John Frankenheimer fucking rules! He makes great movies, and you can tell from his director's commentaries that he just loves movies and he really loves cars. Grand Prix doesn't have a commentary but you don't need it to see his love of speed -- it's obvious in every shot of the cars and races. The story follows four formula one drivers through the 1966 grand prix season, on track and off, and the whole thing was filmed at the actual races, with additional footage on and around cars to fill in details. Most of the actors did their own driving -- Frankenheimer said (in the "making of" featurette) James Garner could have been a pro, after a couple months of lessons. Frankenheimer always insists on realism (same thing in Ronin, thirty years later), and it works. The racing shots in this movie still look amazing today and I don't think could be topped with all the technical wizardry we have now (and when he made Ronin, he did it the same way, without computers).

One of the best car movies ever. and you can't see one of Frankenheimer's movies or see a documentary about him or listen to one of his commentaries without thinking how damn cool he is.