Speed is Expensive - Vincent film

SteveBorland · Sep 12, 2023

We went to see David Lancaster's new film on Phil Vincent and his (reasonably well known) bikes, Speed is Expensive. Really recommended most highly, there's more detail on the website https://speedisexpensive.com/
The cinema (our local niche film place) had arranged a Q&A session with David Lancaster before the film, but that was a bit flat. The bloke interviewing him, a local Danish Vincent owner, was not very good at getting him to reveal the background stories - not a lot of meat on the bare bones I'm afraid.

The film was very good though, using a lot of previously unseen footage shot by Phil Vincent himself.

It's only going to be a very limited release though as far as I could make out, so if it pops up on a screen near you, go for it! It's not yet been released in the UK or the US yet though.
It will probably come out on one of the streaming channels at some point though.

SteveBorland · Oct 21, 2023

I see the film is now available from Duke Video - https://www.dukevideo.com/prdLFD061...UX_xrTK842Vb3am-KvAcW157UzV4D87k84p3ATmyVjg==

jan nelder · Oct 29, 2023

film is on in welwyn Garden city at 2pm today (Sunday) , at Campus West cinema. also on in Letchworth very soon. I am booked for today. ( about as close to Stevenage as it gets too!)

Onder · Oct 29, 2023

Well, spoiler alert, read this in the DVD offering page:
<...when Vincent passed away in 1979, he was largely unrecognised, penniless, and living in council housing in West London.>
Sobering. Absolutely. And I never knew this.

Speed Is Expensive - Campus West

www.campuswest.co.uk

jan nelder · Oct 29, 2023

jan nelder said:
film is on in welwyn Garden city at 2pm today (Sunday) , at Campus West cinema. also on in Letchworth very soon. I am booked for today. ( about as close to Stevenage as it gets too!)

Letchworth is Saturday 11 November with Q and A afterwards.
also this Thursday at 8pm at Campus West.

jan nelder · Oct 29, 2023

well, that was really worth seeing! The Vincent FB page has occasional postings of upcoming one-off screenings in the UK.

Fast Eddie · Oct 29, 2023

Well I got my daughter to buy it on my wife’s Amazon account… so watched this last night…

A good watch, but a bit sad.

For those who enjoyed this, I can also recommend ‘Chasing Shadows’. Similar thing, from a few years ago.

Onder · Oct 31, 2023

I guess the 'other' Phil made out better than he did.

998cc · Nov 18, 2023

A great amount of information there, including footage never before seen. What an insight to the man's character.

After the 1947 crash, he apparently suffered a long, slow decline. Pitiful and sad ending for the great man.

Russ

worntorn · Nov 20, 2023

I bought the DVD and enjoyed it other than the sound quality. It sounded like the narrator, Ewan McGregor, was stuck in a culvert pipe. It was a real struggle to hear what was being said. I tried to add captioning but the DVD did not have that feature.
My wife has fabulous hearing and she struggled to hear the narrator as well.
For some reason, the engine sounds were pretty good.
I'm wondering if I purchased a bootlegged DVD?

Glen

Onder · Nov 20, 2023

I popped for one. Honestly the sound was ok but then I used earphones. Overall it was more a Vincent bio than a film about the bikes themselves. He seems to have been a toff, a bit of PIA and a bit of , or more than a bit of, a dreamer. Never made a profit and didn't read the tea leaves with the Black Prince. A movie made up of a lot of home movie footage so, well, you know what old home movies were like if you are of a certain age.
My vote is a C+ on the effort.

jan nelder · Nov 22, 2023

worntorn said:
I bought the DVD and enjoyed it other than the sound quality. It sounded like the narrator, Ewan McGregor, was stuck in a culvert pipe. It was a real struggle to hear what was being said. I tried to add captioning but the DVD did not have that feature.
My wife has fabulous hearing and she struggled to hear the narrator as well.
For some reason, the engine sounds were pretty good.
I'm wondering if I purchased a bootlegged DVD?

Glen

nothing wrong with the sound at the cinema, by the way.

jan nelder · Nov 22, 2023

It’s on at the Letchworth Broadway Cinema tonight at 1800. And one of the voiceover chaps has just died, they reported yesterday on their FB page.

worntorn · Nov 22, 2023

Onder said:
I popped for one. Honestly the sound was ok but then I used earphones. Overall it was more a Vincent bio than a film about the bikes themselves. He seems to have been a toff, a bit of PIA and a bit of , or more than a bit of, a dreamer. Never made a profit and didn't read the tea leaves with the Black Prince. A movie made up of a lot of home movie footage so, well, you know what old home movies were like if you are of a certain age.
My vote is a C+ on the effort.

I'm really glad that he was a bit of a dreamer. I don't believe these bikes would exist otherwise.
Our Rapide has given us a lot of pleasure over the last twenty years. I'm sure the prior 4 owners would say the same thing if they were still with us.

concours · Nov 23, 2023

Watched it with my wife.

Horrible audio, subtitles helped.

I'm a technical person.

This movie was not for me.

jan nelder · Jan 24, 2024

just discovered that a neighbour used to work at the factory, and could have talked to him, but died a couple of years back, sadly.

Speed is Expensive - Vincent film

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