Ferrari: Race to Immortality (2017) User Reviews

A different world,

[kittenkongshow · 7/10 · 26 June 2019]

Modern F1 is often dull, safe thankfully but dull all the same.

This documentary shows the sport at it's most dangerous - The inevitability of death fills every frame, the interviews are used in a way that you know that the next scene will be someone passing - sometimes if the footage exists It's used, the cold eye of the camera staring at another corpse.

It's a view into a world not that far past but thankfully now long gone.

If you like Formula 1 watch this.

Mike Hawthorn - Peter Collins: The Ferrari years

[dim_zax · 6/10 · 24 December 2017]

In a documentary about Ferrari, it is very disappointing on how little effort there was from the director on portraying Enzo himself or the team. Apart from one interview and some "il Commendatore" quotes, the film solely focuses on the drivers and mainly Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins. In fact, Mr Goodrich chooses to completely overlook José Froilán González (the driver who gave Scuderia Ferrari their first Formula 1 victory), Alberto Ascari (the first Ferrari F1 champion) and casualy mention Juan Manuel Fangio (arguably the best driver of that era).

And although Hawthorn's and Collins' story is compelling indeed, it is not what you come to expect from a documentary called "Ferrari: Race to Immortality". In this point, i have to note that we first see a picture of Enzo beyond the 18th minute and actual footage of the man himself beyond the 22nd minute.

On the other hand, this film has its moments and it does really well in presenting the 50s F1 era, along with the emotions, the danger and the camaraderie of the drivers and their loved ones. It has Phil Hill (former Ferrari champion) who is the only one of those who speak in the film, trying to delve deeper in Enzo's feelings and character and give us some real insight. It also shows rare clips of the races and private lives of drivers, all beautifully presented. But i didn't like the mix of old footage with newer ones, which didn't knit together nicely. Thankfully these parts were sparse.

In conclusion, for a Ferrari documentary this is an average try. From a british drivers view, on the 50s era and the Ferrari team, it would be OK. Being very lenient indeed, i give it a 6 out of 10 and i highly recommend that you check out instead the Williams (2017) one.

Interesting picture of a time

[SoundMuzak · 8/10 · 19 December 2017]

Very interesting picture of a decade that lived this sport with such glamour and at the same time fierceness.

One of the points that I DIDN'T like is the little spotlight director puts on Juan Manuel Fangio... documentary was like "and there's Fangio, the Scuderia leader.. meanwhile Peter Collins blabla", "and there´s Fangio, the best driver of all time, anyway here we have Mike Hawthorn", and was like "I want to know more about Fangio, damn"

But anyway, documentary was interesting, I´ve enjoyed and learned from it.

Recommended.

Director Daryl Goodrich has access to all the right people, and his video is well curated, but it is doubtful that ' Ferrari ' will convert non-petrolheads.

[eminkl · 6/10 · 23 November 2019]

This motor racing doc about the Ferrari team in the 1950s is purely for the fans-an excuse for digging through archive footage of daredevil driving, sleek cars, and the sight of a winner being handed a bitter pint on Silverstone's finish line. It is based on' Mon Ami Mate' by Chris Nixon, a biography of Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins drivers from Ferrari, both a picture of blond-haired boyish charm and reckless ambition. Win or die, you're going to be immortal,' Enzo Ferrari told his stable drivers-and a shocking number of drivers died. Between 1950 and 1960, 39 motor-racing drivers were killed behind the wheels of cars that we consider to be as robust as baked bean tins. Ferrari's image emerging from the talking heads is a guy with a huge appetite for glory: when a driver was killed during a test drive, he would have said, "What is the car?Tales of past gentlemanly sportsmanship remain here, but the price of motor racing was high, not just for the drivers. During a crash in the Le Mans race in 1955, a car's front torpedoed the crown Director Daryl Goodrich has access to all the right people, and his video is well curated, but it is doubtful that ' Ferrari ' will convert non-petrolheads.

