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Gran Turismo

Certain films are so close to being good, so close to achieving a rare level of brilliance, your anger springs from said work not reaching those heights. Director Neill Blomkamp ’s “Gran Turismo,” a crowd-pleasing, genre-bending sports drama, approaches wonder with an odd tepidness; it maneuvers around any modicum of character development by taking all-too simple routes and swerves away from formal experimentation, opting instead for simple enjoyment.

And yet, I can’t say I wasn’t invested in every race, lap, and turn. Nor can I say the climax didn’t successfully tug my heart toward an emotional response as the intrepid Jann Mardenborough ( Archie Madekwe ), a teenager who rose from gamer to real-life car racer, passed the finish line.

“Gran Turismo” is an uncommon yet familiar biopic, a video game-inspired narrative with unique strengths and recurrent weaknesses. For one, as Mardenborough likes to say, the property the film takes inspiration from isn’t a game; it’s a simulator. Players can customize vehicles to startling specific details through a seemingly infinite library of parts to imitate a range of makes and models that rival professional drivers (Blomkamp attempts to visualize such realism by having transparent VFX cars envelop Mardenborough whenever he plays).

Marketing extraordinaire Danny Moore ( Orlando Bloom ) knows the potentiality of such skill: He goes to GT proposing a competition in which the top seven gamers will train to become an actual racer for the Nissan team. He also recruits seasoned veteran crew chief and former driver Jack Salter ( David Harbour ) as a trainer. Moore’s venture brings heavy risk. And yet, when Jack asks Moore what the marketer gets out of this, Moore doesn’t have an answer. Despite Bloom’s inspired take, the wobbly, incomprehensible motivations of Moore only offer frustration.

Mardenborough’s desires are clearer cut: He wants to work on real cars. His father, Steve ( Djimon Hounsou ), a former professional footballer presently relegated to menial jobs, wants his son to be practical, lest he end up like his old man, filled with broken dreams. We don’t get much screen time or interiority from any Mardenborough family member. He has a doting, understanding mother ( Geri Halliwell ) and a partying immature brother ( Daniel Puig ), but they only fulfill the basic duty of filling out morsels of screen time. At a party, Mardenborough meets Audrey ( Maeve Courtier-Lilley ), whom he’ll keep up vicariously via Instagram. It’s disappointing that she never evolves narratively beyond being the dream girl on Mardenborough’s screen.

The young gamers turned drivers in the GT Academy are similarly thinly sketched. They’re inchoate obstacles who, once again, merely round out the biopic’s run time. The Academy’s more pressing narrative function is to serve as a site for Mardenborough and Jack’s budding rapport. The latter is skeptical that these keyboard warriors possess the physical and competitive acumen to become professionals. Jason Hall and Zach Baylin ’s script plays an exhausting game of keep-away about Jack’s tragic backstory (are we supposed to believe that Mardenborough, a perpetually online teenager, didn’t Google his trainer?).

“Gran Turismo” doesn’t really kick into gear until Mardenborough moves past the Academy to real racing, where he competes against teams hostile to simulator racers. It’s difficult not to hear characters say that sim drivers will never replace real drivers without thinking about the real-life struggle SAG-AFTRA and WGA face against AI, even if Mardenborough is a real person. Blomkamp portrays people like Mardenborough as plucky outsiders, not unlike the bobsledders in “ Cool Runnings .” The film’s use of common sports movie tropes unexpectedly aligning with real-world concerns makes for uneasy tension.

Those tropes keep the viewer engaged even when the on-screen storytelling doesn’t wholly deserve it. While you’d expect editors Colby Parker, Jr. and Austyn Daines , along with cinematographer Jacques Jouffret , to match real gameplay rhythms and virtual visuals, the freeze frames that tell viewers what lap we’re on crush the pace, and the information provided is often repetitive to the dialogue.

Even so, tropes are tropes because they work. For Mardenborough and Jack, it’s us against the world. A rivalry between Mardenborough and an ultra-rich racing team adds a dash of tension; a tragic crash gives Mardenborough a comeback story; a harrowing speech by the ever-dependable Hounsou puts the finishing touches on this underdog story and fully invests the viewer in the cares of an unassuming teenager. While “Gran Turismo” has greater issues than what’s outlined here, some nitpicky, others larger in scope—Madekwe as a lead is low-key to the point of invisibility—Blomkamp furnishes just enough cautionary thrills.

In theaters Friday, August 25th.

Robert Daniels

Robert Daniels is an Associate Editor at RogerEbert.com. Based in Chicago, he is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) and Critics Choice Association (CCA) and regularly contributes to the New York Times , IndieWire , and Screen Daily . He has covered film festivals ranging from Cannes to Sundance to Toronto. He has also written for the Criterion Collection, the Los Angeles Times , and Rolling Stone about Black American pop culture and issues of representation.

Archie Madekwe as Jann Mardenborough
David Harbour as Jack Salter
Orlando Bloom as Danny Moore
Darren Barnet as Matty Davis
Geri Halliwell as Lesley Mardenborough
Djimon Hounsou as Steve Mardenborough
Daniel Puig as
Josha Stradowski as Nicholas Capa
Thomas Kretschmann as
Maeve Courtier-Lilley as
Emelia Hartford as

Writer (story by)

Andrew Kawczynski
Lorne Balfe
Colby Parker Jr.

Cinematographer

Jacques Jouffret
Zach Baylin
Neill Blomkamp

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Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story

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Gran Turismo 's brisk action and feel-good underdog drama are undermined by its loose telling of the fact-based story, but this is still a generally solid racing movie.

If you're a racing fan or you've had fun playing the Gran Turismo games, then this entertaining underdog story is a must-watch movie.

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‘gran turismo’ review: orlando bloom and david harbour in neill blomkamp’s dynamic race car movie.

Archie Madekwe co-stars alongside Djimon Hounsou and Geri Halliwell Horner in this feature sourced from the archives of Sony’s long-running PlayStation video game franchise.

By Justin Lowe

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While writer-director Neill Blomkamp ’s expertise with genre material — from his international breakthrough, sci-fi revelation District 9 (2009), to dystopian dramas Elysium (2013) and Chappie (2015) — makes him a good fit for an action-oriented sports biopic, it’s perhaps his background as a visual effects artist that proves his greatest asset in bringing Gran Turismo to the screen.

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Gran Turismo movie review: we watched it so you really don't have to

Who better to send to see the new GT film than someone who hasn’t played it since the dawn of the millennium? Erm...

Now I must admit straight away that I haven’t actually played Gran Turismo in at least two decades. I got bored trying to score my International B licence and doing enough races round the Autumn Ring to try and save up for a brakes upgrade to my wheezing Mazda Demio. The anarchic Grand Theft Auto was much more fun when that came along, then Rollercoaster Tycoon stole my heart. Smash cut to the present (cinema term) and I’ve missed something important – Gran Turismo is emphatically a driving simulator now (and I know because a character clarifies every few minutes), and despite being 25 years old, car company executives have never heard of it.

I went in cold, expecting Jumanji -style nonsense (a group of kids get sucked into the game and can’t leave until they’ve completed their International B licence) or a Billy Elliott story of redemption against the odds. A youngster from the mean streets of Tokyo elbows his way through the street scene until he earns enough money to buy a Ford GT. Once he’s completed his International B licence, of course, in the second act’s perilous denouement.

Tonally Gran Turismo struggles to decide whether it’s going to be a drama, comedy (though I think I laughed in all the wrong places), action special or a touching tribute to geeks worldwide. It opens with a loving homage to game creator Kazunori Yamauchi, then we’re whisked over to Cardiff, where Djimon Hounsou (really too good for this, but those bills have to be paid) is shouting at his son Jann Mardenborough for playing too much on his computer instead of trying to be a footballer. Jann is played by an endearing Archie Madekwe – looking forward to seeing him in a good film – who at 6ft5in is approximately three times the size of actual Jann Mardenborough.

But in your face, Dad, because Jann wins a magical golden ticket to a computer games boot camp organised by a mad twitching Legolas and an extended montage where that gruff bloke from Stranger Things shouts abuse at teary eyed gamers from a helicopter. Ginger Spice is in the film too, playing Jann’s mum, which mostly involves reacting to news footage of her son’s races from her couch in Cardiff, like a sort of cinematic Gogglebox . Her powerhouse line in the first half of the movie is “Well, these lentils are nice”, which an actor of any calibre would be pushed to sell.

