Le Mans

Being an owner through the years of 3 previously available versions (Beta; LaserDisc; DVD) of this film, the primary question whenever a Blu-ray edition is announced of a catalog title produced 40 years ago, is whether the upgrade is worth investing in one more time. All too often has been the case during the early adoption phase of any new format, the answer at best, is maybe. Improved but due to the source materials and/or mastering methods used, perhaps not fully utilizing the capabilities available with the new technology during any expected learning curve.While my media center isn't what one would consider esoteric, it is for most purposes a capable and representative home theater environment for many featuring a 65" Panasonic plasma display (custom settings but not fully calibrated), Pioneer Elite A/V receiver outputting to a matched JBL 7.1 speaker system about a year technologically obsolete this date.Being a long time Porsche automotive enthusiast, a fan of both Steve McQueen and the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race, I have certainly enjoyed multiple viewings of this film through the years and quite familiar with it both visually and sonically from beginning to end. There are multiple reviews available on different websites so with rare exception, the comments I express here will be limited to my personal opinions of CBS/Paramount's effort with this new offering.Right on schedule, my new Blu-ray copies of Le Mans and Grand Prix arrived in the mail together as these two films were once again, "connected at the hip" as they have been through the decades. For the less than $18 you can acquire this Blu-ray from Amazon during its initial release period, my title for this post says it all: "Don't hesitate, it's Magnifique!"One expects an improved image on Blu-ray but I was stunned at how cinematically the final image was. There is almost a perfect level of visual grain from beginning to end that creates what is so missing in many of today's CGI based motion pictures. The look of film! Special effects were all done in camera and look absolutely real in 1080P high definition. The colors are rich and vibrant even considering the conditions the 1 million original feet of film was shot using now, 4 decade old techniques. Flesh tones are spot on with Blacks deep and rich though there is occasional clipping during some of the night time scenes. The Gulf Blue on the Porsches are dead accurate having seen the actual 917's at their namesake's museum in Zuffenhausen.The clarity in some shots are truly amazing in the level of detail shown and even exposing close ups (06:23) that were originally shot with the camera's zoom lens I suspect, unintentionally mis-set at its starting rack focus point. What some have described as "soft." As many times as I have seen this film, the greatly enhanced picture (at times, video bandwidth indicating 30-33 mbs+ output) allowed me to see unexpectedly, background detail that had escaped notice during my many previous viewings such as the Black paint flaking off the right windshield pillar in Delaney's Porsche (24:21) or the exposed rivets/screws in same location on the Ferrari 512's (23:23). Racecars are typically well worn devices and seeing detailing such as this adds greatly to the realism the film is attempting to create.I also noticed for the very first time, B&W portraits of both Michael Delaney (McQueen at 59.28) and his main rival driving for Ferrari in the story, Erich Stahler (Siegfried Rauch at 1:00:24) hanging on the walls (Michael to the right of the sliding entry door; Erich's to the left of where Michael sits with Lisa) of the cafeteria where McQueen has about as much dialog as there is in any one section of the entire film. If CBS/Paramount used compression, it was very slight and one never sees any halo edge effects. They allowed the transfer to breathe and the visuals certain confirm that.As impressive as the visual transfer is short of a full frame by frame restoration which means there were occasional scratches in the final print though few and far between, the new lossless 7.1 audio mix is its equal. The panning from one side of the room to the other (as well as rear to front) matching the cars going right to left on the screen was truly immersive during the driving sequences. While I wasn't expecting my subwoofer to be exercised anywhere close to Tron: Legacy, very pleasantly surprised whenever LFE was used. For someone that used to clean out record grooves with liquids and brushes before playing to minimize background noise (ticks, pops) while maximizing available dynamic range, two sections of the film truly validates the life like audio free from recording hiss offered here even when sourced from older analog masters. The first takes place at the start of the race from 25:54 when Michael closes the rear window in his 917 and one hears the rhythm of a beating heart increasing in rate until the flag is dropped to start the race (28:00). The second is a repeat of this same sonic theme after the Ferrari 512 crashes off the race course with the driver attempting to escape the pending explosion (1:08:10-1:08:47). With the noise floor so low, listen for the very subtle atmospherics throughout these and many other scenes which in a 7.1 system absolutely helps to create a sound field that has great width and depth completely enveloping the viewer. Consider it 3D for your ears and extremely effective. Overall, for the era this film came from, CBS/Paramount did an excellent and highly effective remix.In the end, what most amazed me during my nearly two hours watching Le Mans again, was how completely and unexpectedly I had been pulled back into this racing spectacle during my viewing. The clarity of an updated Blu-ray worthy transfer, a new 7.1 lossless soundtrack, the perceived shortcomings from a lack of any dialog beyond the PA announcer in the background all contributed to producing for me, Steve McQueen's vision for his film: The physical and emotional experience of actually participating as a driver in the 24 Hours of Le Mans from the comfort of one's own neighborhood (home?) theater. Isn't that ultimately, the intended purpose of every motion picture.

