F1: The Movie (2025)

[spf781]

Saw this last night in IMAX. My ears are still ringing.

Very entertaining summer blockbuster. Predictable as all get out, but in the end that doesn't matter. It's there to entertain for 2.5 hours and it does that rather well.

This should make an ideal home theater demo when the UHD comes out in a few months.

[PhysicalMediaMaestro]

Originally Posted by spf781

Saw this last night in IMAX. My ears are still ringing.

Smart choice on your part. If they turn this movie into a motion simulator ride film (and I hope they do), would you ride it?

[BrandonJF]

I hope at some point the bar gets raised a bit. This shouldn't be hard. I get this movie wanted to try to avoid the standard template for these movies even though it still pretty much can't stop moving back towards it.

Really, it's still probably a 7/10 for me (so I guess I'm using that low bar I want to get rid of), but that didn't keep it from being a disappointment by the time the credits rolled. It's still pretty good and only managed to be disappointing to me because when it started it led me to believe it was going to easily be the best movie of the year, if not one of the best movies ever. Eventually, it's realized that we hit the shallow end of the character pool FAST. Which is fine. "Days of Thunder" isn't some complex character study, but it does manage to maintain a consistency and nails everything it tries to do. I wonder how many people will really realize some rush from the final race (I didn't).

Right near the start this movie so easily had me - that main title score starts up and I'm instantly thinkg "what is this?!" I was hooked immediately. I love Zimmer's "Days of Thunder" score - and it does a lot of heavy lifting - and I didn't even know he was scoring this. But, then again, it's possible he didn't, either, because after those main titles I don't recall that theme making a reappearance. There is likely way more song than score. For sure, the score does make some apperances here and there, but it's not heavily prominenent in races.

It was decided to let race announcers explain everything to the audience. Not a choice I would've made. It's weird. These race announcers really only focus on the two drivers we care about. There might as well not be anyone else racing, which is another.... choice.

[Show spoiler]No real "villain". I don't think it's necesary, but given how the run time is spent flipping our two leads back and forth.... At first, a rivalry seems to be at the center of this movie. A rivalry that lasts one race before Pitt goes from Maverick to a team player. So... that's solved? But, wait! The rivalry returns after Pitt runs the whole team, gives instructions to the other driver, the other driver doesn't follow them, crashes, then Pitt pulls him out of a burning car so now the other driver is.... mad at Pitt again? Rivalry reset! So, the movie is now building BACK to where it instantly got before over a plot point that doesn't make a ton of sense.

But, during races the focus is only on two guys on the same team. IMO, it ends up not working out because what is developed between the two just isn't strong enough or implemented well enough to payoff.

They add a villain pretty late in the movie (he's introduced earlier, but pops up near the end because it seems like they knew they needed SOMETHING else), but it's so cookie cutter and - like the race announcers - devoid of any subtlety.

The big ending race moment? A callback to a line thrown out late in the movie that I guess was supposed to be all that was needed to ring emotion out of the audience? It didn't work. They had a cool ending, then threw it away I can only guess because they thought giving the audience another lap around the track was worth more than a thrilling ending. If the emotion played like they hoped, ok, but you can't throw out this obvious BS line about Pitt's character seeking an elusive "flying" thrill while driving - which anyone who has seen a movie before knows that line is only there because they are going to call back to it in the final race - and let THAT be all the character work needed to pay this off 15 minutes later.

[spf781]

Originally Posted by PhysicalMediaMaestro

Smart choice on your part. If they turn this movie into a motion simulator ride film (and I hope they do), would you ride it?

Definitely.

[Zivouhr]

I like movies that stay focused on the main theme, in this case, F1 racing. What is not as enjoyable to watch is when a movie steers far away from the theme and has the character doing something totally unrelated, like going to a bar, singing and dancing, playing the piano for several minutes and spending a lot of time doing nothing related to the movie's main theme.

I'm thinking of Top Gun 1 during the non-flight scenes in the bar or something like that. I know a lot of people like that movie, but the sequel was an improvement on staying focused on Fighter Jets and the mission for the majority of the film despite the antics in the bar and the volleyball teamwork.
I guess in fairness Top Gun 1 was about his friends and girlfriend too, but I've seen movies like Twisters that includes those things yet always manages to keep the theme as the main focus, Tornadoes. Twisters is a good example of how to stay on topic for a movie.

I hope this F1 movie stays on track, no pun intended. Keep the characters focused on F1 cars and the race event, stuff like that. A brief scene in a dance club or bar is fine, but don't spend 20 to 30 minutes there and not even be talking about F1 or the racing events. Then a film loses me.