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Anyway, everything turns out fine, as Jann – guided by the spirit of Kenny G – survives some made up high stakes races that are admittedly beautifully translated to the screen, with some innovative use of drones and first-person cameras that communicate some of the visceral feel of real-life (not computer game) racing. It's a shame, then, that the realistic action is rendered void by the unforgivable use of that awful extra gear, where all overtaking is done by mashing the accelerator and finding a magical extra cog. So the racing action is entertaining, but the Gran Turismo movie ultimately fails to tell us exactly why anyone actually enjoys playing the Gran Turismo game. Maybe the Jumanji version would have been better...

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The Gran Turismo movie drives a real-life story into gamer cringe territory

Jann Mardenborough’s gamer-to-racer arc is inspiring, but the movie is fighting an old culture war

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by Oli Welsh

Archie Madekwe as Jann Mardenborough behind the wheel of a car with a Gran Turismo decal on the windscreen

A little way into the movie Gran Turismo, the unlikely brand extension of Sony’s sim racing games accidentally satirizes itself. “This whole thing is a marketing extravaganza!” excitable auto executive Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom) shouts at salty racing coach Jack Salter (David Harbour). They’re aboard a helicopter wheeling above a racetrack, where Salter’s students in the GT Academy — a real-life program intended to turn players of Sony’s Gran Turismo games into actual racing drivers — are being put through their paces. The helicopter is an absurd bit of theater for the TV cameras, and Salter knows it. But he’s powerless to resist the marketing apparatus around him.

So are the people behind the Gran Turismo movie. The familiar phrase “based on a true story” is slathered all over its marketing — in some cases, even presented as part of the film’s official title. That awkward straining for legitimacy echoes throughout the film. In a year when confident, authentic video game adaptations have risen to the top of the heap both in theatrical release and on television , and Greta Gerwig has turned cinema-as-sponcon into a multifaceted art form , Sony’s movie brings us crashing back down to Earth.

Directed by Neill Blomkamp ( District 9 and Elysium director, tech innovator , and wannabe video game creator ), Gran Turismo is a broad, trashy, true-ish sports drama that has a lot less in common with The Last of Us or The Super Mario Bros. Movie than it does with triumph-of-the-brand advertorial like Air , Ben Affleck’s biography of a sneaker . Its closest cousin is Tetris , Apple’s retelling of Nintendo’s tussle with the Soviet Union over the marketing rights to the classic puzzle game. Just like Tetris , Gran Turismo solves the conundrum of how to adapt a game without any characters: by unearthing a compelling human story behind it. And just like Tetris , it strays pretty far from both truth and plausibility in its overcooked take on real-life events — then self-consciously frames those events with video game-y graphics, to remind everyone of their unreal inspiration.

A helicopter buzzes a row of white Nissan racing cars in the Gran Turismo movie

Gran Turismo is a fictionalized account of the rise of Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), a British teen who dreamed of being a racing driver as he played racing games in his bedroom, then made that dream into a reality. In 2011, he won the GT Academy’s top prize: a contract to drive for a real Nissan motorsports team. Since then, he built a reasonable career as a pro: He raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans several times, and went on to compete in Japan’s Super GT series.

The movie compresses, reorders, and massages the details of his story until they (a) resemble the tried-and-true beats of a sports biopic, and (b) serve the needs of the production’s marketing partners. After all, it wouldn’t do to show Mardenborough practicing on a period-appropriate PlayStation 3 rather than a modern-era PS5, or driving open-wheel Formula 3 cars around dreary British motordromes instead of racing a branded Nissan around glitzy Abu Dhabi. The movie has some laughable inventions, like a police chase around the streets of Cardiff that’s more Grand Theft Auto than Gran Turismo. (“Cop avoidance achieved!” shouts the on-screen graphic.)

But the big moments are all true, or true enough. The GT Academy program was indeed the brainchild of a Nissan U.K. marketing exec, who had to convince both Gran Turismo mastermind Kazunori Yamauchi and Nissan’s motorsports division of its genius. That actual exec, Darren Cox, may not have looked as slick as Orlando Bloom does in the role, but he was as persuasive a salesman. (Still is, if his producer credit alongside Mardenborough and Yamauchi is anything to go by.) Mardenborough did indeed score third place in his class at Le Mans, compete in an all-GT Academy team of sim drivers, and survive a horrific accident, as the film shows — albeit not in the order the film shows it, or under the circumstances the filmmakers contrive.

David Harbour’s race engineer Jack Salter reassures racing driver Jann Mardenboroguh (Archie Madekwe), both wearing Nissan racing suits, in Gran Turismo

There is one particularly troubling aspect to the way American Sniper co-writer Jason Hall and Creed III co-writer Zach Baylin frame the accident, a freak occurrence at the Nürburgring circuit that killed a spectator. While the crash did happen pretty much as depicted, Hall and Baylin’s screenplay time-shifts it in order to stage it as a defining, motivating setback on Mardenborough’s hero’s journey to his Le Mans podium. The actual accident happened years later — arguably a tasteless reframing of a fatal event.

The film’s best invention is Harbour’s character — chief engineer Jack Salter, whom Nissan drafts to train the young racers and keep them safe. There’s nothing original about the character or his arc: He’s a cussed has-been who coulda been a contender, straight out of the sports-movie playbook. But Harbour invests him with an ornery warmth, and he both works up all the biggest laughs and creates the film’s most touching moments with Madekwe.

The film’s script reduces most other characters to ciphers whose only role is to illustrate one gamer’s rise to greatness. The most egregious example of this is perfunctory love interest Audrey (Maeve Courtier-Lilley). Mardenborough’s parents, Steve (Djimon Hounsou, wearing his most disapproving frown) and Lesley (a rather sweet Geri Halliwell-Horner — yes, Ginger Spice) might have had more to them in some drafts, but they’re given short shrift in the edit.

A team of young racers wearing overalls walk down a corridor in the Gran Turismo movie

Meanwhile, Gran Turismo fans will enjoy seeing Yamauchi (as played by Giri/Haji ’s Takehiro Hira) gazing stoically upon press conferences, racing cars, and the curve of the asphalt. The film’s relationship to the games is the oddest thing about it. It opens with a minutes-long ad for the series, and closes with credits featuring manufactured footage of Polyphony Digital engineers scanning in cars’ bodywork and recording their engines’ growls, as if the games’ authenticity still needed underlining. The script is awash with back-of-the-box talking points about the games’ realism, while sound effects and graphics get callouts.

And the movie’s whole premise is the realization of Yamauchi’s long-held dream that his love of cars and motorsports could bleed out of his games and enter the real world. In his pitch meeting at the start of the movie, Danny’s lament about the decline of car culture — “people would rather be on their phone in the back of an Uber than behind the wheel” — could have come directly from Yamauchi’s most recent press tour .

And yet there’s nothing of the games’ spirit here. Gran Turismo games express their automotive passion in a way that’s scholarly, precise, tasteful, and a little quirky. They’re scored with elevator jazz and presented with exquisite finesse. They find their excitement in moments of thrilling verisimilitude: reflections gliding across paintwork or car suspensions shuddering over curbs. By contrast, Blomkamp’s movie is brash and amped-up. (Though it does have a pretty good running joke involving the Muzak stylings of Enya and Kenny G.) His direction of the racing scenes (much of them shot practically rather than built digitally ) apes camera angles from the games, but cuts them together in a frenetic, noisy style that’s enthralling at the start of the film and wearyingly samey by the end. It honestly feels more like a Forza or Need for Speed movie than a Gran Turismo adaptation.

A dynamic low shot of a racing cars at speed, led by a white Nissan, in the Gran Turismo movie

Worse, the games’ cool self-possession is completely lost amid the insecure gamer power fantasy that has blighted video game-themed movies from Pixels and Ready Player One in the 2010s all the way back to The Wizard and The Last Starfighter in the 1980s. In this fantasy, a nerdy boy gets mocked for playing with his joystick in his bedroom, but he eventually uses gaming skills to save the day, win the prize, and get the hot girl, proving the doubters (usually his parents) wrong. Mardenborough’s story is unfortunately a perfect vehicle for this narrative, and the filmmakers lean into it in the most cringeworthy way — not just in the cheesy graphics and lines like “How are we doing, gamers?” and “Press play, dude!” but in setting up the primary antagonist as a preening racer who leads an entirely fictitious campaign against sim drivers infiltrating the sport.

Gamers aren’t an oppressed minority anymore — if they ever were in any venue outside of their own heads and the media reflecting their fantasies. This kind of aggrieved posturing isn’t a good look in 2023. Geek culture won. Mardenborough’s story is real, and has a much more significant dimension than victory in some imagined gaming culture war. Games gave this kid from a low-income family a viable and affordable route into one of the world’s most elitist sports. Gran Turismo could have used this inspiring true story to show how video games open up possibilities and remove barriers in the real world. Instead, it just uses it to score points.

