The Gran Turismo games are racing simulations which try to emulate the appearance and performance of a large selection of vehicles. Unlike the other video game adaptations in development, the Gran Turismo movie will severely deviate away from the source material as the movie is supposed to tell the story of Jann Madenborough who became a race car driver by playing Gran Turismo video games. As it happens the film is now all set to mark its theatrical release this week after having a limited 4DX release last weekend.
Gran Turismo Full Plot Summary and Recap
As you might know the film has already had its red carpet premiere and thanks to that, we already have the full plot summary of the film. Gran Turismo has opened to a mixed critical reception and has an approval rating of 58% on Rotten Tomatoes with over 97 reviews so far. But the limited audience which has seen it so far has given it an audience score of 98%! So, it is definitely going to be one hell of a ride and if you want to experience it, knowing as little as possible, this article isn’t for you. The following section contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the film, so beware.
In 1997, Polyphony Digital founder and race car driver Kazunori Yamauchi developed the Gran Turismo video game in an effort to create the most realistic racing simulator. Danny Moore, Nissan’s UK marketing executive, travels to Tokyo to pitch the idea of GT Academy to the motorsport division of Nissan. They accept under the condition Moore hires someone experienced in racing to oversee the project and ensure the safety of all involved. He recruits Jack Salter – an American former racing driver turned mechanic – to be the trainer for the project. Salter is initially reluctant but agrees to the idea.
Meanwhile, Jann Mardenborough, a teenage gamer from Cardiff, Wales, is an avid player of the games and wants to become a racing driver. His father – a former professional football player – disapproves of Jann’s lack of realistic aspirations for himself. One day, while working at his retail job, he receives a text from his friend, telling him of the GT Academy competition that Jann has set one of the fastest qualifying times in Europe for. This means he is eligible to participate in a qualifying race where the winner earns a spot in the competition. Jann heads over to the gaming café where his friend works, watching a video informing him that the qualifying race will take place the following day.
The night before his race, his brother Coby convinces him to go to a social gathering where his crush Audrey will be attending, and they take their father’s car. Audrey asks Jann where he would like to go if he could pick anywhere in the world, to which Jann answers Tokyo as he would really like to meet Yamauchi. The police then arrive and the group leave in a hurry. On the way home with Jann driving, they have a minor collision which they are pulled over for. Determined to not miss his race, Jann drives away at speed and the police attempt to chase him. He manages to lose the police and drive home, only to be greeted by his father outside of their house.
The following day, Jann has been taken to work at a trainyard by his father in an attempt to instill some ambition and direction into him, warning him that this is where he ends up if he doesn’t go back to university. Jann leaves and hurries to the gaming café where the race is set to start, and he makes it just in time. He makes his way past his opponents, and manages to cross the line first which earns him qualification for the GT Academy camp. Before heading to the GT Academy camp, Jann’s father pleads with him to not go. He attempts to convince Jann that it isn’t safe, to which Jann rebukes him and claims he just disapproves of racing. He says he is taking the opportunity whether his father approves or not.
At the GT Academy camp, Salter puts all competitors through their paces in a variety of tests. The bottom placed drivers are eliminated from the competition, and Mardenborough faces elimination after he crashes into a tyre barrier with Salter in the car. Afterwards, he claims the brakes are glazed which Salter dismisses, believing him to be out of his depth. To his surprise, an experienced driver determines that Mardenborough was correct. Salter tells Mardenborough that he made it into the final five, with a ten lap race determining who wins the entire competition. Mardenborough starts fifth, but makes his way past his opponents and is second heading into the last lap.
He pulls alongside Matty Davis on the run up to the line and they finish in a near dead heat, with Moore believing Davis to have won. Replays determine Mardenborough has won, but Moore pulls Salter aside with him attempting to convince Salter that they should ignore the result and have Davis be declared the winner due to him being a more appropriate fit all-round for Nissan. Despite that, Mardenborough is declared the winner. He then travels with Salter and Moore to compete in his first ever car race. He’s told that if he can finish fourth in any of the races he’s competing in, it will earn him his racing licence and Nissan will offer a contract. Salter warns Mardenborough that the other competitors and his own pit crew will not respect him.
In the race, Mardenborough is overwhelmed by the environment, but manages to get into fourth position near the end of the race. An opponent named Nicholas Capa taps him into a spin in the last few corners, causing Jann to lose places and not earn his racing licence. He endures lowly finishes in his next races, making that all-important fourth place finish seem very difficult to achieve in the time he has left. Mardenborough travels to Dubai for his last chance to earn his licence. During the race, Capa is attempting to push Mardenborough into the barrier and also into another driver. Jann takes avoiding action and passes Capa with ease. When Capa attempts another pass, he crashes into a slower car and flips several times.
