Lamborghini made tractors. And yes, this was based on actual events. The ForD GT40 was the first time the whole world was put on notice that America can make a proper sports car.
Even though we (the British) built It? Nice try yank.. Ford would still only be making cars for overweight farmers and soccer moms if it wasn’t for us…
A small portion of that scene was included in the trailers without proper context and it just made it look like it was some old, corporate turd crying because he was scared he was going to die in it. Then you actually see the movie and realize it's more because he's blown away by the car and he thinks his dad would have been proud to see it produced on his watch. Kinda made me mad at the trailers once I saw the scene in its entirety within the film.
@@YorkshiremanReacts26 Yeah, just like the lugnut drop never happened. Most of the technical stuf was true, the brake fade, the door not closing properly, etc.
Especially since his father - Edsel Ford was always interested in making cars more advanced and luxurious, Edsel was responsible for the V-12 Lincoln Zephyr and the Lincoln Continental. Edsel frequently clashed with HIS father, Henry Ford over the future direction the Ford line of automobiles should take. I'm sure Edsel would have LOVED the GT-40. So tragic that Edsel died at the young age of 49, had he lived and become the head of Ford it's possible they may have had an earlier and larger presence in both racing and in luxury automobiles.
@timdottillis0420 yes, that's my point. They were two friends fighting. They may have been angry with each other, but not enough to want to really hurt the other.
I had a boss exactly like Henry Ford II. You’d give him a proposal, he’d lean back on his chair, arms crossed, completely unreadable, he’d stay silent for a minute thinking about it and snap his fingers and say “great, let’s do that”
The movie "villain" , Leo Beebe , worked also for US government with IKE to resettle Hungarian and Cuban refugees and also worked for JFK and LBJ , to solve minority unemployment , there actually is no one that worked for FoMoCo at that point that we can ask about real Leo Beebe , but people who knew him outside of FoMoCo , do not agree that he was arrogant , HF II met him due to US Navy program , before WW 2 , hired him right after and let him work for several presidents ... clearly no self interest there from HF II 🙂
@@pete_lind I imagine the real Leo Beebe was just risk averse. I mean he’s the villain here but he does nothing wrong in the movie. Every scene he is in he brings up solid points and makes reasonable claims. Even the scene where he tells Shelby to leave Ken behind he’s correct. Miles is not a good look for the shareholders and is a risk to Ford’s reputation. He’s looking out for Ford’s interests as a company which is his job.
@@prasadchavan8313 I also prefer Rush, but that is hard to objectively prove if one prefers a more friendly film over rivals, or likes kids and family, Rush doesn't hit that chord (pun intended), it is more rock and roll party time which is more my cup of tea
The story is very very well known. But as the years go on and unless you're 'into cars' most people didn't know or care. This movie was just amazingly done.
It's more about the people than the cars. The cars don't build themselves or race themselves. The cars are amazing, but the people are even more iconic.
Of course, none of them are as good as the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. That’s not because of the cheekiness of being an hour longer, but because Thunderhill is still more about amateur teams in the literal sense of the word, doing it for the love of it. Le Mans and other prestigious endurance races are dominated by big-budget factory teams.
Apparently Leo Beebe's character was "enhanced" or more likely fictionalized to a large degree to serve the story, as historical accounts from coworkers describe him as a humble, hard working man. But this is definitely one of my favorite movies ever.
Yeah, most of the story is pretty well dead on of the actual events. But they needed and antagonist for the sake of it being a movie. His family was really upset about his portrayal.
Of course his "co workers" are going to say nice things about him, they all went to the same high brow social events, He didn't like Ken Miles and he did cost him the race so yeah pretty accurate.
@@rocketmunkey1Yep. And he wanted to be the boss when it was Shelby making most of the break throughs, not him. In times like this I feel they edited for content and just removed some of his finer qualities.
The best American race story and I’m so happy Ken Miles is remembered cause he got screwed out of triple crown of endurance racing. Growing up my hometown held races around the local lake from this era of cars. Racing was insanely dangerous till end of 70’s. Some years averaged over 1 death per race. I take off work to watch Le Mans each year Glad you loved this movie!
An unfortunate thing the movie does is gloss over how Mollie was also an avid racer and car enthusiast. She doesn't just support her husband out of love, but also completely understanding and sharing his passion. It would've been nice to see even one short scene with her racing.
I love this movie. It's got it all, drama, laughs, suspense, heart. So many amazingly shot sequences. And the line "I sat on my nuts" makes me laugh every time.
@@Tensen01 31:08 Never looked him up till now. Apparently, Tracy Letts won an actual effing *Pulitzer* _and_ a Tony for a play he wrote back in 2007, and _then_ won a Tony for Best Actor in a play 7 years later. Dude's an actual bloody legend.
The movie robbed us of a happy ending, real life robbed us of a great sequel, and George robbed us of the reaction epilogue. We would totally love to see your reaction when you look up the true story details. BTW, I don't know if it's been mentioned, but I'm pretty sure Jon Bernthal's character, Lee Iacocca, is the same guy that ran the Chrysler corporation for years. Anyone that lived thru the 80's knows his commercials.
Correct. Iacocca was behind the Mustang, ran Ford for a while but then went to Chrysler in the late 70s and brought them out of near bankruptcy with the K cars and minivan.
Hollywood needs to do more of this. It's fun, exciting, interesting, hilarious and sad. I've read it was in development for a long time and had trouble actually getting made.
We saw this at a movie theater with our team of old motorcycling friends at an annual meet-up, and we all knew the real story behind this too. Almost no home audio setup can properly reproduce the sounds of racing compared to what we heard in the theatre, just amazing sound design. It certainly deserved it's Oscar for best sound editing back in 2020. I also recognized one of the scenes in LeMans, as I've ridden my motorcycle on that same straight on my way from Biarritz to Paris on long a tour across most of Europe.
I wish I saw this in theatre. I saw Top Gun Maverick twice in theatre and I had the same kind of feeling about the sound. This movie was definitely made for theatres. I mean, who doesn't love the sound a big ass engine with a proper exhaust?
My brother has a 3 litre racing tuned Jaguar E-Type from this era. The sound and smells are out of this world. Sadly I'm just a bit too tall to drive it.
Awesome reminder on Fv.F’s Sound Design Oscar Win.🏆🏁 LeMans, esp vintage, race cars have their own special growl & breath (too bad there’s no smell-o-vision to go w/that badass home theater setup). This movie makes me remember how much I loved Dad’s 55 Chevy & his passion restoring it to stock: smelled/sounded amazzzzing… 😊
Shelby and Miles were helped by a big crew of very talented Ford engineers and contractors. The Ford "bureaucrats" are poorly portrayed too but it helps increase the empathy for the main characters I guess. There are a few minor changes but otherwise this movie is pretty accurate. Also I would recommend watching Rush, true story and car racing. Really accurate, almost perfect. I think someone will need tissues...
No they’re not. All big American businessmen are the same and always have been. Even as an Englishman I know that. They’ve always stuck up their own ass cocky evil wankers.
What? They showed Iaccoca was great. They showed Ford developing the best engine. Ford engineers just weren't the peak of racing like Shelby was. They had tried it on their own already. That Cobra is still amazing.
24 Hours of Le Mans is legendary in the racing niche. Also, unfortunately infamous for a horrible crash that killed 83 spectators in 1955. In 2013 Patrick Dempsey put out a mini series doc show about putting together a team for Le Mans. Really interesting, as it went into the history a lot, as well as what it takes to even attempt the race. I'd recommend it if not for the channel, a good side watch.
Already been commented but this is based on ture events and quite accurate for the most part. Actually went to le mans last year for the classic race there and saw plenty of GT40 remakes. Scares the hell out of you when one of them goes underneath you while crossing the Dunlop bridge😂 Highly recommend the film rush which is also based on ture events but in formula 1 back in the 70s.