Gran Turismo opens in U.S. theaters on Aug. 25.

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Gran Turismo: Movie Review

Maxance Vincent
August 12, 2023

Despite a predictable structure, Neill Blomkamp’s Gran Turismo entertains thanks to some dazzling racing sequences and good supporting performances from David Harbour and Orlando Bloom.

*This review of the movie Gran Turismo was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.*

After the nearly-unwatchable Demonic , Neill Blomkamp ’s directorial future was in flux. The South African/Canadian filmmaker made a splash in 2009 when his adaptation of the short film Alive in Joburg , District 9 , was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. His subsequent efforts didn’t live up to how intelligent and thrilling his breakout hit was (though Elysium is severely underappreciated), and his last movie was a total disaster. After watching Demonic , I never imagined Blomkamp directing another movie, let alone a blockbuster, ever again.

But Sony has given him another chance by adapting Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo and bringing the true story of Jann Mardenborough’s (Archie Madewke) real-life “from gamer to racer” story on the big screen. Some will argue that the film is an egregious attempt at cross-promotion, with Blomkamp and cinematographer Jacques Jouffret incorporating 3D graphics inside Jann’s real-life world to plunge viewers into gameplay footage of Gran Turismo 7 . Of course, with PlayStation Studios producing the film and Sony (once again) utilizing their products in the movie, it does teeter the line of an advertisement.

I’ll admit that the “gameplay” parts are discombobulating, particularly during a real-life car chase scene where Jann imagines himself playing Gran Turismo to avoid being arrested by the police. The visual cue wrapping up the car chase is funny, especially for anyone who played Gran Turismo , but the execution isn’t very polished. Whenever the film goes into the “3D” world, seemingly inside Jann’s head, it recalls Blomkamp’s use of volumetric capture in Demonic , which was the only visually interesting part of that movie. It’s interesting to see how he translates the gaming portion of the movie for a cinematic look and feel, but it doesn’t work in its overall presentation.

And then there’s the story , which is as predictable as they come . Of course, the movie emphasizes that it is based on a true story (as they’ve retitled the movie Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story for absolutely no reason) and chronicles Jann’s real-life underdog story as he wins a Gran Turismo competition changing his life in ways he couldn’t possibly imagine. A Nissan executive (Orlando Bloom) wants to test the theory that avid Gran Turismo players can race a car due to the game’s painstaking realism. The film’s opening text shows creator Kazunori Yamauchi (played in the film by Takehiro Hira) racing a car to capture the game’s movements. Because of this quest for ultra-realism, the Gran Turismo games are lauded by gamers and professional racers.

loud and clear reviews Gran Turismo 2023 movie film

With chief engineer Jack Salter (David Harbour), Nissan Academy trains elite Gran Turismo players to compete in the 24hrs of Le Mans, the world’s most challenging endurance race competition . Of course, Salter doesn’t believe that the gamers will ever make it to Le Mans, let alone qualify for a license. Jann eventually wins the competition at Nissan Academy, and the beats stay as predictable as they come. We have our traditional montage that shows his success until we see another race in full that will (undoubtedly) show him at his lowest emotional point…until the climax raises the stakes so high to make the audience believe in the impossible… even if his triumph at Le Mans has been well-documented.

The movie also tries to pit a rivalry against Jann and “real” racers , including Nicholas Capa (Josha Stradowski) and his father Patrice (Thomas Kretschmann). However, both of these antagonists are amazingly underdeveloped. An interesting father/son relationship slightly harkens back to how John Kreese treated Johnny Lawrence in the original Karate Kid . Still, it’s too brief for it to make an impact.

I will say that Stradowski does nail the part of a cartoonishly evil racer who believes he is the best and will do anything to stay on top and ensure gamers don’t get a place on the podium, even if it means crashing Jann’s car. But from our small moments with him, Blomkamp ensures the audiences hate his guts. The actual father/son relationship between Jann and his dad Steve (Djimon Hounsou) is also terribly clichéd – his father does not believe that his son will amount to anything by playing Gran Turismo all day… until he is proven wrong. That arc has been done to death in many movies, but Hounsou ’s portrayal of Jann’s father is very effective. You could hear a couple of tears in the audience in some of the film’s more emotional scenes with the two.

Madewke is also quite good as Mardenborough but doesn’t seem as invested in the story as David Harbour and Orlando Bloom do. Bloom’s pronunciation of “Nissan” will forever be iconic, and Harbour ’s portrayal of Salter brings much-needed emotional depth to the movie, balancing out Madewke’s more one-note take on Mardenborough. He is very good in the car, literally and figuratively fighting for his life, but not so much during scenes requiring more introspective acting.

While the flaws in Gran Turismo seem to stick out like a sore thumb, they can also be easily brushed off when the film becomes a full-throttle racing blockbuster . The 24hrs of Le Mans sequence doesn’t seem very inspiring for those who have seen James Mangold’s Ford v. Ferrari , but it’s also shot differently and executed in a far more visually exciting way. Blomkamp and Jouffret strap Sony CineAlta Venice 2 IMAX cameras on an FPV drone and capture some of the most jaw-dropping racing photography ever put on a film. The drones swish on the large crowd, plunge into the track, and follow the cars as they zip through the race in extreme, death-defying speed. When a car crashes and catches fire, the stakes are raised even higher, and you’re automatically put on the edge of your seat, as Jann knows the dangers of real-life racing.

This is a film you need to see on the biggest screen possible , preferably IMAX, which puts you faster in the car seat than any other format would ever do. When the cars go vroom, and the FPV drone flips over a dangerous (practical) accident, it feels as if Blomkamp has created a new cinematic language in representing the thrills (and dangers) of racing. He seems heavily inspired by Michael Bay’s Ambulance (which is a very good thing), which pioneered FPV drone photography in mainstream cinema. Racing has always been the most cinematic sport to capture for a feature film. Still, when a director decides to push the boundaries of a racing sequence and innovate in its structure and cinematography , that’s when it gets more exciting.

Joseph Kosinski and Claudio Miranda will also attempt to reinvigorate racing through their upcoming Formula One movie starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, where they will put cameras directly in race cars like they did for Top Gun: Maverick with planes. It’ll certainly be another movie to watch in how the filmmaker approaches a racing scene, but Blomkamp has one hell of a head start with Gran Turismo . It isn’t perfect, and strong moments of earnestness are sometimes hampered by what looks like an advertisement for the game. However, witnessing the film in IMAX is an absolute show-stopper and consistently fun to watch with a crowd invested in the proceedings. Due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, the movie has been delayed from August 11 to August 25, but special screenings will continue until its wide release.

Gran Turismo is now showing globally in select theaters, and will be released everywhere from August 25 .

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Movie Review: ‘Gran Turismo’ movie drifts into cliches and video game aesthetics

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Archie Madekwe, left, and David Harbour in a scene from “Gran Turismo.” (Gordon Timpen/Sony Pictures via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Mariano Gonzalez, from left, Darren Barnet, Maximilian Mundt, Archie Madekwe, Harki Bhambra and Pepe Barroso in a scene from “Gran Turismo.” (Gordon Timpen/Sony Pictures via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Sang Heon Lee, from left, Darren Barnet, Archie Madekwe, Emelia Hartford and Pepe Barroso in a scene from “Gran Turismo.” (Gordon Timpen/Sony Pictures via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures shows a scene from “Gran Turismo.” (Gordon Timpen/Sony Pictures via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures shows David Harbour in a scene from “Gran Turismo.” (Gordon Timpen/Sony Pictures via AP)

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In 2006, a Nissan marketing executive had a truly insane idea to create a competition and an “academy” to turn gamers into race car drivers. Darren Cox saw an untapped market of potential car-buyers in Gran Turismo enthusiasts – the popular PlayStation racing simulator that first came on the market in 1997. And in the third year of the “GT Academy,” an actual star emerged in a 19-year-old British kid named Jann Mardenborough, who would go on to become a professional driver, just like he dreamed.

It’s a fine and lucrative idea for a movie — an inspirational underdog story in which brands like Nissan and PlayStation, a Sony company which also owns the studio behind the movie, can take partial credit for and help underwrite. And it couldn’t come at a better time, when F1 is exploding in popularity in the United States thanks in part to the Netflix series “Drive to Survive.” But “Gran Turismo” has taken this opportunity and made the cliché version in this year of movies like “Barbie” and “Air,” which showed audiences that “brand” movies don’t have to be basic. They can be fresh, vibrant, funny and entertaining – even when literally focused on the corporate schlubs just trying to earn their keep.

