F1 Review Videos - which was the best review?

[philipbain]

I was going through my library of F1 videos / DVDs and have come to the realisation that I have a season review for each of the last 40 F1 seasons! Those in the know will realise that FOCA produced the first F1 season review after the 1981 season and have produced reviews on an annual basis ever since, though FOCA are long gone and FOM have produced these (and F1's TV coverage) for some years now. As you may have figured, these only account for the last 29 seasons, the previous 11 seasons (1970 - 1980 inclusive) were reviewed as a retrospective DVD box set which made superb use the Brunswick film archive which catalogues many races from the pre-FOCA/FOM TV era of F1.

The quality of these reviews has varied wildly over the years, particularly bad reviews that stick out for me are 1983 (a vain attempt to add humour with a "co-commentator" doesn't work), 2000 (sounds like Barry Scott from the Cillit Bang advert spouting a load of cliches as commentary) and 1988 where the main problem is that Stirling Moss and Tony Jardine have not rehearsed the script properly, all of which are a big shame as they were all good seasons blighted by a sub-par reviews. Personal favourites of mine are 1982, 1984 & 1986, all narrated by Clive James who adds his dry whit to the proceedings and his enthusiasm for the sport really shines through too. In modern times the extensive use of the full array of FOM's coverage has really added to the experience too, giving insights into the races which were not immediately apparent when watching the races live.

A final mention needs to go to the 1970-1980 reviews derived from the Brunswick archive, they give an invaluable insight into the rapid growth and increasing professionalism of the sport throughout the 1970s. They are also very well presented and produced and are a valuable addition to anyone's motor racing dvd collection.

So what are your favourite annual reviews and why?

[Sonic]

I really enjoyed Jonathan W(R)oss in the '93 review. His attempts to say some of the driver names still make me chuckle to this day - Andwetti! :D

[wedge]

In modern times the extensive use of the full array of FOM's coverage has really added to the experience too, giving insights into the races which were not immediately apparent when watching the races live.

Ah yes, the 2005 DVD/Australian GP. Schumi forced Heidfeld onto the grass which meant Nick slid straight into Schumi and Schumi went into the middle of kitty-litter. Cue Ross Brawn to Michael "try to signal to the marshals for a push(start)". Cheat, evil genius, you decide...

[seamusoldfield]

Hey! I'm also a fan of these reviews and look forward to them each year. My collection is not as complete as the original poster; I have videos and DVDs going back to the 1987 season. I'm also missing the '02 tape and '03 DVD - both are out of print and tough to find!

I'm wondering what's up with the '09 review. I see it for sale on Amazon UK and also in Australia, but no North American release. What gives? I hope they are still planning on releasing it here!

[Sonic]

I do think the title for the '09 review is perfect - "not in a hurry". Lol :D

[ArrowsFA1]

Personal favourites of mine are 1982, 1984 & 1986, all narrated by Clive James who adds his dry whit to the proceedings and his enthusiasm for the sport really shines through too.
Absolutely :up:

I find myself increasingly disappointed by more recent reviews. I've been watching the '09 release over Christmas and it struck me again that the race highlights are shorter than they could be, while the "extra features" add very little to the story of the season :dozey:

I'd happily watch the Clive James reviews again many times during the course of the next 20yrs, but I'm not so sure I'll be watching the 2009 in 2029, or anytime in between.

[Bezza]

Absolutely :up:

I find myself increasingly disappointed by more recent reviews. I've been watching the '09 release over Christmas and it struck me again that the race highlights are shorter than they could be, while the "extra features" add very little to the story of the season :dozey:

I'd happily watch the Clive James reviews again many times during the course of the next 20yrs, but I'm not so sure I'll be watching the 2009 in 2029, or anytime in between.

Are there any plans to release 1981 - 2002 on DVD? As I no longer have a VCR depsite owning videos 1998-2001 and would like to collect them.

I thought 2007 review DVD was excellent but, as above, 2008 there wasn't enough racing and it cut too soon to the finish on a number of occasions. They need to remove the "pole lap" from every race and just focus on the racing. Tell us who is on pole, where the main contenders are, show any major highlights from practice/qualifying and then get on with the race.

[philipbain]

Are there any plans to release 1981 - 2002 on DVD

Very good question, I haven't seen any mention of it from Duke, might drop them an email as I would love to have proper transfers on DVD from the original master (I have transferred my own VHS tapes to DVD for my own use for convenience, but it still means that you only get VHS quality) and it would make an excellent box set. Also there is a way to watch 2000 - 2002 on DVD - they were only available with a limited edition of the Sony Playstation 2 Formula One games from 2001 - 2003 (each with the previous season's review, complete with multi-channel coverage of the races reflecting the Pay Per View coverage available at the time).

[philipbain]

Are there any plans to release 1981 - 2002 on DVD?

I have had a reply from Duke regarding obtaining the 1981 - 2002 seasons on DVD, here is the reply in full with added emphasis:

Hi
Thanks for your e mail [regarding the availability of the F1 season reviews 1981 - 2002 on DVD]; no plans at present [to release the F1 season reviews 1981 - 2002 on DVD,] all to do with licensing. If and when they were available they would be listed on our website.