The type of racing that is depicted here is called endurance racing. The 24 hour race at Le Mans is the oldest race of this type. It was originally conceived so that car manufacturers could show to the public that their cars were reliable. It was first organized in 1923 and has been held almost every year (it was not held between 1940 and 1948 and a few other single years, mostly due to external circumstances). These days its run in the early summer and this year's edition is from 15:00 on Saturday, June 10th until 15:00 on Sunday, June 11th. There is a whole series of endurance races held in the World Endurance Championship, the next one being the 6 hours of Spa Francorchamps (in Belgium) on the 29th of April (a.k.a. tomorrow in about 16 hours from posting this comment). There was also an North American variant called ALMS, which stood for American Le Mans Series, which ran on circuits in North America. This however has merged with another endurance racing championship and no longer runs under the ALMS name. If you want to see more racing movies I highly recommend "Rush", which depicts the real world rivalry between two Formula 1 drivers in the 1970's, James Hunt and Niki Lauda.
I didn't know the story (not a car person) but I had a feeling going into it that it was based on a true story or at least based on real people since it felt like that sort of film. Didn't know the ending was gonna be that though.
As a car person, I can assure you the movie is one of the most faithfully accurate depictions of real events. The only inaccuracy was Leo Beebe’s role as some sort of saboteur was played up a lot.
As someone who is into cars, motorsport in general and also knowing bits of racing history. I went into this movie wanting to know how they would portray this story and I think, even though some things were over dramatized to serve the story, they still did a very good job.
Hi, I race for a living. Yes, this happens, although nowadays with 3 drivers rather than 2. Those guys back then were bloody crazy talented to handle those beasts - I’ve driven a GT40 and instructed in one and it’s no small feat to drive one even at low speeds.
Ferruccio Lamborghini made tractors, he bought a Ferrari which he had an issue with the clutch and complained to old man Ferrari himself about it, who told him to stick to making tractors. This caused Ferruccio to start making sports cars to compete against Ferrari, which there is now a movie about it. Note that 24 hours is shared among multiply drivers, taking various shifts throughout the day. The car however must survive that 24 hours essentially running non-stop except for brief pit stops. The pit stops of this era weren't well organized, even in Nascar or F1.
My uncle was a test driver at ford during this time period. He was one of the reverse engineering guys. He said they wreck quite a few ferrari while setting up for this race. His whole job was to take the enemy vehicle and learn its limits so they could build it beyond them. Debuque and Iocca both have cities named after them.
My favorite throwaway line from this movie is when Carroll Shelby goes to tell Ken Miles that he planned on building the GT40. Shelby: "anything on this beauty that does work?" Miles: "that mirror's outstanding"
24:37 Notice that when the two are wrestling on the gras, Shelby first has a metal can in his hand, drops it and goes for the bread because he doesn't want to hurt Ken? Such a little detail but i love it.
I'm not a car guy either, but the object of desire for Nick Cage's character in the movie "Gone in 60 Seconds" was a 1967 Ford Shelby GT500. So when I watched this movie and heard Matt Damon's character was "Mr. Shelby" I knew instantly this was somehow based on a true story. So if you haven't done so already, I'd love for you guys to react to that Nick Cage movie
I'm a retired car & motorcycle racer (yes, for a living*). Yes, LeMans is perhaps the most iconic race worldwide & still runs every year. Unbelievable huge spectacle. Please consider watching Steve McQueen's (also a for real world-class car & bike racer who raced LeMans successfully) 70s folm classic "LeMans." Considered the best (by FAR) & most realistic racing movie ever made. Loved your reaction here 💚💜🩵💥💥💥
Carroll Shelby stated in an interview before he died that he regretted his entire life asking Ken to make that photo finish happen. Ferrari insulted Ford and Ford created the GT. Ferrari insulted Lamborghini and Lamborghini decided to branch out from making farm tractors.
I never really expected it but this is legit one of my favourite films I’ve ever seen. It has everything, Bales performance especially was exceptional, so too Matt Damon’s. It had light moments, serious moments and at the end makes you cry. Brilliant movie
I could hear Enzo spin in his grave when George said he started making tractors. As a man of a certain age who grew up the Lamborghini Countach picture on his wall, let him twirl. Lamborghini started out making tractors, still do. The story goes Ferruccio Lamborghini loved driving Ferraris, except for issues with the clutch. One day Lamborghini went to Enzo to suggest ways to improve the clutch. Enzo apparently responded with something along the lines of "what does a tractor maker know about cars?" Or "go back to your tractors!" I'm not sure if the story is true or just legend likely a mix of both but is has always been one of my favorite car stories.
Lamborghini Trattori and Automobili Lamborghini are two separate companies. They had the same founder, but were always run separate. Ferruccio sold the Trattori to SAME in 1972, and is currently owned by SDF Group. The Automobili is currently owned by Volkswagen. So no, Automobili Lamborghini never made tractors.
@@stevengoetz6773 I never said Automobili Lamborghini made tractors. I said Lamborghini made tractors. Which he did BEFORE he made cars. The structure of Ferruccio Lamborghini's business interests are irrelevant to the story.
Enzo Ferrari was notoriously arrogant. He often chalked up complaints about his cars having issues to the driver not driving the car correctly, even if the issue was real. A lot of Italian sports car/ supercar manufacturers wouldn't exist if Enzo Ferrari wasn't an arrogant asshole
For some historical context, the Mr Ford in the film is Henry Ford's grandson, and his wish for his father to have been around to see what he's accomplished was in earnest. You see, his father worked himself to death at a very young age running the company and managing its wartime production of everything from engines and trucks to tanks and strategic bombers. He never really got to just do what he loved, and design cars as his father had done.
@@stephenhoward4471 No, they built B-24s and engines for aircraft and tanks, as well as jeeps and military trucks. The only ones that could have been acquired by the Nazis would have been looted from the battlefield.
I can just imagine what it must feel like to be living the dream and moment your father had never dared to believe could come true. Those tears from Mr Ford, yes, most likely was brought on by fear of power, but also of joy of knowing your father's legacy has come full circle.
Ok, great film! Great reaction..now hear me out: do Cinderella Man for your next sports film reaction.. it always gets overlooked. PIB ranked it as one of her favorites. When it came out, AMC theaters put out a money back guarantee on movie tickets...it was that good. It's a true story and one of the most uplifting movies of all time.
Yes the 24hrs of Le Mans is still happening. It's one of the most prestigious race events every year. You should watch RUSH next, then the Senna documentary. Racing is an extremely dangerous sport even with all the modern safety equipment. But it used to be extremely bad with drivers dying at almost every major event. Even through the 80s. I do track days, and have friends who race. It's an absolutely exhilarating thing to do. Like Miles said, finding that perfect lap, chasing the smooth and fast lap pushing the vehicle to 10/10ths is an amazing feeling.
If you were 30 or so years older, you'd have recognized the character of Lee Iacocca. Not only did he push Ford out of its rut, he later went to Chrysler and became President and CEO, pulling them out of bankruptcy. *Major* figure in the auto industry. I don't drive either, but I know who he is, just from being around when he was a major influence in the business. I imagine that's why he got significantly more screen time than Henry Ford II. :) When the movie was first released, I think everyone who saw it in the theater knew it was based on a true story. And yeah, it was horrible when Ken died at the end; I always cry at that part.
13:00 you offhandedly joke about Shelby being Private Ryan back from war living his best life, but that's actually very accurate. Especially fighter pilots and motor pool, but every branch was known to send back speed freaks, thrill hunters, and competitive lunatics. Carroll Shelby was a pilot during WWII. Hotrodders, racers, and motorcycle clubs from the 50's and 60's were often mostly WWII and Korea veterans, looking for anything to excite themselves.
To give some deeper context, this movie showcases many legends in the automotive industry. Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal's character) goes on to be responsible for the development of the Mustang, Pinto, and also rescue Chrysler from bankruptcy (and bring it back to profitability) in the 1980's. Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon's character) was already up and coming with Shelby American which built and tuned Ford-engine street legal race cars and made some of the fastest roadsters in the world. 39:02 - The reason pit crews are different is because the LeMans race is 24 hours long (unlike NASCAR). The winner isn't based on the fastest lap time or placng 1st. The race team that covers the most distance within 24 hours wins so it doesn't matter if the pit crew takes 20 seconds or two minutes to service a vehicle.
