3: The Dale Earnhardt Story
$2.79
Product Description
Follow legendary NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt’s fascinating life, from his early days as a racer growing up in the shadow of his father, Ralph, to his rise to superstardom and tragic death at Daytona.Amazon.com
I put this film at #9 of the greatest films of all time, just ahead of Breakin at #10. Here are some of the films that missed my list:
Citizen Kane
Forrest Gump
Eight Men Out
Animal House
My Mommy is having a baby
Gone with the Wind
Better off Dead
The folks at ESPN were given the second most impossible task ever, make a movie about E. The toughest task will be to make a movie about me after I die, where would you even start casting? Back to E. He is a really a neat guy. This movie portrays him as the cuddly prankster we all got to know and love when he was driving in circles Sunday after Sunday. Is there anything in the world of sports more engrossing than guys driving in a circle for 4 hours? Only the tour de france can compare in terms of sheer excitement. In this movie, Barry “Dr.” Pepper plays the god of automobiles, Tim Dayer(I think that’s what people down here called him). He grows up in a backass town where no one has any hope of benefitting society in any way shape or form. His dad runs cars in circles and Timdayer thinks it looks like a lot of fun. He ends up doing the same thing and being better at it than his dad. He makes a lot of friends along the way because he’s a good racer. Sometimes he makes other drivers mad because he passes them and wins (that is the object of this sport). I made a lot of other kids mad on the BMX circuit in Gretna with my style, but as Timdayer said, Rubbin your facin. In the end, E runs into a wall and dies.
Now onto the movie about me. Where do you start? I personally think it would have to be a North and South type 10 hour mini series. You’d have to have my life broken up into five year periods or you’d run the risk of leaving out something that changed the world. You’d also open the network to countless complaints that my life wasn’t covered properly. Some of the great scenes would be:
1. Sparrow flies into my forehead and dies
2. The great pickup on dodge(Natalie Portman would play the girl)
3. Me dropping 43 against Rhombus
4. Me winning at a lot of things (montage with “you’re the best around” music).
E is solid family fun until he dies at the end.
Rating: 5 / 5
In my part of Virginia NASCAR is as common as Peanut Butter in a grocery store. Everywhere you go, you are going to see it. It is either on cars, on shirts, on billboards, or anywhere else that your eyes may wonder. Most of the material still pays respect to the number “3″ and the driver that will forever be missed. It pulls people to the track to see that number and thankfully everyone can profit off the commercial success of this driver’s death. Sadly, ESPN also did this and the result was the ill-fated made-for-TV-movie, 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story starring the “I need work bad” actor, Berry Pepper. Literally racing through the life of this legend, this film boasts a simple 88 minutes and vaguely covers whatever it can to give rabid fans just a taste of this man’s life. Instead of giving him the proper respect, ESPN uses clichés and over-bearing family moments that just scream “made-for-TV”. With Pepper’s accent fading in and out within races, you cannot help but laugh at this cheaply designed model created by director Russell Mulcahy.
So, what went wrong with this film? Since the word “everything” will not cover all of it, I will attempt to explain in some detail. I cannot stress this fact enough that if an actor looks like the person that you are trying to portray, it does not mean that he or she will do a good job (see the Charlize Theron theory). This goes for Barry Pepper, who just never really gave Earnhardt any personality. I felt like I was watching the story of one of those paper cutout dolls. Sure, his costumes and appearance would change, but nothing else would. His motions and emotions were forced and never really felt like I was watching the life of NASCAR’s greatest, but instead seeing an actor do an impersonation of someone that he admires. Pepper would not have Executive Produced this film if he wasn’t already an Earnhardt fan (or at least could see the $$ made from the death of a human). The same could be said about the rest of the actors in this film. The children felt and sounded like paper mache, never quite seeming that comfortable in front of the camera … especially Dale Jr. I felt as if a gust of wind could have made him cry. In fact, all the performances in this film coupled with a gust of wind made me cry.
