F1: The Movie 4K Ultra HD Review

THE MOVIE — 3¾/5

Plot Synopsis: In the 1990s, Sonny Hayes (BRAD PITT) was Formula 1’s most promising driver until an accident on the track nearly ended his career. Thirty years later, the owner Ruben Cervantes (JAVIER BARDEM) of a struggling Formula 1 team convinces Sonny to return to racing and become the best in the world. Driving alongside the team’s hotshot rookie Joshua Pearce (DAMSON IDRIS), Sonny soon learns that the road to redemption is not something you can travel alone.

Quick Hit Review: I’m not terribly familiar with F1 Formula Racing (or any racing for that matter) but I do know it’s a wildly popular sport around the world so seems like Hollywood tapped into the right sport given F1: The Movie managed to make $600M+ in worldwide box office.

This a rather entertaining sports-drama propelled both by the racing scenes and a solid cast, headlined by actor/producer Brad Pitt at his charmingly best alongside Damson Idris great as the young F1 driver, Javier Bardem who shares some great scenes with Pitt, and Kerry Condon giving the best for a thin role. The rest of the cast are quite good but beyond Pitt, the star attractions are the racing sequences.

Having seen this once before in the theater, I found it mostly entertaining with great racing sequences as captured by director Joseph Kosinski, utilizing much of the same technology that made Top Gun: Maverick so dang engaging. It’s a fun time even if probably 10-15 minutes could’ve been trimmed, mostly the romance aspect between Pitt and Condon.

In addition, the script from Ehren Kruger and Kosinski, there’s really nothing new in terms of the plot as it has very similar beats to other racing movies like Days of Thunder, Rush and even Driven.

Although F1: The Movie might not rank all that high in the sports-drama genre, it’s still a fun time and well worth checking out even if you know nothing of the sport, as even a second time around it still delivers.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 3½/5

This release comes with a matted slip cover and includes a Digital HD redemption code.

Inside F1: The Movie Table Read (5:10) is a brief look at the cast as they read through the script.

The Anatomy of a Crash (6:28) — This featurette takes us behind the scenes on how a crash sequence was filmed.

Getting Up to Speed (5:02) — Here we look at the filming of the training by the actors for racing.

APXGP Innovations (5:26) is on the comparison between F1 racing and moviemaking.

Making it to Silverstone (5:08) looks at filming at the Silverstone F1 race track.

Lewis Hamilton: Producer (5:18) is a profile on the veteran F1 race driver and making the film as authentic as possible.

APXGP Sets and Locations Around World (9:26) — This featurette delves into the worldwide locations and production designs.

APXGP and F1: How it Was Filmed (5:45) — Has more behind-the-scenes with real-life drivers meeting with the production team to get the story and characters right.

Sound of Speed (5:01) goes into the music by legendary Hans Zimmer.

VIDEO – 5/5

F1: The Movie comes racing onto 4K Ultra HD presented here with a gorgeous looking 2160p high-definition transfer and shown in the original theatrical 2.35 widescreen aspect ratio. Having actually seen this in theaters, I can say it does fairly closely represent the theatrical experience. Colors are generally bright and black levels well balanced while detail is sharp and the motion during the racing sequences are smooth never showing much choppiness or blur.

AUDIO – 4¾/5

The Dolby Atmos track is pretty incredible bringing the roar of the F1 cars to life with great depth and make usage of all channels, not to mention the score by Hans Zimmer, while dialogue levels was generally clean primarily from the center speaker.

OVERALL — 3¾/5

F1: The Movie might not break new ground in terms of the story but the action is well filmed and the performance by Brad Pitt reminds you just how charming he can be. Director Joseph Kosinski is on a hot streak with this and Top Gun: Maverick.