Christmas came early as my wife grabbed the mail and pulled a manila envelope with my name on it from the stack of junk mail. Inside was a copy of “The Doctor, The Tornado, and The Kentucky Kid” aka DTK. A short review with minimum spoilers follows.

The box looks good, the black circle with the words “Preview Edition” promising a future “Ultimate Edition” as with Neale’s previous film “Faster”. Popping the box open I could not help but utter “jeez, it really has that … new dvd smell”. No graphics on the DVD, just a small white ring with the title and “this side NTSC, reverse reserved for PAL” on it. Hot off the presses, baby. And a little stinky. Really.

The film’s title has a good rhythm to it, but it should have been called “The Tornado, The Kentucky Kid, and Hopper” or some permutation. Almost the entire length features those three guys primarily. Nicky’s domination, Colin’s determination, and Hopper’s frustration all very vividly depicted. There’s very little Rossi in it, except from the stuff we’ve already seen and heard in the broadcasts and interviews and, of course, from what Colin, Nicky, and John had to say about him.

We start off with a good intro, including a nifty lap of laguna discussed by all three riders in detail. Colin gives away his big secret about turn 7 and how to enter The Corkscrew so I’m sure Rossi is smiling ear to ear with his copy of DTK that he received today

There’s a very small historical segment, which leaves us wanting more, and then we get into the guys. We get a lot of excellent inside stuff with Nicky, Colin, and Hopper, their physical training, or in the case of Colin, the lack of, a glimpse into their lives, their families. Good stuff.

This is followed by a very “Faster” like introduction to the weekend, Ewan Mc Gregor again brilliant at his narraration. The formula works and you get excited (although my wife complained later that this film got way too technical, especially compared to “Faster”). But hey, for sure this is a rider’s film. Much much footage in the garage, discussion of tires, power delivery. A good segment on riding with injuries although Dr. Ting is no Dr. Costa.

It feels strange that Kenny Roberts Jr. is such a bit player in the film; at one point the film even makes the mistake of saying that there are three Americans in the race. We do get to see him once in the garage, but other than that there is no mention of him whatsoever. Legal crap? Who knows.

The race itself is covered extremely well. We get a very detailed look and description of the first few laps with each of the three riders giving a lot of excellent commentary. There’s even a few quotes from Valentino. All the important points in the race are covered, from Edward’s legendary pass on Rossi in The Corkscrew, to Tamada’s “kamikaze pass” on Hopper in turn 1. Colin turning the screws on Nicky, only to have the latter answer in superb form. Rossi almost catching Colin at the end. The stuff going through their minds (some of it pretty funny at that, especially from Hopper).

I was hoping for more, and hopefully the Ultimate Edition will deliver it. I wanted to see footage of Cannery Row, the crowds of bikes, the crowds of crazy fans, a fan’s eye view of the track, interviews with other riders, perhaps…

But don’t think I am disappointed. All in all DTK is a good film, very exciting to watch if you ride, follow MotoGP, and especially if you’re heading to the USGP in 7 days! We get some really nice interviews with Colin, Hopper, and Nicky, their families, their backgrounds, technical insights, brilliant on board footage, and an awesome way to relive the most exciting motorcycling weekend in the US.

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