Get ready to put the pedal to the metal as one of the most acclaimed and popular racing games of all time speeds onto the big screen for the first time! Gran Turismo has arrived in New Zealand and is in cinemas now.
Directed by South African genre specialist Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium) and written by Jason Hall and Jack Braylin, Gran Turismo is based on the incredible true story of Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe). Back in 2011 he made the leap from video gamer to professional race driver when he beat out 90,000 other players in GT Academy, a reality show designed to give Gran Turismo fans a crack at the big leagues.
Now, if you’re a fan of middling but enjoyable ‘80s sc-fi, that premise will bring to mind 1984’s The Last Starfighter, in which a crash-hot arcade gamer was recruited to fight an intergalactic war. But that was fantasy, of course. This really happened.
Blomkamp certainly knows how to shoot an action scene, so the racing sequences should be top notch. And the cast is nothing to sneeze at: Djimon Hounsou and Geri Halliwell play Mardenborough’s parents; Stranger Things star David Harbour is on hand as his trainer, Jack Salter; while former elf Orlando Bloom is Nissan marketing maven Danny Moore, based on real life exec and GT Academy founder Darren Cox. And behind the scenes, the real Mardenborough is a co-producer and technical consultant, on the film and also doubled for Madekwe as a stunt driver.
All other considerations aside, this is the first video game adaptation that can be marketed as being based on a true story—and we’re suckers for an underdog story. Will the visceral thrills of the Gran Turismo gaming experience translate faithfully to the big screen? There’s only one way to find out, racing fans. Start your engines!
