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.
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.