MVP: Tracy Letts! I hadn't ever paid attention to the guy before. (This should also prove Simone that you're not bad at names.) The bluray cover said it's a true story. But even if didn't, the moment Lee Iacocca walked in, I'd have known. He's among the most well-known CEOs of all time. I liked this movie a lot more than I thought I would. The title alone is off-putting for a non-car person, but now I think it actually fits the movie. What's cool about it is that it's not really about Ford vs Ferrari as companies, or USA against Eye-talians, but it's also what those two companies stand for: mass production, capitalist efficiency and market value against quality, individuality, and perfection. Although the protagonists drive for Ford, in many ways they embody the virtues of Ferrari. And unlike the Ford executives, Enzo Ferrari is portrayed as a big enough person to pay respects to a good sportsman. I loved the tip of his hat. It's pretty amazing that the central conflict in a movie like this is between ideas and principles.
This movie is a prime example of the saying, “if you want a happy ending, that depends on where you end the story.” I knew of this story going in. Full disclosure: a LOT of the added drama is just poetic license. However, the end is real- he did lose the victory on a technicality, and he was killed later testing the following year’s car. I knew the story going into the theater with my dad. Expected the credits to roll after the race and maybe have his death mentioned in a credit info dump. But when the testing scene began I was like, “ah… shit.” because I knew right where it was going.
This was lots more interesting than anticipated for one very particular reason I did not anticipate at all: I kind of expect the whole world to know at least a little about Carroll Shelby being the automotive legend he is. I was set straight, not everyone does. As such it gave you a very different point of view about this movie, the story it tells and the characters in it. It made for a very interesting reaction video and made me see the movie from a different point of view I had not considered before. Thank you.
This film is one of my all time favorites! A little back story just to clarify the accident at the end that took Ken's life was the fact that he was not "trapped" in the car, he was actually thrown through the windshield and died on impact with the ground. I was truly one of the greatest race drivers of ALL TIME.
I got to race a car one time. There was this race called the "24hrs of LEMONS" (as in lemon which is slang for a broken down car). To qualify you need a car that's was purchased for super cheap and it just needs to run steady without overheating or leaking fluids, and you need to install a roll cage on the inside. People are encouraged to theme their cars and make them look ridiculous. The race was at a track in central California. We had a 3 person team to do driver rotations. It was super fun.
If I remember correctly, the car has to have costs under $500, and you’re allowed like $2000 to put safety equipment in it. CRAZY ridiculously cheap for a race team.
@@davidmcleod5133 It was $500, you could only add $1000 worth of normal upgrades and safety equipment didn't count against the upgrade total at all. Thanks for reminding me. :)
@@insertgenericusernamehere2402 Best part, is that sponsors weren't required and anyone with a license could drive as long as you signed up in time and met all the qualifications at check in.
I’ve been a car guy since I was a kid, buying magazines and putting together models by painting and gluing on weekends. Now I’m 68 and this movie was so well done. Glad you two enjoyed this piece of automotive art.
24 Hours of Le Man is the most famous and one of the oldest automobile race in the world. It's indeed legendary! Next one is right around the corner, in the middle of June, frankly can't wait. Such an awesome movie this is, it did justice to the real life rivalry between Ford and Ferrari in the 60s.
I’m glad you two are getting into these kind of movies and this one is one of my favorites. I’ve been a NASCAR fan since I was 6 years old back in 2008 and I’ve also watched other forms of racing like IndyCar, IMSA, and Formula One. The risk of racing was very high back in 1966 and 6 decades later, motorsports have had tremendous safety aspects especially since the deaths of F1 icon Ayrton Senna in 1994 and NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt in 2001. There are also more prestigious races including the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500, Monaco Grand Prix, 24 Hours of Daytona, Coca-Cola 600, and 12 Hours of Sebring.
I was watching the race Dale Earnhardt died in. I remember the channel had gone to commercials then all of the sudden cut back to the race with the accident in progress.
The 24 hours of Le Mans typically happens in early June each year, and is covered by various cable networks. Pit stops are longer for endurance races due to rules that (unlike NASCAR and Indy Car) nothing else (tires, etc.) can be changed while the car is refuled - possibly due to fires like we saw in the beginning of the movie. Several other endurance races happen through the year, and now most teams use 3-4 drivers, rather than 2 as in this movie. In the USA, the 2 big endurance races are the 24 hours of Daytona (late January) and the 12 hours of Sebring (March).
I super enjoyed this reaction! Holy crap, it was great. :) I watched this before but I genuinely enjoyed your takes on the film. This one's super exciting and fun while also being quite emotional. I'm not ashamed to say that I shed a few tears during my watch. I'm not a car person but I know a few and was raised around them. They'd enjoy this movie. Again, I'm happy that you both did as well. :)
39:00 The thing is, NASCAR pitcrews weren't fast back then in general. There was 1 fast NASCAR pitcrew, The Wood Brothers. They revolutionized pitstops. They were and still are big Ford guys, so it was a no brainer for Ford to ask them to do the pitstops for Le Mans.
Bale's character's monologue about the middleman structure of modern corporations, it's worth a watch on its own. The scene is here on TH-cam I'm sure.
I admire and respect Christian Bale so much for his commitment to every single role he portrays, he's an amazing actor. Matt Damon is a really good actor as well and they made their characters to have this wonderful friendship as they understood each other really well. Great reaction guys. This is a fantastic movie
Thank you for this reaction! One of my favorite movies, and it's indeed based on truth. I knew it was a true story, but I'm also a gearhead. Ford did offer to buy Ferrari, the deal failed, so they went racing about it with their own car, the GT40. Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) continued building specialty Shelby Mustangs until he died in 2012. The three-car finish actually happened. Ken Miles is still considered one of the best racing drivers of all time.
Le Mans (France) is one of the legendary 24h races in Europe, still raced today. Another one is Spa (Belgium), and the third one the so called "green hell", the 24h Nürburgring Nordschleife (Germany). The this years 24h Nordschleife race is very soon on 20th May! Fully streamed on YT.
I grew up in the Detroit area and everyone in that area knows this story very well. This movie was adapted from the book, “Go Like Hell” which is a fantastic read about the racing culture during this era.
While I agree it's a pretty good film about the Mercury 7 Astronauts, I still take serious issue with how Gus Grissom was portrayed in the film! His capsule was finally recovered years later, and it was confirmed that the Emergency Hatch Release button (that would trigger the explosive bolts) was never used. Gus most definitely did not "screw the pooch!" Lets be honest, if NASA had actually believed that, they would have never let him fly again in Gemini 3, or let him be the Commander on the Apollo 1 mission that ultimately cost him and his crew their lives in the tragic Apollo 1 fire. Gus was one of the good guys, and great Astronaut! He deserved better than the way he was portrayed in the book and the film.
@@scottmackenzie62 Yeah, there is that issue, but the overall picture it paints of the program and what went before is amazingly on point. The HBO miniseries "From The Earth to the Moon" fixes the narrative about Grissom, but I wouldn't have even known about him without The Right Stuff. And it introduces a lot of people who are relevant to history.
@dudermcdudeface3674 yes, From The Earth To The Moon was a brilliant and underappeciated mini-series! Tom Hanks and Ron Howard (and Howard's producing partner Brian Grazer) Executive Produced that series after working together on Apollo 13 because they felt the entire Apollo Program was deserving of more attention. I highly recommend that to anyone who has watched The Right Stuff and/or Apollo 13, as a follow-up to learn more (much like Hanks other mini-series Band Of Brothers to any fan of Saving Private Ryan). It is so well written and produced. It's definitely in my top five mini-series of all time! Another must watch movie for anyone interested in the early days of NASA'S Space Program is Hidden Figures!
