Ford vs Ferrari

[BruceS]

Agree with Jerico.  Go and be entertained by the sound of 427s with bundle-of-snakes headers and Ferrari V12s!  What's not to like?   

[Falcon67]

Good show, had a lot of fun watching.  Even my wife liked it.  She hated the end and fumed about "Ken" for not wearing a fire suit at the end.  Wife and a racer, you'd expect that. 

[TomP]

I liked it. A few inaccuracies like the shifting when already at top speed and the Daytona Coupe with 17 or 18" wheels on the car carrier and the stubby red #2 "Mk IV".... but very few.

It was a lot more authentic seeming than i'd have imagined. They depicted the Venice and LAX shops well. The racing scenes were good and the backgrounds at LeMans and "Riverside" were good. I hope it continues to do well at the box office.

[frnkeore]

   
Default Re: FORD vs FERRARI
My wife took me to see it, last night, for my 75th Bday.

Overall, I liked the movie but, the driving scenes, are down right "Hokey"!!

Examples:
1. Ken passing on the outside, in the dirt, on Willow springs straightaway. I've raced there, many times and that maneuver, would have at least spun him but, more likely, sent him rolling, into the pits. He would have been driving on sand, with LOTS of rocks.

2. Looking at the other drivers, while doing 200+ MPH. You Do Not look at other drivers, when your racing!!!! You only use peripheral vision, even at 80 mph or less.

3. You don't put your brakes on, when cornering, especially at high speed, you trail brake, going into a corner, nothing after that nor, shift at 200+ and take off, like a rocket.

4. Even then, they wore seat belts and were strapped in at pit stops!


I don't really think they did much testing of the GT40 at Willow, the front straight is fairly short and the back straight, too. I believe most, if not all the testing was at Riverside Raceway, on the "long" track (there were 3 configurations), configuration. It's the only road track, that has a long enough straight, to let the GT40, unwind. They couldn't have used OMS (Ontario Motor Speedway), as it wasn't built, until 1968.

I was impressed with Matt Damons role (didn't think I would be), His stature leaves a lot to be desired but, a lot of shots were from lower levels, looking up, to make him seem taller. I didn't know Carol or Ken but, saw many interviews of Carol and a couple, with Ken. In those days, I lived and breathed road racing, especially, anything involving Ford.

They didn't try to show Kens death, in the "J" car, nor it happening on the Riverside, straightaway. They could have mocked up a car to look like it. Although the J car was good in the wind tunnel, the J car had aero problems, right from the start on the track and they changed the body work, to what would become the MK IV, to cure it.

Between '73 and '79, I raced at Willow Springs, Riverside and OMS so, I know the tracks well. My first SCCA drivers school was at Willow, in '73.

I know nothing about the exec's, they portrayed Iocca well but, if Bebee wasn't like that, it was a injustice to him and his family.

This is the "J" car.

[Katz427]

According to a column in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Leo Beebe was not as portrayed in the movie. People who knew him well are definitely upset at the "movie" portrayal. There was an interview of Shelby about 2001-2 and Caroll takes credit and the blame for the three cars ending, saying that he convinced Beebe to end the race with the three cars together.

[bigbadblue]

 Yes, great movie. I did giggle, as said, I don't ever remember looking over at another driver. Christian Bale was fantastic, you really got to like his character. I liked Henry Ford ll as played. I think attendance  is down because people think it is just a car movie, to bad, their loss.
 Bale lost 70 lbs. to play his part from his last movie. I have a tough time losing 5.

[machoneman]

   
Default Re: FORD vs FERRARI
My wife took me to see it, last night, for my 75th Bday.

Overall, I liked the movie but, the driving scenes, are down right "Hokey"!!

Examples:
1. Ken passing on the outside, in the dirt, on Willow springs straightaway. I've raced there, many times and that maneuver, would have at least spun him but, more likely, sent him rolling, into the pits. He would have been driving on sand, with LOTS of rocks.

2. Looking at the other drivers, while doing 200+ MPH. You Do Not look at other drivers, when your racing!!!! You only use peripheral vision, even at 80 mph or less.

3. You don't put your brakes on, when cornering, especially at high speed, you trail brake, going into a corner, nothing after that nor, shift at 200+ and take off, like a rocket.

4. Even then, they wore seat belts and were strapped in at pit stops!


I don't really think they did much testing of the GT40 at Willow, the front straight is fairly short and the back straight, too. I believe most, if not all the testing was at Riverside Raceway, on the "long" track (there were 3 configurations), configuration. It's the only road track, that has a long enough straight, to let the GT40, unwind. They couldn't have used OMS (Ontario Motor Speedway), as it wasn't built, until 1968.

