User Reviews

I've seen a lot of car movies, as a self-professed car nut. As such I judge them harshly, and immediately dismiss entries that don't provide enough reason to care about what is more important than the car: the driver. Think of the Fast and Furious and Transformers franchise. If you care about the driver, and the driver cares about the car, you care about the car. The car is a tool, an extension of the hero's body, and gains provenance with the audience when it helps the hero on their personal journey. Movies that come to mind that do this effectively include Gone in 60 Seconds, Bullitt, Need For Speed, The Italian Job, Batman Begins, and The Bourne Identity. Some of the James Bond movies do it well, like Goldfinger, The Spy Who Loves Me, The Living Daylights, and SkyFall, but many do not because of the lack of character arc in the story. We cannot forget about perhaps the greatest car movie of all time, Back to the Future. The shining example of how to make the car a proper star.

And now enters a film by James Mangold and starring talented actors Matt Damon and Christian Bale called Ford v. Ferrari. My arms crossed, and expectations lowered, I was ready to be disappointed. Although I love Mangold as a director, somehow I assumed there would be a Michael Bay approach to the movie, putting more emphasis on car action sequences than the characters. To my surprise, not only was I dead wrong, but the film became one of the best car movies I had ever seen.

Thinking back, I should have known better. Unlike many car action oriented movies, this one is based on a true story, and fact-based dramas tend to take themselves more seriously. It is sort of a shared biopic between legendary sports car designer Carroll Shelby and race car driver Ken Miles. The movie focuses on their efforts to beat Ferrari at Le Mans, a story I'm well aware of (like I said, bonafide car nut). And Mangold is an Oscar winning filmmaker collaborating with Oscar winning people such as Damon and Bale.

And boy do their talents shine in this movie. The driving engine of the story, if you will, is the loving but at times clashing relationship between Shelby and Miles, portrayed brilliantly by Damon and Bale in a manner that in my opinion is more entertaining and engaging than the dynamic duo of DiCaprio and Pitt in Once Upon A Time ... in Hollywood. Damon and Bale have different styles of acting, but both arrive at the same place: creating a character that faces disappointment in the search for victory.

Shelby has to come to terms with the disappointment of having to quit his racing career due to heart problems, and creating a winning team at Le Mans is his way of proving to himself he's still a winner. Miles is desperate not to disappoint himself because unlike Shelby, he's never had a shot at winning at a big race. This is due to his abrasive personality, despite an amazing talent on the race track. On top of this, Miles desperately doesn't want to disappoint his wife and son, who support him fervently in his dream. Both characters have their own obstacles in search of escaping disappointment, with Shelby dealing with the suits at Ford and Miles dealing with problems of the car in the race as they present themselves, and the trial of besting the other race car drivers. Their individual struggles intersect in the mutual desire to win at Le Mans, resulting in a brotherhood and mutual love for each other that feels genuine and earned.

Henry Ford II, played by a very effective Tracy Letts, reveals in a quick but moving scene why he wants to win at Le Mans. After Shelby takes Ford on a whirlwind nauseating ride with the new race car they have engineered, Ford breaks into tears. Not so much because of the physically jarring experience of being jostled around at breakneck speed, but because of what the car means to his family name. "I had no idea. If only my dad were alive to see this," he tells Shelby. Damon, in that scene, responds with wet eyes. The character Ford reveals how much he doesn't want to disappoint his family legacy. In fact, the entire endeavor started with an insult from Ferrari, stating, "You're only Henry Ford the second, you'll never be Henry Ford." And in an earlier scene, Ford compares himself to his legendary grandfather in a speech to Ford factory workers concerning his disappointment in current company sales.

Cars represent man's desire to chase a dream. Whether it be designing the fastest car, or driving cars the fastest. And despite all the obstacles that may get in man's way, the biggest one is always himself. But with perseverance and the help of others, this obstacle can too be overcome. Ford v. Ferrari manages to get to the heart of this message with deceptive ease and supreme confidence. The film's absolutely gorgeous cinematography and direction capture some of the most amazing car sequences ever put to the big screen. A surprising but believable behind the scenes factoid is that Mangold and the cast are not car nuts at all, and were simply moved to tell the story of the characters. This is why the movie works so well, because they understood the car as supporting the story rather than the other way around.