Fun fact: In the real story, After the 24h race, when miles finds out about 2nd place, he goes to McLaren and gives him a hug instead of walking away, so bittersweet lol
I knew this story beforehand, I've heard it retold many many times. Twice in fact by Jeremy, James, and Hammond of Top Gear and Grand Tour fame. This however is my favorite retelling of the rivalry. Parts of it are dramatized, but make the story better presented as a movie instead of just a documentary. I'm not a huge car person, but there are just certain bits in engineering history and development history that just make me smile and The Deuces need to beat old man Ferrari just gets to me. Enzo Ferrari also had a habit of making rivals, just as famously as the rivalry with Ford, the founder of Lamborghini which originally made tractors and farm equipment bought a car from Enzo and was annoyed by the "inferior clutch" and had to have it continually serviced. Enzo eventually got annoyed by Ferruccio Lamborghinis insistence on fixing the issues and dismissed his suggestions with the statement, "Let me make cars. You stick to making tractors." Thus the Lamborghini motor company was born and a new rivalry began. Yellow and Black vs Black and Gold, Stallions vs Bulls, bespoke vs refinement. Glory be the rivalry which gave us such masterpieces.
I was old enough to recognize Shelby and some of the other iconic names so I was able to piece the reality of the situation together pretty quickly. Great react… keep’em coming!!!
La Mans is one of those races I actively try to watch and have been fascinated by ever since I was a teenager. One of the main reasons I have enjoyed these races is because the car has to be completely functional. All the lights and every aspect of the car has to be street worthy, as well as being one of the fastest things on the track. A track, by the way that has a bunch of tight turns, open straight away, and hard breaking areas. Ford v. Ferrari is a very well known moment in La Mans history, sadly Ferrari especially Enzo Ferrari himself is know for trying to achieve victory at any cost, often at the cost of drivers lives, and is very cold when it comes to the well being of his race car drivers.
I'd highly recommend "The Tucker: The Man and His Dream". I remember watching back in school. Basically about a dude who took on the big car companies with his own concept which included a rear engine and a trunk up front. Idk how well the movie is known, but it is based on the real vehicle and story and would make a good watch, imo.
When I was in high school, the schools in my school district had stock car teams. The mechanics class would do the work on the cars for the teams. My city has 4 professional racetracks in the area.
That's an amazing movie too. Anthony Hopkins' character reminds me of my grandad so much. He was so into classic bike racing we'd come over and there'd normally be engine parts on the kitchen table
38:48 Different racing disciplines call for various pit services. Additionally, they have improved greatly at the pit servicing over the past 50-60 years.
Took my son and my mom to see this in the theaters in remembrance of my dad, who would have loved it. He was a car guy, Fords specifically, and an admirer of Carroll Shelby -- he'd even make chili using Carroll Shelby's Chili Kits (which are still for sale?).
This film proves that there are great stories in motor sport. "There is more to racing than just winning" I recommend another movie about racing. Rush, passion and glory (2013). A true story about a legendary rivalry in Formula 1.
I've been beaten to it already by multiple people but you gotta check out Rush directed by Ron Howard! It's about James Hunt vs Niki Lauda and their battle for the 1976 Formula 1 world championship. Excellent movie even if you're not an F1 fan! 👌
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event.
Rush directed by Ron Howard - is a must see racing movie based again on true events this time between to drivers Niki Lauda (Bruhl) & James Hunt (Hemsworth) and is about their distinctly-different personal styles, (English playboy & methodical, brilliant Austrian), on & off the track, their loves, and the story & events leading up to their astonishing battle for the 1976 Formula One World Title. Like this movie great introduction to F1 racing as they explain the important things for you while the movie itself is about the "Off Track" battle that played out in their races & being done by Ron Howard the mixture of humour, reality, narrative & "Rush" is perfect. Racing fans also know that Niki Lauda helped make & appeared in the movie before dying. Racing.In.Paradise.
Niki Lauda R.I.P. - Another member of the "Racing In Paradise" Racing Club with all the other late greats with unfortunately too many new drivers dying to get in too soon.
Possibly my favorite line of the movie is "He landed a busted tank on the beach on D-day and drove it clear through". It really says everything you need to know about Ken. He has integrity, he doesn't let problems get in the way, and he can drive through anything.
I'm a huge car guy, loved every second of this movie. The brilliance of motorsports sometimes just gives us these great stories that make great movies. You don't have to know anything about cars to enjoy it, but for people like me it hit on a whole different level. Sadly us car guys are a dying breed, seeing a movie like this that showcases the beauty of racing and celebrates these wonderful cars was amazing. It was like, someone in Hollywood actually cared enough about this to get it made. To go to the trouble of gathering all the old race cars that normally just sit in museums or private collections.
This was the first movie I saw at my first place of work (a theater). I'm so glad this missed Covid by a few months since seeing this in theaters was amazing
This movie is in my personal Top 10. And yes, I knew how the story would end. Me and my late dad were car racing enthusiasts (Formula 1, mostly). We watched car races together for as long as I can remember (TV and real life). He would have loved this movie. I always watch it on his birthday or on father's day. Watching car racing wasn't the same anymore without him and when our favourite race driver retired I stopped watching them entirely. I miss my dad!
Lamborghini made tractors. And yes, this was based on actual events. The ForD GT40 was the first time the whole world was put on notice that America can make a proper sports car.
Proper race car.
Well engine...the car was more British.
@@pugslt1 Same with the Cobra. UK car, US engine.
Lamborghini still makes Tractors. ;)
Even though we (the British) built
It? Nice try yank.. Ford would still only be making cars for overweight farmers and soccer moms if it wasn’t for us…
The scene with Ford crying thinking of his dad is amazing.
A small portion of that scene was included in the trailers without proper context and it just made it look like it was some old, corporate turd crying because he was scared he was going to die in it. Then you actually see the movie and realize it's more because he's blown away by the car and he thinks his dad would have been proud to see it produced on his watch. Kinda made me mad at the trailers once I saw the scene in its entirety within the film.
Yeah.. it’s a shame that that never actually happened and it was just added to increase the “Hollywoodness” because If it was true it’d be incredible.
@@YorkshiremanReacts26 Yeah, just like the lugnut drop never happened. Most of the technical stuf was true, the brake fade, the door not closing properly, etc.
Still just a fantastic movie.
Especially since his father - Edsel Ford was always interested in making cars more advanced and luxurious, Edsel was responsible for the V-12 Lincoln Zephyr and the Lincoln Continental. Edsel frequently clashed with HIS father, Henry Ford over the future direction the Ford line of automobiles should take. I'm sure Edsel would have LOVED the GT-40. So tragic that Edsel died at the young age of 49, had he lived and become the head of Ford it's possible they may have had an earlier and larger presence in both racing and in luxury automobiles.
The silly fight on the lawn is even funnier when you remember that's Batman and Jason Bourne 🙂
I love that Shelby picks up a can to hit Ken with, then drops it in favor of beating him with a loaf a bread! 🤣
And the Punisher didn't do any punishing.
@@scottmackenzie62 the can probably would have actually hurt him. Bread, not so much.
@timdottillis0420 yes, that's my point. They were two friends fighting. They may have been angry with each other, but not enough to want to really hurt the other.
Matt Damon actually brought this up on one of the late night shows. Just that they were so like brothers that he has the moment of "I can't use that!"
I had a boss exactly like Henry Ford II. You’d give him a proposal, he’d lean back on his chair, arms crossed, completely unreadable, he’d stay silent for a minute thinking about it and snap his fingers and say “great, let’s do that”
My wife is the same.
He's probably good at the poker table too. : )
The movie "villain" , Leo Beebe , worked also for US government with IKE to resettle Hungarian and Cuban refugees and also worked for JFK and LBJ , to solve minority unemployment , there actually is no one that worked for FoMoCo at that point that we can ask about real Leo Beebe , but people who knew him outside of FoMoCo , do not agree that he was arrogant , HF II met him due to US Navy program , before WW 2 , hired him right after and let him work for several presidents ... clearly no self interest there from HF II 🙂
@@pete_lind I imagine the real Leo Beebe was just risk averse. I mean he’s the villain here but he does nothing wrong in the movie. Every scene he is in he brings up solid points and makes reasonable claims. Even the scene where he tells Shelby to leave Ken behind he’s correct. Miles is not a good look for the shareholders and is a risk to Ford’s reputation. He’s looking out for Ford’s interests as a company which is his job.
Ken miles was a hell of a man not only a great mechanic and driver but served as a tank driver in World War Two
I DEFINITELY ABSOLUTELY TOTALLY recommend "Rush" .. it's AMAZING.