As I mentioned earlier, the timing on this film seemed very off. How can you successfully measure the power of a man in a short span of 88 minutes? There is just no way that you are going to be able to cover the depth and emotional excitement in this short time. So, the creative team behind this film chose to ignore these moments and extend the racing scenes. The outcome was literally horrible. There was no balance, there was no craft, there was nothing actually paying respect to this man. The story is where I could see the minds of the cash hungry people just getting bigger and bigger because they were going to do a story about a man life that millions would want to see. They would want to see it not because it was good, but because the Earnhardt name was solely attached to it. For a non-NASCAR fan like myself, this was kind of sad. How can you have the life of Howard Hughes pushing three hours, and NASCAR powerhouse Dale Earnhardt just 88 minutes? I guess you can over compensate by giving the viewers some extra features to the DVD, but for me that just didn’t work. The story was sloppy and completely disgraced Earnhardt’s name.
Overall, this proved to me that if you give a bunch of rednecks a camera, this is the quality of work that they will produce. This was one of the worst autobiographical stories that I have seen in a very long time, even for the likes of “made for TV” it was horrible. There was nothing redeemable in this story that I could go back to friends or family and say, “Well, this part was kinda neat”. There was nothing of the sort here. I walked away from the film with less of an understanding about Earnhardt and his NASCAR business. Even if you are a huge NASCAR fan, I do not think you will see the value in this film. I especially love reading other reviews that say that this was a great film, but lacked some major elements to Dale’s life. Isn’t that like a double negative? Good film, but somehow you forgot to mention this? I think some are just too generous with this story. I am sad that he died, but this is not the way to pay respect to the man’s life.
Grade: * out of *****
Rating: 1 / 5
I watched this movie twice during the weekend it premiered, and for the record I have been a die-hard Dale Earnhardt fan and follower since the late 1980’s. I really wish somehow that ESPN and the Earnhardt family could have worked together on this; it would have been so much better and more accurate. I also think ESPN could have used the Dale Earnhardt: Determined book by Benny Phillips as a good reference; it was the only book published with Earnhardt’s authorization himself. The acting was great considering what they had to work with. I have already read a lot of reviews, most of them expressing concern over the lack of Earnhardt’s story on the racetrack. If you have followed Dale’s career, the fact that he won so many races, had a love-hate relationship with fans, won 7 championships, and the elusive Daytona 500 is all common knowledge, and we have all been there to experience his on track accomplishments and argue his style and reputation. What we know so little about Earnhardt is his life off the racetrack, how he came to be a Winston Cup driver, and what’s most intriguing to me, his relationship with his father, Ralph Earnhardt. That was the focus of this movie. The only things I know about Earnhardt off the racetrack is written in books or expressed vaguely in interviews. There is no doubt that three of the biggest things Dale Earnhardt was most proud of off the racetrack was the guidance of and relationship with his father, his relationship with Teresa, and his concern for Dale, Jr. as Jr. tries to build his racing career. That’s what this movie tries to do, but since the Earnhardts and ESPN couldn’t come to terms on the movie, it’s hard to tell what is true and what isn’t. One thing I do know for sure is that the movie could have used a lot more of Richard Childress. Richard was so vital in developing Dale as a driver, and while the movie portrays the relationship with Neil Bonnett extensively, it seems to leave out a third common thread in Childress. Childress was also very close to Neil Bonnett, Bonnett died in a Childress car after Childress seemed to be the only car owner willing to give a hungry driver a chance at a comeback. At the same time, I think ESPN may have been wise to tread lightly on the Childress issue, since Childress was opposed to the unauthorized making of the movie. The other things I think could have been adjusted, but I think was just Hollywood-style filmmaking were the inaccuracies of Dale’s quotes (the rattle the cage quote happened after the Goody’s 500 in 1999 at Bristol, and the kerosene rag quote was a response to a reporter’s question asking Earnhardt’s opinion of NASCAR introducing restrictor plates at Daytona and Talladega), Jake Elder leaving after Osterlund sold the race team to Stacy (Elder actually left after Dale’s rookie season