MovieChat Forums > Driven (2001) Discussion > An insult to motorsport

An insult to motorsport

posted 19 years ago by arthurwhippywart
27 replies | jump to latest

I understand that different directors have different visions they want to convey to the audiences, but I have some serious issues with Driven. I'm not a fan of the story, as it is utterly incoherent and without flow but it's something else that bothers me...
Motorsport is about being competitive whilst still looking out for one another-Driven disregards this. Drivers crash in a way that would almost certainly be fatal left right and centre (eg 'Visteon Car'-actually Roberto Moreno-barrell rolling THROUGH a wall, Papis jumping forty feet in the air over another car at the 'German' Grand Prix, or the multiple pile-up OVER a wall at the final race) and the race isn't even stopped! Instead, we get generic rock music, they all pit and the atmos is very positive. HELLO!! This is totally incompetent and about as realistic as David James scoring from 75 yards, with an overhead kick. The director was clearly not a fan and neither was Stallone, who 'researched' this film by turning up at glamour F1 and Indy events such as Monte Carlo and the Indy 500. It was clear he was only going to concentrate on that side of the sport. Awful film, and if either the director or Stallone even come near F1 in an attempt to pollute my beloved sport, prepare yourself for shocking motorsport film #2

[–] sebbymac 19 years ago

It was Indy, not F1.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] KevinWI 19 years ago

It was Champ Cars, not Indy Cars. After this movie came out, CART (or the Champ Car World Series) started experancing a string a bad luck which lead to their bankrupcy.

[–] jville2 11 years ago

Not "bad luck," just atrocious mismanagement and a third-rate product.

[–] sloand-2 18 years ago

The movie was originally meant to be about F1, however there were trademark issues apparently. I choose to believe Bernie Ecclestone rejected the script because it was terrible.

I watched this last night after Days of Thunder, which just outranks this in everyway imaginable. Hail Xenu.

[–] masurra 18 years ago

Days of Thunder which is also an insult to motorsport is a masterpiece compared to this one. Days of Thunder at least have a cool intro sequence starting with sunrise at Daytona 500 and "gentlemen start your engines" with decent Tony Scott 90:s cinematographical style, it at least have some scenes that are funny in some kind of ironical way.
This movie just sucks, all scenes are stupid and I cant believe that there were any people involved with this film who knew squat about open wheel racing or motorsports at all. It´s amazing that a movie is a project that involves so many people and that nobody said "stop" at some stage in the production of this piece of garbage. Don´t bother to see it!

[–] nerofly 18 years ago

Can you imagine Bernie Eccleston even reading the script?

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http://nerofly.deviantart.com

[–] TylerDurden13 18 years ago

Ecclestone is a dumb ass. He would not know a good script from a bad pair of pants; which he consistently wears. How about a haircut that does not look like 80s Pete Rose?

The things you own end up owning you.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] john-sharpe 14 years ago

he did reject the script with a laugh and a push out of my way! F1 is not about glamour but the commerical side is. Thats what was played up in the champ car movie - infusing the glamour of F1 with an american twist since Bernie embarased sly with his emphatic NO! And i am sorry but that joy ride they took...jesus christ, please. if lewis was cited for doing burnouts in Adalaide this year, Alesi, Raikonen, Senna and others for speeding then how in the hell were those two not in jail facing serious charges for that "exhibition" of speed through the streets of i thankfuly forgot what city was mentioned...

[–] Plague2005 14 years ago

Not defending the movie but I remember them saying something about the drivers fined. I think the amount was $10,000.

<<-- Mess With The Best, Die Like The Rest -->>

[–] Savage199 13 years ago

$25,000
Although if it was real life they'd be lucky to keep their super licencese and jobs after that.

Why's Potter so angry? Is that why he's in the Mulisha, cause he's so angry all the time.