If you don’t know ins and outs of Mardenborough’s story, it’s best not to study up before “Gran Turismo.” The movie, which has gone through several writers and directors over the years it’s been in development, takes immense liberties with its true story and cherry picks things from various points in Mardenborough’s career to make his debut year as dramatic as possible. The version coming to theaters is credited to screenwriters Jason Hall and Zach Baylin and director Neill Blomkamp (“District 9,” “Chappie”), who likes to amp up the excitement of a car going 200 miles an hour with lots of cuts and close-ups and aerial shots that would surely drive the down-and-out veteran enlisted to train these amateurs absolutely insane.

That veteran, named Jack Salter, is played by David Harbour, who is quite enjoyable in a pretty cliché “tough love mentor with a past” role. He brings life and energy and an amusing voice of reason to this unbelievable story which can’t seem to choose a lane.

The first hour leans heavily into the brand mythologizing as it sets everything up and it is dreadful. It’s almost in spite of everything that the second half, which focuses on the actual racing, is more successful. How could it not be? It’s a very pleasing underdog makes good journey, with a very pleasant and empathetic lead actor in Archie Madekwe. His parents, played by Djimon Hounsou and former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell-Horner, are also appealing, if underused and trotted out only for maximum emotional impact. We could have used a little more of the Mardenborough clan and a little less of Jann’s love interest, Audrey (Maeve Courtier-Lilley) who is introduced to another peripheral female character in a 5-second scene that is so out of nowhere and random that I wondered if it was only there so that the very male film could technically pass the Bechdel Test.

Poor Orlando Bloom gets a little lost in everything as the high-anxiety Nissan marketing executive Danny Moore, who is frustratingly underdrawn and who the movie goes through great pains to avoid making the enemy. That goes to the cocky, model-y young driver who is there to represent the big money side of European racing, in his gold car branded by Moët & Chandon. Instead, Bloom is kind of just a tour guide to the high life, uttering lines like “ever been on a private jet before?” to the kid from Cardiff. But most egregious is the depiction of the Japanese Nissan executives, who are essentially nameless, characterless background actors in suits called on to either nod or look vaguely confused as Danny tries to reassure them that these amateur drivers won’t die.

The movie on the page wants to romanticize the simple pleasures of race car driving outside of the glitz and glamour of the high-rolling industry, and has been directed by someone who doesn’t actually believe that the driving is enough and that it does need all the trimmings of a “Fast and Furious” spinoff to make it exciting to an audience. It’s the MTV cut of Winona Ryder’s documentary from “Reality Bites,” the one the slick marketing guy would make. And I think therein lies the essential incongruity of what amounts to a moderately entertaining, very long Super Bowl spot quality commercial for PlayStation and Nissan.

“Gran Turismo,” a Sony Pictures release opens in limited release on Aug. 11, and expands on Aug. 25, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for “intense action and some strong language.” Running time: 135 minutes. Two stars out of four.

MPA Definition of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Gran Turismo Review: A Thrilling Adaptation of Playstation's Hit Racing Simulator

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Gran Turismo tells the incredible true story of how an avid young fan of Playstation's hit racing simulator became a professional racer on the international circuit. Jann Mardenborough's rise from an armchair gamer in his bedroom to hurtling around a racetrack in Formula One and Indy cars is the stuff of dreams. His improbable success and rise to fame isn't without setbacks as family, competitors, and even his own pit crew have little faith. The film inspires and works on an emotional level, but kicks exhaust as a thrilling sports adventure. The superbly shot, realistic racing scenes will have audiences gripping their chairs in white-knuckle excitement.

Nissan marketing executive Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom) flies to Japan for a meeting with the motorsport division. He's got a wild idea. Moore wants a partnership between the Gran Turismo videogame creators and Nissan to establish a racing academy. The best online players will then get a chance to compete for a professional racing license. This qualification would allow their winner to be sponsored by Nissan and race against the world's best drivers.

Meanwhile, in Cardiff, Wales, 20-year-old Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) shreds other Gran Turismo racers online. He burns digital asphalt with his prized gaming chair and steering wheel. This behavior perplexes his stern father, who believes Jann's wasting valuable time on a foolish hobby. Steve (Djimon Hounsou), a former professional soccer player turned train construction worker, chides his oldest son. Jann needs to go back to college or come to work at the yard with him. Leslie (Geri Halliwell), Jann's mother, is the only family member with an inkling of understanding for his lifelong passion.

Tough Competition

Danny approaches seasoned pit crew boss Jack Salter (David Harbour) with his idea for GT Academy. Jack thinks it's a terrible idea and that these kids are going to get killed. Playing a videogame is nothing like driving at 150 miles per hour under extreme physical duress. Jack reluctantly agrees to take the job as lead trainer at GT Academy. He's done running the pit for arrogant racing champion Nicholas Capa (Josha Stradowski).

Related: Exclusive: David Harbour Revs Up Gran Turismo

Back in Cardiff, Jann is stunned to be chosen as a European finalist for GT Academy. He quits his job as a retail clerk and fully commits to the rare opportunity, which infuriates his father. Jann quickly learns that a real race car is a dangerous endeavor. He struggles against the other racers and faces scathing criticism from Jack — you don't belong here; go home before you get hurt. But Jann refuses to quit and proves that his impressive simulator skills are relevant on the racetrack.

Gran Turismo doesn't look like a CGI videogame. Director Neill Blomkamp ( District 9, Elysium ) eschews cartoonish visual effects for practical racing with spectacular camera placement. He deftly cuts between inside shots of the cockpit to killer exteriors of the cars zipping by each other. Blomkamp also uses drones to weave over and between the racers when they take hairpin turns.

Slick editing gives multiple perspectives as Jann, Jack in the pit, Danny, and even his parents watch the races with bated breath. The only time you really see computerized effects is when Jann visualizes the videogame racing line and various parts of the engine. This is cleverly done and smartly incorporates the best aspects of the game.

Related: David Harbour's Best Performances, Ranked

Realistic Racing

Gran Turismo surprises with sincere drama and depth. These aren't cookie-cutter characters going through the motions. Jann's tumultuous relationship with his father is mirrored with Jack. Their lack of initial support pushes Jann harder. He's not overconfident but clearly understands where failure leads. Jack's harsh persona mellows as Jann begins to display significant ability. He becomes a dedicated mentor who sees that Jann does belong and has earned his chance. This could have been sappy and contrived but feels honest.

There's also another factor, as Danny worries about Jann's reserved personality. A subplot has him supporting other more outgoing competitors. Jack refuses to let GT Academy become a popularity contest. He doesn't care who's the most handsome or TV ready. Jann's the best racer and deserves their support. There's a sense of triumph when all the doubters get behind Jann, but he faces new obstacles from cutthroat professional drivers.

Racing and car films have been utterly disappointing as of late. Fast X had me laughing out loud from its utter absurdity. Gran Turismo reflects the source material's ethos by taking the experience seriously. The greatest compliment is that it serves the target audience and neophytes alike. Fans of the game are going to be overjoyed. Those who've never held a Playstation controller can also watch and be thoroughly entertained. Gran Turismo aims for realism and accomplishes that goal on all fronts.

Gran Turismo is a production of Columbia Pictures, PlayStation Productions, and 2.0 Entertainment. It will be released theatrically in the US on August 25th from Sony Pictures . You can watch the trailer below.

Gran Turismo

Based on the video game franchise and the true story surrounding it, Gran Turismo is a film adaptation arriving in 2023 from PlayStation Productions. The story will center around a teenage Gran Turismo player whose consistent winning streak in the games put him through a series of Nissan competitions, where he eventually became a real-life professional driver.

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‘Gran Turismo’ Review: Neill Blomkamp Dares to Redefine What Video Game Commercials Can Be

Christian zilko.

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After taking on apartheid and economic inequality with “District 9” and “Elysium,” Neill Blomkamp was finally prepared to make a film about the world’s most oppressed social class: gamers.

It’s also a thrilling retelling of one of the craziest stories in recent sports history, shot with the level of skillful spectacle that the source material demands. Blomkamp might have directed the best 90-minute sports movie of the decade — it’s just a shame that “Gran Turismo” is nearly two and a half hours. Related Stories The Cast of ‘The Luckiest Man in America’ Are Betting Big on This Biographical Game Show Thriller — and It Pays Off in Spades Florence Pugh Shaved Her Head for ‘We Live in Time’ Because ‘You Shouldn’t Be Doing a Story Like This’ in a Bald Cap

For as long as he could remember, Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) wanted nothing more than to be a race car driver. But his working-class background proved an insurmountable barrier to entering the sport, which typically requires access to fast cars and expensive tracks from a young age to achieve real success. He only had one window into the racing world to keep his dream alive: “Gran Turismo.” The popular PlayStation game, which launched in 1997, offers gamers a hyper-realistic driving simulator that allows them to explore the nuances of specific cars and iconic tracks like Le Mans. The attention to detail is so great that many racing enthusiasts believed a serious study of the game could be a foundation for an actual racing career.

