F1: The Movie

Sometimes a film lands at just the perfect time and you find yourself watching something where you hope and anticipate that it could have a big impact.

That much was true of Joseph Kosinski’s last blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick and somehow feels even more so with his latest: F1: The Movie.

Ghastly title aside (can we expect Fifa: The Movie or The Olympics: The Movie next or something?) this just feels, on the back of Drive To Survive and new interest and investment in the sport, that it could be a hit that pushes Formula 1 to another level.

Or it’ll spectacularly flop as it’s a two-and-a-half-hour film which will come out of cinemas and onto AppleTV+ shortly, what do I know?

If you’re a fan of F1, or sports movies, or blockbusters, or action, or Brad Pitt, or just well-made films, this an immensely enjoyable cinematic thrill ride that doesn’t feel like the corporate entity it largely is.

The incredible attention to detail and access to real life situations, being filmed at real races during the last two seasons, pretty much means no one can ever make a film about this sport again.

It absolutely feels real. You get flashes of the actual drivers, managers (hi Guenther) and paddock personalities (David Croft and Martin Bundle’s commentary feeling a little ‘videogame-y’ at times but quite efficiently shoehorns in some exposition and explanation for those uninitiated). Ted Kravitz is probably fuming that he was left out though.

The racing scenes are masterful, ingeniously edited and filmed with new little IMAX cameras which add a uniqueness to the experience.

Whilst certain moments are a little dramatised, the racing feels realistic, fast, chaotic and hugely immersive. You’ll find yourself ducking and pushing imaginary pedals with your feet whilst sat in your squishy cinema chair.

Strangely, for an ‘official’ film, quite a lot of the race strategy feels quite close to being flat out cheating in parts and there are a few ‘huh’ moments which somewhat stall the sense of immersiveness and take you out of the action.

Yes, we love a plucky underdog team and a rags-to-riches story but there’s some very odd choices and some clear ‘that wouldn’t happen’ moments to detract from all the realism.

It’s a dichotomy that ultimately stops this from being an all time great sports film and instead having to take a spot on the second tier. Don’t get me wrong, that in itself is an absolute miracle considering quite how far wrong this could have gone, but it’s a shame given just how good most of the movie is.

Huge amounts are absolute F1 porn for fans who will surely put this film on a yearly off-season rewatch like some sort of Christmas classic.

The chunky run time flies by and has clearly been edited dramatically down. In moments, you wonder if maybe a full TV series could have been a more interesting direction to go. Subplots and characters rather come and go and you sense that huge chunks of story have been left out.

Despite that, it’s brilliantly coherent and focusing on the two drivers at the heart of the piece is the right way to go, with a shoehorned in love story which feels pretty organic and genuine.

If you’re not a Formula 1 fan, maybe the run time and the whiff of ‘film by committee’ might put you off but, for any petrol heads out there, this is nigh on a miracle of an achievement.

Maybe not quite as good as it could have been as an entire piece but, during some of the racing sequences, this has to be seen to be believed.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️