Road to Roubaix

takethehighroad

Has anyone seen this film? I just finished watching it, and thought it was only OK. It was a bit dull in the middle, although the fake old time style black and white shots of the race itself were incredible.


What are your thoughts on this film?

Monty Dog

Watch A Sunday in Hell, simply one of the best cycling films ever - tricky tracking down a DVD but well worth it.

Road to Roubaix promises much but fails to deliver - lost continuity by having filmed it across two races and it includes clips from riders who have never even ridden the race, never mind won it - WTF?

drdunans

I thought it was good, but was hoping it was better than it was.

It doesn't hold repeated viewings very well becasue of the sheer amount of interviews with folk saying how great a race it is and how hard it is. They should have edited these way back.

Most of the footage I find quite distant, conceptually, when I was expecting the camera to be right in there on the cobbles.

The interview with Mickelson (I think) was very touching.

Still worth seeing though, provding some nice insights.

BikingBernie

I too thought that the film was disappointing. Far too much time interviewing people who attempted to mythologise the race beyond all reality, saying how much it means to the local population and how they all have a love affair with the cobbles, which was largely romantic nonsense seemingly added for the benefit of American cycling fans. The guy who used to manage The Clash was one of the worst for this. There was little in the way of drama and thinking back not a single scene of the actual race sticks in my mind. And WTF was you-know-who interviewed for when he never even rode the race!

It is rather depressing to think that the best film about this race is still the one that was made over 30 years ago!

greasedscotsman

It's not very good at all, but I'm in it! Well, sort of. When the riders are training in the Arenberg Forest, you can see me in a Dutch National champs jersey about halfway through

Sunday in Hell is so much better...

andyrr

As above - waited in anticipation to watch this and finally did so last Saturday but was disappointed, Too much time spent with people with insufficient real experience of the race talking about this epic, legendary race and not enough good footage (of which there is loads surely) that backs up the talk. Wasted opportunity.
Overcoming, Hollentour etc far better.

Art Vandelay

Sunday in Hell is hard to beat. The commentary is superbly delivered and the soundtrack is so eerie.
There's a 10 minute chunk of it on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWTj6H2KKr4&feature=PlayList&p=D94CD3E2F2BEFDAA&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2

NervexProf

+1 for 'Sunday in Hell' - the ultimate documentary on bike racing.

Jorgen Leth the director has won many awards for his film directing. The sound track and mood he creates is simply the best.

Anyone who has not watched it should!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Sunday_in_Hell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B8rgen_Leth

Also made the classic film 'Stars and Watercarriers' another must have DVD

afx237vi

Jorgen Leth also directed the excellent The Impossible Hour, which is about Ole Ritter's attempt on the hour record. Well worth a watch.

Moomaloid

R2R could've been such a great film. More indepth rider interviews, and better race coverage would've made it a winner.

The Cervelo films on bartape.net, when finished and put together will make one of the best cycling films. They are beautifully shot, and give the best view of the races inside and out.

moray_gub

BikingBernie wrote:

I too thought that the film was disappointing. which was largely romantic nonsense seemingly added for the benefit of American cycling fans.!

American cycling fans dont really a monkeys about Roubaix its a European race loved by European fans and these films are generally made are for the European market .This unhealthy obsession you seem to have with Americans is looking like your rasion d'etre.

El Imbatido

If you want to know about the inner-workings of american local cycling scene then you must see 'Pro' and 'The Hard Road'. Very, very interesting and indepth view of American cycling.

'Pro' follows the build up to 'Philly week' and the race for the stars and stripes jersey (features heavily Bobby Julich and Chris Horner) whilst 'The Hard Road' follows a newly setup team called Net-Zero and follows the riders, their families, the races and the struggles of the team as a whole. (financially, for respect in the peloton and to win)

My thoughts on Road to Roubaix are pretty much the same as everyone else. It was built up and built up and just failed to deliver. 'Overcoming' on the other hand i thought was a great documentary on cycling. Haven't seen 'A Sunday In Hell' so i can't comment on that.

redddraggon

Road To Roubaix is just another P-R documentary. Once you've heard one documentary about special the race is, and hard the race is you've heard them all.

A Sunday in Hell is definitely the best film/documentary about P-R.

andyp

Moray Gub wrote:

American cycling fans dont really a monkeys about Roubaix its a European race loved by European fans and these films are generally made are for the European market .This unhealthy obsession you seem to have with Americans is looking like your rasion d'etre.

Have you seen the film MG? It's made by an American production team and is squarely aimed at an American audience. They, and their funders, obviously believed there was enough US interest to make the film, as did the team behind 'Cobbles Baby!' another US film about Paris-Roubaix.

