MADISON the movie IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[roperz111]

I liked it

I saw the movie the other night, and I liked it overall. It was really better than I expected, given its poor marketing and the fact it wasn't even offered in many smaller cities.

I thought the "David vs. Goliath" theme was good for the human interest side, but would have liked to have seen more personalities from the other racing teams such as Atlas and Pay-n-Pak, instead of only getting dialogue from the Madison and Miss Budweiser bunch. But I thought the movie moved along with the script quite well.

The part about stealing the P-51 Merlin engine was priceless no doubt. I would have also liked a little more racing action shots, but truly loved the ones they did use.

I also very much loved the movies viewpoint from Jim McCormick's son. I could almost relate to alot of what he saw and experienced from an underdog-rated team.

I was wondering something, if anyone could shed some light on it. According to the movie, McCormick's engine man (Bruce Dern) pioneered the Nitrus-Oxide injection system, after many dangerous mishaps. Is this true? Or did soemone else do this and they put it in for theatre? I'd love to know.

All in all, go and get it and watch it, its especially a good movie to watch with the kids!

My two-cents worth as a pseudo Ebert & Roper (hee hee).

Chris Johnson
111-Z

[sponsonhead]

I was wondering something, if anyone could shed some light on it. According to the movie, McCormick's engine man (Bruce Dern) pioneered the Nitrus-Oxide injection system, after many dangerous mishaps. Is this true? Or did soemone else do this and they put it in for theatre? I'd love to know.

Chris,

This was one of the many areas where the movie played fast and loose with the facts.

The Nitrous Oxide system used in unlimiteds was developed by two unlimited teams at about the same time in the 1960's, neither of which involved Volpi. In 1965, Bernie Van Cleve of the Miss Exide Team first started messing around with it, often with spectacular results. At the same time, Dixon Smith of the Bardahl team was developing a similar program. In those early days of Nitrous, sometimes the results were unpredictable. The Exide set a qualifying record of over 120mph which lasted for 6 years at Seattle in '65, then caught on fire in the final heat, ending its chances for a win and nearly destroying the boat. But there was no "big explosions" or "sitting on a keg of dynamite" type of scenario that the movie portrayed. Usually what would happen would be if someone leaned too much on the Nitrous Button, the manifold pressure of the motor would drop, ending in a rod shooting itself out the crankcase. Ouch.

Harry Volpi had been the crew chief of the Tahoe Miss during that same time. His actual role in 71 when the Madison won the Gold Cup was he did come in to help with the team's ADI (Anti-Detonation Injection) system that was used with the Nitrous to help stabilize its use. And, the Madison, while it was an underdog, was nowhere near the underdog they portrayed it in the movie. It had been very reliable and was always waiting in the weeds for the faster guys to falter. In fact, the very next race in 71 was the Tri Cities Atomic Cup, and Madison won there too.

A number of other parts of the story line were either stretched or severely embellished from reality, or complete fabrications.

All that said, and the numerous historical inaccuracies notwithstanding, I loved the movie, and would encourage anyone to see it. It speaks well to our sport, and the boat footage is great. I attended the Seattle Premiere back in April, which was a blast, because most of the people who drove the boats in the filming were there in attendance; and there was a big party afterwards at the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum with many of the boats on display there too.

Rent this movie. You won't be disappointed!

R-19

[Jim 70S]

Finally got my copy of the movie...
as everyone says, it's well worth the time & money to watch & own...
My son & I were at the Madison Regatta when they filmed this and are actually "extras" in the beach crowd...
This will always bring back fond memories when I watch...
If you are one of the few who have not seen Madison, put it on your to do list.

Jim

[sam]

I was wondering something, if anyone could shed some light on it. According to the movie, McCormick's engine man (Bruce Dern) pioneered the Nitrus-Oxide injection system, after many dangerous mishaps. Is this true? Or did soemone else do this and they put it in for theatre? I'd love to know.

Extending beyond Patrick's response ... even the Unlimited teams Patrick mentioned were merely moving forward with work that had been done by Rolls Royce and Daimler with their respecive fighter engines 25+ years earlier during WWII. It was not new technology nor an original idea presented by Unlimited hydro racing teams. This includes the ADI part of the system. The guy that I used to have do my machine work started out as an apprentice in RR's experimental machine shop in Coventry England working on then classified projects such as these.

BUY the movie, you will love it!

[roperz111]

Thanks

Thanks R-19.... very informative, just what I was looking for.

