Motor racing in film

'Heart Like a Wheel' 1983

If you like drag racing............(They drive in a straight line for a quarter of a mile? How difficult can that be?) (although it's a thousand feet now).....

Shirley Muldowney was the first female to make it in the NHRA, (US drag racing) & made a big difference to the image of women in motorsport.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL1BpJ65o2Q

Bonnie Bedelia won a golden globe for her performance as Shirley.

This is one of those, 'success despite adversity' films & tells of a woman trying to make it in an entirely male sport. That she did is is the result of her unending belief in herself. She went on to win 3 championships.

She paved the way for women in this sport & thanks to her we now have competitive females in all classes of the sport, not just in the US, but across the globe. Recently, Courtney Force took the 100th win in NHRA for a woman in the sport: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI6mnRbq8-4

Talladega Nights guys!

This is becoming a bit like Andrew's video highlights, rather than motor racing....................but................

If you like the Vulcan stuff, this is superb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMgHBfMUfSM&list=FLZ2oPNudC3fHuVAfVW9tRzw&index=1

I see from their website,

http://www.vulcantothesky.org/

that it will have to stop flying at the end of the 2015 season due to worn parts & no replacements or drawings available. So, if you are in the UK........

Ok back to motor racing then....well bikes at least

The Unrideables

This covers the 500cc World Motorcycling championship from 1987 to 1989. It has some great footage with comment from the protagonists, including King Kenny.

http://auto.indavideo.hu/video/The_Unrideables

There is a sequel.....isn't there always

The Unrideables 2 Grand Prix 500: The Rainey Days

This picks up the story going through to 1993, once again with comment from all the greats. This too has some great footage.

http://www.frequency.com/video/unrideables-2-viene-significar-las/168340698/-/5-3673656

I can recommend them both, but you will have to put up with some of the, er, music from the period. I cannot find either on the tube, but if you can find some better links please post them here. Enjoy

Rush

Days of Thunder seems to missing from the list.

Does  Genevieve count ?

A film about the London to Brighton Rally in vintage automobiles.

That is a superb suggestion Tony.

Haven't seen it all yet, but for those of you in London, there is this at the beginning of November:

http://www.veterancarrun.com 

It's an early start, but there will be steam & electric cars. I say cars......quite a few look like there should be a horse at the front

Nothing for a couple of months & then 2 in 2 days...........

http://www.onanysundayfilm.com/

I haven't seen all of this yet either, but.....it looks great.

If you are in the US or Australia, you can still see this on the big screen if you want to.

Merry Christmas.

I hope Santa brings you a nice dvd to watch.

This one is on my list.

http://www.williamdunlopracing.co.uk/dunlop-film-road/

Hello there. Happy new year. (I know it's the middle of February).

I did get that dvd for Xmas, but I haven't seen it yet; that thing called work has got in the way, (again). Bloody clients. If we got rid of them, I might get something done............cough.........

I will tidy this thread up a bit shortly, but in the meantime......

'To please a lady', subtitled, 'A thrill a minute romance of a daredevil & a darling! (& here's one for the teenagers, this is evidence of the use of an exclamation mark prior to the invention of the cell phone & its short message service). 

Directed by Clarence Brown, of 'International Velvet' fame, it's from 1950 & focuses on the US oval scene in the 1940's, culminating in the Indy 500. It stars, Clark Gable & Barbara Stanwyck in glorious black & white.

There are some trailers on the tube & the dvd is not cheap, but I am assured it is worth it.

He returned! 
welcome back Andrew, quick say something about a film, uuuhhhh
I like top gear

Hello there.

Hey Yuri, hope things are good with you. How is the motox?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7ncweROe9U

This is 'Checkpoint'.

The story isn't new, but it is accompanied by a tour of the mille miglia no less, with some superb footage of 50's sportscars; Aston Martin, Lister, C type Jag etc & some of those stunning little Alfa Guilietta's.

There are some shots of Goodwood near the start, which I was priveledged to attend last weekend for the members meeting. Did any of you go? If so, I hope you had more clothes on than me. It was absolutely freezing on Saturday; I thought I was going to need treatment for exposure. Some super racing & demos though; worth freezing for.

I shall be at the World endurance race @ silverstone on the 12th & the VSCC the following weekend. Let me know if you are planning to attend either.

fastest, all about passion in motorcylcle, special interview with valentino rossi and marco simoncelli (r.i.p) 

Essential viewing
Le Mans
Grand Prix

If you read only this far, I urge you to watch these two films. Sure, they are both from a different time when 'Motor Sport' conjured a much more cavalier attitude to life, but the camera captures the essence of racing in a way I have not found anywhere else. They are classics, not just of their time but of any time.

I promised to tidy up a little here, so...........& in no particular order.......& in my opinion for whatever that's worth.....If there is a SLYT, I have included it previously in this thread.There are other films & many of them are superb, but this is my view of what is good to watch

Films
Rush
Two-Lane Black Top
Winning
Heart Like a Wheel

Documentaries
Senna
9 Days in Summer
For Britain & the Hell of it
In car 956
Superspeedway
1955 Belgian Grand Prix
Weekend of a Champion
1: Life on the limit

Motor Cycle Sport

Documentaries
Fast
Faster
Fastest
Love, Speed & Loss
On Any Sunday
On Any Sunday: the next chapter
TT3D: Closer to the edge
The Unrideables
The Unrideables 2: Grand Prix 500: The Rainey Days
Road

If nonserious films are in, I add Ricky Bobby to this list. Sascha Baron Cohen is absolutely hilarious as an ex-F1 driver moving to Nascar.

If you have access to UK television, they are showing the Senna documentary on ITV on Friday @ 21:00 GMT, 22:00 BST/DST & CET.

I know those movies are not about racing but cars play an important role:
- Taxi Driver
- Gran Torino
- Easy Rider (bikes actually)
- American Graffiti
- Rebel Without a Cause (immortal James Dean)

Those I am a little bit ashamed to like:
- Gone in 60 seconds
- The Last Ride (pretty rare to see GTOs)

And my favorites have already been listed:
- Bullitt
- Le Mans
- Rush
- Days of Thunder

Thank you for those suggestions Dark Knight. Some interesting ones there. 

We reach that time of year again when thoughts start to return to a small town in France....With this in mind......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFwoxM1MiBw

This is 'Truth in 24'.

A film by Audi about their 2008 campaign to win at Le Mans. Their main competition came from Peugeot & if you were lucky enough to get to the Members Meeting at Goodwood this year, you would have seen one of the Peugeots from this race.

Goodwood motorsport can be found here: https://www.goodwood.com/motorsport/motorsport.aspx#23A64fDr2p81wYd3.97

There is a sequel 'Truth in 24 - Every second counts'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27F26UA1i6M

This tells of the 2011 Le Mans in a similar style.

Both are excellent & give a real sense of the effort required to compete & win.

'Lauda: The untold story' also called '33 days'

This is a documentary in the Senna style. It will have a limited release in the UK on 2nd July. I haven't been able to find any details about its release elsewhere. Indeed details at all seem to be contradictory, Vue reckon it is 133 mintues but I have found it at 90 minutes too.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3678980/

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/film-review-lauda-the-untold-story/

Vue cinemas seem to suggest that there will be a live Q&A session after the screening.