“Gran Turismo” (2023)
“This is not a video game. This is reality”.
“This is not a video game. This is reality”.
A “PlayStation Production” and following in the rich vein of cross-over fare from gaming console to the big screen, Gran Turismo joins last year’s Uncharted and this year’s television series The Last Of Us as the very best adaptations from the PlayStation realm and there are both many more you could add yourself, and there will be many more in the coming cinematic future too.
Directed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium, Chappie) and “based on a true story” of Jann Mardenborough and his meteoric rise within the world of motor racing after winning a Gran Turismo Academy competition and jumping from excelling at the console game to driving the cars, in competition, for real, this was everything I hoped it would be and my incredibly excited son gave it a comprehensive 10/10. The familial irony here is that my son is now the gamer I once was and yet doesn’t, and will never, play Gran Turismo (GT), yet his lapsed gamer for a father used to play GT to obsessive levels and to a degree I really shouldn’t admit to in polite public company! Being an early adopter of the PlayStation console, I played GT on the very first pop-up consoles of the late 1990’s as it replaced racing games such as Outrun and Colin McCrae Rally as my preferred driving game, before playing every subsequent release on either/all of the PlayStation consoles from the PS2 through to the PS4. I am very much a lapsed gamer these days but two decades ago, give me a rainy afternoon, some headphones and a plentiful supply of Radiohead to listen to, and I’d play this beauty all day long!
Music is a huge part of the film, perfectly reflecting back the role music plays in the game as well as accompanying the other unique touches and flourishes that have been transferred from console to cinema. David Harbour (Stranger Things) is his impeccable self as always as the gruff and grizzled ex driver turned technical coach “Jack Salter” with Archie Madekwe (Midsommar) excelling as the gamer turned race car driving prodigy “Jann Mardenborough”. Whereas the veteran is forever plugged into an old fashioned Sony Walkman and listening to the heavy metal of Black Sabbath, the young apprentice can be found listening and chilling to the calming music of Enya and Kenny G pre-race as we all indulge in the overall soundtrack highlighted by the inclusion of tracks from Iggy Pop and Bon Iver before Moby brings a very good film to a perfect musical conclusion.
Another excellent cross-over from the PlayStation gaming universe and onto the big cinema screen.
Load up on the popcorn! Highly recommended!
Thanks for reading. Linked below is my entire “Film” library together with three of my more recently published spoiler free film reviews:
“Wham!” (2023)
“Wham was never going to grow up!”medium.com
“Hypnotic” (2023)
“Well that’s some pretty impressive mind-reading”.medium.com
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 (2023)
“It really is good to have friends”.medium.com