DiegoRuiz91

Glorious 16mm and specially 35mm footage from one of the most aesthetically pleasing eras in motorsports history. Harsh testimonies of what racing was all about back then. The movie is a tremendous showcase of a bygone era we will never come close to.

Of course the movie is absurdly British, specially considering the topic (they care more about Stirling Moss than about Ferrari's Alberto Ascari). If you have ever watched motorsports-related media, you would already know nothing ever gets produced if there are no Brits triumphing in it either at the wheel or as a manager.

Those cars, those courses, those people, the absolute "vibes" as the kids would say... Tremendous through and through, horrific at times, and it is all presented with great competence.

The first "On Any Sunday" documentary is possibly the greatest love letter to motorcycling. The piece not only shows you plenty of motorsports disciplines centered around motorcycles but also highlights the many different people that enjoy it on many levels. Motorcyclists all over the World will love it while it will make many non-users understand while maybe also kickstarting their newest way of life.

While some of the shots could be better and some disciplines do not get enough time, it is almost impossible to make a better documentary about the subject of motorcycling. They got it perfect the first time around.

It is more than lovely to see the twinshock "dirtbikes" of yesteryear or see how precarious the #1 flat track rider from the USA actually lived back in the day. No drama, no "I might not survive this if something goes wrong", just people and 2-wheeled vehicles, nothing else needed.

As a motorsports fan I am more than glad that this movie was made and it was done with a fairly big production value. After many movies like "Driven" and the movie about Michel Vaillant I had lost faith, I never expected a Hollywood movie or from any other place to be about motorsports and to be decent and this one is... but it fails in many places.

The biggest sin from this film is that it highlights James Hunt too much, while he was not too far from the average driver then when it comes to off-track methods. Meanwhile, it absolutely under- appreciates how much Niki Lauda did for F1 racing. Lauda was one of the first F1 drivers you could call an athlete. He did a lot of work beyond being a driver, he stayed fit and always pushed his team to build better machines, he actually changed the sport. Meanwhile, Hunt was just another driver with a liking for alcohol, drugs and women but just above average both with his vices and with his driving.

Another thing that really upsets me about the film is how the racing scenes are done. In this era of CGI-augmented action scenes I was expecting a lot more than just some stylized craziness that almost reminded me of the Speed Racer movie. I am more than sure the production could have built replica cars, use some proper drivers painted in green and use CGI to make everything look closer to real life. It saddens me to see the best racing scenes from the 60s and 70s have not be topped.

Overall a film with good intentions, some very bad decisions when it comes to style while highlighting the wrong guy. I hope Ron Howard gives the genre another go soon, maybe with some grand prix motorcycling racers (Agostini vs Hailwood, Roberts vs Sheene, Australia vs USA, etc).