I did actually realize the engine explosions were in there for theatrics, I knew the ramifications of too much Nitrous to an engine, and the damage would be internal for the most part. But I didn't know anything about its' development.

Movie directors are almost always playing loose with historical facts, I can't think of many war movies or historical movies that cannot or will not stick strictly with the historical record ("Tora-Tora-Tora" and "Waterloo" are the only two that come to mind right away). My take on it, is they have to sell the story, and sometimes history is not that compact, although I feel factual stories are almost always stranger and better than fiction.

Chris Johnson
111-Z

[sam]

If you still haven't bought a copy there are 3 reasonably priced on eBay right now:

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...ass=brentscard

[ricochet112]

USED DVD's

If you still haven't bought a copy there are 3 reasonably priced on eBay right now:

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...ass=brentscard

FYI
Those are used DVD's

[epugh66]

The wagon finally came over the mountain with a copy of Madison. Gary and his wife Beverly liked it. My dad liked it too. I really enjoyed it, my son always seemed to get excited about the boats going around. I think he even said it was like Gary's boat(dad's doesnt make it to the water) Jenny, my wife, was a little cool to the death and destruction part, i'll work on that. I'll need to remind her that it is Hollywood telling the story.

[BentRod]

I remember well

When I watched the movie it brought back memories of my younger days. Back in the late 40's and the 50's I would go down to Keanes boat yard in Detroit and see the boats up close and personal. I remember once one of the mechanics borrowed my pocket knife to work on one of the boats. I don't remember which one. I saw almost all the great and some not so great boats run there on the river. They had a sound that I'll nsvsr forget. The turbines are fast but they will never have the sound of all those V-12's coming to the starting line. Sadly, I was standing on the shore of Belle Isle with my new bride who had never seen a race before, when the Miss Supertest rolled over right in front of us in the first turn of Heat 2 of the race, killing the driver, Bob Haworth from Canada. It was a long time before I talked her into letting me get a boat. I still have some pictures I took of boats like My Sweetie, one of the Gales, Miss Pepsi, Hornet, and some others. I'm glad I was there to see them.

[Bill Huson]

Same here, Bentrod . . .

June 19, 1966, President's Cup Regatta in Washington DC. I took my soon-to-be wife to see the regatta. We'd only known each other about six months but she knew that I wanted to race boats someday.

Miss Bardhal stuffed right in front of us, showering us with spray. A short delay, but the unlimited drivers went back on the course. Miss Budweiser and Notre Dame ran the backstretch side-by-side, what excitement! Then . . . both boats took off for the sky and crashed, creating a HUGE ball of spray. Three drivers died on a day known as Black Sunday to the racing community.

Needless to say my bride-to-be made it perfectly clear that my butt was never EVER going to get into a raceboat. Took me more'n 18 years to convince her otherwise :-)

[Scott18N]

Get one cheap!

Three weeks ago, our local Hollywood Video store got a few copies of "Madison" in for rental.

Yesterday, I bought a "pre-viewed" copy for $9.99. If you have a Hollywood Video near you, and you were waiting for a cheap copy, now's the time to jump on it.

(Now, if I can just get Abbott to find me a copy of "Duct Tape Forever"... )

Scott M.

[3autility]

Madiaon

Just received a copy for Christmas along with the DVD player. Popcorn and movie tonight.

[STEVE FRENCH]

12/26/05 Beth and I are watching it tonight. she's making pop-corn as I rewatch 98+2000 nationals......................................... ..
Bill Breux about to take a hit --2000 in BMR.................

19P

[STEVE FRENCH]

Liked it!

Erie, Pa. today is like Madison. We had Off Shore Races up till a few years ago. They ran through the bay into the lake and back. Now the city budget is $2 million short and their laying off police and firemen. We'll be lucky to have fireworks this next 4th of July.

Running 25MOD I can relate to all the broke parts........1 piston,1 condenser,throttle cable, a shattered tower housing that sunk my best foot/wheel.......

But when it all held together-------SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!

19P

[Scott18N]

D'oh!

Three weeks ago, our local Hollywood Video store got a few copies of "Madison" in for rental.

Yesterday, I bought a "pre-viewed" copy for $9.99. If you have a Hollywood Video near you, and you were waiting for a cheap copy, now's the time to jump on it..

Not Hollywood Video...it was Movie Gallery where I got mine...Sorry..

That'll teach me to work with epoxy in a closed room!

Scott