with Osterlund, putting a 20-year-old Doug Richert in position to guide Dale’s first championship, long before Osterlund sold the race team). The Darrell Waltrip stuff early in the movie could have been polished up a little, and a better actor could have been used (although no one can act like Darrell except Darrell himself), but the ending of the movie with Darrell announcing made up for it (many new or non NASCAR followers would probably never realize it was Darrell announcing at the end, though). A lot of people expressed concern over the lack of the Earnhardt-Jeff Gordon rivalry, but you know what? There was no rivalry, because both drivers were great at different times. The only time Gordon and Earnhardt had anything resembling a rivalry was the 1995 season (and here’s another great Earnhardt quote not used in the movie) when Gordon edged Earnhardt, and Earnhardt made the remark about having to serve milk at the banquet because Gordon was too young to drink wine. After Earnhardt won the 1995 Brickyard 400, Earnhardt claimed to be the first man to win the race, hinting that Gordon was the first boy to win it when he did the year before. Nothing was ever mentioned about Dale’s time with Bud Moore in 1982-1983, while Childress spent time preparing a better race team upon Earnhardt’s return to RCR in 1984. I thought the Daytona 500 scenes were a little out of place at times, the first caution with Andretti happened after and not before the last round of pit stops (when Earnhardt came out first, and then-teammate Skinner in second, then the two Andretti cautions came out, the latter that sealed the race for Dale). But nothing was made of Earnhardt’s bad luck in the 500 to build up to the triumphant and jubilation of Earnhardt finally winning it in 1998. I would like to have seen a more joyful, prankster Dale Earnhardt, much like the way Neil Bonnett was played. Dale was very sentimental, but not somber and over-reflective as the movie portrays him to be at times. Barry Pepper could have also added a little bulk to his character’s stature; Earnhardt was a robust 6′1″ 200 pounds, versus the skinny, frail looking Earnhardt we see later in the movie. The crash flashbacks/nightmares I felt were unnecessary because Earnhardt was too fearless and unconcerned about his bad crashes, and never mentioned once at all about being afraid in a race car. If anything, I do remember his voice quivering and almost being in tears after having to give up his seat for Skinner in the 1996 Brickyard, a week after his bad crash at Talladega; that showed a lot about his desire and his determination about being in a race car. As for the ending, I don’t think there could be a more emotional, appropriate, and tasteful ending; followed by video clips of the real Earnhardt in the closing credits; reminded me a lot of the Lane Frost material at the end of another tear-jerker in 8 Seconds. All in all, for the entertainment value of the movie it was very good; if you are looking to use this as a factual, biographical account of Dale Earnhardt’s life, I don’t think it is very accurate and true; but it could have been. Maybe this will prompt the big-name Hollywood folks to take a look at this and create a more complete and accurate movie; but only if they can get the story from the Earnhardt family themselves, that’s the only way we’ll ever know the true and real Dale Earnhardt. I am looking forward to the bonus features on the DVD in addition to a good, entertaining movie.
Rating: 4 / 5
Dale E. was the greatest stock car driver ever, and paid some serious dues along the way up to the ultimate price at Daytona in 2001. To be a great athlete, also your family life takes a beating, and Dale’s family life problems was no exception until his later years.
I was at Daytona and witnessed Dale’s crash. Like many, the crash didn’t seem that bad, and I left the stands thinking only what a great race it had been with DEI cars finishing 1 & 2 in the finish. When I finally got to my vehicle, I learned on the radio that Dale had died, and I just couldn’t believe it. It was two years before I returned to the track, after Dale’s death.
I thought this movie was really lame and poorly writtened. The actoring was OK, but the movie was just really flat and kinda of bogus, no dispect to the actors. I could really tell it was a low budget/”tight shoot” movie, about one of the greatest athletes in history.
There is so many good documentary’s of “E’s” life, this movie seemed like only an attempt to make a fast buck off this great Legend. Dale’s contribution to the sports and entertainment industry, and society deserved better.
Rating: 2 / 5
I Was Not A Big Fan Of Earnhardt But I Did Respect The Guy For What He Love To Do Race Im A Big Racing Fan And I Watched This Movie On Espn This Movie Was About The Family How He Met His Wife Teresa and also I thought it was kind of cute when ralph and his son dale raced on the dirt track
Rating: 5 / 5