Dust to Glory

Filmmaker Dana Brown documents the November 2003 Baja 1000, the grueling cross-country motor race that begins and ends in Ensenada, Mexico, running down and back up the Baja California peninsula. Brown comes by the assignment naturally: His father, pioneer surfing documentarian Bruce Brown, filmed the second Baja 1000 in 1968 for ABC’s Wide World of Sports. The younger Brown captures the chaos of the race but fails to clarify it, his narration is often banal (“he knows every nook and every cranny”), and the racers he interviews aren’t the most articulate bunch (they say “awesome” a lot). But all of that pales in comparison with the stunning photography of Brown’s 50-camera crew, shooting from helmets, autos and helicopters. They seem to be everywhere, capturing some truly breathtaking shots.