Speed, Smoke, and Old Newsreels: A Look at Shooting the Record Breakers

Is this worth your time?

Honestly, only if you are a total nerd for early 20th-century machinery. If you want a story with a beginning, middle, and end, look elsewhere. People who love history or just watching things go fast will dig this, but everyone else might find it a bit repetitive.

It feels like stumbling into an attic and finding a stack of forgotten reels. There isn't much glue holding the segments together, just a bunch of guys in goggles looking very proud of their latest contraption.

Some of the boat footage is actually kind of hypnotic. The way the water sprays up in these weird, jagged patterns—it’s like watching a painting move. You don't get that kind of texture in modern digital stuff.

The Rhythm of the Reel

It jumps from a train to an airplane to a boat without much warning. Sometimes it feels like you're getting whiplash. I kind of liked that. It didn't try to be a documentary; it just wanted to show you the cool stuff.

There is this one shot of a race car that lingers just a second too long. You can see the driver’s face, and he looks absolutely terrified. Nobody bothered to cut that part out. That’s the good stuff.

If you have seen The Tornado, you know that older films have this way of just throwing you into the action. This movie does that too, but with way more oil and engine grease.

Sometimes the film scratches and pops, and honestly? It adds to the charm. It reminds you that this was someone’s actual job to capture these moments before they vanished.

• The sound of the engines is missing, obviously, but you can practically hear them in your head.
• The hats! Everyone is wearing these ridiculous caps while breaking speed records.
• The editing is very... enthusiastic.

It’s not as polished as Tokyo Chorus, but it’s not trying to be. It is just raw footage of people doing wild things. Sometimes that is more than enough. 🏎️🌊✈️