Against his family’s wishes, Jann heads to the academy to seek his fortune. But he quickly begins to bristle with his classmates and Jack Salter (David Harbour), a washed up former driver who has reluctantly agreed to oversee the program in one last attempt to return to racing glory. As he attempts to break Jann’s spirit to shape him into an elite driver, the young “Gran Turismo” enthusiast begins to realize that the entire racing world is rooting against him. Everyone from fans and announcers to his own coaches and mechanics believe that “sim racers” have no business competing against traditional drivers. It becomes clear that Jann has to go to battle for a cause that’s much bigger than himself: convincing the world that pretending to drive a car is the same thing as driving a car.

This would all be a lot less confusing if Blomkamp had done us the courtesy of turning in something mediocre. But “Gran Turismo” is what happens when talented filmmakers take on ridiculous projects and do a great job. Cinephiles used to have the luxury of knowing that the art and craft of filmmaking were somewhat linked — studios would always make shameless cash grabs, but at least you could assume that they’d hire bad directors and hamstring them with bad notes. But “Gran Turismo” is proof that great craftsmanship can occur in artistically barren settings.

With every CPG brand trying to turn itself into a trendy content studio at the same time that our best auteurs struggle to find funding for original projects, there could be many more movies like this on the horizon. Imagine if Damien Chazelle makes another criminally misunderstood flop and has to helm Mattel’s UNO movie to get out of directing jail. His playfully frenetic camera could whip from player to player as they draw cards in perfect time with a bouncy Justin Hurwitz score. You’d be watching elite filmmaking, even within the confines of something utterly uninspired.

A Sony Pictures release, “Gran Turismo” opens in select theaters on Friday, August 11 before expanding nationwide on Friday, August 25.

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Gran turismo.

Common Sense Says
Parents Say 22 Reviews
Kids Say 18 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Intense crashes in exhilarating game-based racing flick.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 11+?

Based on the popular video game franchise, the movie doubles as an ad for the ga

Several intense car crashes, including a first-person point of view from inside

Language includes "a--holes," "bitch," "bulls--t," "goddamn," "pr--ks," a use of

A crush. A kiss.

Reference to champagne being "for winners." Until that happens, characters drink

Any Positive Content?

Jann is a positive role model who's a great example of perseverance. He knows hi

Success requires conviction and commitment. A quote on a sign in the background

Main character Jann (British-born actor Archie Madekwe, who's of Nigerian and Sw

Products & Purchases

Based on the popular video game franchise , the movie doubles as an ad for the game, and the story acknowledges that the creation of the GT Academy was a marketing stunt. And, true to professional racing, brand names are seen everywhere, particularly those associated with cars (such as Michelin) and alcohol (Moet-Chandon in particular). Expensive sports cars like Porsche, Ferrari, and McLaren are treated with high esteem; Porsche gets so much positive attention that it's likely product placement. The most mentioned brand is Nissan, the car company sponsoring the GT Academy.

Violence & Scariness

Several intense car crashes, including a first-person point of view from inside the vehicle. Reference to the (real-life) death of a person who isn't introduced on-screen.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language includes "a--holes," "bitch," "bulls--t," "goddamn," "pr--ks," a use of "f--k," and the abbreviation "NFW." After Jann's first race, a person off camera can be heard congratulating him by saying "you broke your cherry." "Jesus Christ!" and "God!" are used as exclamations or to express disbelief.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Reference to champagne being "for winners." Until that happens, characters drink beer.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Role Models

Jann is a positive role model who's a great example of perseverance. He knows his passion and sticks to his goals. Humble and polite, he puts in hard work, believes in himself, respects and listens to his coach, and knows himself well enough to know how he can remain calm and focused. Chief engineer Jeff Salton demonstrates integrity, even if doing the right thing means that he might not achieve his goal.

Positive Messages

Success requires conviction and commitment. A quote on a sign in the background sums it up: "The winner ain't the one with the fastest car, it's the one who refuses to lose." Teamwork is important.

Diverse Representations

Main character Jann (British-born actor Archie Madekwe, who's of Nigerian and Swiss descent) and his brother are biracial, and their loving, present father is played by Black actor Djimon Hounsou, who was born in Benin and grew up in France. Finalists at GT Academy come from all over the world and are diverse in terms of gender and race, including characters of South Asian, East Asian, and Latino descent. Gran Turismo video game creator Kazunori Yamucki is Japanese, as are the Nissan executives. Jann's hometown friend is Indian English. While most of the primary filmmakers are White men, three are of Asian descent.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Parents need to know that Gran Turismo is director Neill Blomkamp 's exciting, fact-based action drama about gamer-turned-professional race car driver Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe). While kids might use Jann's story to counter parental arguments against playing tons of video games, he's clearly a positive role model: He exemplifies perseverance, gratitude, and humility. Expect to see intense crashes on the race track, including some scenes shown from a first-person point of view. Brand names (especially cars and alcohol) are everywhere, and champagne is positioned as a drink for winners. Characters kiss and use strong language ("bulls--t," "goddamn," a use of "f--k it," etc.). There's a strong message about success requiring commitment, and watching the movie's events unfold might help kids believe that, with conviction, even their loftiest dream could come true. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Three Gran Turismo main characters standing behind two race cars

Parent and Kid Reviews

Parents say (22)
Kids say (18)

Based on 22 parent reviews

Gran Turismo high speed fun!

Overall good movie, what's the story.

Avid gamer Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) dreams of driving real race cars. His fantasy moves into reality when he takes first place in a Gran Turismo game tournament. Motorsport marketing executive Danny Moore ( Orlando Bloom ) designed the competition to find the best couch-surfing gamers from around the world and turn them into top-ranking professional race car drivers. Unfortunately, that's a feat that GT Academy racing coach ( David Harbour ) doubts is possible.

Is It Any Good?

A fist pump of aspiration, this fact-based biopic does laps around other sports movies -- at least, it will for teens who connect with the gaming aspect. Director Neill Blomkamp 's fans know that he's a master at elevating emotions, and in Gran Turismo, he delivers plenty -- including hope, disappointment, fluttery feelings of love, devastation, anticipation, trepidation, and the euphoria of unlikely success. What's more, leaning into the movie's gaming roots, he allows you to feel the experience as if it's happening to you.

Some of that experience -- just like watching a Formula One race in real life -- can occasionally drag (especially in the middle), but it's all a vital part of the process: The only way to get to the phenomenal, exciting ending is for the wheels to ride across every bit of road to get there. Jann encounters some serious real-life adversity that's likely to put the brakes on kids thinking of following his career path. (Parents may find themselves relating more to Jann's father, Steve, played by Djimon Hounsou , who's frustrated that his son spends all his time gaming and rides him to get a job.) But Jann's difficulties make the finish a knuckle-gnawer, fueled by a surge of adrenaline. You'll likely end the film feeling completely pumped, wondering what impossibility you can accomplish. Just wait to look up Jann's full story until a few days later, as some elements are fictionalized for the film.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how Gran Turismo compares to other sports movies you've seen. How true do you think it is to what happened in real life? Why might filmmakers decide to change the facts in movies based on true stories?

How can video game skills be adapted for use in the real world? Are there any games that have led you to pursue the game's activity offline?

How does Jann demonstrate perseverance , humility , and gratitude ? How does Jack Salton demonstrate integrity ? Why are these important character strengths?

Could Jann have succeeded without Jack? Could Jack have coached another gamer to the same level of success? Describe what worked for these two and why teamwork is a vital life skill.

What's your "impossible" dream? What would it take to make it real?

Movie Details

In theaters : August 25, 2023
On DVD or streaming : November 7, 2023
Cast : Archie Madekwe , David Harbour , Orlando Bloom
Director : Neill Blomkamp
Inclusion Information : Black actors
Studio : Columbia Pictures
Genre : Action/Adventure
Topics : Cars and Trucks , Great Boy Role Models
Character Strengths : Gratitude , Humility , Integrity , Perseverance , Teamwork
Run time : 135 minutes
MPAA rating : PG-13
MPAA explanation : intense action and some strong language
Award : Common Sense Selection
Last updated : August 18, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Gran Turismo doesn't quite crash and burn — but it's still barely a racing movie

Video game-inspired biopic is better than you'd expect, thought that's not saying much.

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Between every type of Formula One, motorcycle or even anthropomorphic talking car, there are really only two types of modern racing films — drastically different under the hood, even while sounding pretty much the same on the surface: racing movies, and movies about racing.

