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Another Ford V Ferrari thread

13K views 51 replies 28 participants last post by  Streetglide 
#1 · (Edited)
Insight and interviews on movie with director and actors. Check out comments made about "Those little cobras" starting at minute 4:46

Our local Shelby Club has been invited to participate on opening day by putting our cars on display at one of the local theaters, we were also offered the chance to watch the movie (pre-release) the day before opening day.

I'm sure it will be "Made for Hollywood" based on a true story but I'm still looking forward to the driving scenes and entertainment value.

Saul

 
#2 ·
Love it! Can't wait. I wanna go see it at YOUR movie theater! Might be a little wet to take the roadster to the theatre up here in November :frown2:

What a great fun idea having a lineup of Cobras parked out front!

Sean
 
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#3 ·
The movie is based on a book "Go Like Hell Ford, Ferrari and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans" by A.J. Baime. In the early 2000's Baime was a member of this Forum and occasionally contributed anecdotes about Cobras. I found out that he was the automotive correspondent for Playboy magazine in downtown Chicago. I made an appointment, bought two copies of his book for my son and I and went down to meet him. Very interesting guy. He was off to Road America at the invitation of Porsche USA to drive the (then) new Panamerica. Nice life. I hope he makes some money from the movie. Book is a good read, too.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Early Viewing

My wife got us in to see the movie last Thursday. She is a member of the Guild.

We both thought the movie was great which surprised me since she’s not a fan of race movies. One thought I had. All I saw was Ken Miles, forgot it was an actor and I’m not a fan of Christian Bale. Great performance!! Not so much with with Matt Damon’s Shelby.

The racing scenes are awesome. I thought they could have done a bit more with some historical bits but overall a great movie. Well worth the big screen with big sound just remember it’s 2 1/2 hours.
 
#13 ·
My wife got us in to see the movie last Thursday. She is a member of the Guild.

We both thought the movie was great which surprised me since she’s not a fan of race movies. One thought I had. All I saw was Ken Miles, forgot it was an actor and I’m not a fan of Christian Bale. Greatly performance!! Not so much with with Matt Damon’s Shelby.

The racing scenes are awesome. I thought they could have done a bit more with some historical bits but overall a great movie. Well worth the big screen with big sound just remember it’s 2 1/2 hours.
I'm glad your wife enjoyed it! I'm jealous you both got to see it early!!

I can understand Damon having a tough time suspending disbelief when it comes to portraying a well-known icon like Carroll Shelby. Ken Miles' personality is an unknown to almost all of us, he never reached Shelby's media status or longevity. I think they are both pretty solid actors, but many people will enter the theatre with some kind of pre-conceived notion about Shelby, who he was and what he did. Makes Damon's job quite a bit more difficult.

I'm stoked to see it in any case.

:lol:

Sean
 
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#14 · (Edited)
Thumbs up!

Not going to spoil it for those that have not yet seen the movie so here goes.

On Friday our local Shelby club privately rented out the Angelika Film Center theater, with plush leather reclining seats, food as well as alcohol served it made for a very nice viewing experience.

The movie kept to the core of what the story line should be about as Damon and Bale pulled this one off and dare I say in a very believable fashion but it was the cars and driving scenes by themselves that made this movie worth watching. Very entertaining and what I was hoping for. :thumbup:

Yesterday afternoon we returned to the theater for a "Show & Shine" show in front of the theater, it turned out to be a great event with tons of movie goers and fans admiring our cars.

Saul
 
#15 ·
Our club did an event at a local theater, Saturday,16th. They had a small car show area reserved. We brought 9 cobra's, only 3 Ferrari's showed. It was a good movie, really enjoyed it. I have to agree, Christian Bale's performance was great, all I saw was Ken Miles. When Damon was on screen, I saw Matt Damon, not Carol Shelby, and I usually like Damon.
 
#16 · (Edited)
First time getting a Sr. Discount

Yea I'm 60 now so got 2 bucks off. Not sure of that is a good or bad thing but a milestone none the less. I saw it with Tina and my daughter and we all liked it a lot. They did a great job on it. I especially liked the music. Very well done. My first Aurora HO slot car set came with a GT40. I still have the body.
 
#17 ·
Its on my list of must see's. Even my wife sounded interested after reading some critic's comments, and she is not a car person in any way, shape, or form.
 
