Gran Turismo - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Gran Turismo



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
When I first saw the initial teaser for Gran Turismo my initial reaction was to compare it against Need For Speed with Aaron Paul. Meaning I expected it to be your typical video game to film translation with lots of dumb Fast and the Furious action, horrible dialog, and a campy script. Only thing was, I noticed Neil Blomkamp’s name as the director. Yes, that Neil Blomkamp. The South African director who was known for his cheeky sci-fi films like Elysium, District 9, and Chappie. Then I started hearing from just about everyone I knew who saw the theatrical run that it was the surprise hit of the year, and I HAD to see it. Digging deeper into the backstory I noticed that this was taken off an ACTUAL true story of a gamer turned actual GT racer, and that Jann Mardenborough was still racing today. So color me more than a bit excited and waiting for the Sony home video release became a thing of anticipation and preparation (Yes, I nerded out a bit and recalibrated my home audio system with REW to get the most out of this audio extravaganza in anticipation).

The sporting division of Nissan (Nismo) is noticing declining sales and poor responses to their line of cars over the years, and marketing agent Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom) makes a last ditch effort pitch to the heads of the Nissan corporation. His big idea is to try and tap into the gamers market using the game Gran Turismo as bait. The racing simulation is one of the best in it’s class, and Danny believes that he can use the game to weed out people who have actual talent behind the wheel. Hold a big tournament with the top winner being given a chance to race for REAL behind an actual GT race car.

Against all odds, the Nissan big wigs decide to give Danny’s idea a chance, as long as he can find an engineer willing to take on the risk of training these guys. Being that everyone and their mother thinks this is an INSANE idea, no engineer is willing to risk their career on a publicity stunt like this. Well, everyone except for Jack Salter (David Harbour), a washed up ex race car driver turned engineer, turned grease monkey who is schlubbing it with the Capo team. Well, enter in Jann Mardenbourough, a poor kid from Wales who has spent his entire teenage years behind the wheel of a Playstation. Jann soon rises to the top of the heap, making world headlines when he becomes the first sim racer to ever get his GT license, and soon, has a shot at actually making it as a professional racer.

Gran Turismo does the right thing here by not trying to be TOO much of an emotion jerker here. It plays the traditional tropes of having the underdog come up from behind and take the win, but Blomkamp doesn’t go full bore cliché and just have him win the big race at the end. It’s a slow and steady buildup of a kid who makes the transition from gamer, to race car newb, to full on race car driver in a methodical and realistic progression. Jann doesn’t suddenly win the world cup, kiss the girl on the nose, and drive off into the sunset, but neither is it some overly angsty attempt either. Everything feels very realistic from Jann’s problems during training, his barely squeaking his license in during his last race to qualify, and even his final race is not him winning the home game. HOWEVER, Gran Turismo strikes that balance between an underdog coming out on top and not being overly cliché so very well. Blompkamp focuses on the bond between Salter and Jann, watching the two blend together begrudgingly like oil and slightly oily water. Every achievement that Jann pulls off pulls the two closer together, and even the losses that he suffers only acts to cause the two men to form a real friendship.

I honestly thought that Orlando Bloom was going to be the standout character in the film judging by the first 10 minutes, and while he does great as the marketing nerd, it’s really David Harbour who steals the entire movie. Yes, even abvoe Archie Madekwe as Jann. David somehow becomes the hammer that drives Archie home, pushing their relationship to greater heights, and by the end I was more excited when Jack Salter was excited, rather than when Jann was. The movie itself is an inspiring drama that blends tons of car racing action in with a realistic underdog progression that resulted in me burning through 2 hours and 14 minutes of film before I even realized we were done.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for Intense Action and some strong language




Video:

Sadly we only got the Blu-ray instead of the 4K UHD release, but the 1080p disc looks incredible nonetheless. The obviously digital source is brilliantly shot, with a shiny and glossy super photo realistic veneer that simply sparkles with all of the daytime shots. Fine details are incredible, with the stubble on Jann’s face, to the individual bits of automobiles flying off cars during the races showing up pristine and clear as a bell. There were a few scenes where I felt the cameras gave a slightly soft look (such as background objects, or when Jann and Jack were looking at the new car Nissan sent them for the final race). Black levels are deep and inky, and outside of a few minor bits of banding (VERY minor, so brief you almost missed them) this is a spectacular looking disc.









Audio:

Sony is one of the few studios leaving the Atmos track for the 4K disc only, but the 5.1 DTS-HD MA track that they put on the Blu-ray sounds so good I’m not sure how the Atmos track is going to outdo it. This is a monster of a mix, and one that THRIVES off of the throbbing engines and roaring sound of automobiles on a race track. The dialog and the quieter, more more talky, bits of the film are still rather laid back, but every time Jann steps out onto the race track the entire mix just throbs with power. The subs are never without activity, just blasting the listener back into their seats with a non stop rumble of engines, and the nice accentuation of the score (including Jack listening to early classic Black Sabbath a good bit). This is a demo worthy track from beginning to end, and something us audiophiles are going to nerd out demoing to our friends for years to come.












Extras:

• Deleted & Extended Scenes
• The Engine: Driving the Visuals
• The Pit Crew: Action and Stunts
• The Garage: The Amazing Automobiles
• The Plan: The True Story of Jann Mardenborough
• The Wheels: The Fast-Acting Cast

Final Score:
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Gran Turismo has been the most fun I’ve had with a new release since probably Top Gun Maverick or Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse. It completely blindsided me (and it looks like most of the cinema world) and became one of the biggest surprise hit of the year for good reason. It’s a strikingly good under dog tale that doesn’t go too over the top, and features an incredibly intense group of actors that are obviously just loving every second of it (supposedly the real Jann Mardenborough was the stunt driver for his own character in the movie). The Blu-ray Sony sent us looks and sounds phenomenal, and the extras (while middling) still were worth a look just to see more of the real story behind the film. Highly recommended.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Archie Madekwe, Darren Barnet, Geri Halliwell Horner and Djimon Hounsou
Directed by: Neil Blomkamp
Written by: Jason Hall, Zach Baylin, Alex Tse
Aspect Ratio: 1.90:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DVS, Spanish, English, French DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, English, Spanish, French
Studio: Sony
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 91 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: November 7th, 2023

Recommendation: Great Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. My son along with a bunch of his buddies saw this movie and they all said it was very entertaining. I will check this out.

 

[JBrax]

Thanks for the review Mike! I’ll be giving this a spin based on your recommendation.