Journey to Le Mans

So many horrible reviews! Wow. It's not that bad. I agree that there are scenes that are re-used, and the soundtrack is a mis-match, in my opinion. Maybe they had to fill a time slot and therefore put in extra/filler scenes? This should be a documentary that fits in a 60 minute slot, not over 90 minutes. That would help. But I still enjoyed journeying with the team members as they attempted to win races and then to make it to the top at Le Mans. Maybe since I'm an amateur racer I was able to get into it more easily than some viewers, I don't know. And I get tired the hype and glamour surrounding the zillion dollar F1 and LM juggernauts. Going along with a smaller team and vicariously experiencing their ups and downs as they go for it felt good to me.

Sorry to say that this was not made by petrol heads and it showed. Too many close ups of neatly coiffured blokes and not enough of the engineering or racing. It would have been nice to have a full lap of in car footage, instead we were treated to a succession of close up's of people stood in the garage. The editing was constantly to quick (except when interviewing the frankly bland participants).A number of clips were used on more than one occasion (the exit from the pits behind a Chevrolet for example)which detracted from the continuity. Overall a big disappointment lacking depth and insight, it left me cold. The makers admitted in the question and answer session, following the premier, that they had not seen other racing based films and it showed. There was never any real tension created, even in the crash sequence, and at no time did I connect with the main character. If you are a true motor sport fan best give this limp offering a miss. Sorry.

Journey to Le Mans is a documentary presenting team Jota's quest to win Le Mans in the LMP2 division.

Much of the race footage is presented in slow motion, and the melodramatic soundtrack is unrelenting. These aspects betray the innate excitement of high-speed racing. The film doesn't even present a summary of the race in any desirable form. I have to believe an under-produced bland documentary would have been much more interesting.

What it does somewhat well is profile the drivers of team Jota. The raw footage is top-notch, alas the actual racing clips are very short.

My one word summary would be "boring", which is a very unfortunate description of the pinnacle of high-speed auto racing.

This looks like a movie paid by the team itself. Not for petrol heads, as it fails to show the interesting aspects of motor sport, which usually doesn't happen on the racetrack. Eg: a huge crash destroys the car 2 weeks before a big race. 30 seconds explanation of "how we got our s**t back together and rebuilt the car"...well, that's quite an accomplishment to dig deeper in, no? why skipping?

Also: - plenty of scenes are repeated. Cheap way of filling time? Don't show me driver #1 entering a corner, overtaking that blue car, then going in the pits to change the driver, then to see driver #2 overtake the same car in the same spot. If you used the same shot twice in 3 minutes i will notice and get annoyed. Then I write a review about the movie because you're wasting my time and i'm bitter. - the music chosen sounds like it was bought at Walmart (or Lidl in Europe). If you want to make a serious movie you can't cheap out on this.

These aspects really ruin a movie which I was looking forward to see, and will ruin to you too.

I know nothing about Le Mans so I had no preconceived ideas about what to expect from this.

To say I enjoyed it would be an understatement!

A fantastic insight into the event and what it takes to get there and to compete.

Some have said it was very one sided as it only followed one team, and that is correct, but that is what it was meant to be about anyway. Enjoy it for what it is. (Warning: TT3D is the same, so don't complain about that one when you see it!!!!)

What really made this a great watch though was the cinematography! Superb camera use, footage and techniques. Loved it!

If you're a racing fan, then I highly recommend this....