Review of "1"

Thanks for that, hadn't heard of this film before.

 

I agree. For better or for worse, Bernie has changed formula 1 into a) a worldwide, marketable brand that experienced tremendous growth under his watch and b) a spectacle far removed from the one associated with a string of drivers deaths prior to his emergence.

He has everything to do with the emergence of the modern formula 1 era

 

+1

As was mentioned elsewhere recently, 'nostalgia is a powerful drug', and it's very easy to 'blame' Bernie for the sports ills. I've certainly said some derogatory stuff about him over the years, but the bottom line is he, more or less single handedly, turned it from a 'niche' sport to the most watched sport on the planet.

Another good background on the man is in Prof Sids book - He was full of respect for him and the way he simply got stuff done. Seems whatever Sid wanted, Bernie made it happen - From the first medical chopper at the Glen through to threatening a boycott of (IIRC) the German GP as they didn't want Sid running the show.

When Sid told him he was doing the book, he apparently said 'you better not say anything nice about me - I'll sue you!'.... He loves being perceived as the bad guy, but F1 is his entire world, and he cares deeply about its particapants.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Bernie is like any big time CEO... you can love him one min, hate him the next.

Chances are if you were a team owner / designer/ mechanic/ driver etc... from late 70's thru early 90's you made a ton of $$$$ becuse of Bernie - he let you know it and you thanked him for it... but for Die hard fans - its a bit the opposite... he took an accessible clubby sport with glamour and took away all the accesiblity... its still a club, and glitzy but only for the Uber rich and famous....

From a Safety point of view - Bernie is right up there with Stewart, Lauda, etc.. on making it safe. no question. he's also taken care of the un named background people in F-1.

However - his overwhelming Greed in the early 90's has just gone berserk, and we have F-1 of today - which is just a spec formula dressed up in fancy names and looks... if he did not have Ferrari on a Money Drip ... there would be no F-1.

 

Mid-80's was the height, as big and rich as today if not moreso apples to apples. Since then it has gone downhill.

Safety -- (I will preface these remarks by saying I don't know who was in charge in the 80's that could have made changes) Today's safety was achieved by destroying/removing the best tracks. There were ways of making the great tracks safer, but it wasn't done. And to Senna's accident, Piquet and Berger had got smacked there prior and nobody thought to extend the wall and put jersey barriers or such in front of it? It's a dangerous sport, but they way they achieved their safety was the wrong way to go imo.

 

This is a little O/T, but it's interesting that this description also fit another Bernie - the late Bernie Little, longtime campaigner of the Miss Budweiser unlimited hydroplanes. Bernie Little's positive was in bringing publicity to the sport, including the only national ads that featured a hydroplane; for years the Miss Bud was probably the only boat that non-fans would recognize. The negative was in the enormous amount of money his team spent in order to win; this chased away a lot of other potential competitive sponsors. So, again, it was a love/hate relationship.

 

Video: 1 Life on the Limit preview | Red Bull Motorsports

 

I just watched this on the plane, very good I thought. I was interested the whole time.

 

I rewatched it on blu ray over the weekend. Still awesome

 

Watched it last night.

I liked some of the older stuff but the "safety" angle has been done before. The fact is that safety comes after accidents and it's the same for all industries and businesses F1 wasn't doing anything better they just reacted like the rest of the world.

They could of showcased Sid Walkins better. He saved Hakkenins life at the track who cares about Brundle running back to the pits.


Overall a good watch

 

Finally had a chance to watch this and it was really informative with some great footage and a great history of F1 and the many dangers/deaths in the sport.

One BIG negative for me was how they went from the 70's straight to Senna's death without elaborating on one of the sport's major deaths which was Enzo's boy Villeneuve.

Not sure how it makes any sense to do a documentary about the deaths/dangers of F1 and not include Gille's story and the backstory of how he overpushed his car to his own death because of the anger towards his teammate.

No disrespect to Cevert and the fact that he died for his sport but they spent so much time on him in the film....I was watching the movie and was following the chronology....after the Lauda/Hunt story I got excited about Villeneuve's story coming up and....it never happened....straight to Senna....WTF?

Perhaps I'm biased because I'm an Italian Ferrari tifoso from Quebec but really come on? Villeneuve's accident comes with an interesting backstory....strange that they skipped right over it.

 

Not biased at all, Gilles is to me the "biggest story" in f.1 history (regarding drivers)..his background, the difficulties he had to overcome, his talent above all others, his fairness and honesty...he was simply the biggest character in the sport, i think only Niki's story comes close. had Gilles lived a cuple of years later, when tv gave f.1 a new dimension, like in mid and early 90s and few would even remeber prost or Senna.