From the petition web site:


7,105
SIGNERS OF OUR PETITION
HELPED MAKE THIS HAPPEN!!! .

Warner Home Video announced that 'Grand Prix' will be released on DVD in the US on July 11 in a 2-disc 40th Anniversary Special Edition set

Fully restored with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound
16 x 9 widescreen format
the original Theatrical Trailer
PLUS several Special Feature Documentaries.

ADVANCED ORDERS ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED by

THE MOTORSPORT COLLECTOR

I guess this is a good movie? Is it a must to have on the shelf next to Le Mans?

Yep, I saw this the other day, has the movie and the making of the movie in the 2 DVD set. I can't wait to get a copy! I personally have not seen it but have been told it's a must-have to go next to lemans.

I hope 'the making of' is what the SpeedChannel produced.

Fascinating interviews with James Garner.

Cool to know he did all of his driving and was quick!

Also very interesting segment on how they towed one of the formula cars with a GT-40 for some of the 'action scenes'!

Thanks for the info on the DVD release

GP is the BEST racing movie ever.

I got the email this morning to "preorder" the two disc set for the Grand Prix release in July (zapped on that puppy). Did they send one to all who signed the petition?? or did they just know that I wanted to be one of the first kids on the block to get one?? Yup, gonna go right next to LeMans. Now I can rotate one after the other. MSG L

I got an e-mail this morning as well. That's how I knew it was being released. And I did sign the petition quite a while ago. Most likely every one who signed got the e-mail.

**Sigh**....It was new when I saw it....Cinemadome in Hollywood (forerunner of IMAX).....Jim Clark's Lotus was on display outside....**sigh**

You can pre-order the Grand Prix (Two-Disc Special Edition) at Amazon for $13.59.

I too saw the original release. when I was in high school a friends parents took us up to the city (SF) to see it on the big screen (I guess it was cinemadome). Great racing shots and "special effects"!!

What year was Grand Prix originally released? I saw the original in the theater, but I don't recall the year.

On the topic of dates, what year was LeMans released? I know the Gulf sponsored 917's raced at Lemans in 70 and 71. Was the movie 71 or 72?

There was an editorial on the Speed channel news site recently concerning the book French Kiss with Death which is about the making of the LeMans movie. The writer of the article was of the opinion that Grand Prix was the best racing movie, followed by LeMans. He dissed Days of Thunder and didn't even mention the horrid mess Sylvester Stallon made about CART.

IMO the second best racing movie after Le Mans. It has some great racing footage, particularly Monte Carlo and the banking at Monza.

Awesome to see Garner running at speed, very calm and all business. Also a really cool scene at the Ferrari factory.

Look carefully in the party scenes, you'll see several grand prix drivers doing cameos, including Juan Fangio!

Get it!

"Days of Thunder" was a joke, but entertaining. "Speed" with Sly was a laugh a minute.

"There are perhaps 5 men qualified to drive Formula One.........."

Grand Prix described the 1966 GP season. This is significant as it was the first year of the 3.0 liter formula that existed unchanged until the early 1990s. It's a great window into what racing was like before aerodynamics and sponsorship took over and changed everything. It was filmed during that season, some during actual races, some just before or after the races, so all of the locations are about as authentic as possible. The cars appearing in the picture were all Formula 2 cars with things added to make them more closely resemble the F1 cars. Many of the cars were driven by name drivers of the day. Garner was pretty much the only actor to drive his own car. The only really faked up bit in the picture is the banking sequence at Monza. This existed, and had been used for F1 racing, but wasn't used in 1966 for reasons that the movie makes all too obvious. It was, I supposed, just too dramatic to pass up.

Not only do some drivers get cameos, but a couple of them actually got lines. Phil Hill plays a mechanic, and Graham Hill plays himself, and has a brief conversation with one of the actors in one scene.

Le Mans describes a fictional Le Mans in 1970 or 1971. The movie appeared in 1972. McQueen and Co entered an actual car in the race.

In terms of "better", I think Le Mans is a terrible movie, but a great racing documentary. Grand Prix makes a better movie, though the story is still a bit forced and loopy. It's also a great racing documentary. The footage in each are exemplary. Le Mans, it appears, is more appreciated by those that bow down to Porsche as the one true faith. Both are certainly much better than any non-documentary racing movie before or since, most of which were truly awful.

As for racing documentaries, there are quite a few that exceed either of these. Lap of the Gods, which highlights in-car footage of laps in many types of cars on many well-known tracks in a era when in-car footage was very rare, is a great thing to see. There's an excellent piece on the 956 for Porsche fans. V for Victory probably has the most breathtaking on-vehicle (bike, in this case) work, taken at the Isle of Man by the acknowledged master of the place, JoeyDunlop. The complete lap takes 20 minutes!

Yes but to see a truly awsome racing movie you gotta see Red Line 7000. I was at a Nascar race a Riverside Raceway when they were filming for the movie. There is a brief shot of my 1960 VW in the film.

Cheers, Elliot

Here is article from the March 1967 edition of Popular Mechanics magazine which I have kept to this day. It explains the making og GP and some of the other insites to the movie. I also have the MGM press packet that was give out. And no that's not for sale.

more...

last pages...

Looksl like I am going to head over to Amazon and give them omore of my hard earned money.

LeMans needs a buddy.

Zach

$13.59? That's almost an insult. Ordering now...

I recently read a biography of Steve McQueen, he was just getting ready to shoot the movie Sand Pebbles when he found out that his rival James Garner beat him with the idea of making a racing movie. Needless to say he was devestated. Hence, Lemans five years later.

I watched this movie in Vietnam...I laid in the dirt in the pouring rain with a sandbag for a pillow, the screen was a white-washed sheet of plywood complete with hole blasted threw it...the projector was in the doorway of a screened hootch...I promised myself that if I survived, I would do that someday...well I never made it to F1, but I did race Formuls Fords in the early 70's until poverty over took me...to say I look foward to this release would be an extreme understatement...
Reddog ...2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, Vietnam class of 68

Saw it when it was new also. On the first date with my future wife (still have her). Drove to it in my 4 mpg MoPar street rod. Man, where has time gone?

Though I watch Grand Prix and LeMans religiously 2-3 times a year, mt opinion is that GP is better - it has a better story line. I remember Garner racing everything in the late 60's-early 70's - he was quite good.

Every time I watch these things I sadly note all of the background characters who died racing in future years - sad. A lot of racing talent played bit parts in both.

Finally I can replace my VHS copy. Great 60's area Euro Hollywood movie with fast cars.

I saw it when it was new also. I was about 8 years old. I remember my entire family going to see it together. My sister and brother were both in high school so I bet this is the last movie we all went to together. It was at a big theater downtown. We even dressed up to go see it. And on the way home we passed the Porsche dealer.

P

I realize that it's more $$$, but has anyone opted to order from The Motorsport Collector and support the organization that helped make this possible in the first place?

http://www.putgrandprixondvd.com/

I saw it at a drive-in with my family when I was a kid. I remember the opening scene in particular.

Finally!!. I ordered mine. It's a great movie, can't wait. I used to own the soundtrack on LP. Same song played in different styles. I still find myself humming the tune every once in a while.

Grand Prix was the movie that started my entire love of autos and racing. The opening with the exhaust pipes dividing up the entire screen is still one of my favorites, the sights and sounds are wonderful. Supposedly Frankenheimer was thinking of doing another such movie when he passed on.

Definately belongs on the DVD shelf along with LeMan, Rondevous, and Ruf's Faszination (VHS tape) in any enthusiast's home.

Me too. I still have the vinyl album of the sound track that I listened to as a kid.