Chasing Legends

[Maxiton]

DATELINE: San Francisco

Perhaps you've seen them all. All the recent films about professional racing. Overcoming, Hell on Wheels, Road to Roubaix, Blood, Sweat & Gears, Yell For Cadell. Maybe you've seen the old ones, too.

None of them, not the old and not the new, compares with what I saw tonight. Tonight was the San Francisco premiere of Chasing Legends, the story of the 2009 Tour de France, told mostly from the standpoint of Team HTC-Columbia.

Written, directed, filmed, and edited by Jason Berry, Chasing Legends sucks you in immediately and doesn't let go until the end, when it deposits you gently onto the sidewalk in front of the theater. Through tight editing, fast pacing, a powerful soundtrack, and effective use of the large theater screen, this film is able to convey the sheer speed and daring of a peloton in full flight down steep, narrow mountain roads, the suffering endured by riders, and the adrenaline rush of the mass sprint. Really remarkable stuff. If you can, see it in a theater. Otherwise, order the DVD. That's what I'm going to do right now, as soon as I've posted this. Highly recommended.

 

[Michele]

I watched it and honestly I found it too much theatrical (too much Phil Liggett too).

 

[Maxiton]

I watched it and honestly I found it too much theatrical (too much Phil Liggett too).

Hi, Michele. It seems to me that the Tour is a spectacle, and a film about it should be theatrical and dramatically paced, not ponderous and slow moving. As for Liggett, many here perhaps will object to him, but for the general public he is the face of racing, or rather its voice. Personally I like his commentary when he's at his best. Anyway, thanks for your comment.

 

[Finbouy]

Agree, I went to Southampton to see it and Phil's barf all over it was too much, but the film itself I thought was pretty damn fine effort and it's on my DVD list for the forthcoming gorging season.
Well worth watching IMO, in fact I give it 9/10. Some of the camera work is simply sublime.

 

[94condor]

Loud

I was at the Castro for the 6:30 showing, and enjoyed the film on the whole - there was some stunning footage and Jens Voigt, Rolf Aldag and Brian Holm were all very funny. I found the soundtrack way over the top in terms of hammering the mood home, and I was dismayed at the fact that Contador's appearances generated hisses, while no-one else's did.
Afterwards my friends and I were debating whether it was being pitched for a general audience, in which case, the use of Phil Liggett fits in well, or for more of a fan base, in which case some of the story-telling parts of the film were going over stuff that fans would remember or be pretty familiar with.
Thumbs up overall.

 

[Michele]

Hi, Michele. It seems to me that the Tour is a spectacle, and a film about it should be theatrical and dramatically paced, not ponderous and slow moving.

Maxiton, Im ever glad when some movies like this come out in the market, I just wished more insight view like Hell on Wheels (which was made by same producer, correct me if wrong).

 

[cawright1375]

I just got his for my birthday and have to say it is everything I'd heard it was. Yeah it was over dramatic or made to be in some places. However the camera shots were simply amazing especially in the TTs, for once you really got a sense of how fast those guys are going.

The film also hit home to me just how much Garmin screwed George that day and how Thor cried foul over Cav for no reason. Anyone who has ever skied a day in their life knows that the guy in back watches out for the guy in front not vice versa and Cav doesn't deviate like Thor does. I'd be curious to know what any of the Garmin team thinks of the film and how it does a mighty fine job of accurately portraying them, at least that year.

All in all well worth it.

 

[flicker]

I was at the Castro for the 6:30 showing, and enjoyed the film on the whole - there was some stunning footage and Jens Voigt, Rolf Aldag and Brian Holm were all very funny. I found the soundtrack way over the top in terms of hammering the mood home, and I was dismayed at the fact that Contador's appearances generated hisses, while no-one else's did.
Afterwards my friends and I were debating whether it was being pitched for a general audience, in which case, the use of Phil Liggett fits in well, or for more of a fan base, in which case some of the story-telling parts of the film were going over stuff that fans would remember or be pretty familiar with.
Thumbs up overall.

The Castro in San Francisco, well that is really swell fella.

Joking aside, in the USA Contador is hated. Not by me but by the newbies who think Lord Lance is God. Lance is an awesome ROD yes but there is more to cycling then Lances' superior male member. just sayin.