God forbid that you're obsession with scoring points at BB/Aurelio might be clouding your judgement.

iainf72

andyp wrote:

Have you seen the film MG? It's made by an American production team and is squarely aimed at an American audience. They, and their funders, obviously believed there was enough US interest to make the film, as did the team behind 'Cobbles Baby!' another US film about Paris-Roubaix.

+1

Many people say that Paris-Roubaix is only 2nd in importance to the Tour to the US audiences and it's been that way for a while. Back in the 80's, the CBS network used to cover the Tour and Paris-Roubaix but no other cycling from Europe.

moray_gub

andyp wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

American cycling fans dont really a monkeys about Roubaix its a European race loved by European fans and these films are generally made are for the European market .This unhealthy obsession you seem to have with Americans is looking like your rasion d'etre.

Have you seen the film MG? It's made by an American production team and is squarely aimed at an American audience. They, and their funders, obviously believed there was enough US interest to make the film, as did the team behind 'Cobbles Baby!' another US film about Paris-Roubaix.

God forbid that you're obsession with scoring points at BB/Aurelio might be clouding your judgement.

Whether its an American production team or is an irrelevant or are you saying that all films made by Americans are for Americans ? Americans cycling fans dont give a monkeys about PR and wouldnt know a cobble if it hit them square on the nose.

iainf72

It's made by American for Americans

prawny

I've got a sunday in hell on video at home but I've never watched it, maybe I should eh? :oops:

Garry H

Art Vandelay wrote:

Sunday in Hell is hard to beat. The commentary is superbly delivered and the soundtrack is so eerie.
There's a 10 minute chunk of it on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWTj6H2KKr4&feature=PlayList&p=D94CD3E2F2BEFDAA&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2

You can watch the whole thing on Youtube, in about 11 parts.

Garry H

Moray Gub wrote:

Whether its an American production team or is an irrelevant or are you saying that all films made by Americans are for Americans ? Americans cycling fans dont give a monkeys about PR and wouldnt know a cobble if it hit them square on the nose.

Have you seen it? I thought it was obviously aimed at Americans...

BikingBernie

Garry H wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

Whether its an American production team or is an irrelevant or are you saying that all films made by Americans are for Americans ? Americans cycling fans dont give a monkeys about PR and wouldnt know a cobble if it hit them square on the nose.

Have you seen it? I thought it was obviously aimed at Americans...

Me too. Then again perhaps it was aimed at the French market, which is why they went to the trouble of putting a wholly irrelevant interview with Armstrong in it!

Road to Roubaix is not the first example I have seen of those living a distance away from the geographic heartlands of the sport painting a much more romantic picture than those who have it as part of their culture would do. I like Kimmage's story of when he first went over to France and met a railway worker who was an ex racer who told him that he was crazy to want to be a pro as it was a horrible life. Kimmage in his naivety said that he was shocked that 'a Frenchman' could say such a thing. I have seen similar reactions from bike racing obsessed Americans who have lived in France for a while expressing their disappointment on realising that most French people really didn't give a monkey's about pro bike racing any more.

Films like Road to Roubaix help to feed a romanticised image of bike racing, exaggerating its importance to the French and others, because this offers an attractive (and therefore marketable) ideal that is far removed from general apathy shown towards cycling in general in countries such as the US. The British had much the same outlook, largely in response to the grim realities of being a cyclist in Britain, especially from the 1950's through to the end of the 70's.

moray_gub

iainf72 wrote:

It's made by American for Americans

Ok lets take this slowly two points to note here

1) Its not a political film about 9/11 or the Warren report on JFK or Watergate or anything of that nature despite the nonsense BikingBernie has come out with above

2) So given its content its never going to be big box office so is aimed at the cycling DVD market.

Taking those two points into account cycling DVDs will probably always sell more in Europe than in the States particularly if its not about Lance Armstrong or Levi or something else concerning America and particluarly if its about a Classic Race such as Roubaix. Its a matter os simple economics really always aim for the market to get you more cash something the Americans are very good at.

moray_gub

BikingBernie wrote:

Garry H wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

Whether its an American production team or is an irrelevant or are you saying that all films made by Americans are for Americans ? Americans cycling fans dont give a monkeys about PR and wouldnt know a cobble if it hit them square on the nose.

Have you seen it? I thought it was obviously aimed at Americans...

Me too. Then again perhaps it was aimed at the French market, which is why they went to the trouble of putting a wholly irrelevant interview with Armstrong in it!

.

Mmmm you would think then they would have splashed him all over cover, maybe they did but i missed him can you be a sport and point him out for me ..........theres a good lad

iainf72

Moray Gub wrote:

Taking those two points into account cycling DVDs will probably always sell more in Europe than in the States particularly if its not about Lance Armstrong or Levi or something else concerning America and particluarly if its about a Classic Race such as Roubaix. Its a matter os simple economics really always aim for the market to get you more cash something the Americans are very good at.

