"If you miss a line in the game, you reset. If you miss it on the track, you could die."
"I'm sorry. Do you really think you're going to take a kid who plays video games in their bedroom, and you're going to strap them to a two-hundred-mile-an-hour rocket? It'll tear them to pieces."
— Jack Salter
Gran Turismo, also titled Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story in some countries, is a 2023 racing drama film based upon both the PlayStation video game series of the same name and a true story connected to the games. It is directed by Neill Blomkamp and stars David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Djimon Hounsou, and Archie Madekwe.
Madekwe plays Jann Mardenborough, a teenage gamer and fan of the Gran Turismo series who gets a chance to live the game when Polyphony Digital and Nissan sponsor a contest for players to become real racers.
The film was released on August 9, 2023 in some countries and was released in the US on August 25, 2023.
Previews: Sneak Peek
, Trailer 1, Trailer 2
Gran Turismo contains examples of:
- AM/FM Characterization:
- Salter loves to listen to old rock music (such as "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath is in his first scene) in his old Walkman, showing his role as the veteran mentor. The film also has a minor sub-plot of Jann noticing the old Walkman and deciding to get Jack the newest version of the device.
- "Songbird" by Kenny G and "Orinoco Flow" by Enya are Jann's relaxation music, and the closest he gets to Leitmotifs.
- Arc Words: Commit.
- Artistic License – History:
- Jann is shown playing Gran Turismo 7 at a gamer cafe prior to competing at GT Academy. In reality, GT7 was released in 2022, over a decade after Jann participated in GT Academy - largely due to a Setting Update in the story.
- The film portrays Jann as the first GT Academy winner. In reality, GT Academy had been held twice in previous years before Jann competed. There was also another winner later the same year.
- The film shows Jann winning the final race at GT Academy by inches, to the point that Danny suggests faking the results. In reality, Jann won by a whole eight seconds.
- The film portrays the Le Mans race as occurring after Jann's crash in Nürburgring. In reality, it was the other way around, and there was a two-year gap in between the events. Jann had also already competed in the Dubai 24 Hour Race before Le Mans, while in the film it's his first taste of endurance racing.
- Jann is shown driving a Ligier-Nissan DPi prototype at Le Mans. In reality, DPi cars were not legal at Le Mans, and Jann drove a Zytek Z11SN-Nissan LMP2 car instead.
- In the film, Jann's teammates at the 24 Hours of Le Mans are runners-up from his season of GT Academy. In reality, he competed with the winner of a previous season of the show and an older driver with no sim racing background. This is why only two members of the team have their real pictures shown during the Real-Person Epilogue. Both of his real teammates had already podiumed at Le Mans in previous years.
- In the film, Jann wins third overall at Le Mans by passing the third-place car on the final lap. In reality, Jann was in fourth place in class when he crossed the finish line, but a car ahead of him was disqualified after the race for an out-of-regulation gas tank, bumping Jann's team up to the podium.
- The characters of Danny Moore and Jack Salter are only loosely based on real people. Jann's real mentor on the show, Johnny Herbert, was one of three provided for the contestants. Herbert was not a mechanic who had washed out of racing due to his nerves but rather a successful Formula One veteran who was doing commentating work when he joined the show. Herbert also did not follow Jann into his professional racing career like Salter does in the film.
- Artistic License – Sports:
- The whole point of deviating from the most popular racing line is Awesome, but Impractical. Everyone follows this line for a reason as it is the fastest way to make a turn, and deviating from it would be slower at best, and throw you off the track at worst. So most of the overtakes Jann makes (both in-game and for real) are pretty much impossible to make, unless you have a much more powerful car, or a car with insane downforce.note
- The final turn of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is a right curve, but the actual Circuit de la Sarthe ends with a left-right chicane. Mostly due to the movie being not filmed on location but at the Hungaroring and to make the final overtake more cinematic.
- As Himself: A variation; while the real Jann Mardenborough doesn't act as himself, he does do the stunt driving for his own character.
- Back for the Finale: Jann's rivals at the GT Academy bow out of the plot after Jann wins the Academy final race, but Matty and Antonio return to be Jann's teammates for the final race at Le Mans and all of his old rivals come back to support him.
- Based on a True Story: Stated in the trailer and the trope name itself is even the film's subtitle in some regions. While technically a film of the game, the story is centered on the career of racing driver Jann Mardenborough, who competed in the Nissan GT Academy in 2011.
- The Big Race: Pretty much the entire premise of the movie. There are six races shown in the movie for several minutes:
- The GT Academy qualifying race taking place in Gran Turismo 7.
- The GT Academy final race.
- The first professional real-life race of Jann at the Red Bull Ring.
- The last-chance race of Jann at Dubai Autodrome.