Also it's based on a true story
Yes! And also a movie with no villain, but two protagonists with fascinating, yet very different characters.
I second the motion!!!
Motion carries! Watch Rush!
Heck yes, ngl prefer rush over this
@@prasadchavan8313 I also prefer Rush, but that is hard to objectively prove if one prefers a more friendly film over rivals, or likes kids and family, Rush doesn't hit that chord (pun intended), it is more rock and roll party time which is more my cup of tea
The story is very very well known. But as the years go on and unless you're 'into cars' most people didn't know or care. This movie was just amazingly done.
It's more about the people than the cars. The cars don't build themselves or race themselves. The cars are amazing, but the people are even more iconic.
So it's not very, very well known is what you're saying.
Vast majority of people have never heard of this story prior to the movie. I'm glad this movie was put together
24 Hours of Le Mans definitely still goes on to this day, amongst other 24 hr races that go on at the Nurburgring, Daytona etc.
Of course, none of them are as good as the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. That’s not because of the cheekiness of being an hour longer, but because Thunderhill is still more about amateur teams in the literal sense of the word, doing it for the love of it. Le Mans and other prestigious endurance races are dominated by big-budget factory teams.
If you want to talk amateur endurance road racing you can't forget 24hrs of LeMons, they do one 24hr event a year.
But racing is just about making left turns, right?
Nurburgring and Spa are some challenging tracks to drive for a few laps at a time. I can't imagine what it's like being on them for 4 hrs straight.
Nurburgring my beloved
Apparently Leo Beebe's character was "enhanced" or more likely fictionalized to a large degree to serve the story, as historical accounts from coworkers describe him as a humble, hard working man. But this is definitely one of my favorite movies ever.
Yeah, most of the story is pretty well dead on of the actual events. But they needed and antagonist for the sake of it being a movie. His family was really upset about his portrayal.
@@xbeaker I'd be pissed too. If they were going to do this, they should have at the very least changed his name.
Of course his "co workers" are going to say nice things about him, they all went to the same high brow social events, He didn't like Ken Miles and he did cost him the race so yeah pretty accurate.
@@rocketmunkey1Yep. And he wanted to be the boss when it was Shelby making most of the break throughs, not him. In times like this I feel they edited for content and just removed some of his finer qualities.
@@rocketmunkey1 do you personally know these people
I would recommend the film "Rush" starring Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl. That movie had some of the greatest race scenes put together.
Faccctssssss
The best American race story and I’m so happy Ken Miles is remembered cause he got screwed out of triple crown of endurance racing.
Growing up my hometown held races around the local lake from this era of cars.
Racing was insanely dangerous till end of 70’s. Some years averaged over 1 death per race. I take off work to watch Le Mans each year
Glad you loved this movie!
An unfortunate thing the movie does is gloss over how Mollie was also an avid racer and car enthusiast. She doesn't just support her husband out of love, but also completely understanding and sharing his passion. It would've been nice to see even one short scene with her racing.
She was. In the station wagon. And it was scaring the shit out of Ken lmao (this is a joke, I understood what you meant) 😉
Almost every scene she is in shows exactly this. So not quite sure what you are talking about
@@cowprophet and you clearly are someone who doesn't know what "joke" means... 🤷
I love this movie. It's got it all, drama, laughs, suspense, heart. So many amazingly shot sequences. And the line "I sat on my nuts" makes me laugh every time.
Been there. I feel his pain. 😂
It's got a bag of potato chips from Safeway from 2019... It shouldn't bother me, but I cannot stop thinking about the bag of chips.
@@Tensen01 31:08 Never looked him up till now. Apparently, Tracy Letts won an actual effing *Pulitzer* _and_ a Tony for a play he wrote back in 2007, and _then_ won a Tony for Best Actor in a play 7 years later.
Dude's an actual bloody legend.
The movie robbed us of a happy ending, real life robbed us of a great sequel, and George robbed us of the reaction epilogue. We would totally love to see your reaction when you look up the true story details.
BTW, I don't know if it's been mentioned, but I'm pretty sure Jon Bernthal's character, Lee Iacocca, is the same guy that ran the Chrysler corporation for years. Anyone that lived thru the 80's knows his commercials.
Correct. Iacocca was behind the Mustang, ran Ford for a while but then went to Chrysler in the late 70s and brought them out of near bankruptcy with the K cars and minivan.
Correct. Iacoca and Shelby also designed the dodge viper (not wholly but had alot of input)
yes, he is that man.
If you haven't already you NEED to watch rush With Daniel Brühl and Chris Hemsworth it's based on a real f1 season/rivalry.
"Bury that greasy w*p" *talking directly to 100% Italian-American Lee Iacocca*
Fun fact: in order to make this movie more relatable to American audiences, Ken Kilometers had his real name changed to Ken Miles.
I spit out my tea!
Boooo…!!! 😂😂😂
😂😂 good one
Dude, you have to be careful saying this stuff ha you just know far too many Americans will believe it.
@@D25Bev You gotta be careful saying Americans will believe anything... Europeans might actually believe it!
Hollywood needs to do more of this. It's fun, exciting, interesting, hilarious and sad. I've read it was in development for a long time and had trouble actually getting made.
Watch rush
We saw this at a movie theater with our team of old motorcycling friends at an annual meet-up, and we all knew the real story behind this too. Almost no home audio setup can properly reproduce the sounds of racing compared to what we heard in the theatre, just amazing sound design. It certainly deserved it's Oscar for best sound editing back in 2020. I also recognized one of the scenes in LeMans, as I've ridden my motorcycle on that same straight on my way from Biarritz to Paris on long a tour across most of Europe.
I wish I saw this in theatre. I saw Top Gun Maverick twice in theatre and I had the same kind of feeling about the sound. This movie was definitely made for theatres. I mean, who doesn't love the sound a big ass engine with a proper exhaust?
My brother has a 3 litre racing tuned Jaguar E-Type from this era. The sound and smells are out of this world. Sadly I'm just a bit too tall to drive it.
Awesome reminder on Fv.F’s Sound Design Oscar Win.🏆🏁
LeMans, esp vintage, race cars have their own special growl & breath (too bad there’s no smell-o-vision to go w/that badass home theater setup). This movie makes me remember how much I loved Dad’s 55 Chevy & his passion restoring it to stock: smelled/sounded amazzzzing… 😊
Shelby and Miles were helped by a big crew of very talented Ford engineers and contractors.
The Ford "bureaucrats" are poorly portrayed too but it helps increase the empathy for the main characters I guess.
There are a few minor changes but otherwise this movie is pretty accurate.
Also I would recommend watching Rush, true story and car racing. Really accurate, almost perfect.
I think someone will need tissues...
No they’re not. All big American businessmen are the same and always have been. Even as an Englishman I know that. They’ve always stuck up their own ass cocky evil wankers.
Oh yeah, those poor Ford bureaucrats. When will someone tell the story of how righteous they are? Haha, good Lord...
@@Spacehog1981 Corporate whores aren't they the best.
Rush was great. Hope they do it.
What? They showed Iaccoca was great. They showed Ford developing the best engine. Ford engineers just weren't the peak of racing like Shelby was. They had tried it on their own already. That Cobra is still amazing.
24 Hours of Le Mans is legendary in the racing niche. Also, unfortunately infamous for a horrible crash that killed 83 spectators in 1955.
In 2013 Patrick Dempsey put out a mini series doc show about putting together a team for Le Mans. Really interesting, as it went into the history a lot, as well as what it takes to even attempt the race. I'd recommend it if not for the channel, a good side watch.
Already been commented but this is based on ture events and quite accurate for the most part. Actually went to le mans last year for the classic race there and saw plenty of GT40 remakes. Scares the hell out of you when one of them goes underneath you while crossing the Dunlop bridge😂
Highly recommend the film rush which is also based on ture events but in formula 1 back in the 70s.
The fight between Batman and Jason Bourne was . . . not what I was expecting.
good one. 👍🏼
This is a brilliant movie and a mostly true story. If you liked that watch "Rush" with Daniel Brühl and Chris Hemsworth.
