A spotlight on the tensions between Brabham and Tauranac is one of the more introspective moments of the Brabham story but is unfortunately never dwelled upon too much.
Interviews from the Brabham family about his influence or lack-thereof over David Brabham’s childhood in particular shows the reality of grand prix driving at championship level during a time in which drivers perished with grim regularity.
Bernie Ecclestone’s cartoon depiction as a thieving goblin-like figure, tricking an innocent Conan the Barbarian depiction of Tauranac into selling Brabham is a highlight but the Ecclestone era of Brabham is never focused on.
What some may take umbrage with is the artistic style of the film and re-use of several shots throughout. A ‘60s aesthetic is distracting at points and does feel slightly inconsistent with the modern-day interviews.
The post-mortem of Brabham’s story after F1 is a great note to end on. A final portion transfers focus onto David Brabham’s efforts to win back the name and reinvigorate Brabham into an automotive company and how his father’s influence has shaped his endeavour, rounding off the story nicely. But it doesn’t go on to document the Brabham Automotive debut of the BT62 at Britcar’s 2019 ‘Into the Night’ endurance event.https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/drivers/jack-brabham
The Brabham film is an easy hour and 20 minutes reliving the success of Australia’s F1 world champion, the journey and sacrifices it took to get him there and his influence on those around him without becoming a cumbersome watch.
While not at the same level of Senna in terms of gravity or production, the film hits a niche between that and the spare-no-artistic-license Drive to Survive Netflix series which a lot of potential viewers will surely appreciate, even if the end product is a little rough around the edges.