The 24 Hour War

A must see! Filled with history and factual information!

When you need a racing movie, Carolla and Adams seem to get the passion across to the viewer perfectly. Not a race fan? That's fine, they still instill the passion enough to make this documentary fun for all.My benchmark was Mark Neale's "The Doctor, the Tornado and the Kentucky Kid". The best Moto racers to watch while Ewan McGregor narrates is just riveting. You get Ewan that loves motorcycles then all these great personalities come across. I find humor in it because of how precise racing is these days on two wheels and how these guys say it then Ewan underlines it in the commentary, "200mph, front wheel 1/4" off the ground, all in a day's work" <-misquote, but I'm trying here. I bring that up because Bruce Brown's "On any Sunday" is the epitome of moto docs but I feel he aimed for humor with the music and shots, not how laughingly technical racing has become. I re-watched Neale's "Faster" and was instantly let down; It didn't hold up over time. "Faster" just felt like a series of YouTube videos and anything you can learn by casually following MotoGP.The 24 hour war has surpassed that for me and I'm really not a 4-wheel racer at all. I know the battle between Ford and Ferrari enough to know that I would like this, but love it this much? They nailed it. I learned, I loved, I came. I knew Carolla loves Paul Newman so of course his first racing doc would nail it out of the park. I'm pretty sure he's not a fan of Ford (besides having a Ford truck) or Ferrari (Lambo are for when Ferrari kids grow up and get a real car), so let's see how he handles this one. Out of the ballpark!You have to watch this, you just do. There's one quote from Enzo Ferrari I wish was in it but I understand it doesn't fit in to the doc in any form: "I don't care if the door gaps are straight. When the driver steps on the gas I want him to ess [sic] his pants". I just love to see the actual battle and the big man on campus gets beaten by the start up. Makes the recent wins all that much more better. That's how America rolls!Amazon options are confusing. I rented it and watched it 3 times. I can buy HD but I am ignorant if that means I get a DVD, BluRay, or own a streaming version. I want the physical disc in my collection because I want to watch it a lot more!

Adam Carolla and Nate Adams have mastered the art of creating documentaries that are informative, interesting, and downright gripping. This documentary is based on AJ Baime's book, "Go Like Hell" (an excellent read, as is "The Arsenal of Democracy"), and the film perfectly represents Baime's work. The photography is phenomenal. The soundtrack accentuates pivotal moments.The live, in person interviews with Ford folks like Henry Ford the third, Edsel Ford the second, Dan Gurney, and countless other team members (some well-known, some not-so well-known) keep the story interesting while providing a truly personal feel. The Ferrari camp was also well-represented by people like Piero Ferrari, Carlo Tazzioli, Brian Laban, and Moro Forghieri. Each of them had intriguing personalities; their flair and gusto came across perfectly on camera and in the story.The editing was great as well - they did a wonderful job of merging legacy and modern footage. The film never felt choppy or disjointed.What's baffling to me is the NC-17 rating. I have no idea why there is such a severe rating, as I don't believe there was much swearing (I believe Mario Andretti said a single curse word while recanting a story), nor is there anything graphic at all. If you've seen the Carolla/Adams documentary about Paul Neuman, this film is made in much the same way: clean, clear, and interesting to everyone, no matter your level of experience or automotive interest. Amazon may want to investigate the accuracy of the NC-17 rating.So... even if you're not a fan of racing, give this film a watch. It's a wonderful and fascinating real-life story about two legendary companies stopping at nothing while trying to best the other at one of the world's most dangerous games.FWIW... I can't imagine traveling at 200+ miles per hour, through a tree-lined race track, at night, on skinny bias-ply tires, with anemic headlights, and minimal safety equipment (barely a seatbelt). The guts that must have took is beyond comprehension. Factor-in the pressure from the higher-ups to "win at all costs," the huge budgets, the constant threat (and reality) of death, and the massive leaps in horsepower year after year, and the story is a no-brainer. Watch it!

I'm not really a car person at all, but I was able to het into this story. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, having no real context for this story. I thought, "How can they make a whole movie about one race?" It turns out that there is a long history involving Ferrari being the best and Ford being the underdog in the time immediately preceding the meat of this story. I only removed one star because I do think for non-car or non-race people, it can feel a bit slow at times. However, it certainly meets and exceeds what it sets out to do. It's also very high quality, has tons of great old footage, great music and interviews. If you bring along your attention span, it's well worth the time.

fantastic doc for any car guy.

My first taste of international endurance sports car road racing was the 12-hours of Sebring in 1965, when I was in college. The Ford GT40 came in second place. It was half the two stars of The 24-Hour War, the other half being the Ferrari 330-P4. (Ferrari chose not to race at Sebring in 1965.) I have been hooked ever since and have a collection of books about the epic contest between Enzo Ferrari and Henry Ford II. In 1962 Ford was rebuffed in his attempt to purchase Ferrari. He is reported to have muttered, "Well, if I can't join 'em, I'll beat 'em." Which he finally did in 1966, when the Ford GT40 Mk II's placed 1-2-3. Ford went on to win the 24 Hours of LeMans, (which is the 24-hour war) again in 1967, 1968, and 1969. Until 2016, the 50th anniversary of Ford's first win, neither Ford nor Ferrari won LeMans again. This documentary video shows it all. Highly recommended.

Very good DVD, entertaining for motoring fans

One of the best automotive films you'll ever see. I contacted the distributor to confirm whether their DVDs are region free and they are - Amazon claims this is a region 1 and won't play in Europe but it plays on my region 2 player fine, only downside is the thick black border around all sides of the picture.

Really interesting documentary that's not over dramatised

BRILLIANT!