F1 Season Reviews Reviewed: 1980’s Overview
My series reviewing the end of season Formula One video reviews has reached the end of the 1980’s so here’s a quick rundown of what I thought of those end of season review videos watching them again in 2019. To do this I watched the original VHS releases that I transferred on to DVD on a modern Samsung TV and for the sound I used a Panasonic HiFi system in order to properly analyse the various aspects of each video review. Here’s a brief rundown of my verdicts and ratings of the season reviews of the 1980's.
I should point out that although there is indeed a 1980 season review DVD it’s not an official one and that review is somewhat lacking in content. It’s in fact a Brunswick films archive review and uses no official TV coverage whatsoever and even misses some races out entirely. I cover these in another article
In the above article I also cover the only official Formula One crash video Formula One Spills n Thrills.
So here’s my rundown of F1 reviews of the 1980’s
1981.
This was the first of the season reviews and felt very experimental particularly at the start and the first 20 minutes of the video being the “bizarre build up”. But the pace picked up when the first non championship race in South Africa kicks in. Overall for a first review it’s a good effort. The intro is pointless in the end and only serves as padding the review to it’s 2 hours duration. The footage is nothing that hasn’t been seen before apart from one shot. The audio has that weird phenomenon happening. But the telling of the events is superb and they are helped by the TV coverage showing the events that mattered. Without the audio anomaly it would be a lot better. I put this issue down to the original audio being of poor quality which frankly is the only justification I can think of. And lets not forget, this video review paved the way and laid the foundations for what was to follow. I gave this video 4 out of 5.. The audio (which does become a factor in some reviews) really does mark it down for me.
1982
For me this is probably the best review of the early 80s it’s better than 1981 it’s much better than 1983. The footage is great and tells the story really well and if you see the TV coverage of the time it’ll bring back lots of memories. Yes certain things were left out that really would have made for an excellent addition to the review but if they had a strict time limit of 90 minutes then sacrifices will always be made unfortunately. The audio is very atmospheric and has plenty of feeling to it and is of really good quality and the commentary is superb. But the real bonus for me is the remarkable way the video deals with the two tragedies of the season. Yes the incidents are shown which you wouldn’t get today but somehow the narration prepares you and even softens the blow somewhat. Actually seeing footage in an edited highlights reel of a fatal accident these days is unthinkable but you have to remember that although within the lifetimes of most of the people that will read this article these were still very different times and these reviews were not as sensitively made as later videos. In my opinion the San Marino Grand Prix isn’t done justice here, but in spite of this I gave it 5 out of 5
1983
Sadly, this is one of the worst reviews of the 1980’s. Even if we have a season where the action wasn’t the best, the reviews are normally still watchable. Sadly this isn’t. The commentary makes it impossible to sit through the 1 hour and 45 (ish) minutes in one go. It took me three sittings to watch the review such is the annoyance and irritation that the commentary and the interruptions of that woman (who by the way refers to Nelson Piquet’s future (at the time) wife as “some model”) produces a real annoyance for me and indeed for other viewers. As much as I love Brian Kreiskey for what he’s done to bring British motorsport to our TV screens, he should never have been allowed anywhere near the F1 reviews and this is shown by the fact that he was never approached to do another one. Although he did do the interviews that appeared in the reviews over the next few seasons, and Brian is a good interviewer.
This is a good review to have for your collection but, don’t watch it more than once. If i could I’d have given this 0. I gave it 1 out of 5 out of nothing more than sheer pity.
1984
The wrongs were righted in this review. Clive James replaces Brian Kreiskey, the narration is past tense not as live, and all these things mean that the 1984 review is better than 1983 and does a great job of telling the story of what was an extraordinary championship story. Not as good as the 1982 review that Clive James previously narrated but the flow is broken by some of the random extra footage. If they did a proper DVD then the footage would make a great extra features section. But the footage in itself is still great to see and the addition of some qualifying footage makes the review feel more rounded. There’s work to do to make it perfect but it’s still a very solid video. What stopped this being a 5 star video for me was the low pitched popping noise on the footage that was shot for the video and the needless appearance of topless women in a couple of places. So I gave it 4 out of 5
1985
This review is very much hit and miss. The video footage is superb and something I’ve not mentioned yet the video quality for every review up to this point including this one is very good for the time. But I can’t forgive the commentary which is done by the drivers in race and between races by Simpn Taylor. It just doesn’t work and the audio with it’s ridiculous vocal levels. I can only say it’s a 2 star review for me. Audio is a very important aspect of enjoying Formula One races both live and on TV and season reviews should reflect this by getting it right, it’s an important technical aspect that this video gets very very wrong.