"You're not Henry Ford..... you're Henry Ford the Second." is maybe the most devastating insult I've ever heard lol
The type of racing that is depicted here is called endurance racing. The 24 hour race at Le Mans is the oldest race of this type. It was originally conceived so that car manufacturers could show to the public that their cars were reliable. It was first organized in 1923 and has been held almost every year (it was not held between 1940 and 1948 and a few other single years, mostly due to external circumstances). These days its run in the early summer and this year's edition is from 15:00 on Saturday, June 10th until 15:00 on Sunday, June 11th. There is a whole series of endurance races held in the World Endurance Championship, the next one being the 6 hours of Spa Francorchamps (in Belgium) on the 29th of April (a.k.a. tomorrow in about 16 hours from posting this comment). There was also an North American variant called ALMS, which stood for American Le Mans Series, which ran on circuits in North America. This however has merged with another endurance racing championship and no longer runs under the ALMS name.
If you want to see more racing movies I highly recommend "Rush", which depicts the real world rivalry between two Formula 1 drivers in the 1970's, James Hunt and Niki Lauda.
I didn't know the story (not a car person) but I had a feeling going into it that it was based on a true story or at least based on real people since it felt like that sort of film. Didn't know the ending was gonna be that though.
As a car person, I can assure you the movie is one of the most faithfully accurate depictions of real events. The only inaccuracy was Leo Beebe’s role as some sort of saboteur was played up a lot.
As someone who is into cars, motorsport in general and also knowing bits of racing history.
I went into this movie wanting to know how they would portray this story and I think, even though some things were over dramatized to serve the story, they still did a very good job.
Hi, I race for a living. Yes, this happens, although nowadays with 3 drivers rather than 2. Those guys back then were bloody crazy talented to handle those beasts - I’ve driven a GT40 and instructed in one and it’s no small feat to drive one even at low speeds.
Ferruccio Lamborghini made tractors, he bought a Ferrari which he had an issue with the clutch and complained to old man Ferrari himself about it, who told him to stick to making tractors. This caused Ferruccio to start making sports cars to compete against Ferrari, which there is now a movie about it. Note that 24 hours is shared among multiply drivers, taking various shifts throughout the day. The car however must survive that 24 hours essentially running non-stop except for brief pit stops. The pit stops of this era weren't well organized, even in Nascar or F1.
My uncle was a test driver at ford during this time period. He was one of the reverse engineering guys. He said they wreck quite a few ferrari while setting up for this race. His whole job was to take the enemy vehicle and learn its limits so they could build it beyond them. Debuque and Iocca both have cities named after them.
After whom?
My favorite throwaway line from this movie is when Carroll Shelby goes to tell Ken Miles that he planned on building the GT40. Shelby: "anything on this beauty that does work?"
Miles: "that mirror's outstanding"
24:37 Notice that when the two are wrestling on the gras, Shelby first has a metal can in his hand, drops it and goes for the bread because he doesn't want to hurt Ken?
Such a little detail but i love it.
I'm not a car guy either, but the object of desire for Nick Cage's character in the movie "Gone in 60 Seconds" was a 1967 Ford Shelby GT500. So when I watched this movie and heard Matt Damon's character was "Mr. Shelby" I knew instantly this was somehow based on a true story. So if you haven't done so already, I'd love for you guys to react to that Nick Cage movie
Which of course is also based on a true story and super realistic :)
If you like this movie you have to see "Rush" the history of Nikki Lauda and James Hunt in F1 , one of the most impresive histories in motorsport
I just searched. You haven't watched "Rush" yet. PLEASE DO! I'm not into motorsports any more but I LOVE this movie.
I'm a retired car & motorcycle racer (yes, for a living*). Yes, LeMans is perhaps the most iconic race worldwide & still runs every year. Unbelievable huge spectacle. Please consider watching Steve McQueen's (also a for real world-class car & bike racer who raced LeMans successfully) 70s folm classic "LeMans." Considered the best (by FAR) & most realistic racing movie ever made. Loved your reaction here 💚💜🩵💥💥💥
Carroll Shelby stated in an interview before he died that he regretted his entire life asking Ken to make that photo finish happen.
Ferrari insulted Ford and Ford created the GT.
Ferrari insulted Lamborghini and Lamborghini decided to branch out from making farm tractors.
I never really expected it but this is legit one of my favourite films I’ve ever seen. It has everything, Bales performance especially was exceptional, so too Matt Damon’s. It had light moments, serious moments and at the end makes you cry. Brilliant movie
31:38 "no, I mean the people who crashed. Are they OK?"
classic 😆
I could hear Enzo spin in his grave when George said he started making tractors. As a man of a certain age who grew up the Lamborghini Countach picture on his wall, let him twirl. Lamborghini started out making tractors, still do. The story goes Ferruccio Lamborghini loved driving Ferraris, except for issues with the clutch. One day Lamborghini went to Enzo to suggest ways to improve the clutch. Enzo apparently responded with something along the lines of "what does a tractor maker know about cars?" Or "go back to your tractors!" I'm not sure if the story is true or just legend likely a mix of both but is has always been one of my favorite car stories.
Lamborghini Trattori and Automobili Lamborghini are two separate companies. They had the same founder, but were always run separate. Ferruccio sold the Trattori to SAME in 1972, and is currently owned by SDF Group. The Automobili is currently owned by Volkswagen. So no, Automobili Lamborghini never made tractors.
@@stevengoetz6773 I never said Automobili Lamborghini made tractors. I said Lamborghini made tractors. Which he did BEFORE he made cars. The structure of Ferruccio Lamborghini's business interests are irrelevant to the story.
Enzo Ferrari was notoriously arrogant. He often chalked up complaints about his cars having issues to the driver not driving the car correctly, even if the issue was real. A lot of Italian sports car/ supercar manufacturers wouldn't exist if Enzo Ferrari wasn't an arrogant asshole
@@skyraider87 Careful the Ferrari faithful are gonna come for you. 😄
@@stevengoetz6773Lamborghini took the money he made from making tractors and bought the tools to make a sports car which could beat a Ferrari.
For some historical context, the Mr Ford in the film is Henry Ford's grandson, and his wish for his father to have been around to see what he's accomplished was in earnest. You see, his father worked himself to death at a very young age running the company and managing its wartime production of everything from engines and trucks to tanks and strategic bombers. He never really got to just do what he loved, and design cars as his father had done.
Must of been hard work supplying the nazis with all their trucks
@@stephenhoward4471 No, they built B-24s and engines for aircraft and tanks, as well as jeeps and military trucks. The only ones that could have been acquired by the Nazis would have been looted from the battlefield.
In the UK the film was called Le Mans '66 which heavily implies it was based on real events.
Which it is....
The 24 hours of LeMans was a thing and is still a thing. Just a bit more hi tech
@@jmacd8817 Nah, France isn't really real. It's just something made up so movies can have comedic characters doing wacky stuff.
@@jmacd8817 a bit? Lmao that's generous. The 3rd tier (of 4) cars that run at the event are quicker than those gt40s
I can just imagine what it must feel like to be living the dream and moment your father had never dared to believe could come true. Those tears from Mr Ford, yes, most likely was brought on by fear of power, but also of joy of knowing your father's legacy has come full circle.
You need to see Rush.
This movie surprised! What was supposed to be a movie about cars ended up being a movie about Ken, life, family and friendship. I loved!
Ok, great film! Great reaction..now hear me out: do Cinderella Man for your next sports film reaction.. it always gets overlooked. PIB ranked it as one of her favorites. When it came out, AMC theaters put out a money back guarantee on movie tickets...it was that good. It's a true story and one of the most uplifting movies of all time.
You guys need to do Rush! Its more focused on the rivalry between two drivers, but its also great!
Yes the 24hrs of Le Mans is still happening. It's one of the most prestigious race events every year. You should watch RUSH next, then the Senna documentary.
Racing is an extremely dangerous sport even with all the modern safety equipment. But it used to be extremely bad with drivers dying at almost every major event. Even through the 80s.
