Forum menu
Saw it last night and thought it an excellent film. I was surprised that they were able to get so much footage of drivers' briefings and suchlike. Just one question: was the screen supposed to go black for a few seconds at the moment of the crash or was it a screening error? I know that no onboard footage survives beyond the bit where he hasn't quite left the tarmac yet, but there was no distance shot either and it looked odd on-screen.
The onboard race footage was awesome. It looks so much more raw and ragged than today's footage but I don't know whether that's just the result of better cameras.
The onboard race footage was awesome. It looks so much more raw and ragged than today's footage but I don't know whether that's just the result of better cameras.
The cars, especially in the mid/late 80's, were absolute animals to drive compared to more modern machinery. Slick tyres MUCH wider than F1 cars of today, allowing much more mechanical grip and the cars were also a lot wider, yet they had manual gearchanges still which could necessitate taking one hand off the wheel mid corner with more than 5G of cornering force applied! Completely different driving styles required, F1 in the 80's was a lot less smooth, these days drivers have to be ultra smooth to win, back then you'd see the likes of Senna, Piquet and Prost overtaking someone into a corner, half a turn of opposite lock applied, and getting on the gas early to power it through the turn... Much more like tarmac rallying than we're used to in modern day F1.
Here's my pic of Senna's 88 MP4/4 I took at Goodwood last year... My GF couldn't understand why I was so preoccupied with this more than any other car there...
[img] 
[/img]
Between Prost and Senna, 15 out of 16 Grand Prix were won by McLaren in 1988, Senna with 8 and the title (though Prost wasn't happy as he actually amassed more points, but they ditched your worst few results back then which meant Prost actually lost more points when everything was totalled up). What an amazing car...
And here's Lewis driving it...
Oh, and there's probably plenty of footage of it in the film too (I hope), but I remember as a 12 year old boy sitting in a cold, wet grandstand at the 1993 Donnington F1 GP with my Dad's mate, watching Senna totally demoralise everyone else and win by over a minute! The guy was unstoppable in the wet...
name 3 racing drivers named after scottish towns?
Well there's Stirling Moss
There's Jonny Dumfries
And then there's Ayr Toun Centre 😈
I've just back from seeing it at Derby Quad and I feel a bit ashamed at saying this but I came out feeling a bit underwhelmed!
As a 42 yr old I watched the Senna/Prost/Piquet/Mansell battles (on and off the track) at the time with a great deal of interest, and I've read countless books, articles, Autosports etc., and watched videos, dvd's and other footage about him and to me there wasn't a huge amount that revealed that most avid F1 ones won't know already. Yes, a few drivers meeting and family time shots are new to us but the vast majority of the footage most fans will have been seen before.
To those who didn't grow up watching and reading about Senna, or have recently got into F1 its well worth going to see. For avid F1 fans, its a good film but don't expect to be stunned by it.
Muffin I think you missed the point
I'm like you, there was nothing new i could remember pretty much every race and name most pf the drivers seen in the briefings thought but it was a beautifully put together history and tribute to one Of the greatest drivers ever
And it revealed to me a far more human side to him, yes I knew he was deeply religious, I knew he could be very emotional I knew the level of support he had in brazil and I remember the picyures of his funeral possession but the film really wrapped all that up and presented it in a really good way I thought
name 3 racing drivers named after scottish towns?
Well there's Stirling Moss
There's Jonny Dumfries
And then there's Ayr Toun Centre
😆
Heh! Like it!
Then of course there's that Irish F1 driver....
...Tim O'Glock.
I'll get my Nomex racing overalls...
Then of course there's that Irish F1 driver.......Tim O'Glock.
Two Irish drivers. There's also Barry Kelly.
Right, erm, ok... 🙄
[img] 
[/img]
😉
That was absolutely bloody brilliant! Really enjoyed it AND managed not to cry at the end. Result! The first Monaco in-car footage is insane. Steering wheel going from lock to lock in the corners. Sliding all over't place. Brilliant!
I'd forgotten just how intense the rivalry was with him and Prost. All the footage makes the present day stuff seem pretty bland by comparison.
I'd recommend seeing it
It was excellent,
This film does a brilliant job unravelling some of the mystique surrounding Senna. Funnily enough growing up watching F1 I was never a big Senna fan. I always liked Prost and Mansell but even though he was revered almost as a god in Brazil what comes across is how human he was and despite his achievements being eclipsed how pure a racer he was.
Senna didn't care about points finishes for him it was all about winning and pushing the absolute maximum out of himself as a racer, the perfect corner, the perfect lap, the perfect overtake.
When he was at his best it was like he was occupying another plane of existence.
Watched it last night, really enjoyed it, though a bit sad of course... wife (who has no affection for F1 or sport in general) also enjoyed, so that says something as well 🙂
Just checked my local cinema and they have now got multiple screenings every day from Friday rather than just the one showing on 21st. Glad I hadn't been organised enough to book it yet!