Looking forward to this. The trailers show lots of F1 scenes so I am expecting a lot of F1 racing action onscreen for much of the movie.

[PhysicalMediaMaestro]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

I like movies that stay focused on the main theme, in this case, F1 racing. What is not as enjoyable to watch is when a movie steers far away from the theme and has the character doing something totally unrelated, like going to a bar, singing and dancing, playing the piano for several minutes and spending a lot of time doing nothing related to the movie's main theme.

I'm thinking of Top Gun 1 during the non-flight scenes in the bar or something like that. I know a lot of people like that movie, but the sequel was an improvement on staying focused on Fighter Jets and the mission for the majority of the film despite the antics in the bar and the volleyball teamwork.
I guess in fairness Top Gun 1 was about his friends and girlfriend too, but I've seen movies like Twisters that includes those things yet always manages to keep the theme as the main focus, Tornadoes. Twisters is a good example of how to stay on topic for a movie.

I hope this F1 movie stays on track, no pun intended. Keep the characters focused on F1 cars and the race event, stuff like that. A brief scene in a dance club or bar is fine, but don't spend 20 to 30 minutes there and not even be talking about F1 or the racing events. Then a film loses me.

Looking forward to this. The trailers show lots of F1 scenes so I am expecting a lot of F1 racing action onscreen for much of the movie.

Yes, a lack of focus can kill a movie. The lack of focus in the 2012 film "Hotel Transylvania" killed the movie for me. There was too much going on, too many subplots and supporting characters that detracted too much from the three leads: Dracula, Mavis and Johnny. Thankfully, the 2015 sequel "Hotel Transylvania 2" had a much more focused storyline.

[jvonl]

Following up on a previous post, Pitt did get to test drive a 2023 McLaren MCL60 F1 car at COTA last Thursday, No lap times were given but he did post a top speed of 197 mph. Not too shabby, and he didn't wreck it. Well done...

[Pieter V]

F1® The Movie | Exclusive Interview | Filmed For IMAX® - YouTube

[Zivouhr]

That was good to see and a reminder the guy who directed Tron 2 was in charge of directing F1 here. Top Gun 2 too. Oblivion, etc.

He said everything was safe but that Brad Pitt was driving the car and during actual races with the real race F1 drivers too? If true, that's really cool.

[jvonl]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

That was good to see and a reminder the guy who directed Tron 2 was in charge of directing F1 here. Top Gun 2 too. Oblivion, etc.

He said everything was safe but that Brad Pitt was driving the car and during actual races with the real race F1 drivers too? If true, that's really cool.

Not in a million years. Filming was done at actual races, but not during actual race sessions. Spoiler: actors in baseball movies don't actually play in the World Series either.

[Techlet]

Correct. The cars lined up at the back of the starting grid and drove parts of the formation lap with the actual F1 cars (by pro drivers, not by the actors themselves).

Shots of the movie cars racing amongst the pack were pretty much all CGI assisted. Fans with good memories can probably tell which drivers/cars were painted out and replaced in certain scenes.

[RevolverOcelScott]

While absolutely nothing original, I was hooked from start to finish. IT follows a predictable formula, and definitely has a few eye rollingly-hollywood moments, but for 2.5 hours, it flew and I was thoroughly entertained. Soundtrack was great too. Will definitely be picking this one up on 4K.

7.5/10 (rounded to 4 stars for the poll)

[Martoto]

Well if races are anything to go by then about half of the run time should be the characters complaining about tyre temperatures, blue flags and lifting & coasting.

[RevolverOcelScott]

Originally Posted by Martoto

Well if races are anything to go by then about half of the run time should be the characters complaining about tyre temperatures, blue flags and lifting & coasting.

A little less than half

[Mephariel]

I just got back. Mostly love it. I do wish they expand more on Pearce's background. And cut some of the racing scene and do more interactions between the characters to grow them as a team. Overall, a thrilling movie. It was engaging start to finish despite its long run time.

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by jvonl

Not in a million years. Filming was done at actual races, but not during actual race sessions. Spoiler: actors in baseball movies don't actually play in the World Series either.

In the director interview above, he said real race car drivers were in the movie and agreed willingly to it. I thought that seemed unlikely. He didn't say clearly what he meant by drivers, so it could just be non-F1 racers and not the real pro F1 racers competing in official races.

As far as actors also winning championships, Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls did star in Space Jam 1, and also won 6 NBA Championships.

Originally Posted by Techlet

Correct. The cars lined up at the back of the starting grid and drove parts of the formation lap with the actual F1 cars (by pro drivers, not by the actors themselves).

Shots of the movie cars racing amongst the pack were pretty much all CGI assisted. Fans with good memories can probably tell which drivers/cars were painted out and replaced in certain scenes.