Despite Jann’s best efforts to dodge the debris, Capa’s wheel smashes into his windscreen and creates a big crack. Mardenborough pits but they determine the windscreen is structurally sound. Going back out onto the track, Mardenborough is able to get back into position and is contending for the fourth place finish. On the run-up to the line, he is level pegging with another driver and manages to finish fourth by a small margin. He angrily confronts Capa in the pitlane who attempts to justify his actions by claiming it was racing. Jann and Salter meet in a bar after the race, in which they discuss Salter’s racing past and his love of rock music. Before finding out what caused Salter to stop racing, Jann is met by two racing fans who ask for his autograph.
Travelling to Tokyo to sign the Nissan contract, Jann meets Yamauchi and has invited Audrey to go sightseeing. Jann buys Salter a present which he gifts to him at the Nürburgring Nordschleife before competing in a race. During the race, Salter has just called Mardenborough to pit for more fuel and fresh tyres. At the uphill Flugplatz corner, the front of Jann’s car lifts into the air causing the car to go up at near 90 degrees. The car then hits the barrier and is launched into a crowded spectator area before coming to settle on its roof. Jann’s parents watch on in horror whilst Salter and Moore attempt to rush over to get to Jann, who is being transported to an air ambulance.
Mardenborough wakes up in hospital with Salter and Moore by his bedside. He inquires as to what happened, Salter and Moore explain that the winds coupled with the lighter car caused the car to lift off the ground. Jann asks if anyone on the ground got hurt, to which Salter says that a spectator was killed. Despite their best efforts to assure him he wasn’t at fault, Jann breaks down in tears. Moore holds a press conference to declare that the team will comply with the investigation, whilst Salter is confronted by Capa who insinuates that they are to blame for the fatal incident. Mardenborough speaks to Audrey and his mother, both of whom attempt to comfort him whilst he expresses doubts as to whether he can continue racing. After Salter opens the present that Jann gifted to him, he knocks on his hotel room door and takes him back to where the collision occurred.
Salter opens up about an incident that took place during the 24 hours of Le Mans, where he was involved in an incident that took the life of another driver. He was told that it wasn’t his fault, but that he lost his nerve and never got back behind the wheel again. He tells Jann that whilst most people would walk away, he doesn’t believe Jann would do the same and tells him to get back behind the wheel as soon as he can before it’s too late. Salter hands the keys to the car over to Jann and tells him to finish the lap, resulting in Jann’s confidence to begin building up again. Mardenborough and Salter meet with Moore, who reports that the investigation has ruled out Jann for any wrongdoing.
However, Capa along with many other drivers and teams have launched independent enquiries and campaigns against the team, resulting in Nissan considering shutting down the entire program. Moore decides the best thing they can do is race in the 24 hours of Le Mans with an all-gamer team and finish in the top three finishing positions. Moore enlists Davis and fellow GT Academy participant Antonio Cruz to make up the three driver team alongside Mardenborough. On race day at Le Mans, Jann meets up with his father again who expresses regret for not being supportive of his racing aspirations, to which Jann claims he’s proud to be his son as he’s been wearing the mascot of his father’s former football team on his helmet.
When the race starts, Mardenborough is left shaken when another competitor’s car collides with a slower car, flips through the air and catches fire. After the subsequent safety car is called in, Jann begins slowing so Salter takes drastic measures to snap him out of his fear by playing music over the radio that Jann often listens to. Once he regroups, he gets stuck back in and after finishing his first stint, he then swaps out with Davis. Once Davis and Cruz take their turns driving the car, Jann gets back in the car and races through the night. The team are in a strong position when day breaks, but they call Cruz in early as he’s having severe cramps. Mardenborough is ready to go back out when a wheel nut gets loose, causing them to lose a position. Salter retrieves the bolt and gets it back on the car.
After leaving the pits and now in ninth place, Jann sets out trying to get places back. He tells Salter that the racing line isn’t optimal, ultimately convincing him that he needs to drive the track differently despite Moore attempting to intervene to tell him to not risk the car. After making up for lost ground, Mardenborough breaks the lap record at the Le Mans circuit. With only a lap to go, Capa is in third place but Mardenborough is catching him. It all culminates in the run up to the line, where Mardenborough just gets ahead at the line resulting in the team placing third on the podium. Jann arrives back in the pits greeted by Salter, Moore, his family, his team and Audrey before going up to the podium and drinking the champagne.
In the epilogue, the real Jann Mardenborough is shown having competed in over 200 races and served as his own stunt double in the movie. Gran Turismo will release in theatres near you on 25th August 2023.
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