Anyone who longs for fast-paced car action but isn’t into “Fast & Furious” will get their money’s worth tonight at prime time on free TV. “Le Mans 66” with Christian Bale and Matt Damon will be shown there.
When it comes to high-speed entertainment, it has been hard to avoid the “Fast & Furious” series for a few years now. But if you are longing for a genuine car epic in which Vin Diesel does not constantly preach the value of family loyalty, should be today, June 28, 2024 “Le Mans 66“, which will be broadcast on ProSieben from 8:15 p.m. There will be a repeat on June 30th at 11.10 p.m.
If both dates do not suit you or you would rather enjoy the FSK-12 title without advertising, you can currently do so in the streaming subscriptions of Netflix and Disney+* Alternatively, it is also available as (4K) Blu-ray, DVD or paid video-on-demand:
“Le Mans 66” bei Amazon*
In addition to the two main actors, Christian Bale and Matt Damon, who are always reason enough to watch a film, there is another person who makes “Le Mans 66” incredibly interesting. James Mangold has taken over the director’s post. He most recently delivered “Indiana Jones 5”.
That’s what “Le Mans 66” is about
In the early 1960s, Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) takes over his grandfather’s family business. In order to achieve the goal of establishing American cars in a market dominated by European manufacturers, he revises the entire marketing concept with the support of the young visionary Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) and the former racing champion and engineer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon).
Together they develop the Ford GT40, which is supposed to beat the Ferraris in their own race at Le Mans – it would be a revolution in racing! They work on the revolutionary racing car with the British racing driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale). Although the men all have the same dream, the collaboration between the stubborn men turns out to be more complicated than initially thought…
Not only recommended for racing fans
In the official FILMSTARTS review, James Mangold’s two-and-a-half-hour epic was awarded a whopping 4 out of 5 stars. In addition to the expectedly great cast, it is above all the production that makes “Le Mans 66” so worth seeing: “Anyone who thought that Ron Howard had set the current ultimate in ‘Rush’ will be even more impressed here.”
What is impressive is how “Le Mans 66” elevates the racing scenes to a physical experience: “Thanks to the work of the crew around cameraman Phedon Papamichael and, above all, thanks to the brilliant sound design by Jay Wilkinson, the viewer can actually feel the vibration of the engine, small bumps in the road surface or acceleration.”
What makes “Le Mans 66”, which is based on true events, incredibly gripping is that the action really sweeps you away, as the critics make clear once again: “The grandiose staging of the action is not just a gimmick, but Mangold also uses it to tell a story with these images. […] We feel like we are in the driver’s seat ourselves.”
Stream tonight: The action-packed sequel to one of the best adventure films of the 90s
This is a re-publication of an article that previously appeared on FILMSTARTS.
