The Right to Win (2004) User Reviews

The legend...

[Thanos_Alfie · 8/10 · 5 January 2021]

"The Right to Win" is a Documentary that presents Ayrton Senna from a slightly different perspective. We follow his story from his early stages on competitive racing and we hear many stories from his teammates, his friends but also from some other competitors.

I enjoyed this documentary because it presented very well the personality of Ayrton Senna outside Formula 1 and showed him what he did in his daily life. The direction which was made by Hans Pool was very different from other documentaries about Ayrton Senna but it was equally good. I also liked the way he presented him and how well he combined some interviews about him along with Ayrton Senna speaking about himself as a person and about Formula 1. If you are a fan of Ayrton Senna you will understand more about him and maybe you will hear or see something that you did not know about this true legend.

Honorable but eclipsed by another great project

[Rodrigo_Amaro · 6/10 · 13 September 2013]

Whether you've seen Asif Kapadia's spectacular and groundbreaking documentary "Senna" or not, "The Right to Win" will always be a minor experience in several levels. It's an honorable project on the legacy of the greatest F1 driver of all time, the late Ayrton Senna, and a good film as well but the presentation lacks enthusiasm, lacks of massive archive footage and it's often too technical about racing, which is a problem for those who don't know much about it, or aren't so interested on the subject, and prefer to focus their attention more on the man and his accomplishes.

The format given to it - the tiring talking head exposure - is troubled because the primary object of view is largely reduced by people talking of him instead of showing him, the races he won or lost and even the final tragic moment which is completely left out (the interviewed talk about it but that's it). "Senna" is a far superior movie because it employs (at my view, never or rarely seen before) a far more fascinating technique of interviewed people only on voice-overs while the images of all of his races are exhibited. It was a richer and exciting film even for those who aren't fans of the sport.

But "The Right to Win" has its moments while interviewing less famous persons who knew Ayrton such as his physical trainer; the pilot who always joined him on his private plane, among others. They were all deeply touched by his presence and simplicity, and like many of us, they miss him very much.

It's a good film, quite special but it's the other film's impression that prevents me from giving a higher score. 6/10