Ford v. Ferrari is an absolute winner, with memorable performances from its cast, and my favorite Mangold picture thus far. For me, it is one of the best of the year, and as far as car movies go, one of the best ever made, and miles away from a disappointment.

I was at the Philadelphia Film center premiere on 11/11/19 to view this terrific movie. At the age of 68 and a tifoso of Ferrari since age 8, ( 1959 ), this movie hit a nerve. Truth vs Fiction. This was a David vs Goliath movie, however Goliath wins. The movie recreates a golden era of auto Racing. It was seriously dangerous with death and injury a guarantee at every race. These drivers were absolute warriors and we're fearless. Now Ferrari winning LeMans six straight years in a row from 1960-1965 is actually the David in this movie. Ferrari for all their dominant winning form was still a tiny company that sold fancy $15,000 sportcars to support his racing team. Winning LeMans was a $16,500 team prize. These Ferrari drivers were salaried. The prototype class at that time was wide open with no upper limit on engine size. There was an under 2 liter class that Porsche and Ferrari dino control, but the over 2 liter was unlimited. I read carefully about the Ford move to acquire Ferrari, as daily news reports would cross the associated press. The movie is spot-on about Ford cars lacking desire back then. Chevrolet had the Corvette, Corvair and sporty looking Impala and Chevelle. Now Ford is the Goliath in this movie. They are the big corporate giant with unlimited resources. Ford paid for the Ford GT. It was really a Lola Gt with a Ford badge put on it. Ford put their name on every innovation provided by all the racing/equipment suppliers that went into that race car. Unlike Ferrari being designed, engineered and built handmade in that Italian factory. Ford spent more money on developing a racecar than the total price to buy Ferrari outright. Hired every Nascar team to provide expert pit crews, engine builders and offered 80,000-100,000 to each driver for one race . Now the movie, it's a movie that non race cars fans can and will enjoy. It shows how Shelby and Miles are really the heroes of the winning team. This was true. Their relationship is spot on in the movie and they know what is needed to win. They battle off the track against Ford executives and against Ferrari on the track. What is not disclosed in the movie is the quitting of the Ferrari ace driver John Surtees. When he left Ferrari, the team was devastated. He along with Ford's Ken Miles were two true warriors. Also not shown but lightly covered in the movie is the three years of disastrous outing for the Ford racing team. Did Shelby steal the Ferrari pits stop watches? Did Shelby actually throw spear lug nuts into the Ferrari pit lane to make the Ferrari pit crew think that the race car was missing a nut on the car out on the track? Did Enzo Ferrari actually tip his hat to honor Ken Miles? Who really knows. Everybody is dead. I remember the lug nut rumour in the 1960s, as that was a southern stock car trick. I never heard about the theft of Ferrari stop watches by Shelby. As far as Ferrari tipping his hat. Ferrari was known for or not attending many races. All that aside, did I as a Ferrari fan enjoy this movie. My answer is a Yes, Yes, Yes. With the exception of James Garner in Grand Prix, this is the best movie to deal with the sport of autoracing. Bonus is that it is also a great human interest story and they create the mood of the sixties as U vividly remember it. I rate this movie a ten and should be nominated for Oscars.

