My quick rating - 7.3/10. Formula 1 has never been my sport, but every now and then a racing movie comes along that makes me wonder if I’ve been missing something. F1: The Movie is definitely one of those. It kicks off with an absolute wall of sound, engines roaring, waves crashing, tires biting into asphalt, and the authenticity in the audio hits you immediately. Honestly, hearing this in IMAX might’ve rattled a few internal organs in the best possible way. When you spend $300 million on a racing movie, you expect your ears to get blown back a little.
It is classic Hollywood underdog fuel with Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), a once-legendary driver now retired and jaded in that effortlessly cool Pitt way, getting pulled back into the high-speed chaos to help a struggling Formula 1 team. Of course, he’s also tasked with mentoring the talented young hothead Joshua (Damson Idris), and even if you haven’t seen the trailer, you already know exactly how this dynamic works. If you’ve seen any Tom Cruise vehicle where he pilots something fast—planes, cars, probably a shopping cart at some point—you’ve basically seen the blueprint for the romantic and emotional beats here. But predictable doesn’t mean boring. There’s still plenty of fun in watching the pieces click into place.
What surprised me most is how well the pacing holds together. At 155 minutes, this thing could’ve dragged like a pit stop gone wrong, but it never does. The emotional story and the racing spectacle blend smoothly enough that neither ever hijacks the film. And the “stand up and cheer” moment, because yes, there is one, and you’ll know it when it hits, works even if you see it coming a lap in advance.
Since I was curious how a movie like this performed with the “actual” racing crowd, I checked BoxOfficeMojo mid-celebration. Worldwide? A massive $631,327,111. Domestic? A painful $189,527,111. For a film this expensive, that’s a rough split. Which is a shame, because it’s genuinely a solid piece of entertainment.
Credit where it’s due: Lucasfilm’s Skywalker Sound clearly didn’t half-step here. The audio is crisp, aggressive, and better than what most action movies settle for these days. Even as someone who doesn’t follow the sport, I could appreciate the sensory punch. Now, realism? Yeah, I’m pretty sure Sonny would’ve eaten a black flag or two with some of the stunts he pulls. Racing purists can probably write essays on that. But for viewers like me who aren’t keeping score on authenticity, it’s actually an advantage. I get to enjoy the thrills without dissecting the physics or rules.
F1: The Movie isn’t reinventing the genre, but it delivers polished, high-octane entertainment that goes down easier than expected. If Top Gun traded jets for carbon fiber and pit lanes, this would be it. And honestly? I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would.
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