I had to look up the dates on Wild Racers and LeMans. For the first hour of the movie it felt like the director was telling Fabian, " Do everything the way McQueen did it in LeMans". He even drives the same car. Remarkably, LeMans was made 2 years later. While I'll never put the two movies (or Fabian & McQueen) on the same level, they both had that same "Groovy" sixties vibe. That's what I love about sixties racing movies, they're like a time capsule of culture & style. The hair, the clothes, the way they talk...it's quite entertaining. Probably because racing is perceived as a young man's game. Living on the "Edge" as it were. I don't think if they made a period movie about the sixties, they could make it as convincing as the real thing.
Which leads me to the racing. While the racing footage in "Wild Racers" was excellent, it wasn't real. "LeMans" was real racing, real racers and real tension. Fabian, as good looking as he is, is no match for the hard intensity of McQueen. And McQueen was a bonified race car driver. An enthusiast of motor sports in general. Having driven and rode in competition, he had a leg up on Fabian.
It would be easy to pass Wild Racers off as a vehicle to launch the heart throb, crooner, a'La Elvis Presley, but that would be doing the actual film making a disservice. It's a very hip, inventive movie that takes some cinematic chances for the era it was made. Shaky cam, interesting camera angles, and lighting,very artsy when compared to the contrived schlock of a typical Elvis movie.
Perhaps, not a break out role for Mimsy Farmer, (did she ever have one?) she is breathtakingly, beautiful here. Like a vulnerable Amy Adams. I'd watch it again just for her.
All in all, a pretty decent, lazy Sunday afternoon, flick. If your asking, "Should I ?" I'm saying, "Yeah, why not"
