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Top Gear Meets Top Gun in New F1 Movie Trailer
Directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer it should be no surprise that Brad Pitt’s F1 movie has a plot that’s pretty close to the billion-dollar blockbuster Top Gun Maverick.
A new trailer for F1 introduces Pitt’s Sonny Hayes as the wizened Sonny Hayes, brought in to mentor hotshot rookie Joshua Pearce, played by Damson Idris, at the struggling APXGP team by boss Ruben Cervantes (Xavier Bardem).
Hayes is billed as “The greatest there never was” after an accident at the height of his career over 30 years earlier. As he returns to the track he not only has to battle his rapid rookie teammate but also his personal demons.
Story aside, what the latest trailer reveals is just how good the racing action looks. That’s because for two seasons Formula 1 effectively had an extra team on the grid, as the film crew captured scenes around live race meetings, scheduling their own set pieces on track with the aid of the real-life teams.
APX GP’s cars were actually F2 machines, dressed to look like the latest Grand Prix racers and both Pitt and Idris had to learn to drive them at speed. All the action sequences are real, including a spectacular crash filmed at Brands Hatch, where the launch was so powerful it sent a car over the catch fencing. Where CGI is used, it’s only applied to re-skin actual F1 cars as APXGP.
For shooting pit stops the production team even built an electric race car that would reduce the risk for the actors, and some real race teams are now adopting the idea for drilling their own stops. Seven-time F1 champion Sir Lewis Hamilton gets a producer credit and was heavily involved in making the movie as authentic as possible.
The attention to detail throughout the film led to delays in production, extending filming into the 2024 season, and test screenings have just taken place in Hollywood. You’ll be able to see it in theaters this summer. In the meantime enjoy the latest trailer.
Looks like something that Mrs. Tinkerah and I could enjoy at an actual movie theater.
Does anyone make motorsports movies without “personal demons”?
You nailed it.
Is he a drunk and a lousy father but he is looking to make a redemption arc? That would be even more current day Hollywood.
Sonny Hayes? Could the overpaid screen writer think of anything less predictable? It may allegedly be about Formula 1 but it sure looks like the same tired old blockbuster movie formula that’s been done way too many times.
I’m disappointed that Brad Pitt seems to think he needs to follow in Tom Cruise’s footsteps by making a Top Gun movie (on tires instead of wings), but as I love open-wheel road racing, I’ll probably stoop to see it. I think Philip and paul ahead of me pretty much said what I’m feeling, but Tinkerah kinda did too…
From what I’ve read, the action sequences and racing footage should be better than recent racing-based films, but the box office demands it be more “Rush IV” than “LeMans II”.
I didn’t see Top Gun for the plot. I like action but I think I can wait to stream it.
Agree with all those above, however, most movies are formulaic by now… kinda like music, there is nothing new, just reworked melodies with different words. But just as the F1 Netfix series is predictable, I still watch those episodes and will likely see this in the theatre, with those great theatre seats that bump, grind and vibrate… yes, I am still talking about this F1 movie! …gutter minds… 😉
Reminds me of the movie Grand Prix with James Garner. I actually got to drive the car he had in the movie. However it was powered by a 1600cc four cylinder. They had to put two pillows behind me so I could reach the pedals, and I am 5’11”! That was at the James Russell driving school in Willow Springs in around 1968.