- The race at Nürburgring, which is the major dramatic pivot point.
- The 24 hours of Le Mans, being the climax of the movie.
- Blood Sport: As with other similar stories, automobile racing is portrayed as an extremely dangerous sport that could very easily cost someone's life in seconds, which is the reason why GT Academy students have to undergo a tough training program to begin with just to become a racer. Despite the comparatively much better safety standards than racing in the old days, accidents could still happen, and any crash could still be fatal, and it does. Capa, Schulin, and Jann himself all end up crashing their cars at one point in the movie, with Jann's crash also killing a spectator as in real life. Jack's backstory also involved the death of his fellow driver, which shook him so much that he retired from the sport entirely.
- The Cameo: The real-life Kazunori Yamauchi cameos as a sushi chef during Jann's trip to Tokyo.
- Career-Ending Injury: Happened to Jack Salter in his prime with a crash that killed spectators and a fellow driver in the same fashion as Jann. Even though he wasn't physically harmed, he gave up on racing after that crash. He uses that experience to help Jann to deal with his own crash.
- Chekhov's Skill:
- As revealed during the night before the final GT Academy race, Jann listens to relaxing music such as Kenny G to help him sleep, or as does Jann in real-life, meditate before races. Jack takes notice of this prior to one of the races in the film. In the final stretch of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Jann is struggling from the trauma of his Nürburgring wreck, and Jack plays some of that music through his radio (via his new Walkman that Jann gave to him as a gift, which itself is a Chekhov's Gun), to get him to snap into it and get angry, which instantly helps.
- When Jann is practicing his skills to qualify for the GT Academy program, his father comes across his room and sees Jann driving outside of the highlighted race lines and queries him about it, to which Jann explains that everyone else always keeps following the designated lines, while he prefers to find his own line and tries it so he might drive faster. Jann ends up doing exactly this in the climatic 24 Hours of Le Mans race. He finds his own racing lines and manages to regain the positions he lost during a troubled pit stop in the final laps of the race.
- Composite Character: Jack Salter is a composite of a number of trainers who Jann encountered at the GT Academy.
- Cool Car: Quite a few of them, actually. Three of them are shown prominently:
- The Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3, used in the GT Academy and during the first professional races of Jann.
- A Lamborghini Huracán used by Jann's rival, Nick Capa, covered in a mostly golden livery.
- 3 Ligier-Nissan DPi Prototypes in the 24 hours of Le Mans, the former driven by Jann and the latter 2 driven by Capa and Schulin.
- In the intro, a young Kazunori Yamauchi is shown test-driving a first-generation Honda/Acura NSX against a Ford GT40 to gather data for his Gran Turismo simulator.
- Crazy Enough to Work: Danny's plan to find new drivers for Nissan through a video game. Then, at the end of the movie, take three drivers of the Academy to make them race in the 24 hours of Le Mans for a podium finish against the best endurance racers of the planet. Turns out, it actually worked.
- Darkest Hour: Jann after his crash at the Nürburgring, which caused the death of a spectator.
- Deadpan Snarker: Jack Salter is established as this in the trailer:Jack: (To a racer who has just crashed) You get extra points for that in the game?
- Defeat Means Friendship: At GT Academy, Jann finds himself at odds with Matty Davis, a rival driver who doesn't believe Jann has what it takes to be a real racer. After Jann beats him in the final graduation race, however, Matty takes the defeat gracefully. When he shows up later to be Jann's switch driver at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, Matty is shown to be very supportive of Jann and tells the latter not to blame himself for the crash at Nürburgring, and together with Jann and Antonio Cruz, they race as a team and achieve the 3rd place in the climatic race.
- Diegetic Switch: Jann and Jack love to play their music players loud.
- Down to the Last Play: Used three times, where:
- Jann wins the GT Academy qualifying race in the final straight line.
- Then when he wins the final GT Academy race in the final straight line.
- Then where he finishes 3rd at the 24 hours of Le Mans at the final turn.
- Everyone Has Standards: Federick Schulin may be one of the rival racers who gave Jann a hard time during the races, but even Jann is horrified when Schulin ends up in a fiery crash on the first lap of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and worries about him. Part of that is because Jann was in such a terrible crash himself not long ago as well, and Schulin's crash reminded him about it and sent him into a short Heroic BSoD until Jack managed to pull him back to his senses.
- Executive Meddling: In-Universe; after the final GT Academy race involving the five gamer drivers, Danny Moore initially pushes for Matty Davis to be the inaugural driver – although Jann Mardenborough bested him by a fraction of a second – largely because he feels Matty would be the better choice for publicity. Jack Salter insists on going with Jann.
