TT3D: Closer to the Edge

Last night I saw TT3D in 2D at my local rep cinema, Campus West in Welwyn Garden City. It is the only such cinema between home and London and always has an interesting programme of films on. Previous visits have been with my children to see films that they had chosen, so it was good to go with friends to see this film about the Isle of Man TT. Perhaps unsurprisingly the audience was not large and there was a definite gender bias although the age range was rather more inclusive. An enlightened and civilsed cinema, Campus West serve beer and wine and allow you to take these with you into the auditorium.

TT3D opens with a sequence of onboard footage, which seeks to create a virtual ride around the opening section of the Isle of Man circuit (see here for an example). As the bike powers away from the starting grid the spectator participates vicariously in every gear change as the front wheel lifts off under acceleration and that sensation took me straight back to my own motorcycling days. I wouldn't have been matching the kinds of speeds involved in riding the TT clearly but motorcycling is ultimately all about speed and the 0 to 60 standing start (and beyond on the Isle of Man) is something that all bikers will recognise as part of the thrill... And this thrill is essentially what TT3D is all about. The film captures and demonstrates the passion for speed and the desire to win that motivates the riders in the TT. They all risk their lives every time they take to the circuit riding at speeds of up to 200mph, inches away from dry stone walls, trees and traffic furniture. As the film makes abundantly clear there is absolutely no margin for error and yet at the same time the riders are pushing right up to the limits of grip in the search for ever faster lap times.

Tying the film together is the story of Guy Martin, a charismatic, outspoken and ultra individual rider who works as a lorry mechanic during the week but who lives for the adrenaline rush of road racing. Other riders play a part in the documentary, including Michael Dunlop, the son of Robert Dunlop and the nephew of one of the greatest ever TT riders, Joey Dunlop, Ian Hutchinson, the first man to win 5 TT races in a single year, and the legendary John McGuinness, but Martin has a real presence in front of the camera and is sufficiently unconventional to make for compelling viewing - he is also a pretty handy motorcyclist! The film covers the 2010 TT and we see Martin achieving some great results but he never reaches the top step of the podium, a situation repeated at this year's event when Martin came second in the Senior TT, the prestige race of the meeting. So, the film contains a good deal of racing footage, most of it contemporary, although there is some archive footage and even a series of clips from Monty Banks' 1935 film No Limit, starring George Formby - a great film that I remember seeing as a boy. Martin's presence in the film gives the viewer an insight into the mindset of a TT racer; as we follow his exploits and his often wry commentary we begin to understand what drives someone to take the kinds of risks that define the TT and position it as probably the most famous of all of the surviving road races. All of the riders, and their partners and families too, live with the presence of death. They all know riders who have died at the TT and they all recognise that even the simplest of mistakes can have a tragic outcome. At one point the film reflects on the death of Paul Dobbs, a New Zealander killed at the 2010 TT, revealing the grief felt by his fellow competitors but also the intense sense of community shared by them. An interview with Bridget Dobbs reveals something of the spirit of the riders and their families as she explains how the TT was a part of both of their lives and how her husband died doing something that he loved. Despite the tragedy, which Bridget Dobbs refuses to see in these terms, there is an uplifting sense of the importance of lives being lived to the full - Paul Dobbs' life but also Bridget's life and the lives of her children. The message is a familiar one but it is expressed in simple and honest terms in this film.

TT3D was shot in the run up to the 2010 TT and charts Guy Martin's preparations for it with the final section of the film covering his performances (and those of his rivals) in the races themselves.

Much of the race footage no doubt comes from the television coverage of the TT and this is used well in relation to the Martin material. As the film moves towards its conclusion we come ever closer to the huge accident suffered by Martin in the Senior TT.

Travelling at approximately 160mph, Martin lost the front wheel going into the famously very fast Ballagarey corner and the bike slipped away from under him, hitting a wall and exploding on impact. Incredibly Martin survived the crash although he suffered broken ribs, vertebrae and other assorted injuries. Martin is interviewed in hospital and expresses similar views to those here. There is no doubt that riders such as Martin are incredibly courageous; they are also single minded and some would no doubt call them selfish for pursuing their passions in the way that they do. They are though a reminder in our ever more regulated lives that there is still room for activities that gain their excitement through their inherent danger...

The film itself is well made and makes good use of the material either shot or sourced. It tells a compelling human story while managing to place the viewer at the heart of much of the action. Early on the film can occasionally feel a little frenetic as the footage shifts rapidly while the documentary seeks to orientate its spectators and its subject matter. There was only one moment that grated for me and this was in the run up to the final series of races at the 2010 TT when the key protagonists - Hutchinson, Dunlop and Martin - are presented readying themselves, shot in close-up pulling on their leathers and looking more like the stars of a deodorant or razor blade advert!

As I left the cinema and tried to work out whether I needed to pay for car parking I met an old boy who had also just seen the film. He told me that his father had raced in the 1923 TT and had gone on to race Cooper 500 Formula 3 cars in the late 1940s and early 1950s. For him watching the film had re-connected him with his memories of his late father. For me the reconnection was perhaps rather more mundane but it did rekindle my passion for motorcycling and remind me not only why it can be so enjoyable but also just how dangerous it can be too...