Thanks. So it was only during the Formation practice lap, not the actual start of the race, that Pittt and the film crew drove the cars for those brief moments with real F1 racers, which makes sense as the F1 real world race should only consist of the competition, no distractions.

[cgpublic]

Screened in true IMAX with my family and a packed theater of fans — Pitt, F1, race, summertime blockbusters, yeah, everybody was there and loved it. As expected, it’s a Hollywood film and related formula with an F1 sheen, reality be dammed, no one cared, clapped, laughed, ooh’s and ahh’s.

Excellent technicals, cast led by Pitt is terrific, cameos were superb, wouldn’t be shocked if there’s a sequel and or Oscar nod(s).

[Zivouhr]

Formula One drivers and personnel

Although the film is set in the 2023 season, the drivers from the 2024 season are credited:[citation needed]

Max Verstappen, two-time[b] World Drivers' Champion from the Netherlands, driver for Red Bull Racing
Sergio Pérez from Mexico, driver for Red Bull Racing
Charles Leclerc from Monaco, driver for Ferrari
Carlos Sainz Jr. from Spain, driver for Ferrari
Oliver Bearman from the United Kingdom, driver for Ferrari and Haas
George Russell from the United Kingdom, driver for Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton, seven-time World Drivers' Champion from the United Kingdom, driver for Mercedes
Esteban Ocon from France, driver for Alpine
Pierre Gasly from France, driver for Alpine
Lando Norris from the United Kingdom, driver for McLaren
Oscar Piastri from Australia, driver for McLaren
Valtteri Bottas from Finland, driver for Alfa Romeo
Zhou Guanyu from China, driver for Alfa Romeo
Fernando Alonso, two-time World Drivers' Champion from Spain, driver for Aston Martin
Lance Stroll from Canada, driver for Aston Martin
Kevin Magnussen from Denmark, driver for Haas
Nico Hülkenberg from Germany, driver for Haas
Nyck de Vries from the Netherlands, driver for AlphaTauri[c]
Daniel Ricciardo from Australia, driver for AlphaTauri[d]
Yuki Tsunoda from Japan, driver for AlphaTauri[d]
Liam Lawson from New Zealand, driver for AlphaTauri[d]
Alexander Albon from Thailand, driver for Williams
Logan Sargeant from the United States, driver for Williams
Franco Colapinto from Argentina, driver for Williams

Formula One personnel that appear in the film include:

Stefano Domenicali, CEO of Formula One Group
Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren
Christian Horner, team principal and CEO of Red Bull Racing
Guenther Steiner, team principal of Haas
Lawrence Stroll, owner of Aston Martin and father of Lance Stroll
Frédéric Vasseur, team principal of Scuderia Ferrari
James Vowles, team principal of Williams
Toto Wolff, team principal, CEO and co-owner of Mercedes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F1_(film)

Okay, that is pretty cool then. Real F1 drivers from official races were in this movie. I thought that's what they said, just not during actual real races understandably to comply with official rules of F1 and just for no distractions for the sake of a filming movie.

[bluearth]

Sonny Hayes doesn't quite have the appeal Ken Miles had in Ford vs Ferrari. I think the difference is Miles had a family in his film. A family that he was racing for, someone in the movie he was really closely connected to that he protected, and who could cheer for him.

Hayes is too much of a lone wolf here. His

[Show spoiler]relationship with the team engineer is too little too late

. There's nobody in the movie who

[Show spoiler]he really developed a close connection with.

In Ford vs Ferrari Ken Miles had his family and Carroll Shelby as people very close to him, good friends of him who gave the audience avatars in the film to share in Mile's triumphs and failures.

His relationship with Joshua Pearce

[Show spoiler]never progressed passed business partners.

And his relationship with Ruben was extremely shallow. Basically,

[Show spoiler] we needed him to have some really close connection to someone in the film and he didn't

Some subplots didn't have a good payoff. Like the

[Show spoiler]female tire changer. She should have been given a chance to make a bigger impact on a race then just doing her job without messing up

I was impressed by the accuracy of the racing shots. This is definitley a long way away from Days of Thunder where in a single race you'd see shots from 6 different tracks, or even Ford vs Ferrari which used California Motorspeedway as a substitute for Daytona, and much of the Le Mans track itself was inaccurate. Here, the tracks are all authentic, its something I haven't really seen in film since McQueen's Le Mans

I would kind of categorize this as a 'best worst movie'. Well made, well acted, directed, etc, but flat, primarily because the main character was too distant

3/5

[moe83]

Great movie, really enjoyed it. I gave it a 4, but it’s actually closer to a 4.5

Can’t wait to buy the 4K disc!