Here’s a thought though. Often the season reviews are limited by the TV coverage that’s provided at the time with limited extra footage but when both are rubbish and ruined by a commentator who’s microphone is so distorted then it’s a challenge for anyone to enjoy it. I’d say it’s borderline unforgivable.
1986
When I saw the intro to this video I thought this one was going to be bad. Very bad. Because this review has the worst introduction to any of the 1980’s season reviews. However things do improve. Clive James is back for his third and final appearance in these season reviews and as usual his commentary is a strong point of this video. However this review isn’t without it’s faults. The audio has a few issues here and there with the extra shot footage and the picture quality (although this could just be my copy) wasn’t great with regards to the colour balance even allowing for the fact that this is a VHS. But in terms of simply telling a story and showing what physically happened, this review is perfect for that and I can’t think of an event that was missed that’s worthy of note. In the 1984 review for example there’s no mention of Brundle’s crash that ruled him out of the race that weekend. Here even Fabi’s crash in the start and finish straight in qualifying for Canada is noted. The audio issues however for me stop this from being a 5 star video. It gets 4 out of 5 for me.
1987
This review has the same problem as the 1986 video. The low pitched popping on the non TV feed footage which has now been present since 1983. But if you ignore that then this is actually a great review for it’s time and is an easy video to watch for a couple of hours. The addition of on board footage in the review is a very good addition as is the rest of the footage as a whole. The overall audio (that’s not distorted) is very good and the overall feel of the review is the most atmospheric since the 1982 review. The commentary by Peter Ustinov between races and Simon Taylor during the race is a surprise and works really well. It’s amazing that the reviews then went the way that they did in the following years after getting this one so right.
This review then overall gets a 4 out of 5 mark.
1988
This review is one I could sum up in 2 words. Oh and dear. Mainly because of the commentary by Stirling Moss and Tony Jardine. It’s all over the place. Some of it in the present tense and the rest in the past tense and it doesn’t work. Tony’s fake accents and cheesyness in general are just wrong on many levels. Today it might add to some kind of meme value but here in an official. Let me write that word again. OFFICIAL, end of season review is just wrong. Calling Berger cheeseburger for instance is to me at least in this instance just stupid and made me want to punch something whenever I heard that, or something similar, For me this is the tragedy of this review because the footage used is superb. The interviews with many of the key drivers is equally superb and in this area the reviews have come a long way during the course of the 1980’s I can almost (just) forgive the lack of atmosphere in the audio in places. Listen to the original footage of the Monaco Grand Prix for instance. Or the Italian Grand Prix. The TV coverage of those races in particular that year was terrible from a technical stand point and the audio on both was also terrible. So it does sound flat in places. But I can’t forgive the commentary. Something the F1 reviews seem to fall flat on their faces on with alarming regularity. The cringe value in places of it brings the standard down for me to a disappointing 3 out of 5.
1989
Finally and briefly 1989. The basics of this are. At three hours this is the longest review of the series so far. But it tells the story of a very controversial championship and lays out the Senna Prost story really well while not forgetting the rest of the field. Forty cars were registered for the season and they all get a mention. The footage is superb. The on boards are used really well and a fair bit of the on board footage wasn’t seen on the live TV broadcast so you really do get some good extra content here. The audio is as good as it gets for 1989 VHS. And the commentary although nothing special does the job and less silliness from Tony Jardine here. It’s hard to fault this overall if the commentary didn’t sound a bit muffled I’d give it full marks but as it is I still give it 4.5/5. It’s a great review of a great season.
That was the 1980’s Formula One season reviews. The1990 review will be next and maybe we’ll see something new for the start of the new decade. (spoiler alert, don’t count on it) but until then thank you for reading and there will be more from me very soon.