I do track days, and have friends who race. It's an absolutely exhilarating thing to do. Like Miles said, finding that perfect lap, chasing the smooth and fast lap pushing the vehicle to 10/10ths is an amazing feeling.
If you were 30 or so years older, you'd have recognized the character of Lee Iacocca. Not only did he push Ford out of its rut, he later went to Chrysler and became President and CEO, pulling them out of bankruptcy. *Major* figure in the auto industry. I don't drive either, but I know who he is, just from being around when he was a major influence in the business. I imagine that's why he got significantly more screen time than Henry Ford II. :)
When the movie was first released, I think everyone who saw it in the theater knew it was based on a true story. And yeah, it was horrible when Ken died at the end; I always cry at that part.
Nominated for 4 Oscars including Best Picture but won for Best Sound Editing and Best Film Editing.
@@pistonburner6448 Lmao! Ok that's actually hilarious, and sad 😂
13:00 you offhandedly joke about Shelby being Private Ryan back from war living his best life, but that's actually very accurate. Especially fighter pilots and motor pool, but every branch was known to send back speed freaks, thrill hunters, and competitive lunatics. Carroll Shelby was a pilot during WWII. Hotrodders, racers, and motorcycle clubs from the 50's and 60's were often mostly WWII and Korea veterans, looking for anything to excite themselves.
43:15- It’s not cheating if you don’t get caught. Racing rule #1.
THANK you guys for reacting to this film.
To give some deeper context, this movie showcases many legends in the automotive industry. Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal's character) goes on to be responsible for the development of the Mustang, Pinto, and also rescue Chrysler from bankruptcy (and bring it back to profitability) in the 1980's.
Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon's character) was already up and coming with Shelby American which built and tuned Ford-engine street legal race cars and made some of the fastest roadsters in the world.
39:02 - The reason pit crews are different is because the LeMans race is 24 hours long (unlike NASCAR). The winner isn't based on the fastest lap time or placng 1st. The race team that covers the most distance within 24 hours wins so it doesn't matter if the pit crew takes 20 seconds or two minutes to service a vehicle.
MVP: Tracy Letts! I hadn't ever paid attention to the guy before. (This should also prove Simone that you're not bad at names.)
The bluray cover said it's a true story. But even if didn't, the moment Lee Iacocca walked in, I'd have known. He's among the most well-known CEOs of all time.
I liked this movie a lot more than I thought I would. The title alone is off-putting for a non-car person, but now I think it actually fits the movie. What's cool about it is that it's not really about Ford vs Ferrari as companies, or USA against Eye-talians, but it's also what those two companies stand for: mass production, capitalist efficiency and market value against quality, individuality, and perfection. Although the protagonists drive for Ford, in many ways they embody the virtues of Ferrari. And unlike the Ford executives, Enzo Ferrari is portrayed as a big enough person to pay respects to a good sportsman. I loved the tip of his hat. It's pretty amazing that the central conflict in a movie like this is between ideas and principles.
This movie is a prime example of the saying, “if you want a happy ending, that depends on where you end the story.” I knew of this story going in. Full disclosure: a LOT of the added drama is just poetic license. However, the end is real- he did lose the victory on a technicality, and he was killed later testing the following year’s car.
I knew the story going into the theater with my dad. Expected the credits to roll after the race and maybe have his death mentioned in a credit info dump. But when the testing scene began I was like, “ah… shit.” because I knew right where it was going.
This was lots more interesting than anticipated for one very particular reason I did not anticipate at all: I kind of expect the whole world to know at least a little about Carroll Shelby being the automotive legend he is. I was set straight, not everyone does. As such it gave you a very different point of view about this movie, the story it tells and the characters in it. It made for a very interesting reaction video and made me see the movie from a different point of view I had not considered before. Thank you.
This film is one of my all time favorites! A little back story just to clarify the accident at the end that took Ken's life was the fact that he was not "trapped" in the car, he was actually thrown through the windshield and died on impact with the ground. I was truly one of the greatest race drivers of ALL TIME.
I got to race a car one time. There was this race called the "24hrs of LEMONS" (as in lemon which is slang for a broken down car). To qualify you need a car that's was purchased for super cheap and it just needs to run steady without overheating or leaking fluids, and you need to install a roll cage on the inside. People are encouraged to theme their cars and make them look ridiculous. The race was at a track in central California. We had a 3 person team to do driver rotations. It was super fun.
That sounds fucking amazing..
If I remember correctly, the car has to have costs under $500, and you’re allowed like $2000 to put safety equipment in it. CRAZY ridiculously cheap for a race team.
@@davidmcleod5133 It was $500, you could only add $1000 worth of normal upgrades and safety equipment didn't count against the upgrade total at all. Thanks for reminding me. :)
@@insertgenericusernamehere2402 Best part, is that sponsors weren't required and anyone with a license could drive as long as you signed up in time and met all the qualifications at check in.
@@dj_daem0n I love that.
I’ve been a car guy since I was a kid, buying magazines and putting together models by painting and gluing on weekends. Now I’m 68 and this movie was so well done. Glad you two enjoyed this piece of automotive art.
I was a bit surprised I liked this as much as I did. Great story telling and great performances from Matt and Christian.
24 Hours of Le Man is the most famous and one of the oldest automobile race in the world. It's indeed legendary! Next one is right around the corner, in the middle of June, frankly can't wait.
Such an awesome movie this is, it did justice to the real life rivalry between Ford and Ferrari in the 60s.
I’m glad you two are getting into these kind of movies and this one is one of my favorites. I’ve been a NASCAR fan since I was 6 years old back in 2008 and I’ve also watched other forms of racing like IndyCar, IMSA, and Formula One. The risk of racing was very high back in 1966 and 6 decades later, motorsports have had tremendous safety aspects especially since the deaths of F1 icon Ayrton Senna in 1994 and NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt in 2001. There are also more prestigious races including the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500, Monaco Grand Prix, 24 Hours of Daytona, Coca-Cola 600, and 12 Hours of Sebring.
I was watching the race Dale Earnhardt died in. I remember the channel had gone to commercials then all of the sudden cut back to the race with the accident in progress.
The 24 hours of Le Mans typically happens in early June each year, and is covered by various cable networks. Pit stops are longer for endurance races due to rules that (unlike NASCAR and Indy Car) nothing else (tires, etc.) can be changed while the car is refuled - possibly due to fires like we saw in the beginning of the movie. Several other endurance races happen through the year, and now most teams use 3-4 drivers, rather than 2 as in this movie. In the USA, the 2 big endurance races are the 24 hours of Daytona (late January) and the 12 hours of Sebring (March).
I super enjoyed this reaction! Holy crap, it was great. :) I watched this before but I genuinely enjoyed your takes on the film. This one's super exciting and fun while also being quite emotional. I'm not ashamed to say that I shed a few tears during my watch.
I'm not a car person but I know a few and was raised around them. They'd enjoy this movie. Again, I'm happy that you both did as well. :)
39:00 The thing is, NASCAR pitcrews weren't fast back then in general. There was 1 fast NASCAR pitcrew, The Wood Brothers. They revolutionized pitstops. They were and still are big Ford guys, so it was a no brainer for Ford to ask them to do the pitstops for Le Mans.
Bale's character's monologue about the middleman structure of modern corporations, it's worth a watch on its own. The scene is here on TH-cam I'm sure.
I admire and respect Christian Bale so much for his commitment to every single role he portrays, he's an amazing actor. Matt Damon is a really good actor as well and they made their characters to have this wonderful friendship as they understood each other really well. Great reaction guys. This is a fantastic movie
Thank you for this reaction! One of my favorite movies, and it's indeed based on truth. I knew it was a true story, but I'm also a gearhead. Ford did offer to buy Ferrari, the deal failed, so they went racing about it with their own car, the GT40. Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) continued building specialty Shelby Mustangs until he died in 2012. The three-car finish actually happened. Ken Miles is still considered one of the best racing drivers of all time.
Le Mans (France) is one of the legendary 24h races in Europe, still raced today. Another one is Spa (Belgium), and the third one the so called "green hell", the 24h Nürburgring Nordschleife (Germany).
The this years 24h Nordschleife race is very soon on 20th May! Fully streamed on YT.
