I'm not a car nut and it is therefore not surprising that I had NEVER heard of a Buick Grand National, until I saw this tasteful tribute to what has to be (or should be) a genuine American Icon.I wont bore or insult you with details of the car, as the documentary literally leaves no bolt undone and delivers the viewer a thoroughly revealing experience that had me falling in love with something I did not know even existed.The pace of the documentary is PERFECT. The editing, music and the ability of the film makers to seamlessly blend the many layers (and contradictions)of the multiple story-lines they are telling, literally makes you feel like you are entering some type of Film Nior tragedy full of anti heros that somehow win the day - much to your pleasing.Yet behind this magic piece of film making - where less is just so much more - there looms the intrepid danger and excitement of the car itself.....and just like in AC/DC's classic song BACK IN BLACK. Number one with a bullet I'm a power pack. Yes I am. Forget the hearse cause I'll never die. I got nine lives cat's eyes. Using every one of them and runnin' wild.Yes I'm back in black.

In the 1980ies, the Buick Regal was a comfortable, boring car made by the stolidest and staidest division of General Motors. A "grocery getter" for ma and pa -- profitable for the company, but boring. To make the brand and car more appealing to the younger generation, Buick decided to introduce a souped-up version, the Buick Regal Grand National, branded the GNX in a second coming. It was produced 1982-7 and featured a very powerful motor in an otherwise conventional chassis. Supposedly a Ferrari-killer from Detroit.The movie is an unrelenting eulogy for the GN. GN owners', collectors', drivers' and racers' euphoric statements alternate with nice shots of polished GNs accompanied by melodramatic music and more statements from GN lovers. One of them kept a GN in his bedroom (!) for the past 25 years, but decides to take it for a spin for the sake of this movie. That kind of stuff.This one is strictly for GN fanboys. Everyone else will see a black car and a bunch of men stuck in the 1980ies.

A Documentary Like No Other: The Film That Had to Be Made (But Nobody Knew It)Courtesy of GNXRegistry.orgBlack Air: The Buick Grand National Documentary is the film that had to be made, but nobody knew it for some two decades. That is, until filmmaker Andrew Filippone Jr. finally succumbed to his teenage memories about those mysterious all-black cars that, like the proverbial phoenix, leapt out of the malaise of automotive ashes that defined 1980's Detroit and burned up the streets and avenues of his own home town. Permanently embossed in his mind, the images of the sinister black Buick Grand Nationals were the genesis that drove Filippone to grab his cameras and travel throughout the U.S. to weave the stories of these very special performance cars and the people who designed, built, and first reviewed them and sang their praises – those who independently and amazingly shared the same uncanny insight: each knew that this car would cause a big ripple in the fabric of automotive history. Along the way, we also meet those who love, show, race, and preserve them to this day. Most enthusiasts were hooked for life the minute they got behind the wheel and drove one of these thrilling beasts for the first time. And so it will be for the next generation – after all, it is as much about the people as it is about the car.As far as the film's subject matter, leave all preconceptions at the (garage) door; this wonderful journey is nothing short of exhilarating storytelling that holds universal appeal for everyone from the most hardcore gearheads all the way to those who could not possibly check their own tire pressure without assistance. Filippone allows his subjects to paint the colorful picture behind the transformative performance machine that broke all the rules for domestic U.S. automobiles, and, perhaps more amazingly, how it emerged from the most unlikely of places: a stodgy old luxury brand more associated with barge-like boulevard behemoths piloted slowly by white-haired retirees. This film provides the factual insights into this once-in-a-lifetime alignment of stars and confluence of vision, engineering, and passion that gave birth to such a great car during a time that was otherwise stifled by relentless automotive mediocrity.The 1980's were indeed a decade that most automotive historians would rather forget, were it not for the very brief, bright glow of rule-breaking performance epitomized by the Buick Grand National. Filippone captures this phenomenon exquisitely and goes on to document the model line's final sendoff into automotive history, an event punctuated by the ultimate incarnation of the Grand National and the most valuable U.S. performance car of the 1980's – the one vehicle that was just a bit badder and a bit blacker: the legendary GNX.Black Air has emerged, not unlike its subject, as a fascinating piece of work that tells a remarkable story – one that nobody knew had to be told. Until now.