And while it might seem counterintuitive, the latter camp is usually worse off, simply for focusing on the thing we're all here for. Because outside of the somewhat routinely successful documentaries (like McLaren , Senna and Weekend of a Champion ) or older features (like Le Mans , which shows nearly 40 minutes of Steve McQueen driving before the first conversation even occurs) the modern movie objectively about racing is relatively rare — and usually not great.

Though franchises from Need for Speed to Fast and Furious , and even Death Race 's best-forgotten sequels truly do operate as clunky excuses to show how cool a car can be — they do so at the obvious expense of plot. And while focusing solely on what a good driver can do in a car may work in a documentary, filmmakers are usually aware that "driving fast" doesn't do much to build a meaningful narrative.

So looking at everything from Ford v. Ferrari , to Rush , to The World's Fastest Indian and even the bizarrely obscure Motorama or unnervingly proficient Talladega Nights , the actual racing in the other type is always an arbiter for something else — be it success, ego or the question of whether it really is true that if you ain't first, you're last .

That leaves Sony's Gran Turismo — the latest video game movie to tumble out of a particularly motivated ad executive's imagination — in a difficult spot.

Instead of being a great example of either type, a confused framing leaves it spinning its wheels. Obsessively advertised as being based on a true story, the biopic inspired by real-life racer Jann Mardenborough feels more than anything like a movie in search of an idea, instead of the other way around.

Beholden at every turn to uplifting and celebrating the video game brand bankrolling it, and operating more like a collage of aimless scenes awkwardly tying together the admittedly impressive driving itself, Gran Turismo is not wholly a racing movie, or a movie about racing.

Instead, it's a slightly overlong commercial that — while it far exceeds the disaster it could have been — stitches together tropes from other movies to get three-quarters of the way to their excitement and satisfaction.

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That said, Gran Turismo is exciting; it tells a good enough sports story, with alright performances that are hurt by messy, uninspired and disjointed themes. And like Mattel's Barbie before it, the admirable attempts of its director can't separate the end result from its origin: a corporate cash grab obviously created before any narrative raison d'être. Without that direction, it tries out, ditches and replaces motives and arcs before landing on the final shaky and underdeveloped one: esports vs. sports.

So even while Gran Turismo delivers RPMs, suspenseful photo finishes and more fiery crashes than a decade's worth of NASCAR races, there's a bit missing. It's a film about a studio that wants audiences to think it has a racing movie, or at least a movie about racing — when what it really has is a bit of intellectual property haphazardly shaped into the best approximation of a story anyone could really hope for.

Based on a true story

Still, the events it draws from are ostensibly movie magic: British teen Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekew) is at odds with his ex-soccer star dad Steve Mardenborough (Djimon Hounsou) over Jann's obsession with racing and the Gran Turismo video game — sorry, "racing simulator."

Motivated first by that conflict — of his desire to be a traditional racer and his father's disapproval, not directly with video games themselves — Jann soon gets a boon.

Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom), the film's apparent Lee Iacocca clone (the famous auto-exec played by Jon Bernthal in Ford v. Ferrari), simultaneously develops the genius idea of the GT Academy, a training program offering gamers from around the world a chance to become real drivers because … well, don't think too hard about it.

Elsewhere, ex racing phenom Jack Salter (David Harbour) is so fed up with working as mechanic and whipping boy to an entitled young driver that he quits and seeks redemption as GT Academy's driving instructor.

A man wearing race gear steps out onto a racetrack. Behind him are race cars and race crews.

It's a slew of differing motivations that don't work well together to do much beyond push the various events of Mardenborough's real life along, while dropping in recurrent and unironic lines emphasizing how realistic the Gran Turismo games are, how much the game means to young people, and even forcing in an outdated Sony MP3 player as a core plot element.

The movie weaves between these varying plots until they're all dropped at the academy itself, where a Rush -inspired rivalry between Never Have I Ever 's Darren Barnet and Jann is briefly started then unceremoniously forgotten.

Following a pivotal race result midway through the movie, essentially everything previously pushing the plot along has either been resolved or ignored. All of Jann's desires and conflicts have dried up, leaving the plot feeling like a meandering intermission until it's interrupted by an abrupt, new and unrelated goal to get everything going again.

Sim-racers vs. athletes

That lack of direction — of a central idea the on-screen racing should operate to expand — brings Gran Turismo almost entirely out of the realm of true racing movie. The only late-stage saving grace is the later-introduced idea of "sim-racers" intruding into the world of traditional athletes — though here too there's a stumble.

It's an interesting idea that, if it had been introduced from the beginning and actually meaningfully engaged with, could have elevated Gran Turismo .

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But instead of developing the argument through the characters' journeys, writers Jason Hall and Zach Baylin opt to have Salter repeat ten or twelve versions of the line "this isn't a game, this is real life," alongside a sexagenarian mechanic making a few jokes about joysticks and "noobs."

A man in a jacket and jeans stands amid other men wearing race gear on an outdoor race track.

Those failings are a shame, because director Neil Blomkamp clearly understood the artifice of a racing movie; the driving itself (helped by the real Jann Mardenborough operating as a stunt driver) is thrilling, and Harbour and Madekew's acting and chemistry works in spite of the saccharine Coach Carter dynamic.

It also works in spite of the fake, Gran Turismo game-inspired graphics that detract from any seriousness, and occasionally look like they'd be more at home in Grand Theft Auto. (Do any other Gran Turismo fans remember an indicator for "glazed breaks," or a medal for escaping the cops?)

Despite its hokey corporate origins, a racing movie always has the potential for greatness, and the truly great racing movie has yet to be made. But the allure to make one is still there for a reason — as it has been since the apparently apocryphal story of golden age film director Howard Hawks believing so deeply in audiences' affinity for speed, he pressured William Friedkin to include his famous chase in The French Connection (the story of which apparently came from an interview with Hawks himself in a book by Joseph McBride) .

Still, Gran Turismo does far better than you'd think from the doubly-cursed genres of video games and racing — though is it really an accomplishment if your car overheats, instead of bursting into flames? Either way, you're not going anywhere fast.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Senior Writer

Jackson Weaver is a reporter and film critic for CBC's entertainment news team in Toronto. You can reach him at [email protected].

Follow Jackson Weaver on Twitter

Gran Turismo 7 Comes to Delta!

Written By Simon Baggus
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September 4, 2024

Gran Turismo 7 is undeniably the most popular sim racing game on the planet, attracting hundreds of thousands of players daily and selling millions of copies worldwide. It’s also one of the most competitive, where the constant pursuit of optimal performance is key. Whether you’re grinding through licenses or competing in daily races, every moment on the track demands your best effort.

If you’re a C-rated driver striving to reach A, an A driver aiming for A+, or an A+ driver with your sights set on the GT World Series, the improvement journey has often been challenging. Until now, there has been a lack of accessible tools to help you boost your on-track performance.

Your Journey To A+ Starts Now

Get Quicker On Track Instantly

Unlike PC sim racers, who have long benefited from powerful tools to enhance their skills, Gran Turismo 7 players have been left without similar resources. This is where Coach Dave Delta for Gran Turismo changes the game. Starting today, you can access the same application PC drivers used to maximise their potential on the track.

Coach Dave Delta offers telemetry analysis on par with what professional motorsport teams use, including data on throttle input, braking, gear shifts, tyre pressures and more. This driving data can unlock the secrets to faster lap times and improved race performance. Gran Turismo players now have access to the same advanced tools that PC players have relied on for years. If you’re serious about getting the most out of your time on the track, Delta for Gran Turismo 7 is your key to success.

Powered By The Pro Drivers

We’ve had some of the top Gran Turismo talent help in the process of building Delta for GT7 with some familiar names you may recognise:

Igor Fraga – Gran Turismo World Series Champion
Martin Grady aka Tidgney – 10x World Series Finalist and GT7 Youtuber
Manuel Rodriguez aka ManuRodry – x2 World Series Finalist Podiums
Beauvois Baptiste aka TSUTSU – Nations Cup World Finalist, Manufacturers Series World Finalist and Olympic Virtual Series medalist

The input from these drivers has been invaluable, as the pro reference laps in Delta for GT7 come directly from them. This gives you an excellent platform to learn from by comparing your data with theirs. Study how the pros drive, and take your skills to the next level.

Reference Laps

At launch, Delta for Gran Turismo 7 will focus on the Gr.3 class, with Manuel Rodriguez and Beauvios Baptiste providing the data for 10 different Gr.3 cars on 22 different popular circuits used regularly. Going forward you’ll also see new laps added by Fraga, Rodriguez and Baptiste every week.