[–] arthurwhippywart 19 years ago

OMG!! Can we have sensible replies only please! I know it was CART, not F1. I just stated that Stallone researched the glamour side of motorsport by going to F1 races. I'm interested in whether anyone agrees that the way motorsport was portrayed in the film was completely inappropriate.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] jmvelazquezr 19 years ago

Regardless of the type of cars, the movie is terribly B-A-D!!!! The special effects r awful, n u can have more realism in a Playstation arcade racing game. The street chase... cmon!!! All the crash scenes... well so unrealistic, the one flying through the air n the whole pack of cars passin below him, HAHAHA then the assistance takin ages to arrive, it reminded me of classic 50's n 60's races.
Anyway, i also agree that this is an isult to motorsports, n in the future i think FIA, NASCAR, IRL, CART (if still exists) should read the scripts before allowing a movie made about them, bcoz a movie like this can't be allowed to be made in the future.

[–] redneck_christmas 19 years ago

shut up.

none of you are animators so shut up about the CGI. This was a great film. There is nothing wrong with it.

[–] Raikkonen_fan51 19 years ago

ARE ON DRUGS!!!

when i first saw it i cried
it was so pathetic, if hollywood thinks motorsport is like that then they need a bullet.

one more thing
i don't want to sound like a smart arse, but i know Champ cars inside and out.
in the scene when they go racing down the street, first thing
the drivers have a ignition switch on the steering wheel, BUT that is only on and off......the only way the car can start is the crew must use a gun to turn the crank over, once all the pistons fire they go.

THE MOVIE IS A COMPLETE DISGRACE TO MOTORSPORT ACROSS THE WORLD, AND SLYVESTOR STELONE(i can't spell ok) DID'NT DO IT MUCH JUSTICE..

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] sgill77 18 years ago

Hmm...

But surely the point of CGI in a movie like this is that it's meant to be realistic; in other words, we shouldn't be able to tell it's CGI. And we can. So it's poor.

As an aside, I heard an interview with one member of the film's production team (can't remember who) where they said that they had to use CGI to do the crash set in Germany because it wasn't possible for a car to crash like that in real life...!

An abysmal film, made by idiots.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] et60515 19 years ago

you sound like a redneck...congratulations

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] damongruber 18 years ago

HAHAHAHA.... YEAH!!! what a moron... I mean, the "redneck" guy and ALL those thinking this crap was GREAT or at least GOOD...

This movie was pure crap from beginning to end... especially the end... they should have made it a la Pixar's "Cars" or something, and thus avoid so much crappiness.

It's a SHAME the way Stallone insists on burying himself on crap. I can't believe this guy once starred Rocky (1), Rambo (1) and Cop Land!

Then again, he also starred Oscar, Rhinestone, THIS CRAP and many, many others

[–] murfi 18 years ago

obviously, stallone needed some cash.
crappiest movie i have ever seen. some german actors LOL (every german actor sucks, except udo kier)

[–] Axu_R 18 years ago

No they don't. You just don't know them.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004376/

River told 'The spirits were coming to get him and whoever was up there was pulling him away.'

[–] Axu_R 18 years ago

Also from another thread by DerMeister79:

"There are a lot of well know Germans I think Til Schweiger, Daniel Bruehl, Potente and Bleibtreu (of course), Marlene Dietrich, Helene Weigel, Diane Kruger, Natassja Kinski, Sibel Kekilli ;), Juergen Prochnow, Eric Braeden, Max Schreck.... oh, and lets not forget Horst Krause :)

And directors like Wim Wenders, Werner Herzog, Wolfgang Petersen, Roland Emmerich, Mike Nichols and Fatih Akin."

Offtopic: This movie sucks, but as a finn I'm eager to watch F1 next season, Räikkönen and Kovalainen are going to rule. ;) Rosberg is half finn, he had a steaming fight (that he won) for championship in GP2 class 2005 with Kovalainen. If Williams ever gets better, it's going to be good for him too. Rosberg Sr. won the F1 championship in 1982.

River told 'The spirits were coming to get him and whoever was up there was pulling him away.'

[–] hardtruth 12 years ago

I didn't feel insulted watching this. It's a work of fiction and it's given artistic license to tell a story. I was baffled as well when the big crash scene the race isn't stopped but the part about stopping to help a fellow driver in spite of great personal risk reminded me of Roger Williamson and David Purley. It gave me the same feeling and while not the same situation, is based in fact that drivers while competing with each other, would go to extraordinary lengths to save each others lives.

If you haven't seen it I suggest you look up the Roger Williamson and David Purley crash on youtube.

When the truth is too painful the weak will label it a lie.

Hard Truth.