Need your help with a decision

Hi all,

I'm looking to expand my F1 video collection and I've decided on getting an old season review video. I was wondering what you guys feel would be the best one? That is, which season from say, 1980-1994, would you recommend for great racing, great cars and legendary names? I'm not sure when they started producing the season review videos but I think I remember seeing one for 1984, so they go back that far at least. There seems to be so many classic moments in GP history, but what would you say was the classic season? I'm really interested in the great rivalries, and the awesome machines of times gone by, and I'd love to watch a drama-filled season unfold.

Cheers

Originally posted by D-man
Hi all,

I'm looking to expand my F1 video collection and I've decided on getting an old season review video. I was wondering what you guys feel would be the best one? That is, which season from say, 1980-1994, would you recommend for great racing, great cars and legendary names? I'm not sure when they started producing the season review videos but I think I remember seeing one for 1984, so they go back that far at least. There seems to be so many classic moments in GP history, but what would you say was the classic season? I'm really interested in the great rivalries, and the awesome machines of times gone by, and I'd love to watch a drama-filled season unfold.

Cheers

I'd look at '82 because it was a hell of a dramatic season (although the cars were ludicrous).
'84 for Prost and Lauda having a fascinating intra-team battle, '87 for some spectacular racing between the Honda-powered cars, '89 for the sheer diversity of cars and drivers (although I've no idea how heavily the season review vids concentrate on the front of the grid), 93 for the emergence of Hill, Schumacher's rise to prominence, the swansong victories from Senna and the ease with which Prost took the title. From there on it's all recent history - though on current evidence I might stake a few bob on the 2003 review being a classic.

I have the following F1 season reviews
1981 - Poor video quality and pedestrian commentary
1982 - Tragic season but good racing
1983 - The 'Forgotten' season? Lousy 'double-act' commentary and naff '80's video effects
1984 - Good battles between Prost and Lauda as well as some newcomer called Senna
1985 - Has the drivers themselves doing the commentating
1986 & 1987 - Excellent commentary and footage
1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 - Excellent value - the tapes are almost 3 hours long.
1992 - Concentrates on Mansell a tad too much
1993 - As Pete said - Hill & Schumacher etc.

That's as far as I've gotten to date.

Definitely 1983 is the worst of the bunch - the commentary is so bad I just can't concentrate with the sound on but the awful video effects make watching it on mute just as bad.
Any of the late '80's and early '90's ones are worthwhile.

1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991 are all excellent. Of the newer videos 1995, 1997 and 2001 are the best.

If I had to pick one it would probably be 1989.

This topic has been covered a few times on TNF. However, to reiterate, the official FOCA F1 videos start with the 1981 season. The video record prior to 1981 is a lot more hit and miss. This reflects the fact that before 1981 not all GPs were covered by TV and if covered, recordings of some races were not retained for longevity. Also, the TV rights situation before 1981 was not consistent and there may be copywright issues over who can have access to these older recordings. Whatever one says about the Concorde Agreement, at least it took a lot of confusion out of the financial and marketing side of F1.