Senna should have taken the rest of that year off and found another car, he looked stressed out and very tense. That said it simply wasn't in his nature to back off! or walk away.
Good film and very different from the usual make up wearing, designer clother promoting, action flicks that you usually come across.
Saw it last night. A good yarn well spun. What amazed me is how Barricello survived to a ripe old age..... Forgotten about that shunt and then how they got him out. OOOFF!
Well, its had a record breaking weekend so should be rolling out into more multi-plexes soon...
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/06/senna-movie-breaks-box-office-records-on-uk-opening/
I want to know how Elfin's kebab was too.
Pretty much nationwide release at cineworld now, when I checked at the beginning of the week it wasn't so they must have changed their minds about it.
Off to see this tonight. 🙂
Interested to learn that director Asif Kapadia is a Hackney bwoy dat like myself. Even born the same year as me. 8)
Gutted to also learn that he did a Q+A at the Rio Dalston, which is where I'm going tonight, on the 5th of June. 🙁
Consoled by the fact that there is a Lamb Shish with my name on it, waiting for me in Arcola St.... 😀
Well, we enjoyed the film, it was very well made. Some fantastic footage. My non-F1-watching companion thought it was very good indeed.
As for the kebab, well, what can I say? Mangal Ocakbasi once again excelled themselves, I'm very pleased to report. A finer kebab you won't find anywhere, I'll wager. Elfin's Top Tip though; get there early, before 8pm, or you will be waiting ages for a table. Queue was out of the door, and that's on a Tuesday evening. And for just £22 for two lamb shish and an aubergine starter, you simply cannot go wrong.
Just saw it. Enjoyed it.
Nice to finally see something that showed openly the corrupt French running of the sport back then, trying so hard to stop his raw talent.
Bit like the FIA some years back being so far up Ferrari's backside...
Forgot to add to this thread earlier, but I went to see it on Friday...
Now it was very enjoyable, but... Well, I've probably already established earlier in this thread that in the 80's and 90's I was the biggest F1 fan/geek/bore around, but it felt to me like they'd had to cut too much out just to keep it down to 2 hours long. OK, average punter I am not I suppose, it could have been a 6 hour long documentary and I'd still have been rivetted to my seat, but I felt there was too much missing. They majored on the love/hate with him and Prost, and concentrated hard on the 88/89/90 seasons massively as a result, but aside from showing his brilliance at Monaco in the Toleman in 1984, and his crash at Imola in 94, they almost completely missed everything from 85-87, and also 92-93. IMO, they should have shown at least some snippets of some of his greatest drives (Donnington 1993 in the wet for example) rather than play so heavily on the whole Senna V Prost thing. Ok, confrontation makes for good TV, but I wanted to see a bit more of a reminder of just how much a genius he was behind the wheel though. Onboard footage in his MP4/4 at Monaco 1988 was pretty special mind, one handed most of the way round...
That said, inclusion of some of the drivers briefings was brilliant. Showing just how corrupt the French FIA Mafia was back then, and how everyone saw Alain Prost as God and bowed at his feet and kissed his arse... Until about 1990-91, when they obviously began to realise he was a jumped up French shite, and quite clearly not as talented as Senna as well as being a vindictive little man. To see the F1 drivers' attitudes change visibly towards Senna in a matter of a couple of years was brilliant!
Also, the footage of the 89 Suzuka come-together which ended Prost's race, and gifted Senna the title (for it then to be taken off him), from the Helicopter was new to me. I'd not seen that before, as you can clearly see that Senna had the inside line and was far enough alongside, and Prost took a look round at Senna, before then steering sharply towards him, still far too early to turn into the corner. Avoidable? Almost certainly, and I'd say if anything it was Prost's doing yet he came away smelling of roses from it, media savvy as he was at the time...
Good film, but I for one can't wait for the DVD with the directors cut, and all the unused footage bundled in extra... But then does anybody else care, as you've undoubtedly not read my post this far as you're not as big a 80's/90's F1 geek as me! 😉
That's all well and good, but....
...did you have a kebab?
No Kebab sadly... 2 packets of Beef Monster Munch were consumed though FTW! 😉
Beef Monster Munch?
[i]Beef Monster Munch??[/i]
I'm talking about kebabs, and you come out with Beef Monster Munch? 😡
Philistine.
Beef Monster Munch indeed. How terribly low class. 😐
How terribly low class
You know me so well... 
I though I was scum but you, well, I dunno what to say. 🙁
Beef Monster Munch. The abominableness astounds me.
Oooooh, sit down Kebab dinner Elfin, get you with your posh city ways. 😀
Is/was there a kebab van at Silverstone? (I've never been.)
Ive no interest in F1 whatsoever but this is a superb documentary. Highly recommended.
Just booked to see it in the local cinema on monday evening. It better be worth it, I'm skipping my volleyball training session to watch it.
I remember 4 of us in the lounge watching F1 back in 94 when it happened. I think I always will.
Simply brilliant. Very moving and powerful.
Even though you know the end, you don't want it come.