The Gr.3 Cars

Mercedes AMG GT3 20’
Porsche 911 RSR
Genesis X Gr.3
GR Supra 18’
GT-R Nismo GT3 18’
McLaren 650s
Honda NSX Gr.3
Lexus RC F 17’
Renault RS 01 Gr.3
Brands Hatch – Grand Prix
Broad Bean Raceway
Daytona Road Course
Laguna Seca
Nurburgring GP Layout
Nurburgring Nordschleife
Red Bull Ring
Road Atlanta
Spa-Francorchamps
Tsukuba Circuit
Watkins Glen – Long
Deep Forest Raceway
Dragon Trail – Gardens
Dragon Trail – Seaside
Grand Valley – Highway 1
Kyoto – Yamagiwa + Miyabi

Turn Data Into Faster Laps

For the first time, you’ll be able to pinpoint exactly why you’re slower than your competitors and where you’re losing lap time. With Delta for GT7, real-time data analysis tracks all your inputs, turning uncertainty into actionable insights to help you drive faster.

Gain valuable insights on how to go quick by comparing your driving against friends, competitors and professionals
Data from the pros – Instantly compare your laps against the best GT7 drivers in the world and discover where you can gain lap time
Go into granular detail with lap times, and the circuit conditions associated with your performance

Key Features

Tyres and fuel.

For the first time in Gran Turismo, you can precisely track how your tyres are performing on every lap of your race. You can also accurately assess your fuel-saving techniques like never before! You can monitor:

Tyre Pressures
Tyre Temperatures
Fuel Consumption

Racing lines

For the first time in Coach Dave Delta, you can compare your racing lines with your best laps, friends’ laps, or even professional drivers, helping you hit the apex consistently. You’ll be able to see:

Your racing line (solid) Vs the reference lap line (dotted)
Corner by Corner
Sector by Sector

This is an early version of the feature, and it will be enhanced in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for exciting updates!

Compare Against Friends

One of the most powerful things about Delta is all your telemetry data is shareable. You can export your laps and share them with other Delta users. While comparing your laps to the pro reference laps is extremely helpful, there may be times when a specific car/track combination isn’t covered by our pros.

That’s where Share & Compare comes in. Share your exported laps with friends or request reference laps from other Delta users to fill in the gaps.

Real-Time Tracking

All of the telemetry data that Delta is receiving is processed in real-time. This means that you can see the data graphs within the app responding to your inputs instantly. This means that you can view your data immediately and don’t have to wait until the end of a session to review your data.

Replay capture

This is a big one!! A game-changing feature for all. You can now capture any replay from any leaderboard, for any car and track, and Delta will record that data directly into the app. It’s this simple:

Have Delta open
Visit the time trial leaderboard
Find a time with a replay
Play Replay
Delta will detect sessions and record data
Use this as a reference lap

Features You Can’t Find Anywhere Else!

Delta for Gran Turismo 7 is not only user-friendly, requiring virtually no technical expertise to set up, but it also uses proprietary, custom-built technology that offers unique features you won’t find anywhere else. There’s truly nothing like it on the market, and we’re proud to deliver all this in a single app:

Real-time Telemetry
Track Detection
Sector Times
Stint Tracking
Session Saving
One-click Install process

Additionally, we offer extensive support through our Discord channel. There, you can access first-class assistance from the Coach Dave Delta team, find answers to frequently asked questions, and engage with the vibrant community of current Delta members.

How Does It Work

You might be wondering, “How can I get a PC product to work on the PlayStation?” It’s actually quite simple:

Install the app on any Windows PC or Laptop
Open the App
Make sure your PS5 is on the same network as your PC
Open Gran Turismo 7
Enter the track with your favourite car

And voilà! Delta will automatically recognise your console and that you are playing GT7, and you’re ready to go.

The only thing to keep in mind is that both your PC and PlayStation need to be connected to the internet on the same network.

How To Get Delta For Gran Turismo 7

The pricing for Delta on Gran Turismo 7 will be available as a standalone option, separate from the other Coach Dave Delta products. This is because Delta for GT7 is a unique product with features specific to that game. However, if you already have a Coach Dave Delta subscription and also race on GT7, you’ll get access to this at no additional cost as part of your existing package.

Individual Price For Delta For GT7

Monthly subscription Delta for GT7 will be priced at $4.99 per month
Annual subscription Delta for GT7 will be priced at $49 per year saving you 2 months on monthly cost

We are also giving new users who sign up for Delta to use with GT7 a 7-day free trial! Something we don’t do often so you should definitely make use of it!

Delta For GT7 Included For Full Delta Subscribers

Gran Turismo 7 is now part of our regular Coach Dave Delta subscription, available to those who own both a PC and a PlayStation. If you’re already a subscriber to Coach Dave Delta and enjoy racing on iRacing or Assetto Corsa Competizione (ACC) on either platform, you can now access Delta for GT7 at no additional cost.

Whether you’re an avid iRacer, an ACC enthusiast, or just like to mix in some Gran Turismo 7 on PlayStation, Delta is here to support your racing across all these platforms.

Start Your 7-Day Free Trial Today

Who’s Coach Dave?

I’m David Perel, founder of Coach Dave Academy. I’ve been behind the wheel since the original Gran Turismo and have been a member of GT Planet since 2003. In 2010, I attempted to qualify for GT Academy and used that experience to become a professional racing driver, competing at Le Mans in 2021 and 2022. I also contributed to the making of the Gran Turismo movie and have been in the tech industry for 20 years.

Without Gran Turismo, I wouldn’t be where I am today. My team and I, long-time fans of the game, have created Delta for Gran Turismo with deep respect for the impact it has had on both sim racing and real-world racing.

If you buy something from a Coach Dave link, we may earn a commission.

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Gran turismo (2023) review: the movie is shockingly fantastic! #granturismomovie #granturismo

Here is the review of the new gran Turismo movie! If ya enjoy the video make sure to like comment and subscribe

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Home Entertainment Reviews

‘Gran Turismo’ 4K UHD Blu-Ray Review – A Rousing Crowd-Pleaser That Upends Video Game Adaptations

By Dillon Gonzales
November 6, 2023
No Comments

Gran Turismo is based on the unbelievable true story of a team of unlikely underdogs – a struggling working-class gamer (Archie Madekwe), a failed former racecar driver (David Harbour), and an idealistic motorsport executive (Orlando Bloom). Together, they risk it all to take on the most elite sport in the world. Gran Turismo is an inspiring, thrilling, and action-packed story that proves that nothing is impossible when you’re fueled from within.

For in-depth thoughts on Gran Turismo , please see my colleague Liselotte Vanophem’s review from its original theatrical release here .

Video Quality

The 4K UHD Blu-Ray of Gran Turismo offers a welcome uptick in quality over the already terrific accompanying Blu-Ray, making it a standout disc. When you are dealing with one of the most consistent studios in the 4K UHD game, you can count on them to knock it out of the park with a brand-new film. The HDR/Dolby Vision enhances the colors from gorgeous to dazzling at every turn. The expanded range of the color spectrum will stun you. The cars might be the obvious star of the show, yet there are some deep colors within the clothing, lighting, and foliage of the environments that radiate off the screen. Skin tones appear even more natural with healthy doses of crisp detail apparent on faces such as pores and facial hair. This finely delineated detail extends to textures such as hair and even the most distinct ridges of costumes.

The highlights in the film are more firmly defined with whites perfectly pure and balanced with no instances of blooming to be found. Elements taking place in shadow or darkness are more substantial and finely delineated. Black levels in this presentation stay deep and inky with great detail. This disc also makes improvements when it comes to digital noise, nearly eradicating any trace that you find on the Blu-Ray. This 4K UHD presentation truly delivers on all fronts including strong gains in detail, clarity, and color. The Blu-Ray is great, but Sony has shown why the format is so beloved on this latest 4K release.

Audio Quality

This 4K UHD Blu-Ray provides a Dolby Atmos track that turns up the dial on the exciting DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track on the accompanying Blu-Ray. From the first roar of an engine, you can tell you are in good hands. The film utilizes nearly all of the surround speakers consistently during both the relatively subdued moments and the numerous thrilling race sequences. The low-end effects from the subwoofer give moments big and small a noticeable boost with the room responding appropriately.

Dialogue is clear without ever getting lost in the music or sound effects. The film satisfies when it comes to needle drops and the score as these tunes fill the room in an enveloping manner. The score from Lorne Balfe and Andrew Kawczynski adds a lot of personality and emotion to the project. Atmospheric sound effects are rendered appropriately within the mix so that directionality is never an issue. The implementation of the height channels is a treat that makes the film feel much more three-dimensional and immersive. Whenever the helicopter is flying overhead, you will be ducking for cover. You could not ask for better from Sony as this film delivers everything you could ask from a blockbuster feature.

