Le Mans
by Lee H. Katzin
Our Price: $37.99
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $6.95 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Elga Andersen, Fred Haltiner, Ronald Leigh-Hunt, Siegfried Rauch, Steve McQueenDirector: Lee H. Katzin
Brand: Team Marketing
Cinematographer: René Guissart Jr.
Cinematographer: Robert B. Hauser
Editor: Donald W. Ernst
Producer: Alan Levine
Producer: Jack N. Reddish
Producer: Robert E. Relyea
Writer: Harry Kleiner
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 106 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-04-29
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Paramount
Product features:
- Officially Licensed
- Highest Quality Recording
Movie Reviews of Le Mans
Movie Review: Incredible racing footage, the rest is merely good
Summary: 5 Stars
Little needs to be said about this movie aside from what I state in the title. This film is loved by racing fans, mostly, for if you're not into the spectacle of auto racing, there's little here for you. Perhaps we all would've been better served if Mr. McQueen had merely made a documentary film! As it is, the racing scenes dominate the show and the off-track action can't hope to keep up with the adrenaline rush of the brutally fast machinery. If I may steal a phrase, Mr. McQueen's acting can best be described as "wooden"... Not that McQueen can't act, mind you, but the character he plays is quiet and withdrawn. Hard to spice up the character much unless you put him behind the wheel, in which case he is a man possessed.
Le Mans is much like the earlier movie "Grand Prix" in that the real stars are the stupendous racing machines that populate the film (though McQueen WAS originally slated to star in GP). The storyline is timid and occasionally embarassing to watch, but McQueen makes a good show of it. It doesn't hurt at all that he himself was at the wheel for many sequences, which adds authenticity to the picture. McQueen was a very competitive (and successful) prototype and sports car racer and his passion for racing is what propped up this film throughout its difficult gestation.
The cinematography and the sound are top-notch, especially considering the fact that the movie is now 35yrs old. If you are a fan of the olde racing cars, fire up the subwoofer and enjoy. It won't disappoint. With the possible exception of "Grand Prix", this is as good as it gets when it comes to racing cars on screen... The authenticity is not 100% but it's certainly 99%. Watch this movie, and you'll see why race fan-types pooh-pooh the hackneyed "racing" films "Days of Thunder" and "Driven" (*bleccch*!!), both of which steal liberally from "Le Mans" and "Grand Prix" but don't even come close to getting it right.
Some of the more recent reviews here have some comical errors of fact, so I'll try to set a few things straight (I'm talking to YOU, P. Lombardi):
-The Ferrari 512BB is a ROAD car, not a car that raced Le Mans in 1970 (when this movie was filmed) or 1971. The Le Mans racers of this era are the 512S, 512F, and 512M.
-The top speed at Le Mans in 1971 was NOT 291mph, nor was it EVER 291mph. You're high by about 50mph for the '71 race.
-The battle "royal" between the Ferrari 512 and Porsche 917 did not run from '69-71. There was no Ferrari 512 in '69, and the 917s didn't even FINISH that year. The '69 race was won by a Ford GT40, and the second place car was a Porsche 908.
-If you're going to quote the movie's most quotable line, at least get it right, man! It's: "Racing is life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting".
As for J.J. Lewis' review below, "Le Mans" is NOT about "Formula One racing"... Presumably just about everyone who reads this knows that "Le Mans" stars "endurance" racing cars, which are quite different from Formula 1 cars. As such, the movie does NOT "shows how stark and brutal F1 racing is". It does, however, show how stark and brutal endurance and Le Mans Prototype racing is.
Summary of Le Mans
Almost in breadth and depth of a documentary, this movie depicts an auto race during the 70s on the world's hardest endurance course: Le Mans in France. The race goes over 24 hours on 14.5 kilometers of cordoned country road. Every few hours the two drivers per car alternate - but it's still a challenge for concentration and material. In the focus is the duel between the German Stahler in Ferrari 512LM and the American Delaney in Gulf Team Porsche 917. Delaney is under extraordinary pressure, because the year before he caused a severe accident, in which his friend Lisa's husband was killed.Similar DVD Movies
Junior BonnerSony; Release date: 2004-05-25; DVD
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
Steve McQueen Collection: 4 Film Favorites (Papillon / Bullitt / The Getaway / The Cincinnati Kid)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2010-09-07; DVD
Best price: $9.32
Price in other shops:
"50 Years of Formula 1 On Board"Published: 2005; DVD
Best price: $31.49
Price in other shops:
Super Speedway: The Mach II Special Edition (IMAX)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2006-05-30; DVD
Best price: $5.90
Price in other shops:
The Getaway (Deluxe Edition)MCQUEEN,STEVE; Release date: 2005-05-31; DVD
Best price: $4.39
Price in other shops:
BullittWarner Brothers; Release date: 2010-10-05; DVD
Best price: $2.68
Price in other shops:
Bullitt (Two-Disc Special Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2005-05-31; DVD
Best price: $5.38
Price in other shops:
WinningNewman; Release date: 1999-03-16; DVD
Best price: $7.79
Price in other shops:
Grand Prix (Two-Disc Special Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-07-11; DVD
Best price: $5.29
Price in other shops:
Le MansParamount; Release date: 2011-05-24; DVD
Best price: $8.63
Price in other shops: