Went and saw F1 The Movie yesterday, a Thursday morning almost a week after release. Loved it.
This wasn't a movie I had been following the release of at all, and was caught by surprise when looking at the local TOHO CINEMA currently showing films that it was on.
Watched a few YouTube commentaries and things about it after watching it, and it had been in production for 2 years. I had missed all that as Formula One isn't something I have seen much of in the last years at all. They set out to make the most exciting car race film of all time.
Back in Sydney, they would broadcast the F1 races on a Sunday afternoon. Last time I followed it was when Mark Webber was being stabbed in the back by his team mate Vettel. After I got a PVR I would watch a race on fast forward, as the racing had became really dull. All the cars just following each other around and win or lose on who had to pit to change tires. Modern F1 cars all look very much like each other, other than brading.
Don't remember even seeing it on free to air TV any more when we left Australia in 2019, and haven't seen it in Japan, as it is only on an expensive subscription TV channel. The only thing I have seen in the last years is clips on X, and I really haven't paid much attention. About the only thing I noticed was how much bigger the current cars are.
F1 The Movie gave me the same edge of the seat excitement Mad Max Fury Road did. At least for the opening Dayton sequences. The action and the rock / metal music is like it was made for me, even if some of the non car racing elements have the subtlety of a fluorescent marker.
I really love RUSH too, and it also has music by Hans Zimmer. RUSH has a story with parts of it based on historical events, even if the film depicted rivalry is fiction, and has more weight to it than F1 The Movie. That was a more interesting looking generation of cars too.
Ford vs Ferrari is also based in fact and love that one too.
But the 1970 Steve McQueen's LeMans is still hard to beat for the race car footage. It was also at a peak of endurance racing with the Porsche 917 which is as much a star of the show as McQueen is. Doesn't have music that grabs me the way it does in Rush or F1 The Movie though.
F1 The Movie is one I will get on Bluray if it is released in that format, and not just screened on Apples streaming service.
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