I was impressed with Matt Damons role (didn't think I would be), His stature leaves a lot to be desired but, a lot of shots were from lower levels, looking up, to make him seem taller. I didn't know Carol or Ken but, saw many interviews of Carol and a couple, with Ken. In those days, I lived and breathed road racing, especially, anything involving Ford.

They didn't try to show Kens death, in the "J" car, nor it happening on the Riverside, straightaway. They could have mocked up a car to look like it. Although the J car was good in the wind tunnel, the J car had aero problems, right from the start on the track and they changed the body work, to what would become the MK IV, to cure it.

Between '73 and '79, I raced at Willow Springs, Riverside and OMS so, I know the tracks well. My first SCCA drivers school was at Willow, in '73.

I know nothing about the exec's, they portrayed Iocca well but, if Bebee wasn't like that, it was a injustice to him and his family.

This is the "J" car.

Agree with your review yet as with all car movies, they often bend the truth and even the sites/visuals. Still, it was not a hokey movie at all even if Beebe was mis-portrayed. It was also great see that the old guy-gets-the-girl ending wasn't present!

I also remember back then the big hoo-haw here about Miles losing the race (most blamed the French FIA group) yet Shelby did take the heat as it was his idea. The writers did early on note the "Rule Book" with the trunk deal yet it became evident why that was crucial to Miles' loss. Shelby admitted afterwards even he didn't know the rules vis'-a-vis' the starting grid position, hence the loss.

I did also find odd that they didn't at least mock-up the rear engine cover of the infamous J-Car for those scenes as it would have been easy and more indicative of the bread-box shape of the car. They did spend some serious $$$ on the moves so this would have been a one-off no brainer.   

[frnkeore]

Bob,
I wasn't saying the whole movie was "Hokey" just the driving scenes. It was worth it just to see the race cars and the period street cars. 

[Falcon67]

Bob,
I wasn't saying the whole movie was "Hokey" just the driving scenes. It was worth it just to see the race cars and the period street cars.

All Hollywood race driving is a bit "hokey".  However, the Grade A #1 level of hokey goes to the FnF series of movies.  Now you owe me a 10 second car... :lol:

[cjshaker]

4. Even then, they wore seat belts and were strapped in at pit stops!

There's a very good 90 minute documentary on Netflix called The 24 Hour War (directed by Nate Adams and Adam Carolla, 2 big time car guys), all about how the rivalry came to be and how Ford won the LeMans for several years. The interviewees are Dan Gurney, A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti and others who actually raced the cars, and they pretty much all said that they did NOT buckle up during the race. It's pretty evident at the start of the race that nobody buckled up before taking off. According to the drivers in the documentary, Fords policy was to buckle up BEFORE taking off, but the drivers didn't listen. Mario said that they would try to buckle up on the Mulsanne Straight, but that it wasn't always possible. I'd tend to believe the guys who were actually there, rather than speculation by somebody who wasn't, 53 years after the fact.

I highly recommend to everyone here, watching the documentary if you have Netflix. It includes people like the drivers mentioned above, Carroll Shelby, John Holmans son, Henry Ford III, and a host of other people directly involved with the LeMans racing teams that Ford had back then. It also tells the story from Ferrari's side, from the people who actually were there and raced and worked on the cars. Overall, an extremely good show that I enjoyed thoroughly.

I plan on seeing Ford VS Ferrari this Saturday. The first time I've felt the need to spend the big bucks to go to a theater in probably 20+ years.

[machoneman]

Bob,
I wasn't saying the whole movie was "Hokey" just the driving scenes. It was worth it just to see the race cars and the period street cars.

Oh, I understood that!

[frnkeore]

Doug,
Note, I didn't say the start of the race, I said pit stop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJztRHjtwHw

Check this out at 2:40 and tell me what he is doing.

Added:
Sorry, I had a call and had to leave real quick.

[thatdarncat]

...I think attendance  is down because people think it is just a car movie, to bad, their loss...

Actually, Ford v Ferrari was the #1 domestic movie it’s opening week, let’s hope it keeps up, although I’m guessing Frozen 2 will take #1 this coming week.

[cammerfe]

In regard to 'buckling-up', and from the viewpoint of today and ECTA Land Speed Racing, I need help to get everything in place and pulled tight enough to pass the last-minute look-over by the starter. My good friend and crew chief, Tom Caimotto helps me get everything right before I head for the starting line. (We use arm tethers to keep elbows from flapping in the event of a mishap, so, in effect, I only have half an arm's-length on each side to work with.)

KS

[Cyclone03]

I’ve now seen it twice. First with my friend ,had to check out the content before taking my 10yo grandson today. Grandson liked it,and liked the back story I filled in. Picked up on Miles lack of fire suite as soon as he got in the car.
He likes the idea that grandpa has the same type engine in his Mustang as the GT40. Lol.

Anybody notice the Chubbie LS heads on Miles’ work bench?