4K Ultra HD Review: GRAN TURISMO

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Nov 08, 2023 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

19-year-old Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) has had a love of cars and car racing ever since he was a young boy. When he’s not working in a department store making enough money to buy the latest racing wheel, he’s in his bedroom or at the local internet cafe playing racing simulator Gran Turismo. He’s clocked in more hours on this game than many race car drivers have on the track across their whole career. It has given him a great understanding of how these race cars work and perform. He as aspirations of one day becoming a real race car driver, but he comes from a working class family in Cardiff, Wales. His father (Djimon Hounsou), who was a professional sports player for a short time, tries to encourage his son to explore something more realistic, like his younger brother Coby (Daniel Puig), who is a promising footballer. He doesn’t fully understand the passion that Jann has for driving, and scoffs it off as just a video game. However, one day Jann receives a message that will change his life—as one of the players with the fastest lap times in the U.K., he’s been invited to compete for a spot in GT Academy, which will take the best SIM racers in the world and train them to race real cars.

This contest is the brainchild of Nissan marking exec Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom). He believes that the 80 million Gran Turismo players are an untapped market. This contest could reignite the dream to drive in all of these other players when they see one of their own racing for real. Nissan is of course worried about the potential liability should these untrained racers get hurt, and insists that Danny have a certified chief engineer sign off that it’s safe in order to continue with contest. After receiving many rejections for the job, Danny finally contacts Jack Salter (David Harbour), a washed-up former racecar driver from Iowa who is now working as a mechanic for the pretentious young driver of the Capa racing team. He thinks Danny’s idea is ridiculous, but reluctantly agrees to the job, just to prove that it can’t be done—that a video game can’t teach someone how to drive a race car.

Jack puts the GT academy contestants through a rigorous physical and mental training regimen, never holding back as he tries to impart on these young SIM drivers that racing is a tough and dangerous job that very few people in the world can do. However, he sees great potential in Jann, and forms a bond with the young man. As Jann starts his new racing career, he finds that the other drivers and even his own pit crew see him as a bit of a joke. But Jack is by his side to help encourage Jann as he proves himself, and helps Jann avoid making the same mistakes he made in his own career.

What’s most incredible about Gran Turismo is that is is based on an actual true story—the real Jann Mardenborough even serves as the stunt driver for “himself”! The film is a great blend of character drama and non-stop heart-pumping racing. I’m not a racing fan in the slightest—I don’t understand how people can sit there and watch cars go around a track for hundreds of laps—but boy does this film make it exciting! The camera takes you inside the cars to give you the driver’s POV as he’s dangerously speeding around the track and avoiding all kinds of dangers. There are also sweeping overhead shots that follow the cars as they jockey for position on the track or try to box one another out. All the time you feel the roar and rumble of the engine, and the speed and tension. Assisting Jann via a headset is Jack, who’s been through this before. It’s almost like he’s been given a second chance to live his dream through this young man. The film follows Jann as he attempts to qualify for his FIA license so that he can continue to race, advancing through the ranks, getting a sense of both the perks and dangers of the job, and ultimately building to the grueling 24-hour Le Mans, which will test Jann both physically and emotionally.

While the adrenaline-fueled racing scenes add lots of excitement, the character drama adds more personal and emotional stakes to the film, causing the viewer to really get invested in these characters. You find yourself rooting for this young man to prove himself to all his naysayers, and for Jack to regain his confidence and self-worth.

I first saw this film in an IMAX theater, which was quite the experience, but Sony’s 4K release does an excellent job of bringing that same excitement home. The film is presented in the same 1.90:1 IMAX ratio, so the action really fills the screen. The picture looks pristine, especially on the brightly lit track. However, the level of detail remains excellent, even in the rainy, nighttime sequences of the Le Mans. No matter what the weather, you really feel like you are there on the track or behind the wheel, and it all looks stunning. The majority of the film’s racing is done practically, which helps to add to the authenticity and realism. However, CG effects are used to give a bit of the fun video game feel to some scenes, like adding overlays in the car and on the wide shots of the track, and adding text helping to identify the cars, places and laps. The audio track is phenomenal, capturing the roar of the engines and speeding cars—which you can really feel in the bass. The room is constantly filled with an immersive ambiance of the crowd or other speeding vehicles. As the national anthem opens the 24 Hours of Le Mans, you can hear the echo of the fans in the stands singing along to La Marseillaise. At times, Jann likes to calm himself down by listening to Kenny G or Enya, and the track does a nice job of muting out all of the other sounds as these come to the forefront.