I used to race cars, still spend a bit of time on the track, so I know this story, even met some of the actual people involved here (I'm old), and I wanted to really like the movie more than I did. Of course the car porn was fantastic, the casual way in which iconic multi-million dollar cars were placed around the set and even some of the scenes showing the GT40 moving around the airport tarmac were very good. For the latter, they captured speed well here, which is very difficult. So, kudos. But the actual danger involved, although shown to some extent, was not given the attention really needed. I understand the dramatic demands for a movie, but I would think emphasizing the danger would only help. Just to be clear, there were two deaths in a five month period, Miles and Macdonald, although deaths and massive injuries were very common then, these deaths actually had an effect on the racing community. Also, to be clear, the Ford effort was massive, they simply hired the very best in the US to get the GT40 developed. It really was a huge disparity between Ford and any other team. In reality, once Ford got out the kinks, it was a foregone conclusion, no matter that Ferrari made amazing cars. In this regard, little was made of the genius and absolute necessity of Phil Remmington to the entire GT40 project, he was the actual development lead on the car and he was made out to be a Disney -like character, uncle Phil with almost no real role to play. Well, actually, the character of Miles, also an engineer on the project was a compiled character that included "Rem" but because Rem was the essential piece for GT40 development, they had to gesture towards him, I suppose. Again, it was an okay movie, very much in the genre, although a bit better acted, Damon and Bale fighting with each other, using food, a thrown wrench, the supportive, loving wife. Within the context of a buddy movie, the movie does work, but its too long and you feel it, although I did like the way Miles death accident was shown, not a lot of buildup, save for the music, and then a highspeed muffled crash, no huge histrionics after and then the both true and movie cliche line "sometimes they don't come home." I wanted more of the internal mechanics of that, I wanted more of Henry Ford crying in the car, a great scene, actually because both the absolute insanity of being in a racing car as well as his joy were conveyed, I thought that was a magnificent human moment, unexpected and worth the movie, on it's own.

Rating 10/10 Inspired movie of the year. It is wonderfully made. A good story well told. Tightly written, well acted and directed. I hope Matt Damon and Christian Bale can winning an oscar awards because he already deliver the character very well. Thank you to all of you because make it this movie so amazing . A masterpiece !!

Imagine making a movie called Ford v Ferrari, and giving Ferrari driver Bandini just a constant evil grin, no lines. Not one. Making Ferrari boss Enzo an a-hole. He uses translator, but when it comes to insulting he becomes Hamlet. As for the Le Mans 66', the racing scenes are weak. Miles behind Bandini, he passes him. And he is still one lap behind. The gap is 8,5 miles now. Then boom! He is right behind him again on the very next scene. And this is a 2 and a half hour movie by the way. Some other scenes are ridiculous. Leo Beebe calls a guy on pit and makes him show the sign EZ to slow Miles. He makes million more terrible things like that. Better call the movie Ford vs Leo Beebe. Only good thing about this movie is acting by Bale, as expected. Other than that, it is just another big Hollywood production to make big money by stupifying everything in the story (1917 does the same), because the Hollywood formula demands it. Dumb movies make money. What a time to be alive...

You don't have to be a race car enthusiast to enjoy this film. I'm certainly not, having neither the desire or the patience to watch daring motor cars race around a track at mind boggling speeds. Though you do have to credit the drivers who enjoy the profession; it takes a certain amount of bravura and stamina to withstand the pace and stress forces that go with the territory. Without knowing the story in advance, I thought it was going to pit Matt Damon against Christian Bale as opposing drivers, but that idea was quickly put to rest. The legendary Carroll Shelby (Damon) is in the spotlight here as the former racer and design engineer recruited by the Ford Motor Company to build a championship vehicle. In no small measure was it Ford's response to a snub by Italian car maker, Enzo Ferrari, who turned down a merger with the American company in a fit of pique. Had he gone along, the end result in the picture may never have occurred.

The movie will call to mind the Steve McQueen race car epic "Le Mans" from 1971. With a half century separating the two films, both reliably capture the spirit and flavor of the world's longest endurance test. "Le Mans" has more of a documentary type feel than the movie under consideration here, with less of a plot and straightforward story line. Building up to the seminal race in 1966 featured in this film, the story takes an introspective look at the machinations of the Ford Motor Company to control all aspects of engineering a vehicle they hope to defeat the Italians with. Not to mention the politics and marketing aspect of selecting a driver who wouldn't embarrass the company by going public with any developmental problems along the way.

For fans and non-fans alike, the racing scenes are thrilling and adrenaline inducing. As driver Ken Mills, Christian Bale exudes nerves of steel and a soaring passion to be the best driver out there, achieving mind boggling speeds that would otherwise strike fear in the hearts of most mortal men. That was comically illustrated in the one scene in which Shelby himself took Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) for a 'spin' in a car under development. If there's any sense of a let down with the picture, it would have to be the screw job Mills suffered when he agreed to bring in all three of Ford's race cars to the finish line together at Le Mans. Realizing it, Mills bore the slight with dignity, knowing in his heart that he was the best driver out there that day, and nothing could take that away from him.