I've only been a serious Formula One fan for the last few years or so, really since I've moved out. However I've been watching the sport since I was a kid because my dad would always have it on Sunday mornings. I remember watching the Senna crash, I remember watching the helicopter fly over and everything become so subdued. I don't remember enough of that era to really consider myself a long term fan, but as I've gotten more into the sport lately I've gained a good respect for his racecraft and intensity.

Katie and I went to watch the Senna film last night at the Showroom. She's more of a Senna fan than I am. It's a documentary containing only archive footage; mostly family videos and 'backstage' F1 like driver's briefings and the like. There are voiceover from relatives and commentators. You watch him from karting, which he considered "real racing" up to just after his death in '94. You see a man so dedicated to a sport he travels to the other side of the world to be part of it, and how he loses his innocence a little after the politics starts getting in the way. For me, the most emotional part was looking at Brazil and how he gave a whole country something to be happy about and aspire to.

It is emotional all the way through, and the audience participation was some of the best I've seen. We all laughed at cocky interview answers, we all took in sharp breaths at crashes and we became silently reverent as the '94 Brazilian GP loomed ever closer. It was the first time I've seen footage of Barrichello's crash and Ratzenberger's fatal accident. That one was truly awful and hit me kinda hard, you can see he's dead in the car. There were more than a few sniffles and tears throughout the theatre at the end, myself and Katie included. There's no blaming, and little analysis. It's just the personal story and that's what makes it a film anyone could watch, you don't need to know Formula One particularly. I do wish it had been a bit more in-depth, it doesn't really cover things about Senna I particularly admire, like how he would risk himself to help stricken drivers.

Prost fans say it makes Prost come across as a bit of a dick, and it does a little but all F1 drivers are dicks to be honest, you can't get to that level of competition without being a little ruthless. And the film does tell you at the end that Prost is a trustee of Senna's charity. In a great rivalry as that, the other one is always going to come across worst, and I'm sure a Prost film wouldn't show Senna in the best light at all. Ron Dennis becomes almost likeable and you can see that him and Senna had a pretty good relationship.

It's worth a see if you're an F1 fan or just a sports fan in general, no matter how casual. If you know a lot of the Senna story there's nothing really new but it's still really good to be able to see it, rather than read about it. Apparently an awful lot of footage was released to help make this, and I hope a DVD/Blu-ray release shows a bit more of that.