Sony’s 4K release includes both a 4K disc and a Blu-ray disc, which are placed on either side of a standard 4K keepcase, which is housed in a glossy slipcover. The case also includes two inserts—the first providing instructions on how to redeem a 4K Movies Anywhere-compatible digital copy of the film, while the second contains a code to redeem for 750,000 CR (In-game Credit) to purchase the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 in Gran Turismo 7 featured in the movie. All of the bonus material resides on the Blu-ray disc, and consists of about 30 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes with the cast and crew as well as 5 deleted/extended scenes.

What’s Included:

Film: (2:14:16)

2160p / Widescreen 1.90:1
Dolby Vision / HDR10
Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible), English Audio Descriptive Service, French (Canadian) 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French (Canadian) Audio Descriptive Service, Korean 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Thai 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, French, Korean, Spanish, Thai

Blu-ray:

1080p / Widescreen 1.90:1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Audio Descriptive Service, French (Canadian) 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French (Canadian) Audio Descriptive Service, Korean 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Thai 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, French, Korean, Spanish, Thai

Digital (Limited time offer):

4K digital copy, redeemable via Movies Anywhere or Vudu

Extras:
With the exception of the Previews, all of the bonus material can only be found on the Blu-ray disc.

The Plan: The True Story of Jann Mardenborough (6:16)
The cast and filmmakers discuss the true story the film is based upon. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with the co-producer/stunt car driver Jann Mardenborough, director Neill Blomkamp, producer Doug Belgrad, racing advisor David Perel, and stars Archie Madekwe (“Jann Mardenborough”) & David Harbour (“Jack Salter”).
The Engine: Driving the Visuals (5:11)
The cast and filmmakers discuss the visual look of the film, using practical effects, the different cameras and drones used to capture the action, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director Neill Blomkamp, producer Asad Qizilbash, director of photography Jacques Jouffret, makeup department head Tracey Wells, costume designer Terry Anderson, and stars Archie Madekwe & Darren Barnet (“Matty Davis”).
Deleted Scenes (11:54)
Collection of 5 deleted/extended scenes. Play All, or select from:
- The Intensity of GT Academy (2:47)
  The competitors are interviewed on how they feel about the other competition, along with footage of them training.
- Who’s The Best Racer (1:48)
  Jack and Danny discuss the final six.
- Off To GT Academy (:55)
  Jann says goodbye to his family before heading off to GT Academy.
- Jann’s Homecoming (4:22)
  Jann goes apartment shopping and then takes his family out to dinner.
- Getting in The Zone (2:13)
  As Jann is driving in the rain, his comms cut out, so he drives by feel.
The Wheels: The Fast-Acting Cast (5:55)
The cast and filmmakers discuss the characters, the cast, and working with the actors. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director Neill Blomkamp, producers Asad Qizilbash & Doug Belgrad,
and stars Darren Barnet, Orlando Bloom (“Danny Moore”), David Harbour (“Jack Salter”), Djimon Hounsou (“Steve Mardenborough”), Geri Halliwell Horner (“Lesley Mardenborough”) & Archie Madekwe.
The Pit Crew: Action and Stunts (5:38)
The cast and crew discuss the racing stunts, the talented stunt drivers, the equipment, and filming process. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with producers Doug Belgrad & Asad Qizilbash, executive producer Matthew Hirsch, racing advisor David Perel, director Neill Blomkamp, co-producer/stunt car driver Jann Mardenborough, ands stars Archie Madekwe, David Harbour & Darren Barnet.
The Garage: The Amazing Automobiles (4:44)
The filmmakers discuss the real race cars used in the film. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with executive producer Matthew Hirsch, director Neill Blomkamp, producer Doug Belgrad & racing advisor David Perel.
Previews (7:42)
Trailers for 65, Insidious: The Red Door, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse play back-to-back.

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Film:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Highly Recommended

Gran Turismo is based off an amazingly true story, and works both as an exciting car racing movie, but also as an uplifting underdog drama. The cast is excellent, but the driving is even more impressive. As someone who has never played the game, and doesn’t watch racing in real life, I still found myself completely riveted and captivated by this movie. Sony’s 4K release looks and sounds phenomenal, transporting the viewer right onto the racetrack and into the middle of the action. The disc also includes some interesting behind-the-scenes bonus material and deleted scenes. This 4K release is a must own for any fan of the film, and highly recommended for anyone looking for an exciting and captivating drama.

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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… read more