- First Girl Wins: Audrey is introduced as Jann's love interest, but they aren't dating at the beginning of the movie. He then finally conquers her heart when he brings her in Tokyo.
- Foregone Conclusion: Those who know the true story of Jann Mardenborough knows that he wins GT Academy, finishes 3rd at the 24 hours of Le Mans and suffers from a spectator-killing crash at the Nürburgring. Note that in the movie, the crash happens before Le Mans when in real life it happened 2 years after.
- Freak Out: When Jann evades a crash in the 24 hours of Le Mans, reminding him of his own crash, causing a slight PTSD.
- Get Out!: Jann yells this at Jack while in the hospital after learning of his accidental killing of a spectator in the crash.
- Girl Next Door: Audrey, living in the same city as Jann.
- Gold-Colored Superiority: Capa, the hot-shot rich kid who serves as Jann's primary rival and Hate Sink, drives a gold Lamborghini.
- Graceful Loser: None of Jann's GT Academy classmates are anything less than delighted at his success, even though it means he beat them out for the spot on the Nissan team. Matty Davis and Antonio Cruz help him out later as shift drivers at Le Mans, while Leah Vega and Joo-Hwan Lee show up to support the trio.
- Hate Sink: Nicholas Capa, Jann's primary rival in the film. Salter characterizes him as a rich kid who effectively bought his career despite lacking the emotional maturity to succeed. He proves to be arrogant, hotheaded, and snobbish, criticizing GT Academy drivers as being beneath him even though Jann constantly proves that he has what it takes to race among the pros. Every time Jann makes a move to overtake him, Capa displays unsportsmanlike conduct by bumping or grinding on Jann's car and later gloating about it in the pits. He also pulls dangerous overtake moves to gain his position back that endanger both himself and other racers, something that he accuses Jann of doing. Not only that, after Jann's near-fatal crash at Nürburgring which killed a spectator, Capa uses this event to discredit Jann and the GT Academy project, almost getting the program shut down out of spite.
- Heroic BSoD: After Jann's near-fatal crash that gets him hospitalized, he very nearly gives up on racing.
- He's Back!: When Jann takes a drive on the Nürburgring after his crash, then when Jack remotivates him in the 24 hours of Le Mans with the help of some music.
- Hero of Another Story: Jann's GT Academy competitors and the teams that come in 1st and 2nd at Le Mans.
- I Coulda Been a Contender!: Happened to Jack Salter with his crash that pushed him to abandon racing.
- I Know Mortal Kombat: The trailer informs viewers of the premise: a guy who's really good at the racing game Gran Turismo is recruited to be an actual race car driver.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Jack Salter is a grumpy Cynical Mentor who initially doesn't believe that there's a chance in hell that the GT Academy trainees would become professional drivers and only takes the opportunity for the job partly to spite his former boss Capa and to prove Danny wrong. However, he gradually begins to change his mind upon seeing Jann's determination and in-depth knowledge of car tuning. When Jann successfully graduates GT Academy by taking first place in the final test, Jack becomes fully supportive of Jann for real and helps him to become a professional racer in whichever way he could.
- Kick the Dog: When Jack Salter tells Capa that his inability to control his emotions is holding back his career, Capa violently dresses Salter down, which proves to be the last straw that causes Jack to take up Danny's offer to become an instructor at GT Academy. From there on, Capa serves as the Hate Sink of the film.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After Capa spends the entire movie being a bully to Jaan Jaan knocks Capa of the podium at Le Mans on the final stretch
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: When Jack Salter is chewed out by Nicholas Capa for the last time at a fancy dinner, he accepts the offer from Danny Moore to train the players into racecar drivers.
- Mythology Gag:
- Throughout the movie, audio and visual elements from the Gran Turismo games (namely 7), and racing video games in general appear-on screen, perhaps to convey Jann's Tetris Effect from his time playing them, helping him focus and perform in his later real racing situations, such as positioning, track maps, optimal racing lines, and lap times. Humorously implemented during a chase scene involving him escaping cops that pulled him over. When he's celebrating, "Congratulations" and "Cop Avoidance (alongside a gold trophy)" messages appear, as if he completed a mission in a game.
- During the races, some sound effects from 7 are heard, such as the menu confirmation and exit sounds when Jann gains or loses a position in the race, the sound of dialogue text when the GT Academy students' names appear, and various instances of the iconic race countdown sound that's appeared in every game of the series.
- A few times, the exit sound from the PlayStation 5's menu can be heard.
- A brief shot in Jann's room depicts a stack of past Gran Turismo games on a shelf.
- The FaNaTiX song "Vroom," which was made specifically for Gran Turismo 7, is played in the car Jann drives on the way home from the party.
- A sample of "Moon Over the Castle", the theme song of the series, can be heard when Jann beats the qualifying race.