Special Features

The Plan – The True Story of Jann Mardenborough: A six-minute look at the real-life inspiration for the film, the process of adapting his story for the screen, what this underdog tale means for various audiences, the use of simulators in training, and more.
The Engine – Driving The Visuals: A five-minute featurette that focuses on the authenticity in bringing this story to life, the directing style of Neill Blomkamp, creating a visually interesting palette, and more.
Deleted Scenes: Five unused scenes totaling 12 minutes are provided here including some drama at the academy, more moments with Jann’s family, and more. There are some entertaining sequences here that fans might want to check out.
The Wheels – The Fast-Acting Cast: A six-minute look at the talented ensemble assembled for this film, what each performer brings to their roles, and more.
The Pit Crew – The Action & Stunts: A six-minute piece that takes a look at the intense racing sequences in the film including the practical driving, the stunt drivers, and more.
The Garage – The Amazing Automobiles: A five-minute look at the fleet of racecars brought to this film, the different categories of cars, and more.

Final Thoughts

Gran Turismo is one of the pleasant surprises of the year. When it was announced that they were making a game based on the video game property, skepticism was at an all-time high as we let out an exasperated moan at the creative bankruptcy of Hollywood. Little did we know that there was actually a compelling story to be told here – a new way of considering what constitutes a video game adaptation. Not only is the story inspiring and thrilling, but it also gives director Neill Blomkamp a chance to remind people of why he seemed so promising all those years ago. His choice to film so much of this practically is key, and he gathers a group of performers that nail the material. This is prime Hollywood filmmaking executed correctly. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released a 4K UHD Blu-Ray featuring an amazing A/V presentation and a good assortment of special features. This is ready-made to be enjoyed by nearly any audience. Recommended

Gran Turismo will be available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray, and DVD on November 7, 2024. The film is currently available on Digital.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.

Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.

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COMMENTS

Official Discussion
Based on the unbelievable, inspiring true story of a team of underdogs - a struggling, working-class gamer, a failed former race car driver, and an idealistic motorsport exec - who risk it all to take on the most elite sport in the world. Director: Neill Blomkamp. Writers: Jason Hall, Zach Baylin, Alex Tse. Cast:
Neill Blomkamp's 'Gran Turismo' Review thread : r/movies
The film touches on many aspects of life, big and small, and Blomkamp keeps things running at a brisk clip. "Gran Turismo" is what happens when talented filmmakers take on ridiculous projects and do a great job. This is a simulation of cinema, with scarcely a human fingerprint anywhere on its chassis.
I just saw the Gran Turismo movie at an early showing. Here ...
The movie was DEFINITELY an advertising piece for Sony and GT. Lots of "blah blah, GT is the most accurate simulator in the world". As good as GT7 is, we all know there are much more accurate simulators out there (I.e. iRacing).
Gran Turismo Movie Review
Posted: Aug 9, 2023 11:50 am. Gran Turismo plays in select theaters beginning August 11, before opening wide August 25. Gran Turismo is a slick, watchable hunk of cross-promotional pablum - a ...
Gran Turismo movie review & film summary (2023)
Advertisement. "Gran Turismo" is an uncommon yet familiar biopic, a video game-inspired narrative with unique strengths and recurrent weaknesses. For one, as Mardenborough likes to say, the property the film takes inspiration from isn't a game; it's a simulator. Players can customize vehicles to startling specific details through a ...
Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story
Teresa W Not a gamer, but the show was entertaining. Rated 2/5 Stars • Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/02/24 Full Review Karla Good Sunday movie, had fun and intense moments. Rated 3.5/5 Stars ...
Gran Turismo
Gran Turismo is a piece of salesmanship that never stops selling — the movie constantly reminds us how much the real races resemble the accurate simulation of the game, and even the Sony Walkman gets a fair amount of screen time — but the vroom-vroom of it all delivers enough adrenaline and character-building to make this a solidly entertaining piece of late-summer cinema.
'Gran Turismo' Review: Orlando Bloom and David Harbour in Neill
'Gran Turismo' Review: Orlando Bloom and David Harbour in Neill Blomkamp's Dynamic Race Car Movie. Archie Madekwe co-stars alongside Djimon Hounsou and Geri Halliwell Horner in this feature ...
Gran Turismo (film)
Gran Turismo [a] is a 2023 American biographical sports drama film directed by Neill Blomkamp from a screenplay by Jason Hall and Zach Baylin.Produced by Columbia Pictures, PlayStation Productions, and 2.0 Entertainment, it is based on the racing simulation video game series of the same name developed by Polyphony Digital.It depicts a highly sensationalized account of real life British ...
The gran turismo movie was surprisingly good : r/granturismo
The gran turismo movie was surprisingly good. I just saw it today, I was honestly expecting a lot of cringe based on the trailer, but it was surprisingly good. The acting was really good (they carried it so hard, very talented actors) the story was good, the camerawork was fun to look at. I especially liked when they would have shots inside the ...
Gran Turismo movie review: we watched it so you really don't have to
A youngster from the mean streets of Tokyo elbows his way through the street scene until he earns enough money to buy a Ford GT. Once he's completed his International B licence, of course, in ...
Gran Turismo review: A real-life gamer-to-racer story veers ...
Gran Turismo is a fictionalized account of the rise of Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), a British teen who dreamed of being a racing driver as he played racing games in his bedroom, then made ...
Gran Turismo: Movie Review
Despite a predictable structure, Neill Blomkamp's Gran Turismo entertains thanks to some dazzling racing sequences and good supporting performances from David Harbour and Orlando Bloom. *This review of the movie Gran Turismo was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike ...
Movie Review: 'Gran Turismo' movie drifts into cliches and video game
Movie Review: 'Gran Turismo' movie drifts into cliches and video game aesthetics. In 2006, a Nissan marketing executive had a truly insane idea to create a competition and an "academy" to turn gamers into race car drivers. Darren Cox saw an untapped market of potential car-buyers in Gran Turismo enthusiasts - the popular PlayStation ...
Gran Turismo Review
Gran Turismo is a production of Columbia Pictures, PlayStation Productions, and 2.0 Entertainment. It will be released theatrically in the US on August 25th from Sony Pictures . You can watch the ...
'Gran Turismo' Review: Neill Blomkamp Video Game Movie Is a Mixed Bag
Blomkamp might have directed the best 90-minute sports movie of the decade — it's just a shame that "Gran Turismo" is nearly two and a half hours. For as long as he could remember, Jann ...
I watched the Gran Turismo movie today, AMA! : r/granturismo
The movie is directly about the game franchise. I don't know if you saw the trailer but the basic premise is that people who were really good at playing Gran Turismo were invited to attend a GT Academy so they could have a go at racing irl for team Nissan, and it's based on a true story.
Gran Turismo Movie Review
Based on 21 parent reviews. Zack K. Adult. August 13, 2023. age 10+. Gran Turismo high speed fun! Gran Turismo is a good underdog sports movie, based on the life of Jann Mardenborough. A gamer turned racer who went against his parents wishes to chase his dream. It's a good movie to take the family to.
Gran Turismo doesn't quite crash and burn
Elsewhere, ex racing phenom Jack Salter (David Harbour) is so fed up with working as mechanic and whipping boy to an entitled young driver that he quits and seeks redemption as GT Academy's ...
"Gran Turismo" Movie Review : r/granturismo
ScottieLK. • 3 mo. ago. Me and my girlfriend absolutely loved it. Catching another early showing this Friday with the friends we watch F1 with. 1. Reply. 185K subscribers in the granturismo community. A subreddit dedicated to the Gran Turismo series. Come here for news, discussion, speculation, and….
Gran Turismo 7 Comes to Delta!
Unlike PC sim racers, who have long benefited from powerful tools to enhance their skills, Gran Turismo 7 players have been left without similar resources. This is where Coach Dave Delta for Gran Turismo changes the game. Starting today, you can access the same application PC drivers used to maximise their potential on the track.
Gran turismo (2023) review: the movie is shockingly fantastic
Here is the review of the new gran Turismo movie! If ya enjoy the video make sure to like comment and subscribe Locked post. New comments cannot be posted. Share Sort by: ... On Reddit the hashtags don't do anymore so they're not required Reply reply more reply More replies. More replies. More replies. More replies. More replies
'Gran Turismo' 4K UHD Blu-Ray Review
The 4K UHD Blu-Ray of Gran Turismo offers a welcome uptick in quality over the already terrific accompanying Blu-Ray, making it a standout disc. When you are dealing with one of the most consistent studios in the 4K UHD game, you can count on them to knock it out of the park with a brand-new film. The HDR/Dolby Vision enhances the colors from ...

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