Printable Version of Topic

Click here to view this topic in its original format

914World.com _ 914World Garage _ my "Le Mans" DVD arrived today

Posted by: Gustl Mar 9 2005, 11:07 AM

last week I ordered the Le Mans movie at amazon, today it arrived
for sure I watched it immediately
here are some cool pics with the Sonauto #40 GT

just a view minutes after the race start:

Attached thumbnail(s)

Posted by: Gustl Mar 9 2005, 11:08 AM

after the accident of 917 #20

Attached thumbnail(s)

Posted by: Gustl Mar 9 2005, 11:10 AM

after Steve McQueen changed to 917 #21
see the tail of #21, overtaking #40

Attached thumbnail(s)

Posted by: Gustl Mar 9 2005, 11:11 AM

a part of a second later

Attached thumbnail(s)

Posted by: Gustl Mar 9 2005, 11:13 AM

close to end of the race

Attached thumbnail(s)

Posted by: Gustl Mar 9 2005, 11:14 AM

last lap - the final battle between Porsche and Ferrari

Attached thumbnail(s)

Posted by: davep Mar 9 2005, 11:29 AM

Lots of ground clearance there. Yeah, great movie, especially the soundtrack.

Posted by: STL914 Mar 9 2005, 11:56 AM

I agree, great movie.

I "bought" my DVD using a Best Buy gift card I won thru a free raffel at TGIF for Father's Day last year. I remember when that movie came out and wondered why it was never really shown on TV. I bet I watch it at least once a month if not more. Grand Prix is also a great racing movie, but little if any Porsche content.

Posted by: sanman Mar 9 2005, 01:00 PM

I ordered one thru Block Buster 4 weeks ago its still not in yet

Posted by: kermit Mar 9 2005, 04:55 PM

QUOTE (Gustl B @ Mar 9 2005, 09:11 AM)
a part of a second later

this is going to make great wallpaper!! Thanks!

Posted by: seanery Mar 9 2005, 04:59 PM

I wish Gran Prix was on DVD. I watched it a couple weeks ago on Turner Classic or American Movie Classics...can't remember which. I think I've seen it a dozen times now.

Posted by: Rocky Mar 9 2005, 06:18 PM

Got mine a year ago. Have watched it countless times. My 356 driving father loves it too. Definatly NOT a chick flick the wife says. Sweet rain seens with rooster tails.

OT: For all you old dirt bikers, "On any Sunday" is available.

Tim

Posted by: STL914 Mar 10 2005, 12:20 PM

Another good racing movie that has some great driving and spectacular crash scenes is Driven with Sylvester Stallone
and Burt Reynolds. The special effects really add to the movie.

Posted by: maf914 Mar 10 2005, 12:34 PM

QUOTE (davep @ Mar 9 2005, 09:29 AM)
Lots of ground clearance there.

That's what I thought. Not just the 914, but the prototype 917's and 512's also had a lot of ground clearance compared to todays prototypes. Of course aerodynamic design for racing cars was just starting to get serious. It is written that there was quite a bit of instability at 220-240 mph on the Mulsanne straight in those cars. The 914 was probably a little bit slower than that!

Great movie though.

Posted by: Gustl Mar 13 2005, 04:02 PM

hey guys, after long studdies I'm pretty sure that the 914-6 GT in the movie is not the well known original "Sonauto GT" (9140431020) - it's only a replica

the film car has no front hood quick releases
the film car has no red windshield frame
the film car has no license plate (105 BC 92)
the film car has no SONAUTO script beneath the 40 on the front hood
the film car has no PORSCHE script on the front bumper / above the license plate
the film car has no red Hella light on the top

compare this original pic with the movie screen shots:

Attached image(s)

Posted by: sixnotfour Mar 13 2005, 04:30 PM

Very Observant , Did they enter that car 2 years ? I think that they used footage from 2 years

Another period Movie; The Speed Merchants,
the story of the 1972 manufactires championship. Toad Hall Production ,Micheal Keyser

I have the original Grand Prix Sound track record LP. Saw it at the Drive In theater. Very cool Iwas 9

Posted by: serge914 Mar 13 2005, 04:59 PM

QUOTE (sanman @ Mar 9 2005, 11:00 AM)
I ordered one thru Block Buster 4 weeks ago its still not in yet

There are many of them on EBay for 7 bucks.

