Hell on Wheels
by Pepe Danquart
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Baden Cooke, Hagen BoÃ?dorf, Lance Armstrong, Rolf Aldag, Santiago BoteroDirector: Pepe Danquart
Brand: Koch International
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); German (Original Language), Unknown; English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.77:1
Running Time: 123 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-11-22
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: FIRST RUN FEATURES
Movie Reviews of Hell on Wheels
Movie Review: A Cycling Film for the Ages
Summary: 5 Stars
Lance Armstrong's unforgettable speech to the world press gathered on the eve of the 2003 Tour de France sets this mystical, magical masterpiece in motion.
"I show up prepared," says Armstrong, dead serious. "I show up motivated and I show up because I love it and respect it and I want to do well. Nothing means more to me than to win this event."
What follows is a sports documentary that is gorgeous and grandiose while at the same time gritty and down to earth.
This is cycling film that should be seen by anyone who considers himself a sports fan. It should be shown in phys. ed. and geography classes across America. This is the cycling film that would win the hearts and respect of a people who have never watched - nor cared to watch - a professional cycling race. And this is the cycling film that allows the cycling fan to forget the drug-accusation cloud hanging over professional cycling, and reminds us just how much there is to love about "The Tour."
Rather than interviewing the racers and filming every stage of their performance, director Danquart turns on the camera, places it in the team bus and motels, and the riders themselves tell their incredible story with class and wit. We see close up the pain and humanity of the great German sprinter, Eric Zabel. While he, and to a lesser degree, teammate Rolf Aldag and Team Telekom, are the key players, equally important are the cast of thousands and the wonderful countryside and small towns that make up the Tour. Though the stunning bird's eye views of the race are beautiful and essential to understand the Tour, much of the footage is shot at ground level, making you feel you're a fan in the crowd, or a medic leaning over a fallen rider, scraped and bloodied, or a photographer lying horizontal on the asphalt, next to scores of other photographers from around the world. You, literally, are there.
Sweetening this masterwork is plenty of excellent footage of the big stars. Lance, Jan Ulrich, Ivan Basso, and especially Tyler Hamilton (and the story behind his broken collarbone) are all seen in great action shots. We also are treated to rise of T-Mobile's Alexandre "Vino" Vinokourov, of Kazakstan (no relation whatsoever to Borat).
History lovers will appreciate intermittent black and white film archives of old races alongside the fresh images and the Tour lore as told by French journalist Serge Laget, who shows no less pride in the event and his country's role in it as would John Madden of NFL football, or Bob Costas of Major League Baseball.
Another remarkable feature of the film is the music, which is apparently (and incredibly) an original score. The cool, jazzy numbers and electric guitar solos are just incredible.
To describe any more of this film would be to rob the reader of all the unexpected treasures I discovered. I plan to watch it again and again. It's that good. (Plus I want to re-read those subtitles!).
You ought to see it. No--you have to see it.
Summary of Hell on Wheels
LOVE LANCE? You'll love HELL ON WHEELS, the first film about professional bike racing that anyone can appreciate, featuring the world's best bike racers -- Lance Armstrong, Eric Zabel, Jan Ullrich, Tyler Hamilton, Alexandre Vinokurov, Andreas Klöden-- and directed by Academy Award-winner Pepe Danquart!Le Tour de France, one of the toughest and most prestigious sporting events in the world. Year after year hundreds of thousands of fans line the route, cheering on their heroes and willing them to victory, while millions of viewers worldwide tune in on their televisions. Academy Award-winning director Pepe Danquart, fascinated by the spectacle of the three week race, chose to focus on the courage, the pain and the fear of the riders of the Tour.
Training his lens on German superstar sprinter Eric Zabel and his loyal domestique Rolf Aldag, Danquart captures the thrill of the race and the teamwork behind the stars of the peleton. He also shines light on the Tour's supporting cast - the director sportifs, masseurs, and, of course, the wildly enthusiastic fans. Reveling in the stunning landscape - from the Alps to the Pyrenees to the Massif Central to Paris - and with a nice dollop of Le Tour's history, HELL ON WHEELS transcends the sport it celebrates to reveal an astonishing human endeavor.
There may never be a better documentary about the Tour de France bicycle race than Hell on Wheels. Directed by German filmmaker Pepe Danquart (who won an Oscar® for best live action short film in 1994), this breathtaking documentary covers all aspects of the 2003 edition of the Tour de France, and it's likely to remain the definitive record of the event from an immediate you-are-there perspective. Outstanding cinematography, award-winning editing, and the extreme challenge of the Tour make this a truly unforgettable film, full of real-life drama and fascinating competitors who bring a deeply human dimension to cycling's annual extravaganza. This was the year that American cycling legend Lance Armstrong won his fifth consecutive Tour de France victory, but Danquart's film wisely avoids overemphasis on Armstrong's dominance, focusing instead on German teammates Eric Zabel and Rolf Aldag, whose 11-year history as Tour de France roommates lends the film a more personal quality that gets you right inside the Tour's physical and psychological endurance test. The July 2003 event marked the Tour's centenary celebration, and French scholar Serge Laget provides valuable perspective on the race's cultural importance in France, with vintage film clips to illustrate how the grueling 2,500-kilometer Tour has evolved--and stayed the same--throughout its 100-year history. Highlights are abundant (including Armstrong's nearly devastating crash late in the race), but Hell on Wheels goes beyond basic sports reportage to achieve the dramatic impact of a feature film. Danquart strikes a satisfying balance between beautiful travelogue footage of the French countryside (including the Tour's scenic stages in the Pyrenees mountains) and the veteran's perspective of Zabel, whose honest assessment of his own cycling abilities makes you realize that even great cyclists view the Tour with awe, fear, and inspiring courage. In capturing the beauty, pain, and glory of cycling's most daunting competition, Hell on Wheels caters to a specific audience while retaining its universal appeal as a colorful and exhilarating film that anyone can enjoy. --Jeff Shannon
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