#19 ·
Triangle Cobra Club should be doing a local get together for the movie next week end in Apex NC weather permitting.:smile2:

FWIW one of the two "hero" cars (Superformance) from the movie is coming up for auction through Mechem Dec 7th in Kansas City.
 
#21 ·
#22 · (Edited)
Here are a couple of pictures from Saturday's Show & Shine. People coming out of the theater came straight to our cars, it was nice to see both young and old say how much they liked the movie and our cars!



Here's my baby!

 
#23 · (Edited)
I saw it in IMAX.

Despite the movie's title, I found it interesting that Ferrari was not the antagonist, but rather a rival, and Ford's Marketing Department was the antagonist. Ford was both partner and foe, depending on which Ford employee.

I think Matt Damon did a good Shelby accent, but I'm not from Texas so I might be wrong. :cowboy:

I was glad there was no cheezy love story, no Michael Bay-ish scenes, no stupid catch phrases, no politically correct messages, and the soundtrack was seamless.

I appreciated the several WW2 references, 20-year old history at the time.

Fun inaccuracies: I saw a lot of Cobras with 18" wheels. I don't think those existed in the mid 60's. I saw the wrong Budweiser beer bottles on the wall in a few scenes. Some of the footage at Willow Springs switched from the big track to the smaller track and back. In one shot, the cars were going one direction, and the in the very next shot they were going the other direction!

Little details such as smoking cigarettes in the pits right next to the gas cans were wild fun.

I wish there was a brief mention of the importance of the Daytona Coupe, it's class victory at Le Mans in 1964, and it's contribution to the understanding of aerodynamics. Might have been neat if they said, "...well this worked with the Daytona."

My biggest complaint was sometimes I thought it should have been called "The Ken Miles Story" because I think his wild, strong character sometimes overtook the rest of the story.

As far as the Shelby Factory shown in the beginning, not the larger facility at LAX, They did a great job finding a shooting location that looks like the Princeton Drive factory. (Photos below, you can't see the side and rear windows, but they look a lot like shown in the movie.)

https://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-fa...-american-1042-princeton-drive-venice-ca.html

I don't know much about the recurring 7,000 rpm theme.

I don't know if at one point Ford tried to buy Ferrari, I doubt Shelby cheated like shown in the film. Time for some reading!
 
#49 ·
I saw it in a theater right across the street from the Daytona Speedway. Walking up to the theater, sound from the NASCAR experience cars was bouncing off the building. There were 8 people in the theater total and nice big reclining seats with footrests. Awesome way to see a movie.

I think they did a good job. No CGI and as far as I have ever heard and read, they stuck to the basic facts. The only part of the story that I didn't know was that Shelby bet his company on getting Ken in the car at LeMans.

I don't know if at one point Ford tried to buy Ferrari, I doubt Shelby cheated like shown in the film. Time for some reading!
They are both accurate. The fact that Ferrari used Ford as nothing more than a ploy to drive the price up is why the GT40 exists. Enzo being hot headed is also why Lamborghini, a tractor company, started making cars. Cheating and playing head games has always been part of racing. The general thought for "innovators" is that if the rule book doesn't specifically say you can't, then it's legal. Even Shelby's overalls were part head games (don't worry about those hillbillies) and part marketing, standing out to the public. Shelby was always ready to bend or sidestep rules.
 
#24 ·
We saw it this weekend as well. Too cold and wet to take the roadster, but my son, his GF and my wife all enjoyed it. I tried not to go off all geeky historical on them, having read a lot of the books that surround the movie topic. Just took it in and really enjoyed the cars, the racing and the acting. My wife had to ask, "Did that really happen?" She couldn't believe how Miles and Hulme were cheated of a victory they had earned driving Ferrari into the ground.

Bale was a great Ken Miles, although probably not a huge stretch for him from what I've heard? It was great fun!

Sean
 
#25 ·
I also "dragged" my family to see this move this weekend. For a Hollywood racing film, we all like it. Well, except for my daughter. My whole family knew the story of what was going on for the movie so there was not any surprises, except for one. I left out that Miles dies and my daughter noticed that part.
 
#28 ·
I absolutely agree with this, I don't care for the wire-wheel / slabside / non-rolbar / through pipe Cobras. Well, I like them, but I put them more in the category of "Gentleman's Car" like a 60's MG or Austin Healey. Strap the picnic basket to the luggage rack and take the lady to out on a country road...

I want to be sure everyone's seen this:

 
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