What am I waiting fot ?

Posted by: GWN7 Mar 13 2005, 06:31 PM

The race was in 1970.....the movie was made in 1971 A lot could have been done to that car in a year. Or they could have just put a couple big lights and the #40 on a stock white 914 for the movie....

Posted by: Maltese Falcon Mar 13 2005, 09:55 PM

According to Lemans archives, the 1970 #40 finished 6th overall and first in 2 litre class (1991 cc). In 1971 there was #46 driven by J.Sage/ Keller, and was DNF after 9 hours. Since McQueen was allowed the full use of the track for filming in the days just preceeding the actual Lemans race, there could heve been many cars practicing, qualifying, sorting out -etc. not yet in their full race day livery. The movie also used some back and forth film clips from actual race day footage , edited into McQueens masterpiece.
#40 entry in 1971 was a 911S 2381cc driven by Egreteaud/ Jacquemin, which was DNF after 8 hours.
I'll check with the current owner of #40 in a few and get the scoop for you

Posted by: maf914 Mar 14 2005, 08:04 AM

I thought they filmed after the race and rented actual race cars to film?

Posted by: Curvie Roadlover Mar 14 2005, 08:19 AM

LeMans
My all time favorite race movie. Some great captures there, Gustl B!!

Posted by: Gint Mar 14 2005, 11:12 AM

I got one for Christmas. I haven't watched it yet as I've seen it before and my TiVo box is still full of junk that needs to be watched and cleared before I can record more.

QUOTE (sixnotfour Posted: Mar 13 2005 @ 03:30 PM)
Very Observant , Did they enter that car 2 years ? I think that they used footage from 2 years

Another period Movie; The Speed Merchants,
the story of the 1972 manufactires championship. Toad Hall Production ,Micheal Keyser

I have the original Grand Prix Sound track record LP. Saw it at the Drive In theater. Very cool Iwas 9

Me too! Drive-In and I must have been 9 or 10

Wolfgang, Thenks for the screen captures! I have some new wallpaper now also.

Posted by: zouo Mar 14 2005, 05:28 PM

You can definitely see the orange screen surround on the car in the first corner. When they cut scenes from the real race with the movie scenes, they probably weren't too obsessive about detail.

user posted image

Posted by: Dave_Darling Mar 14 2005, 05:51 PM

QUOTE (Maltese Falcon @ Mar 13 2005, 07:55 PM)
I'll check with the current owner of #40 in a few and get the scoop for you ;)

Tell Mike I said "hi"... I talked with him for quite a while a couple of Dunkels' swapmeets ago, but the email addy that he gave me bounced.

--DD

Posted by: Gustl Mar 15 2005, 03:52 PM

found another scene with the original #40 Sonauto GT

Attached thumbnail(s)

Posted by: bjorn jacobson Jan 12 2006, 07:17 PM

Gustl, I think you are correct about the #40 Somnauto 914-6 GT. I just got the book, A French Kiss With Death (Steve McQueen and the making of LeMans), for Christmas. According to the book the scenes at the start of the race are from actual footage taken by the Solar Productions team both from the spectator viewpoint and from a 908 that Solar had entered in the race. Solar Productions also purchased a few Porsches, from Jo Siffert's dealership in Switzerland, one of them being a 914-6. The cars were then prepared at the garage Solar rented near LeMans to make the reproductions as accurate as possible to the cars that were used in the '70 competition. I'm about half way through the book now and if I get anymore info I'll be sure to add tho this thread.

If you like the movie then get the book, you'll love it. Lots of fun technical content that you wouldn't notice until you've read about it. Hardest part is trying to read the book and watch the movie at the same time!

Later,

BJ

Posted by: alpha434 Jan 12 2006, 07:53 PM

ALL RIGHT EVERYONE!!!

I got my copy at Barnes and Noble.

Not the online store. The physical one. Cost me $12.00.
It's sorted under action- L (for le mans)

Otherwise, they've got steve mcqueen box sets that DON'T have le mans in them, so be careful.

popcorn[1].gif

Posted by: alpha434 Jan 12 2006, 07:56 PM

did anyone notice that the cars were throwing rooster tails before they changed to rain tires?

