NOW available on DVD, Blu-ray and download, this documentary from directors John McKenna and Gabriel Clarke examines the turbulent making of Steve McQueen's 1971 box office flop Le Mans, his passion project set at the famous 24 hour race in France.
The film is packed with interviews with those who survived the ordeal, plus previously unseen footage shot on location at the Le Mans circuit in 1970 as McQueen butted heads with director John Sturges (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape) and writer Alan Trustman (The Thomas Crown Affair, Bullitt).
Then the world's biggest movie star, committed petrolhead McQueen demanded a gritty picture stripped bare of Hollywood fluff in order to finally capture the speed and danger of motor racing.
However, with the script still very much unfinished, Trustman and Sturges's attempts to steer the picture in the direction of dramatic storytelling put them increasingly at odds with their all-powerful star.
Meanwhile, the troubled production continued to capture endless car-based coverage: English racing driver David Piper lost his lower right leg in one horrific smash as the film went massively over-budget and schedule.
A vanity project mounted on the unstable chassis of McQueen's fame-fuelled mid-life crisis, this tale of how Le Mans almost crashed and burned is almost certainly more entertaining than his most divisive film.
However, it also proves that McQueen was absolutely right to insist upon capturing that white-knuckle racing footage – it's still viscerally thrilling nearly 50 years on.
If only 'the king of cool' could have made peace with the fact that his beloved racing cars were never going to enjoy top billing in a Steve McQueen picture.
:: Rent or buy now via Themanlemans.com.