About three years ago, I started watching Formula 1 Racing with my husband, just to see what all the excitement was about this form of racing. What I learned was it's an intense method of car racing. It isn't just speed. It's calculating how long your tires will last. How long will the fuel last. Remembering where your corners are at (each track in each location is vastly different). And, trying not to crash your very expensive car so you can earn points for yourself and your team.The one thing I've learned about car racing, no matter which method of racing you choose, there's a lot of hubris that goes along with it. The argument is that the more you lack in humility and the more hubris you have, the better the driver. Safe driver's don't do well, and, overly cautious ones die. As in life, only the strong survive.Le Mans racing is another form of racing with it's own unique set of calculations. Le Mans is a 24-hour race. Two drivers per car, each taking turns driving and resting at 1-hour intervals. Anything and everything can happen. Driver's share with their colleagues aspects of what the car is doing, corners/turns to be wary of, and warning them of what other drivers are doing. The movie, "Le Mans" takes all of these things into consideration with the filming.Let me be very clear: do NOT compare this movie to Ron Howard's "Rush." Two different types of racing. Two different directors. While both movies revolve around the 1970's era of car racing, these movies are approached very differently. There was no CGI in 1971 when the fictitious Le Mans movie was filmed (Yes, the Le Mans race has been around since 1923, but, the movie, "Le Mans" is a fictitious race. Portions of the film are said to be taken from the actual Le Mans race that year.). The budget for this film differs vastly from budgets uses today. Steve McQueen did most of his own driving in this movie! Some of the cinematography for the 1971 "Le Mans" film was way ahead of its time. Camera angles for some of the car racing sequences make you feel like you're right there in the race with the drivers.Both "Rush" and "Le Mans" are great movies that stand alone. But, "Le Mans" is a movie that will withstand the test of time. It was a great movie in 1971. It's a great movie now. Also, "Le Mans" is rated 'G,' a General Audience rating. Some of the driving/crash sequences might be a bit much for an audience under the age of 10. There's only one sentence where McQueen's character tell someone not to be a pain in the a--. Otherwise, no swearing.It's refreshing to watch a movie where the director doesn't have to rely on CGI, nudity/sex scenes, or harsh language to sell a movie. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who is both a car racing fan, as well as a Steve McQueen fan.Enjoy

To say that this film was made 50 year ago during the actual 1970 Le Mans it is a great film. Steve McQueens own production company enterd a car in the race so they could get actual real race action. They raced a Pousher fitted with cameras front and back of the car NO CGI remote controlled cars for crash. The Fearrie that flew in the air into the advertisement board went one over end bust into flames. They keptd pitting through out the 24 hours so they could swap camers fitted with fresh film. If their driver had not been pitting as often as he was it had been worked out he would have finished in the top ten. Sounds great with suround sound system & quality of this bluray is very sharp. With it being about Sports car racing Le Mans the film is not dated, the cars have not dated to much. Not like the Grand Prix film made two years earlier that is well dated .FIVE STAR FILM * * * * *

This Film was planned to be one that fully showed the issues of being in Long Distance Endurance Racing as a driver. Steve McQueen had previously successfully won and raced a Porsche in the USA Daytona 24 hour race.He went to Le Mans and with a number of top flight drivers like Derek Bell and David Piper who lost a leg in a "filmed stunt accident", I think told the story of these drivers.The film was a financial nightmare, but it did do what it intended as a film about drivers.

For die-hard fans only!I was eager to watch this movie, it's quite a must-have for car-racing lovers and Steve McQueen fans.What about me? I found it quite slow (funny to say that about such a movie, isn't it?) regarding the plot and the characters' interaction, but of course that's not the reason I purchased the movie for: the main, and maybe only reason to watch it (and even to own it) is its relevance as an evidence, and a loving memory, of a lost world of daring heroes and glamorous women, in the beautiful days of old when car-racing was still a gentlemens' sport, and not just the mad, robotic world it has become today.I enjoyed it, therefore, especially regarding the extra section, with a long interview to Chad McQueen and other drivers and car managers of the old days, and to the film director and the crew, explaining all the technical details that make the movie so precious. Thank you Amazon, for making such a movie available and at a very low price. Five stars for me.

I love the movie. I have it on DVD, but thought it would be good to have on Blu-ray due to better picture and sound quality. Wrong. The DVD picture and sound quality is just as good in this case. So a bit of a wasted purchase. Also to note the sleeve is in German, although the actual film is in English (there are a variety of languages one can choose at the outset). Still, for a fiver it was worth the punt.

This is an impressively upgraded DVD edition of a cult classic originally released in this format several years ago. I was somewhat sceptical about the movie looking and sounding much better than the old disc, but the reasonable price here encouraged me to satisfy my curiosity and I was not disappointed.Sound-wise, the throaty roar of the various Porsches and Ferraris sounds much more powerful (that dramatic moment when the drivers simultaneously start their engines will knock you backwards on the right set-up), while the picture quality seems to have much greater depth than before and the colours of such things as the motor racing attire look much more vibrant.LE MANS has very little plot, of course, and the story such as it is centres around Steve McQueen's Michael Delaney returning to the famous 24-hour race a year after being involved in a serious accident which had killed a fellow driver, the widow of whom (played by Elga Andersen) has also returned to the circuit for reasons she cryptically describes as being "for myself". The film features several awkward scenes between the two characters as she and Delaney meet up around the venue, both hesitant to talk about the life-changing events of the previous year. Delaney, however, eventually gives some insight into what it means to be a racing driver by telling her that, outside the thrill of being on the track, everything else in life is "just waiting".But it is the racing footage that counts with this movie, and it is here where LE MANS delivers in spades, with editorial tricks like jump cuts, slow-motion and flashbacks bringing added drama to the spectacular spin-outs and crashes. As a welcome bonus feature on this edition, Steve McQueen's son Chad introduces an informative documentary about the making of LE MANS, which also features contributions from director Lee H. Katzin, producer Burt Rosen and long-time McQueen associate Robert Relyea, each of whom reveal how a film like LE MANS could be made so effectively in the days before boring CGI techniques made it easy for actors and directors to cheat at everything; it amounts to a rather telling summation of how cinema has changed.A timely commemoration of this visceral film's 40th anniversary, this revamped DVD of LE MANS is well worth a look.