So for now - no, there won't be any official DVD version of the F1 reviews from 1981 - 2002.

[ArrowsFA1]

So for now - no, there won't be any official DVD version of the F1 reviews from 1981 - 2002.
Madness :crazy:

[Bruce D]

The 09 mod was better than I thought it would be to be honest. I've always thought the 89 and 90 reviews were great, pity about the sound quality on the 90 one. 83 was let down by that stupid woman chipping in all the time. 85 was a great season but the "commentry by drivers" thing just didn't work. Should have left Simon Taylor to do the whole thing. And, yes, Clive James was indeed a legend. Ben Edwards does a good job now (but he is brilliant in live commentary) and at least they seem to have dropped this whole "tecno-style" that they had in 05 & 06 now. Only got my 03 and 04 copies last week so I've still got to watch those.

I'm just missing 01 & 02 now to have my collection at all 40 years as well. Together with my BTCC collection (99 to 2009 so far), the shelf is starting to look quite impressive.

[V12]

Probably between 82, 84 and 86 for me, can't beat Clive James when it comes to F1 reviews. 92 was the first one I owned, and 89 and 91 were pretty good but that was probably more about my enjoying the seasons themselves rather than how well they were reviewed.

The worst is quite easy: 1983. Anyone who has watched, or rather listened to it will understand why.

EDIT: I should qualify all this by stating that I only own reviews from 1981-1998.

EDIT EDIT: "Licencing issues" stopping DVDs of 1981-2002 being released? The cynic in me thinks Bernie doesn't want the uneducated younger fan without a VHS lump to see how much better it was compared to 2003 onwards (the year when all the silly rules began to be introduced)?

[philipbain]

"Licencing issues" stopping DVDs of 1981-2002 being released? The cynic in me thinks Bernie doesn't want the uneducated younger fan without a VHS lump to see how much better it was compared to 2003 onwards (the year when all the silly rules began to be introduced)?

Nice conspiracy therory. It does seem odd, I even have all the Le Mans races of the 80's on DVD, and those were just the contemporary reviews transferred to DVD from master tapes.

[Bruce D]

Ditto the WRC videos, well some of them anyway.

[Shifter]

EDIT EDIT: "Licencing issues" stopping DVDs of 1981-2002 being released? The cynic in me thinks Bernie doesn't want the uneducated younger fan without a VHS lump to see how much better it was compared to 2003 onwards (the year when all the silly rules began to be introduced)?

Oops...I'm 27 and never threw away my VHS players. I actually take pride in learning as much as possible about all the great racing I wasn't around for, aided by this information age. Helps to put modern racing into historical perspective.

[K-Pu]

Oops...I'm 27 and never threw away my VHS players. I actually take pride in learning as much as possible about all the great racing I wasn't around for, aided by this information age. Helps to put modern racing into historical perspective.

Do you know what F1 driver is proud of his F1 historical knowledge, and indeed seems to know more about F1´s history than some top drivers (including champions) out there?

Karun Chandhok.

IMO that´s quite good. I know modern F1 has not much to do with the old days (like 10 years ago...), and not knowing a thing about it won´t affect your driving, but knowledge ha never hurt anyone.

Well, it has, but it´s still good to know :P

[V12]

Oops...I'm 27 and never threw away my VHS players. I actually take pride in learning as much as possible about all the great racing I wasn't around for, aided by this information age. Helps to put modern racing into historical perspective.

Likewise I'm 26 and have kept hold of my ageing VHS player for this very reason! If I had the time and know-how I'd probably look into transferring some of them to digital format "unofficially".


Do you know what F1 driver is proud of his F1 historical knowledge, and indeed seems to know more about F1´s history than some top drivers (including champions) out there?

Karun Chandhok.

IMO that´s quite good. I know modern F1 has not much to do with the old days (like 10 years ago...), and not knowing a thing about it won´t affect your driving, but knowledge ha never hurt anyone.

Well, it has, but it´s still good to know :P

Good for him, I wish more drivers were like that. I still cringe at Schuey's comment, I think it was the '98 French GP, where he led Irvine home and said afterwards something along the lines of "This is a great result, I don't know if Ferrari have ever had a 1-2 before" (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

[Old Eyes]

Wouldn't surprise me if that conspiracy theory, however outlandish, is actually true.

I wrote to Duke asking if they would bring out DVD versions and got the same response. It's almost like the VHS era is lost to a black hole!

My favourite review(s) was 86 and 87. It's actually amazing how much overtaking took place. Clive James was quality.

Also teams like Coloni and AGS were no worse than HRT and Virgin.

[Shifter]

BTW someone recently posted 1984 on the net...the first place you'd think to look is where you'll find it.

[philipbain]

My favourite review(s) was 86 and 87. It's actually amazing how much overtaking took place. Clive James was quality.

I love Clive James' commentary on the '86 review, with him going on about Lotus existing only to serve Senna (which at the time was pretty true) and the amount of women crowding around Christian Danner!