One by One

This is one of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen. However, it needs to be seen by any racing fan. The version of the film I saw opens with a scene from the 1977 South African Grand Prix with footage of a race marshall being hit by the car driven by Pryce in which both were killed. This sets the tone for the rest of the film.

You can tell these guys are a bit crazy, yet extremely brave to hop into a Formula 1 car and risk their lives with every foot they travel down the track.

There are some great interviews with the drivers, and even though this stuff is from the 1973 season, the ideas expressed through the film still apply to this day. Racing is extremely dangerous.

It was the days when F1 was really a lethal sport for crazies... the interviews of many of these guys, knowing that most of them finished burned alive in their cars few months or years after the filming, is so tragically poignant. Cevert in particular... so genuine and open about his passion, Jackie and their friendship. A future world champion until his fate was sealed this terrible day at Watkins Glen 1973. Awesome footage of movie quality of these 1973 raging motor beasts mastered by their crazy fearless masters... rarely seen so vibrant footage of a long gone era. And of course the awful drama of these 2 terrible and visceral graphic scenes that demonstrate why so few could ride these mechanical monsters. A documentary that explains the essence of this sport during these early eras: epic, raw and dangerous. One of the best ever.

Something to watch in the off season. On one hand possibly the worst ever example of 1970's documentary film making (the editor must have been on LSD and the musical score later probably appeared in Deep Throat) BUT put that to one side and enjoy the spectacle of those incredible 1973 F1 cars and just how far the sport has come in the intervening years.

Saw this on tape several years ago, as I'm a huge Formula 1 fan.

While this documentary is a representation of the 1973 Formula 1 season and was released in 1974, it's disturbing that graphic footage of Tom Pryce's horrifying accident at the 1977 South African Grand Prix was included.

It was probably included to make an extra dollar, but really had no reason being there as it had nothing to do with the 1973 season (Pryce wasn't even driving in F1 at the time).

Aside from that, it's a good and gripping documentary about the racers, races and season in general. There is more graphic footage of the Roger Williamson crash, where he was killed and Clay Regazzoni's crash (he survived), but the interviews with Francois Cevert are good.

If you're a racing fan and like history, this is okay, but edit out the opening sequence.

I now realise I have seen clips of this documentary used in other F1 films and it's good to see the whole film. It has some interesting and candid interviews with leading drivers of the day with no PR person in sight interrupting the interview. It starts with the horrific Tom Pryce accident in Kyalami but after that it's not too graphic. It's also sad to see Francois Cevert discussing how smoothly his team mate, Jackie Stewart, drives in the same year died. Another thing which is striking is how tatty and worn the cars look compared to immaculate specimens you see today and also how soft their suspension was. Also surprising is the amount of surplus people in the pits who have to dive out of the way when the cars come in The film is of its time and has a lot of the 70s trademarks - swirling aerial helicopter shots, rambling incidental music, lingering female breast shots, and goes down odd cinematic avenues to try and set the scene before jumping back into f1 but I am not complaining. It's also filmem, to a degree, from a 'let's teach the Americans about f1. Most of the video footage is of good quality and with age it has become a good historical record of an F1 era which must be fading fast, even from the memories of those who lived through it. Much like Steve McQueenks Le Mans