- Not a Game: In the trailer, Jack warns the players that while they can reset if they mess up in the game, they are racing for real and can actually die.
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Jann after his crash at Nürburgring, when he's in his Darkest Hour.
- Opposing Sports Team: Nicholas Capa and Federik Schulin are the only named rival racers (Although not on the same team), perfectly okay with attacking Jann's car and Capa tries to exploit Jann's accident to lead an "anti-virtual racer" movement and get Jann banned forever from racing. Capa also keeps insulting everybody he encounters.
- Parents as People: Jann's father Steve disapproves of Jann's desire to be a race car driver, feeling that his dream is unrealistic and dangerous. Right before Le Mans, he shows up to apologize, admits that he only wanted to protect Jann, mends fences with his son, and puts his full and open support behind him.
- Privileged Rival: Nicholas "Nick" Capa, who's the son of a very wealthy businessman and star pilot of the Capa Racing Team.
- Product Placement: Aside from the obvious, the film has a lot of Nissan and Sony product placement (with a minor subplot revolving around the Walkman).
- Post-Game Retaliation: When Jann gets angry at Nick Capa after the race, after the latter crashed at Dubai, when attempting a very dangerous overtaking maneuver on Jann.
- Precision F-Strike:
- When Nick Capa passes Jann after the latter has slowed down fighting a mental bout in the middle of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the former utters out-loud, "Bitch!"
- Towards the end of said race, when Danny and Jack are arguing with Jann over his own elected racing method that he's implemented prior in the movie, Jack realizes he trusts his driver protégé after all they've been through, and that it actually is the best idea in the end, promptly telling him so:Jack: FUCK it! Find your own line!
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: When Danny calls three GT Academy drivers to compete in the 24 hours of Le Mans, against the biggest endurance racers in a Crazy Enough to Work plan.
- Real-Person Epilogue: The epilogue of the film shows footage and pictures of the real Jann as well as a still shot of one of his teammates who podiumed with him at Le Mans.
- Rivals Team Up: GT Academy alumni Matty Davis and Antonio Cruz join Jann’s team for the 24 Hours Le Mans race.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Jann quits his forced job at the train station to compete in his qualifying race for the GT Academy.
- Second Place Is for Winners: This happens in the second part of the movie, where Jann must:
- Place 4th in a single race in a series of six.
- Finish 3rd at the 24 hours of Le Mans to secure his racing contract with Nissan.
- Setting Update: As the trailer shows, the film transposes Jann's story from the early 2010s to the present day (the 2020s), with the game used for the GT Academy changed to the most-recent-at-time-of-production Gran Turismo 7 as opposed to the then-current Gran Turismo 5.
- So Proud of You: Before the Le Mans race, Jann's father Steve makes a surprise visit, expressing regret for not being supportive of his racing aspirations. Jann reassures his father that he's proud to be his son, evident with the mascot of his father's football team on his racing helmet.
- Songs of Solace: Jann notably listens to "Songbird" and "Orinoco Flow" to help calm down before racing.
- Stern Teacher: Jack Salter makes no bones about how little faith he has in his charges, pushes them to their absolute limit, and cuts them from the program without hesitation or mercy. However, he only wants to keep them from getting themselves killed on the track, and Jann eventually earns his respect.
- "Take Your Child to Work Day" Plot: When Jann's dad takes him to a classification yard to show him the reality of life when "you have no plans".
- Training from Hell: What Jack Salter subjects the GT Academy trainees to, which is justified because professional racing really demands that kind of training to ensure the safety of the drivers and everyone else during the races. GT Academy trainees have only experienced driving behind the safety of a TV/computer screen, but real-life racing demands their physical finesse and mental fortitude as well. Half of the trainees got cut out from the program precisely because they couldn't keep up with Jack's rigorous training program, and the rest had to compete in a final graduation race to decide the sole winner.
- Training Montage: This happens at the GT Academy, showing the drivers to get in shape and trained to drive real race cars.
- Underdogs Never Lose:
- Jann always manages to reach his objectives barely, Down to the Last Play, even against all odds.
- Subverted in his first professional race at the Red Bull Ring where he was 4th in the last lap, before getting bumped by Nick Capa, causing him to finish 27th.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: There is a brief shot of a prospective racer throwing up on the grass from exhaustion while running laps.Jack: [sarcastically, in a manner of being mildly inconvenienced] ...you threw up on my lawn.
- Wham Episode: Jann's crash at the Nürburgring, causing the death of a spectator and putting him into his Darkest Hour.
- When It All Began: The intro of the movie shows how Gran Turismo was created from the mind of Kazunori Yamauchi and became the "Real Driving Simulator".
"I know this track. I've raced it a thousand times."
