Schumacher

Schumacher

Through exclusive interviews and archival footage, this documentary traces an intimate portrait of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher.

  • Released: 2021-09-15
  • Runtime: 112 minutes
  • Genre: Documentaries
  • Stars: Michael Schumacher, Mick Schumacher, Corinna Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, Rolf Schumacher, Gina Schumacher, Jean Todt, Bernie Ecclestone, Sebastian Vettel, Mika Häkkinen, Damon Hill, Flavio Briatore, David Coulthard, Willi Weber, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Sabine Kehm, Mark Webber, Eddie Irvine, Piero Ferrari, Ross Brawn, James Allen, Gerhard Noack, Gianluca Pilot, Richard Williams
  • Director: Hanns-Bruno Kammertöns, Michael Wech, Vanessa Nöcker
 Comments
  • k-merse - 15 April 2023
    One-sided to a fault, but somewhat enjoyable
    Unfortunately, this is not a good tribute film to Schumacher's otherwise incredible career. First of all, it is brutally one-sided, Schumacehr is presented as basically perfect in every way. The movie omits several of his incidents, and almost completely one sided with the only two (the 1994 and 1997 crashes) it does mention.

    Even the Senna movie shows the darker, more aggressive side of Senna, but here you won't learn anything about what a complex person Michael Schumacher really was.

    The movie also has the worst Netflix vibes, outright falsifying certain events. The most glaring is the 2000 season that is shown like a last-minute victory for Schumacher while he was already dominant. It shows the Japanese GP (the penultimate race of the season) like it is a nailbiter last race of the year where whoever wins, would be the champion. In reality, Scumacher was leading by 8 point sand even a 5th place finish would have crowned him champion.

    It also only mentions 1995, totally misses his dominance of 2001-2004, and doesn't even mentions his struggles in 2005-2006 against Alonso, while in reality, we saw some of his best performances in those years. Barely mentions his comeback and forgets to mention his last hurrah, the 2012 Valencia podium.

    But at least it deals with his accident. That's why it is 6 stars instead of just 5.

    TLDR: If oyu are a huge Michael Schumacher fan, go and watch it. If ouy want to learn about him or Formula 1, avoid this movie and pick one of his biographies instead. They are much better.
  • Lewis_Heather787 - 20 November 2021
    Good but a missed opportunity!
    Anybody who is an Formula 1 fan is going to watch this plain and simple, no matter how long you've followed and enjoyed the sport. I am no different, I became an F1 fan at a very early age when Michael was winning at Ferrari. I was really excited to see a deeper look into the past and give me that nostalgia feeling.

    I feel a bit odd after watching this though! There are parts I really liked and enjoyed, however there are huge chunks of his career that are missing. I feel that the team behind this picked and chose material that would give them the best narrative. I would have much preferred it if they had made this film twice as long and forget trying to condense his entire life story into just a few moments.

    It does a great job of showing Michael at a young age and just getting started into F1 with Benetton. Winning early on and then the switch to Ferrari. Loved all of the time we spent with his fight with Mika Hakkinen. Eventually winning the first championship with Ferrari in 2000. However after that the film then cuts the rest of his life into the last 15 minutes especially the skiing accident. This left a bitter taste in the mouth for me and a bit of sadness. We don't get to see any of the other world championships he won with Ferrari dominating the sport for years and the fantastic races throughout that period. The big disappointment of not seeing anything about his on track fights with a young Fernando Alonso (who I actually supported at the time). His retirement from the sport was not made that big a deal? The film more or less then cuts straight to his comeback with Mercedes years later.

    Everything at the end felt rushed, crammed in and in a weird way a bit staged. This could easily have been a 2 hour 30 min epic documentary detailing everything and I bet you every F1 fan still would have watched it. This feels like a partially watered down version.......is it just me?

    Now I know I shouldn't compare but of course comparisons will be made between this documentary and "Senna" which was made almost a decade ago I think. That documentary is by far and away the superior film in my opinion, it gave me much more of an interesting, informative, emotional and powerful punch than "Schumacher" did.

    Now I know I've complained, moaned and whined a lot in this review lol. I did still enjoy this film, 70% out of 100, however for it to be about the great Michael Schumacher it felt a bit short compared to his legend status within the sport. If your new to F1 you'll get a buzz out of this and I encourage you to watch it, however if you are a bit more of an older fan like me you might be left wanting a bit more.

    Lastly, I think its safe to say that Michael Schumacher will never be seen the public eye ever again. This world can be very cruel at times!!!
  • kosmasp - 3 October 2021
    Two Faces/Phases
    Michael Schumacher - how well do you know him? Well if you say you don't really know him - the movie will change that. First things first though: if you are looking or expecting this to be focused on his current status ... well you will be dissapointed. This is a documentary about the man, the human and the sportsman ... his way to the top and his retirement/personal life.

    Schumacher is one of those icons in Germany - but he also transcended that. He became an icon in the motorsport world. He made a lot of Italian (especially the Ferrari loving ones) happy. There is another documentary, that has a broader focus and has some of his rivals in it - though that documentary is about the motorworld in general, it can be a great companion piece to this.

    I still have not seen the Senna documentary and I'll be the first to admit, I do not have a lot of knowledge when it comes to cars. Or the racing circuit for that matter. But this was more than that and it really dives into the many facets of Schumacher. Who he was when he raced and who he was as a private person. I like his private persona even more than the racing one. Although of course he became famous for the racing and his ultimate will to win ... his drive if you forgive the pun.

    Really well made, let's everyone talk who knew Michael ... and while it has little to say about his current status ... I did not expect this to be that kind of movie/documentary anyway ...