Le Mans

G

Released Jun 23, 1971

1h 46m

Action

List

71%

14 Reviews

Tomatometer

79%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Filmed during the annual 24-hour endurance race at Le Mans, France, in 1970, this fast-paced drama follows Michael Delaney (Steve McQueen), a Porsche driver haunted by the memory of an accident at the previous year's race in which a competing driver was killed. To top things off, Delaney also finds himself increasingly infatuated with the man's widow (Elga Andersen). The minimal storyline focuses on Delaney's race-long rivalry with his Ferrari-driving archnemesis, Erich (Siegfried Rauch).

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Tyler S

Overall, I like the concept they were going for. For the 1970s, I think they did the best they could. There were a few parts that I wish they talked about more, but I still understood the film. Not bad.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/14/24

Full Review

Bill T

This is not a Bond thriller, it's 2001: A Space Odyssey for racing. It's not vapid entertainment, it's theater. This is ballet. A symphony. If you're looking for Vaudeville or a musical that explains everything to your face and avoids the big words, you're in the wrong place. Anyway, it's not possible. Don't get it? Tough. You meet this movie on its own terms or you don't meet it at all. And the terms are this: this is Steve McQueen's love letter to professional car racing. It's not a story about racing; racing is the story. Instead of a plot, you will get an experience. You will be put in the driver's seat, strapped in to a fat-tired, fuel-injected, road-hugging bomb screaming through the rain at night and melting asphalt by day. The true star isn't an actor but the road, the machines, the pacing and emotions of each stage of the event, both on and off the track. The photography is incroyable, the loving detail of it and the pacing reminiscent of Fantasia, another movie where plot must take a back seat to experience. Le Mans is the love song of an addict, praising the beauty of his drug and holding it up for all the world to see. Understand this, and you will understand the movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/20/23

Full Review

Karl O

Unsure why I enjoyed it as much as I did. Technically brilliant for 1971. Does it have the least dislogue of any Star driven movie?

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/21/22

Full Review

isla s

I found this rather a long drawn out film. I do like a good car chase in a film or to watch cars racing but the vast majority of this film, plot wise, seemed to consist of the viewer observing the various participants race down the track, with little dialogue present to guide us as to who we should (or shouldn't) be supporting or anything much else for that matter. However, there is some decent camerawork and some nice landscape shots but if your not a big racing fan then this won't appeal to you. Otherwise, its ok.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Must see if you love car racing. And Steve is just simply cool.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

Manny P

It's literally a "dogs dinner". How McQueen is allowed so much influence, as to render it pointless, is astonishing in itself. There is nothing more dangerous than an ego scorned. This is one of the more major failings in his career and it was a career that reestablishes itself subsequently. It's safe to say that his love for racing and his failure to convey that, in a movie [sic] , damaged his psyche.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

08/17/21

Full Review

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Lee H. Katzin

Director

Steve McQueen

Michael Delaney

Siegfried Rauch

Erich Stahler

Elga Andersen

Lisa Belgetti

Ronald Leigh-Hunt

David Townsend

Fred Haltiner

Johann Ritter

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Margaret Hinxman

Daily Telegraph (UK)

The measure of the failure of Le Mans is surely that it couldn't communicate to sceptics like me what the fever is all about.

Mar 17, 2020

Full Review

James Powers

Hollywood Reporter

Le Mans is a class film in every way, attitude, realization, taste. It has visceral emotion but not heart.

Jun 24, 2018

Full Review

Alistair Lawrence

Common Sense Media

It's unlikely anyone other than vintage race fans will be engrossed by it, but like with many passion projects, the affection its makers feel for the subject matter hasn't aged a day.

Feb 2, 2024

Full Review

Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

...a monument to the obsessional nature of sport, and the merging of documentary, fiction and wish fulfilment is high-octane stuff for purists and petrol-heads alike....

Rated: 4/5

Aug 29, 2021

Full Review

Dilys Powell

Sunday Times (UK)

You can't hear the words for the noise, you can't follow the action for the speed. But you can sit back and feel distinctly stirred.

Mar 17, 2020

Full Review

Walter Chaw

Film Freak Central

spectatorship as personal gratification.

Rated: 4/4

Jun 14, 2011

Full Review

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Synopsis

Filmed during the annual 24-hour endurance race at Le Mans, France, in 1970, this fast-paced drama follows Michael Delaney (Steve McQueen), a Porsche driver haunted by the memory of an accident at the previous year's race in which a competing driver was killed. To top things off, Delaney also finds himself increasingly infatuated with the man's widow (Elga Andersen). The minimal storyline focuses on Delaney's race-long rivalry with his Ferrari-driving archnemesis, Erich (Siegfried Rauch).

Director: Lee H. Katzin
Producer: Robert E. Relyea
Screenwriter: Harry Kleiner
Distributor: National General Pictures
Production Co: Solar Productions, Cinema Center 100 Productions
Rating: G
Genre: Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 23, 1971, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 29, 2020
Runtime: 1h 46m
Sound Mix: Mono

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