Speedvision's "Making of Drivel"

[Liz]

Well I have seen their so-called promotional inside film on the making of "Drivel" I mean "Driven." Here are the things that struck me about it.

(1) The movie is crammed with huge flying crashes that are completely over the top, and give the impression that the pilots are suicidal or insane.

(2) Of the two pilots actually shown in the special, (Mo Gugelman and Kenny Brack) neither one had anything good to say about the movie, just weasel words about "of course it's over the top" or "yeah, it couldn't happen like that." Both looked acutely uncomfortable. I was amazed that Mo would even sit there countenancing such a crash-fest as he is the President of the Champ Car safety organization! I am sure if any actual Champ Car pilot had said anything remotely in praise of this movie, it would have been quoted. The fact that it wasn't - speaks volumes.

(3) Dario and Mario were shown at the end in cameos, and Dario said the same weasel words "Of course it's not really like the way we race, it has to be exciting and we are just guys doing a job, etc." and Mario said he "would reserve judgment - maybe when I see it all the way through..." which led me to believe he was not impressed with what he had seen up to that point.

(4) Neither Stallone nor his pal movie maker knows anything at all about car racing except that race cars fly to pieces when they hit things.

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I saw nothing in this "special" that induced me to change my opinion that this movie is going to be a very expensive embarassing bomb.

What about you?

[Jay]

Liz, I imagine you could tell us a lot more about the making of Driven, then they could in 30 min.

Parts of the film were also shot on the Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal. Apparrently there was scene where a car crashes, flies, and ends up in the swamp there.

Maybe they would have been wiser to make it an animated movie. That might have given it some credibility!

[Liz]

Go Speed Racer Go!

Frankly, I'd RATHER watch Speed Racer.

[bella]

they showed that swamp **** on the race program a few weeks ago. all you thought was *cringe* and 'don't make me watch that rubbish again..'

ah well. i'm sure some people are going to enjoy it. i just wish they wouldn't put all the coverege on cart.com and got on with the real racing...

[Emfa]

Drivel ! I like that - simple, yet powerful!! (Why didn't I think of it?)

Fortunately most of us here are quite well educated about all forms of motorsport and are able to recognize Drivel for what it is, however I am going to go out on a limb here and predict that this film will be a box office success (maybe not hit, but a success). Most of it has been said before, but successful movies don't need reality and an ignorant public will go to see the things we ridicule. Oh well.

I just hope that it will eventually lead some new fans out to races and boost CART's ratings.

[wallbanger]

Great minds think alike!

[DNQ]

It'll be hopeless - it is a simple as that. No wonder bernie didn't want the movie to be about F1.

[Liz]

In light of Alberetto's death today in a high speed crash and roll, I hope a few people take time to think that watching 90 minutes of pilots creatively smashing their cars on the pretext that "it's just fiction" is really a rather cheap, tawdry and low way of looking at the risk those men take. Unlike in cartoons and Stallone movies, when race cars crash, people we care about die.

Not that Stallone would know Albereto from first base, of course. But I do.

[Jay]

Geez..I was just at 7th Gear's forum, and they are all praising Stallone as if he were some kind of god for making a movie about their "beloved sport".

Someone even said that they would tape this weekend's race so that they could be one of the first to see the movie.

I hope those aren't the type of people that watch races in the hope of seeing crashes.

[Liz]

The 7G people think it's wonderful that they have put in the scene where people were killed by flying wheels. The ones that were at the sneak previews said that the people who were watching thought that was "really cool action."

Imagine being one of the people whose family member was killed in that incident, having not been warned that this scene was included, sitting in that movie hearing the crowd cheer as your friend or child was killed.

I have my own ideas of what is going on over there, but personally i call that really sick.

[Nuvolari]

Didn't see the Speedvision epic, but I can tell you I'm approaching this flick the way I would a fish that's been laying in the sun for a couple of days.