it's plus points.

Also managed to pick up a couple of advertising posters in the foyer afterwards for a donation to charity. Landscape version of the post#1 poster.

There were only half a dozen people in the theater.


The film itself I enjoyed, although, yes, there were a lot of Americanisms. But it wasn't desperately inaccurate. I felt it just lacked that final edge - like, it was a good film, but it didn't stir you up enough. No really intense moments, no parts that riled up the anger or anything unjust or heroic enough to move you. Considering we'd talked in the car on the way there about how the very best films are ones that provoke an emotional response through relatable characters, this showed the lack of that at the cutting edge. And there were opportunities for it - with Beebe, with Ford, with Ferrari (the people). Even Shelby talking about Miles at the end - nobody ever cracked. Nobody ever punched a wall in frustration. It was totally washed over that it took a year of work and the first year ('65) at LeMans was a failure.
From a car-person point of view, there wasn't just quite enough shown on the development side. Some generic shots of workbenches and unnamed staff, and a few scenes of driving around the test track, and it was ready to race. Similarly the car arriving from England - well, it was driving at this stage, and it seemed hugely anti-climatic - Yes, yee-haw, lets build a car to go racing, Ford doesn't do racing but we're going to make one, Let's Go! - oh, here's one we've already built, please put a spoiler on it and pick some drivers. Totally made no sense in the flow of the film and anyone not familiar or interested in cars will totally not understand what the difference is between that Lola car and the MkII that won the '66, or indeed, what they were supposedly doing for a year.
I feel that is all an editorial problem though, in terms of where to focus, length also; perhaps a directoral issue in not coaxing the emotive response out of the actors or allowing the scenes to take their time and sink in. The actors though were decent - Bale was excellent, Damon OK (I do like his stuff, but this didn't draw on his acting ability at all); Jupe & Balfe as Miles' son and wife definitely stole every scene they were in though.

It's hitting very high scores on critic reviews and rightly so. Is it as good for the petrolhead as some of the more documentary type productions mentioned in this thread already? No. Is it worth watching for car-related entertainment? Very much so.

[Deleted]

They ought to release a British re-edit on bluray with random caption cards saying "Meanwhile in England..." followed by choice scenes from the Wallace & Gromit archives...

[morrisoxide]

Nov 16, 2019 22:02:38 GMT stealthstylz said:

Not been yet. Gonna go on Tuesday if you fancy it be better than Karen moaning at a boring car film for 2 1/2 hours lol

I'll wind up doing the same as I always do. I'll take a mental note to buy said film on DVD and then forget what I was supposed to buy.

However I did buy the Senna film but it's still in the cellophane wrapper. Call around whenever you want, you know where I am.

[The Rascal King]

I saw it Saturday, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. A few anachronisms (anybody else catch the billet wheels?) and several obvious replica cars (as expected, but more obvious than I would have thought) but that's just fodder for the anoraks, it's not a documentary. The soundtrack (even with the superfluous shifts) alone is worth the price of entry. Most importantly (for me) was that the not-really-car-oriented family really enjoyed it too, and came home wanting to know more about the real story...

Two thumbs up from me.

[mrbounce]

I saw it last night and bar some minor goofs and standard Hollywood historical tinkering (Miles was driving at the 65 race, not in the garage), I thought it was a good way to spend a couple of hours.

Plus LOUD V8 at the cinema!! 😁

[Deleted]

I think the biggest misdirection proffered (in pursuit of a storyline that everyone can make sense of without reams of exposition) is the fact that it was made to look like Ferrari played Ford to secure a decent deal from Fiat. They presented that as a direct bounce, yet years passed before Fiat negotiated a stake in Ferrari as far as I recall.

[mr2fc]

Taking one of the kids I work with to see it tonight. In preparation he has watched a documentary on YouTube about the history behind it. On his return from school, in his excitement he's telling me about "Cheryl Colby"?

I had to smile!

[ProjectBobcat]

I went to see it last weekend, very enjoyable film. Much better than the usual guff that passes as mainstream car related entertainment. Now let's have a GT40 or 2

[mr2fc]

Quite enjoyed it, certainly watchable.

Lad I took didn't say a word all the way through, which is amazing, however he spent the half hour walk home discussing owning his own racing team.

[mr2fc]

Did anyone else think Christian Bale was like a cross between a Simon Day Fast Show character (I'm trying to remember which...) and Tommy Saxondale?

[kenb]

Nov 21, 2019 0:05:36 GMT mr2fc said:

Did anyone else think Christian Bale was like a cross between a Simon Day Fast Show character (I'm trying to remember which...) and Tommy Saxondale?

Well oddly his performance at the time reminded me of "Ken" (Michael Palin) in A Fish Called Wanda... minus the stutter but the mannerisms etc were all there!!

[strikey]

one thing that did strike me about it was how slow some of the "high speed" scenes looked. i think they really underplayed this element of the dramatization.

[retrolegends]

Just got back from watching this with my son, only £12 at the Odeon for both of us and the best £12 I’ve spent in ages, excellent film.