Another treat for motor racing fans

[Lugo1989 · 9/10 · 2 December 2017]

Another great documentary about motor racing and Formula 1 after McLaren and Williams, two films that also came out this year. Ferrari: Race to Immortality takes place in the mid 50's and tells the story of Enzo Ferrari, his complex character, his famous racing team and the drivers with emphasis on two great British masters of the wheel, Peter Collins and Mike Hawthorne.

The film is beautifully made, the archive footage of the races and cars are great. The story is told through interviews and narration by Enzo Ferrari, fellow drivers, wives and girlfriends. Drivers back then were a special breed of people, their determination, passion and love of racing is hard to understand sometimes but it is also hard not to find it beautiful and inspiring. They lived their lives on the edge and to the fullest, basically trying to cheat death every time they drove those cars. They were warriors, gladiators, stars and gentlemen. It is impossible to compare Formula 1 of today to those times, it almost seems like a completely different sport.

The film has quite an emotional punch as well, many young lives tragically ended, families lost sons, brothers, fathers and husbands in their pursuit of speed and dreams.

Strongly recommended to all motor racing and Formula 1 fans regardless if you are a Ferrari supporter or not, I believe you will not regret it.

Great but brutal footage, limited story, wonderful insight to a deadly sport in an era gone by

[michaelpusa · 9/10 · 20 July 2018]

I generally agree with the 5 previous reviews to mine, but I loved it. It tells the story well about the risks the drivers took (and perhaps pushed by Enzo, their fans and their women), the camaraderie among drivers despite their competitiveness, and how dangerous the sport was back before crush zones were designed into the cars, tracks had runoff areas, and research backed helmets and hans devices were mandated. It's sad because it's all true, but great because it tells and shows the story. In summary:

The bad: limited coverage of Enzo, limited mention of other Ferrari drivers debatably more important to Ferrari's history than Collins and Hawthorn (which the film tends to focus on), poor editing of the new filming of the old cars in action vs the original footage.

The good: Fantastic old race footage with clean visuals and good coloring, great story about Collins and Hawthorn, good stories about a few of the other earlier drivers. Wonderful, if sad, story of how it was back then about the dangers and the drivers.

Bad title, great otherwise

[DiegoRuiz91 · 8/10 · 16 March 2024]

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.

Not about Ferrari, primarily about Mike Hawthorn

[p-ibanez · 2/10 · 22 June 2020]

What a disappointment. This is not a documentary about either Ferrari the manufacturer or Enzo Ferrari, the iconic owner. Most of the documentary is about some of the drivers in the 50's, probably 2/3 of the whole film is about Mike Hawthorn. And a lot it's very repetitive with so many other documentaries about how dangerous was F1 in the 50s. But other documentaries, take a clear storyline on that topic, take a more broad view and show how safety in the sport improved from the 50s to the 2000s, particularly during the 70s. In this case, they stay in the 50s. I was expecting learning either about Enzo (his origins, how he built the empire, his personality, the way he managed the team and the company, his quirks) or learning about Ferrari team and the evolution of it and the unique philosophy to manage competition and drivers. But nothing, besides a few short quotes and recordings of Enzo Ferrari, nothing much more about Ferrari. An absolute waste of film and time.

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[marianadsoandrade · 2/10 · 11 November 2023]

This was so disappointing it drove me to make an imdb account just to complain about it. From the title you might expect a documentary about Ferrari, but don't fool yourselves into thinking it will be. It's merely about Mike Hawthorn and Petter Collins.

A documentary of extreme British bias, where even a legend like Fangio only gets a passing mention to enalt "how nice" Petter Collins was.

If you're looking to know more about Ferrari, this will be a waste of time. There's nothing there. At most you will have a mention of other drivers here and there, and tasteless footage of dead bodies that was clearly included for shock value, without any consideration or respect towards the people involved.

I can't for the life of me understand why this was advertised as a Ferrari movie at all.

This movie should be called "Ferrari: Race to Immediate Mortality"

[chungajoe-06346 · 5/10 · 1 December 2017]

This movie is not about very badly designed and constructed racing cars in the fifties. It is more about poor judgment drivers who were regularly killed driving those flying coffins. How come this all sport was not banned at the time is beyond me. Profit above people, I guess! Enjoy if you can, but it is pure horror, if you ask me.