But it's made by Americans for Americans.

Look at the crew details.

http://www.masterlinkfilms.com/crew.html

Here's the press release

http://www.masterlinkfilms.com/Masterli ... elease.pdf

The target market is CLEARLY American. Sure, they've shifted some units in Europe but I bet they sold more in the US.

moray_gub

iainf72 wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

Taking those two points into account cycling DVDs will probably always sell more in Europe than in the States particularly if its not about Lance Armstrong or Levi or something else concerning America and particluarly if its about a Classic Race such as Roubaix. Its a matter os simple economics really always aim for the market to get you more cash something the Americans are very good at.

But it's made by Americans for Americans.

Look at the crew details.

http://www.masterlinkfilms.com/crew.html

Here's the press release

http://www.masterlinkfilms.com/Masterli ... elease.pdf

The target market is CLEARLY American. Sure, they've shifted some units in Europe but I bet they sold more in the US.

Its all about making money the crew details are irrelevant .Even the most blinkered of you lot (and its fair to say there are a few)would concede that a Roubaix DVD would sell more in Europe than the States. A bit like a DVD on the World Series is gonna sell more in the States than over here........................simple economics..............target market............its not rocket science .........cash...........cash....cash.........

RichN95.

Who cares if Armstrong's in it. I would have thought that the views of a big name who wants to stay well away from it would allure to the race. I remember Boardman's quote of "P-R is a circus and I don't want to be one of the clowns". Top names being scared of it adds to its appeal.

moray_gub

RichN95 wrote:

Who cares if Armstrong's in it. I would have thought that the views of a big name who wants to stay well away from it would allure to the race. I remember Boardman's quote of "P-R is a circus and I don't want to be one of the clowns". Top names being scared of it adds to its appeal.

Good point there Rich, good to see you dont let anti american feelings and lets be frank an irrational dislike cloud your judgement.

moray_gub

iainf72 wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

Taking those two points into account cycling DVDs will probably always sell more in Europe than in the States particularly if its not about Lance Armstrong or Levi or something else concerning America and particluarly if its about a Classic Race such as Roubaix. Its a matter os simple economics really always aim for the market to get you more cash something the Americans are very good at.

But it's made by Americans for Americans.

Look at the crew details.

http://www.masterlinkfilms.com/crew.html

Here's the press release

http://www.masterlinkfilms.com/Masterli ... elease.pdf

The target market is CLEARLY American. Sure, they've shifted some units in Europe but I bet they sold more in the US.

Mmmmm a bit like to trying to sell a DVD of the Henley Regatta in Idaho.

PBo

MG

its irrelevant where the sales actually come from - the original point with which you took umbrage was about it being aimed at the american market. well, that point was correct

from the press release:

"Now Masterlink cofounders David Deal and David Cooper are banking on this film about a race nicknamed Hell of the North appealing to a broad American audience."

Hence:
"A teaser of the film, including footage from the filmmakers’ recent trip to the Discovery team training camp, featuring interviews with some of the biggest names in the sport, will be shown on March 7th at the Warehouse Theater in DC"
Sounds aimed at americans to me!

and:
"the movie is peppered with interviews from pro-cyclists like sports icon and seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and American champion and Paris-Roubaix favorite George Hincapie."
Yup, big George - that's who I'd choose to appeal to a european audience!

Actually, I get the impression that you didn't really read BBs point properly - you just perceived that your darling Lance was under attack from that nasty BB and rushed to his defence. But to do so you are now using some irrelevant "economics" argument to try and state that black is white.

Some people have been quite gentle on you - pointed you to the press release, given their impressions having actually watched it - but, no you keep digging your hole.

Frankly, it makes you look a total c0ck.

Good point there Rich, good to see you dont let ....an irrational dislike cloud your judgement.

Shame you can't say the same about yourself

iainf72

Moray Gub wrote:

Mmmmm a bit like to trying to sell a DVD of the Henley Regatta in Idaho.

You're being absolutely ridiculous now.
All the evidence says it's made for the American market. There is nothing wrong with that at all.

You're wrong, move on.

moray_gub

iainf72 wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

Mmmmm a bit like to trying to sell a DVD of the Henley Regatta in Idaho.

You're being absolutely ridiculous now.
All the evidence says it's made for the American market. There is nothing wrong with that at all.

You're wrong, move on.

All the evidence the only evidence yopu have produced is American production team and an interview with Lance Armstrong. So no i am not wrong the whole idea about these things is too make money and as i pointed out earlier you target the market where youre gonna make money and that aint the States.