“We aren’t car people”, might just be the understatement of the month! :-)
I grew up in the Detroit area and everyone in that area knows this story very well. This movie was adapted from the book, “Go Like Hell” which is a fantastic read about the racing culture during this era.
As far as history-based competition movies involving technology and danger, I'd strongly recommend "The Right Stuff." Really exciting and interesting.
While I agree it's a pretty good film about the Mercury 7 Astronauts, I still take serious issue with how Gus Grissom was portrayed in the film!
His capsule was finally recovered years later, and it was confirmed that the Emergency Hatch Release button (that would trigger the explosive bolts) was never used. Gus most definitely did not "screw the pooch!"
Lets be honest, if NASA had actually believed that, they would have never let him fly again in Gemini 3, or let him be the Commander on the Apollo 1 mission that ultimately cost him and his crew their lives in the tragic Apollo 1 fire.
Gus was one of the good guys, and great Astronaut! He deserved better than the way he was portrayed in the book and the film.
@@scottmackenzie62 Yeah, there is that issue, but the overall picture it paints of the program and what went before is amazingly on point. The HBO miniseries "From The Earth to the Moon" fixes the narrative about Grissom, but I wouldn't have even known about him without The Right Stuff. And it introduces a lot of people who are relevant to history.
@dudermcdudeface3674 yes, From The Earth To The Moon was a brilliant and underappeciated mini-series! Tom Hanks and Ron Howard (and Howard's producing partner Brian Grazer) Executive Produced that series after working together on Apollo 13 because they felt the entire Apollo Program was deserving of more attention. I highly recommend that to anyone who has watched The Right Stuff and/or Apollo 13, as a follow-up to learn more (much like Hanks other mini-series Band Of Brothers to any fan of Saving Private Ryan). It is so well written and produced. It's definitely in my top five mini-series of all time! Another must watch movie for anyone interested in the early days of NASA'S Space Program is Hidden Figures!
Oh agreed! I wish more reactors would do "The Right Stuff" Such a great movie and a fantastic cast.
Fun fact: In the real story, After the 24h race, when miles finds out about 2nd place, he goes to McLaren and gives him a hug instead of walking away, so bittersweet lol
I knew this story beforehand, I've heard it retold many many times. Twice in fact by Jeremy, James, and Hammond of Top Gear and Grand Tour fame. This however is my favorite retelling of the rivalry. Parts of it are dramatized, but make the story better presented as a movie instead of just a documentary. I'm not a huge car person, but there are just certain bits in engineering history and development history that just make me smile and The Deuces need to beat old man Ferrari just gets to me.
Enzo Ferrari also had a habit of making rivals, just as famously as the rivalry with Ford, the founder of Lamborghini which originally made tractors and farm equipment bought a car from Enzo and was annoyed by the "inferior clutch" and had to have it continually serviced. Enzo eventually got annoyed by Ferruccio Lamborghinis insistence on fixing the issues and dismissed his suggestions with the statement, "Let me make cars. You stick to making tractors." Thus the Lamborghini motor company was born and a new rivalry began. Yellow and Black vs Black and Gold, Stallions vs Bulls, bespoke vs refinement. Glory be the rivalry which gave us such masterpieces.
I hope both of You have researched the actual story since then. The REAL story is much more dramatic than the movie!
The Le Mans Race still occurs.
Brilliant performances by Damon & Bale in this film, what a sad reaction Simone & George, I hope you two have a great weekend
I was old enough to recognize Shelby and some of the other iconic names so I was able to piece the reality of the situation together pretty quickly. Great react… keep’em coming!!!
La Mans is one of those races I actively try to watch and have been fascinated by ever since I was a teenager. One of the main reasons I have enjoyed these races is because the car has to be completely functional. All the lights and every aspect of the car has to be street worthy, as well as being one of the fastest things on the track. A track, by the way that has a bunch of tight turns, open straight away, and hard breaking areas. Ford v. Ferrari is a very well known moment in La Mans history, sadly Ferrari especially Enzo Ferrari himself is know for trying to achieve victory at any cost, often at the cost of drivers lives, and is very cold when it comes to the well being of his race car drivers.
I'd highly recommend "The Tucker: The Man and His Dream". I remember watching back in school. Basically about a dude who took on the big car companies with his own concept which included a rear engine and a trunk up front. Idk how well the movie is known, but it is based on the real vehicle and story and would make a good watch, imo.
♫ Hold that Tiger! Hold that Tiger! ♪
"The" Tucker?
When I was in high school, the schools in my school district had stock car teams. The mechanics class would do the work on the cars for the teams. My city has 4 professional racetracks in the area.
Great movie - great reaction. If you're into motor racing biopics there's non better than 'The World's Fastest Indian'.
That's an amazing movie too. Anthony Hopkins' character reminds me of my grandad so much. He was so into classic bike racing we'd come over and there'd normally be engine parts on the kitchen table
00:35:00 "Does this race still happen?" 🤯 It's the race of the year!!!
38:48 Different racing disciplines call for various pit services. Additionally, they have improved greatly at the pit servicing over the past 50-60 years.
Carroll Shelby is the godfather of american speed.. an absolute ICON
Took my son and my mom to see this in the theaters in remembrance of my dad, who would have loved it. He was a car guy, Fords specifically, and an admirer of Carroll Shelby -- he'd even make chili using Carroll Shelby's Chili Kits (which are still for sale?).
This film proves that there are great stories in motor sport. "There is more to racing than just winning"
I recommend another movie about racing. Rush, passion and glory (2013). A true story about a legendary rivalry in Formula 1.
I've been beaten to it already by multiple people but you gotta check out Rush directed by Ron Howard! It's about James Hunt vs Niki Lauda and their battle for the 1976 Formula 1 world championship. Excellent movie even if you're not an F1 fan! 👌
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event.
Given how much you enjoyed this one, another thoroughly excellent racing film is Rush. Highly recommend it.
Peter Miles remembers his father's fatal crash to this day, and seeing the body being pulled out 😭
Such a great movie. Love it. And I'm not a car guy either. This and Rush are two recent fantastic true life motor racing films.
Rush directed by Ron Howard - is a must see racing movie based again on true events this time between to drivers Niki Lauda (Bruhl) & James Hunt (Hemsworth) and is about their distinctly-different personal styles, (English playboy & methodical, brilliant Austrian), on & off the track, their loves, and the story & events leading up to their astonishing battle for the 1976 Formula One World Title. Like this movie great introduction to F1 racing as they explain the important things for you while the movie itself is about the "Off Track" battle that played out in their races & being done by Ron Howard the mixture of humour, reality, narrative & "Rush" is perfect. Racing fans also know that Niki Lauda helped make & appeared in the movie before dying. Racing.In.Paradise.
Niki Lauda R.I.P. - Another member of the "Racing In Paradise" Racing Club with all the other late greats with unfortunately too many new drivers dying to get in too soon.
Matt Damon killed it in this film, best performance hands down
Possibly my favorite line of the movie is "He landed a busted tank on the beach on D-day and drove it clear through". It really says everything you need to know about Ken. He has integrity, he doesn't let problems get in the way, and he can drive through anything.
"RUSH" is an absolute *must* after this.
I'm a huge car guy, loved every second of this movie. The brilliance of motorsports sometimes just gives us these great stories that make great movies. You don't have to know anything about cars to enjoy it, but for people like me it hit on a whole different level. Sadly us car guys are a dying breed, seeing a movie like this that showcases the beauty of racing and celebrates these wonderful cars was amazing. It was like, someone in Hollywood actually cared enough about this to get it made. To go to the trouble of gathering all the old race cars that normally just sit in museums or private collections.
This was the first movie I saw at my first place of work (a theater). I'm so glad this missed Covid by a few months since seeing this in theaters was amazing
This movie is in my personal Top 10. And yes, I knew how the story would end. Me and my late dad were car racing enthusiasts (Formula 1, mostly). We watched car races together for as long as I can remember (TV and real life). He would have loved this movie. I always watch it on his birthday or on father's day. Watching car racing wasn't the same anymore without him and when our favourite race driver retired I stopped watching them entirely. I miss my dad!