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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Five Stars for the Footage, April 27, 2008
This review is from: The Speed Merchants (DVD)
WHAT YOU GET: great footage of a very picturesque period of motor racing; some actual unguarded commentary from the drivers; lots of period details, like the fashions, or the fly yellow Daytona Syder parked in the Sebring paddock with some kind of chintzy lettering on the doors advertising a car dealership (? I think); also, footage (and interviews!) with the gorgeous Mrs. Jacky Ickx and Mrs. Helmut Marko.
WHAT YOU MISS: race coverage that approaches what we expect these days, eg., footage that conveys a sense of a developing drama, (the notable exception is the great Targa Florio sequence, where you can really see the cars squirming under power, and the drama of the race builds to a climax). You will also miss the sound of the engines, (or, barring that, silence), when the ill-conceived music starts.
The main disappointment in this disc is the director's unerring ability to suck most of the drama out of all the races here. The bad music plays a big part in this.
But I shouldn't complain. I do treasure this movie, rating it right alongside Grand Prix, Le Mans and the impossible-to-find The Racing Scene. But in the end the balance between off-track and on-track footage tilts a little too heavily away from the action.
All the usual cinema verite indulgences are here, like trying to "reproduce the rhythm of a top racing driver's day-to-day life" (drivers laying around a pool, drivers suiting up to go motorbike riding, drivers walking through the woods...). We get ham-fisted crosscutting between an injured driver in the hospital and a race (though they did not occur simultaneously). These are the exasperating stylistic tics of the era, I suppose, (they're great when they work!) and they can try your patience a little; but for a racing fan it IS entertaining to see Jacky Ickx (and his wife!) surveying their house as it is being built, or Brian Redman clowning with his daughter.
The narration by "Quick" Vic Elford and Mario Andretti contributes a lot--it projects a lot of their personality and adds some depth without feeling forced or pretentious.
It's the music that's the real villain of the piece. It is terrible for this sort of thing. While the audio of the engines is excellent (you hear the great flat-12 Ferraris, the Alfa V-12, and the Matras), the music is painfully inert and seems to swoon into prominence at the first flicker of any potentially exciting footage, tramping down the interest faster than a French scrutineer can toss a car from tech inspection.
PRICELESS: seeing the Ferrari racing department assembling the 312PB's in what seems an unbelievably rustic environment, and then visiting Autodelta, Alfa Romeo's race shop down the road, which looks like somebody's storage-unit: man, was it gloriously primitive back then!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
The speed merchants review, March 10, 2008
This review is from: The Speed Merchants (DVD)
One of the must haves for all road racing fans. Gives a good insight on what it took to be a professional race driver in the early 70's. Great behind the scene footage of world champion drivers Jacky Ickx, Brian Redman, Helmut Marko, Vic Elford, and Mario Andretti. You also get some outstanding footage of their cars in action at world class circuits.
Video and sound are very dated, but hey it was the early 70's. If you own movies such as "Grand Prix", Steve McQueen's "Le Mans", and "in car 956" this will be a great addition to your video library.
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Simply the best., December 8, 2009
This review is from: The Speed Merchants (DVD)
This is the best racing film ever. I read one earlier complaint that there is a lack of race by race "coverage" of the season. This film is about people, not a race season. Very real, very human. (It is interesting that the list of "what other movies were bought" includes LeMans, which is without a doubt, the worst racing film ever.)
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