Making a good racing movie is harder than it looks. The Fast & Furious franchise pivoted away from actual racing long ago, Gran Turismo was lackluster at best, and Ferrari barely made it off the starting block. The best recent racing film was Ford v Ferrari, but even that paled in comparison to Rush, which released over a decade ago, back in 2013. Finally, a new racing movie has breached the upper echelon of films, F1® The Movie.
Table of Contents
The Story
Coming from Joseph Kosinski and Ehren Kruger, the same director/writer duo of Top Gun: Maverick, F1® The Movie borrows just enough from the epic Tom Cruise sequel to get the racing down to near perfection, while still standing on its own. Throw in Brad Pitt as aging race car veteran Sonny Hayes, along with Javier Bardem as Ruben, owner of a failing racing team on the verge of collapse, and you have the makings for a near perfect storm.
Unlike many other racing films, there’s very little focus on the rival teams. Almost all of the character development was squarely pointed inward toward the struggling Apex Grand Prix team. There’s plenty of tension between old-timer Sonny Hayes, and rising star Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), as well as the team owner, and a few other members of the pit crew and operations. Keeping the story tight allows the audience time to really get to know these people, and care about what happens to them, which is often missed in modern filmmaking. However, it doesn’t allow for much of a rivalry with other teams or drivers, which feels like a slight miss when it comes to F1.
Racing Sequences
Top Gun: Maverick did a lot of things right, but one aspect of the film that surprised audiences was how Joseph Kosinski handled the cockpit camera work. Those same impressive shots are mimicked in F1® The Movie, completely immersing the audience in each of the pivotal races throughout the F1 season. You don’t even need to be an F1 fan to enjoy these sequences, as the tension is high throughout every race.
Adding to the racing sequences is a smidge of over-the-top story elements that wouldn’t feel foreign in one of the early Fast and Furious films. It’s not enough to take away the realism F1® The Movie presents, but it adds a layer of levity to the proceedings, and helps the audience bond with Sonny Hayes, as the aging driver does the same with his new Formula One team.
To make things even more realistic, the film employed actual Formula One drivers to make sure all of the racing was of the highest possible caliber. Two-time champion Max Verstappen, and a number of drivers from the Red Bull, Ferrari, Aston Martin, and other teams were all involved in driving the cars featured in the film. Couple this with the impressive camera work, and F1® The Movie is about as close to real F1 racing as any film is going to get.
The Rest
Hans Zimmer handles the score for F1® The Movie, and it certainly elevates the moving images on screen. Of note, he also scored the last great F1 movie, Rush. While the film is carried by Pitt, Bardem, Idris, and Kerry Condon (as APXGP technical director Kate McKenna), the rest of the APXGP racing team adds a bit to every scene, even in smaller roles.
The Final Verdict
F1® The Movie is easily the best racing film of the last decade. It doesn’t quite reach the dramatic heights of Rush, but so far it’s the best movie of the early summer season. This is one of Pitt’s best performances, disappearing into Sonny Hayes, while Damson Idris comes into his own just as rumors have begun circulating that he’s set to be Marvel’s new Black Panther. The Hans Zimmer score, real F1 drivers, and Top Gun: Maverick-like cockpit shots make F1® The Movie a must-see film this summer.
About F1® The Movie
Synopsis: Sonny Hayes, a Formula One driver who raced in the 1990s, has a severe crash which forces him to retire from Formula One and start racing in other disciplines, while working as a taxi driver. A Formula One team owner and friend, Ruben, contacts Hayes and asks him to come out of retirement to mentor rookie prodigy Joshua “Noah” Pearce for the Apex Grand Prix team (APXGP).
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Writers: Ehren Kruger, Joseph Kosinski
Cast: Brad Pitt, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem, Damson Idris, Sarah Niles, Tobias Menzies, Kim Bodnia, Samson Kayo
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 2 Hours, 35 Minutes
Releases: June 27, 2025
Bryan Dawson has been writing professionally since the age of 13. He started his career as a video game writer and has since worked for Random House, Prima Games, DirecTV, IGN, AOL, the British Government, and various other organizations. For GNN, Bryan taps into his passion for movies.
- Bryan Dawsonhttps://geeknewsnetwork.net/author/bdawson1/
- Bryan Dawsonhttps://geeknewsnetwork.net/author/bdawson1/
- Bryan Dawsonhttps://geeknewsnetwork.net/author/bdawson1/
- Bryan Dawsonhttps://geeknewsnetwork.net/author/bdawson1/
