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Product Description: American Grand Prix driver Pete Aron is fired by his Jordan-BRM racing team after a crash at Monaco that injures his British teammate Scott Stoddard. While Stoddard struggles to recover Aron begins to drive for the Japanese Yamura team and becomes romantically involved with Stoddard's estranged wife.Running Time: 178 min.Format: DVD HD Genre: DRAMA UPC: 012569792814 Manufacturer No: 79281Amazon.com essential video: Light on story, this 1966 spectacle directed by John Frankenheimer was shot in 70 millimeter, with a cinematically enthralling emphasis on unique, visceral new ways of capturing the sensations of a car race. James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand, and Toshiro Mifune are part of the stellar, international cast whose characters plod through assorted relationship and business conflicts. But the film's real hook is the thrilling and inventive means by which Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate) brings an urgency to the drama happening on the racetrack. A true master of the plastic techniques of obtaining and cutting kinetic footage, Frankenheimer offers more than a joyride to viewers: he makes action part of the compelling language of stories. Cameras are strapped to vehicles as they round the track, shots are taken from a helicopter, the screen is split between angles for maximum impact--even if Grand Prix doesn't rank among the director's best character-driven stories, it is certainly driven on its own terms. --Tom Keogh On the DVD
The much-anticipated release on DVD does not disappoint, with a pristine restored print and upgraded 5.1 Dolby sound. Of course, the Cinerama film can only be fully appreciated if you sit very close to your screen. The absence of a commentary track is forgivable, since director John Frankenheimer died in 2002. "Pushing the Limit" is your standard 30-minute retrospective with many new interviews with the stars and drivers. The universal opinion is that the film caught Formula One at the exact right time when the beauty of the sport was about to be changed in favor of safety and commercialism. There are some fascinating stories on how they were able to use real race footage so seamlessly. "Flat Out" continues the vibe of what racing was like in the '60s with more interviews from the real racers. "The Style and Sound of Speed" talks about designer Saul Bass and how he created the film's different approaches to each race and the cutting-edge use of montages and multiple screens. The vintage doc is kitschy but allows us to see the filming in action (the footage is used extensively in the new featurettes). --Doug Thomas
Customer Reviews:
- A CULT CLASSIC OF SORTS FROM THE 60s: GRAND PRIX was one of director John Frankenheimer's big-budget spectacles, filmed by MGM in Cinerama, its super-wide screen nicely restored for this DVD. Brilliant split screen effects and camera movements and the rare appearance of Antonio Sabato, plus actual racing footage using well known racers including Damien Hill, make this an unforgettable experience. The melodramatic plot is a bit slack, but the overall effect is sensational.
- The Best...race movie: This is the best race movie ever made. Period. And I doubt one like it can ever be made again because this was done in the real world and, now, everyone (directors etc) will want to do one using computer graphics and it will not have the same feel of realism.["Driven" with Stallone would be a good example of this] Also, I doubt, due to safety concerns/insurance etc, that one can be made this way again.
The "How the Movie was Made" is worth a huge chunk of the selling price.
The quality of the DVD is a great improvement, especially on an HD TV, over the VHS copy I've owned for some time.
The reason I say "Grand Prix" is the best is that "LeMans" lacks a strong story line or its story line pales next to the action, whereas "Grand Prix"s story hangs in there fairly well. However, one can argue "LeMans" has just as good race photography and, again, I doubt if a movie like it can be made now.
I remember when "LeMans" came out that one of the NBC "Today Show" film critics, Judith Crist (sp?), lambasted the movie and said words to the effect that "McQueen should have shot it on 8mm and shown it as home movies". She's also the critic who said that "Candy" would set back pornography a 100 years. :)
Another decent effort at a race movie is "Winning" with Paul Newman and his wife. A product of its day, the film tries pretty hard to combine a decent story with racing. I would guess this is where PN picked up his love of racing which lasted 30+ years.
And, last and least, is "Red Line 7000" which, when it came out, was a pretty cool movie and still stands up as a bit of kitch (sp?) of the time. The race descriptions by the "on track" announcer are guite funny but where else are you going to see a guy driving a Shelby Daytona Coupe around on the street? Besides, its one of James Caan's first roles, if not the first. Oh, and the "on track announcer" in "Winning" might be of the same cloth if memory serves.
One reason I probably have a soft spot for these movies is that they came out about the time I was a young Sports Car Club of America racer myself.
My new wife and I were really into this stuff. We drove 200 miles round trip one weekday night in order to see "LeMans" several weeks earlier than what would have been the case if we hadn't, due to where we lived.
I've recently purchased "Winning", "LeMans" and "Grand Prix" to donate to my small town library, spreading the joy of racing. Thanks to AMAZON, I can afford to do it.
- Grand Prix (Two-Disc Special Edition) : Terrific product. Great photography, good strong characters, interesting storyline. This should be in many more collections of people's favorite movies.
- Grand Prix: Amazon is where to go when you can't find it any other place. Delivery in two days as promised. Tighten up your seat belt and get ready for racing at it's finest not to mention the photography and the Music makes your Heart Pump.....James Garner, Yves Montand and Eva Marie-Saint, Jessica Walters makes this one a experience in adrenlain....To bad we can't see this one in Cinemax as was designed to be seen and heard. ..IT makes "Days Of Thunder" look like Go-Kart Racing....Thanks John Frankenhemier for a Classic..Roselyn Cheney Brooklyn Michigan
- grand prix: great to finally see this film on DVD. typical 60's style cinema. it does do a good job of documenting this great era of auto racing, and is a must for any F-1 fan. the extras are nice, too.
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