Grand Prix

1966

Action / Drama / Sport

7
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 92% · 12 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 88% · 2.5K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.2/10 10 10455 10.5K

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Plot summary

The story tells about the confrontation of four first-class racers of Formula 1. Each of the competitors had their own additional motivation to become a champion. Their world is a risk and extreme, fast driving on the highway. The taste of adrenaline is what race lovers live. Outside of competition, they all experience personal dramas and upheavals, and the more important the desired title becomes for them.


Uploaded by: FREEMAN
April 10, 2016 at 07:12 PM

Top cast

James Garner as Pete Aron
Yves Montand as Jean-Pierre Sarti
Brian Bedford as Scott Stoddard
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
1.25 GB
1280*576
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
2 hr 56 min
Seeds 2
2.66 GB
1920*864
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
2 hr 56 min
Seeds 10

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by tomsview 9 / 10

The good old days?

Jeremy Clarkson, in an interview with Eric Bana, thought the "good old days" of motor racing changed after Niki Lauda's accident in 1972, and when "Jackie Stewart really got into his stride with the safety thing".

He wasn't alone in thinking the safety measures Stewart advocated detracted from the sport. "Grand Prix" gives an insight into what Formula One was like before the changes.

Most of what I know about Formula One comes from this movie and the eye-opening 2013 documentary, "Life on the Limit".

I may not be a motor racing fanatic, but I do love movies, and I think "Grand Prix" has a great script. It focuses on the lives and loves of four drivers. Only Italian Nino Barlini (Antonio Sabàto) loves the sport for the thrills and the glory. The others, Pete Aron (James Garner), Jean-Pierre Sarti (Yves Montand) and Scott Stoddard (Brian Bedford) do it for other reasons, often against their instincts.

Although Garner was top billed, Yves Montand stole the show as the most philosophical of the drivers. However, when Jean-Pierre suggests that the crowds only come to see the accidents, Eva Marie Saint as Louise Frederickson best sums up what draws spectators to the sport, "There are some who come for the accidents and the fires. But the others... the others ride with you all. You put something in their lives they can't put there themselves".

Seeing this on the wide-screen was awesome. When the curtains parted after the overture, and the camera pulled back to reveal the thundering exhaust as the flag went down on the Monaco Grand Prix you automatically pressed back against your seat.

You would think starting with that amazing street-race risked making everything else anti-climatic, but no! The final race at Monza on those banking curves is even more spectacular.

Maurice Jarre's monumental score gave a feeling of the cars shooting past. Even in its quieter moments, the score gives a sense that the track ominously awaits the protagonists.

And what about beautiful Françoise Hardy as Lisa? She epitomised the off-the-track glamour of Formula One. I was sorry to learn she is not well these days.

Director John Frankenheimer and the stars that played the drivers have gone now, but what a movie they left behind; whenever you see a list of motor racing movies, "Grand Prix" is at the top.

Reviewed by bkoganbing 8 / 10

The Star Is The Sport

According to a recent biography of Steve McQueen, Grand Prix was supposed to be a project that he and John Frankenheimer were originally to work on. But the two had creative differences and went their separate ways doing separate racing pictures. What McQueen eventually did was Le Mans. I think Frankenheimer wound up with the far better product.

Grand Prix is a Grand Hotel type film involving several people and their lives over the course of a few months on the European racing circuit. Many of the types fans of the sport will most likely recognize.

James Garner is the American driver who's had a run of bad luck. A car crash has forced him to try and be color commentator for television, a role he can't fit in. Japanese auto industrialist Toshiro Mifune is offering him a way back into the circuit.

Brian Bedford's sustained a serious crash and even before's he's healed he's driving through a lot of pain. His wife Jessica Walter thinks he's certifiable and she drifts into an affair with Garner whom she thinks is showing good sense in going for the life of sports television commentator.

Antonio Sabato, father of the famed Calvin Klein model of the last decade, is the Epicurean live for the moment driver who doesn't take anything seriously except for the time he's actually competing. Definitely not his women as Francoise Hardy finds out.

The veteran of the circuit, the Michael Jordan of the profession, is Yves Montand. The only real happiness he has is driving, not even an affair with journalist Eva Marie Saint is bringing him that. Montand is trapped in a loveless marriage to Genevieve Page who's the daughter of another automobile industrialist. His name means more prestige for daddy's firm, so she'll tolerate all infidelities.

Montand is getting old and like many afraid his reflexes won't be there for him at one critical point too many. Back then these guys were racing at speeds of 180 miles an hour. Your life saving decisions at some point are taken out of your hands at those speeds.

Whether it's the NASCAR circuit in the USA, the Grand Prix of Europe or even midget go cars, auto racing may in fact be the only truly international sport there is. It's stars come from every corner in this world except Antarctica. The sport is held in just about every country there is. It's also never become has politicized as the Olympics have become on occasion. The drivers who compete and the supporters and sponsors around them are an international fraternity that national boundaries have no meaning for.

Despite the presence of so many international names, the star of the film is the sport itself. All the stories of the players are done against that backdrop. It's a tribute to John Frankenheimer that the individual stories did not get lost in the making of Grand Prix. The film won three Oscars, for Sound, for Sound Effects, and for Film Editing.

Grand Prix is the best film on auto racing ever done. And it's presented in such a way that even people who don't follow the sport, can appreciate what the drivers go through. If possible see this one on the big screen.

Reviewed by MartinHafer 7 / 10

Rather amazing to watch, but not a whole lot of depth.

"Grand Prix" is a pretty spectacular film to watch and I sure wish I could see it on the big screen--especially since it was apparently shown in the Cinerama format. Not surprisingly, it won several technical Oscars in 1967. It was simply amazing how much better the camera-work and sound was than in previous racing films. However, while spectacular, it's also a film with very little depth. After all, with most of the film spent showing various races, there wasn't a whole lot of time left for character development. Now this isn't to say it's a bad film--but it's one that lacks a lot in the way of characters. The actors are more one-dimensional than you'd normally find in a film. Sadly, there were only a few times you really got a good look into a character (such as how Sarti, Yves Montand, reacted after his car ran over two teens). Lovely to look at and exquisitely made but its value as a film limits itself.

It's amazing how short my review is for a nearly three hour film, but after the picture concluded, there just wasn't much to say or add.

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