I got that one on my first time watching it.

Posted by: bjorn jacobson Jan 12 2006, 08:01 PM

How physical do they get at the Barnes + Noble you shop at? I want to go there to buy my books.

I think any tire is gonna throw up a rooster tail in rain at the speeds there reaching. Maybe has more to do with aerodynamics.

Posted by: Mugs914 Jan 12 2006, 09:16 PM

QUOTE (alpha434 @ Jan 12 2006, 05:56 PM)
did anyone notice that the cars were throwing rooster tails before they changed to rain tires?

I got that one on my first time watching it.

In 1970 slick roadrace tires were still a year or two away, at least in Europe.

The normal dry tires had a pretty decent tread profile on them, so it wasn't neccesary to change to rains at the first drizzle. Unless it was a torrential downpour they may not change at all.

Posted by: dinomium Jan 13 2006, 01:06 AM

Our local PCA club had Robert Relyea (Executive Producer) come and show "the making of LeMans" and then gave a talk... He was really kewl and signed my #20 LeMans edition slot car.
He would NOT sign a copy of "A French Kiss with Death". He said the book was not get the facts straight. He was a good friend of Steve McQueen and was very offended by the book.
Just a slight side bar

Posted by: Gustl Jan 13 2006, 01:50 AM

QUOTE (dinomium @ Jan 13 2006, 08:06 AM)
... and signed my #20 LeMans edition slot car.

#20

did you mean #40 - or what car is #20

Posted by: bjorn jacobson Jan 13 2006, 02:21 AM

#20 is the Gulf Wyer 917 in the movie driven by Michael Delaney (Steve McQueen).

Posted by: Gustl Jan 13 2006, 04:14 AM

OMG user posted image
the most famous car in this film (for all non-914-guys)

I should have known this ...

Posted by: URY914 Jan 13 2006, 09:20 AM

From the still pictures it would appear that the 914 is PASSING the 917!
Could this be true?

Paul

Posted by: hmeeder Jan 13 2006, 10:50 AM

Prolly my favorite part of the film is the first 25 minutes oir so.

You get such a great feel for the era and the way European races were conducted in those days.

You'll notice that there's not a single line of character driven dialogue until Steve McQueen starts talking in the tunnel nearly a third way into the flick.

The entire plot and backstory is built by the race announcer voice over and all you see is race/paddock/pits and fans. Great device. Builds tension in a completely different way than films are done these days. Do you think a modern film would allow its superstar principal to go so long without a speaking part? Also a tribute to McQueen for letting the race itself be one of the main characters. He obviously understood how important it was to develop the importance of the race itself and allow its aura, mystique and carnival-like atmosphere to be built up over the opening. Like the opening, the race itself is longer than we expect, but us gearheads hardly notice, just drinking it all in.

Posted by: msglaigaie Jan 13 2006, 12:20 PM

I got mine on ebay for US$7 and the wife cannot figure why I watch it over and over. She would wonder more if she knew how many times it hit the DVD player while she went on shopping expiditions. MSG L

Posted by: maf914 Jan 13 2006, 01:33 PM

QUOTE (URY914 @ Jan 13 2006, 07:20 AM)
From the still pictures it would appear that the 914 is PASSING the 917!
Could this be true?

Yes, it could be true.

Also note in the overhead shot that the 914 is passing the red 911. This can be verified by the basic rule of driving that slower traffic stays right while faster vehicles pass on the left. Since the race took place in Europe, we can assume this basic rule is being observed by the drivers. If the race were in the US we would desregard this evidence as absurd!

Posted by: Goge Jan 13 2006, 02:09 PM

I love LeMans- I can watch it again and again. It's amazing how it galvanizes opinions too, as some have already mentioned: chicks hate it, guys dig it. Well most guys anyway. My Dad was wondering how anyone could like all those engine noises in 'that dumb movie'.

I disowned him and have not spoken with him since

As for Grand Prix, we are not alone in wishing it was on DVD- sign the petition!!! http://putgrandprixondvd.com/

Cheers,
Todd

Posted by: Wild 6 Jan 13 2006, 03:24 PM

This film is truly motivational for racers. After its been a while since a track day, I watch it again just to get pumped up.

Andy