TheGran Turismomovie was a huge success. It prompted the world to look at gamers in a different way by telling the true story of Jann Mardenborough, who managed to go from playing theGran Turismoracing simulator to winning a reality show competition designed to give the best players of the game a chance at becoming real racing drivers.
The movie has proven itself hugely popular, even if some criticshaven’t found it fully up to scratch. What’s more, there are plenty of secrets that some viewers could easily miss, but gaming fans will love. The best Easter eggs come in adaptations from video games, andGran Turismohad them in abundance.
7Jann’s Username
One of the most notable things early on in the movie, when the majority video gaming occurs, is the appearance of the PlayStation console. This in itself is unsurprising and unremarkable, as Jann is qualifying for the huge race that could lead him to a place in the GT Academy. However, there is an interesting detail.
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Barely noticeable, in the top corner of the screen, is Jann’s PlayStation Network username. It just so happens that director Neill Blomkamp decided to use Jann Mardenborough’s real-life PSN username as the one that appears in the film, a fascinating extra detail to add.
6The Creator
One of the more obvious Easter Eggs, which is referenced multiple times in the early part of the film, regards the appearance of the actualGran Turismocreator, Kazunori Yamauchi. This famous game designer, who managed to solve a number of huge problems to createGran Turismoand make it as accurate a racing simulator as possible, actually appeared in the film.
After Jann makes multiple references to him, the young wannabe driver actually meets one of his heroes when he wins GT Academy and gets the opportunity to become a real race driver. Considering the point of the film is how accurateGran Turismois to real driving, it is a real positive for the film that they decided to place some significance on the creators and the huge feat they accomplished with the creation of the simulator,the originals even hold up to this day.
5The Cars
Though every racing movie features a variety of great cars, there are some specifics fromGran Turismothat make the choice of cars a fascinating set of Easter eggs. There are a number of cars that Jann uses over the course of the film, as he goes from novice race car driver to competing in the infamous Le Mans race.
Of these, a few, from the Porsche 911 GT3 to the Aston Martin Vintage GT12, are cars directly plucked from theGran Turismogame franchise. A huge variety of cars have been featured in the games over the years, but director Neill Blomkamp and others working on the film helped decide which should make the cut for the film. Some may even tease cars that may appear in the nextGran Turismogame,which is already possibly in development.
4The Video Game Feel
TheGran Turismomovie wanted to make the action feel much more like a video game than a regular racing movie. Trying to emulate the style of the game itself, much of the action uses camera angles that have been lifted straight from the game.
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This wasn’t so much an Easter egg as it was a stylistic choice by the director to try and create an experience that felt as close to the game as possible. While some video game adaptions set themselves apart from the original,Gran Turismotried to make itself a close comparison in terms of experience to what the simulator already provides. It was pretty easy to do, since the game already tries tomake everything as realistic as possible, especially the cars.
3The Rig
In addition to trying to make some of the action scenes in the film feel like a video game,Gran Turismoalso attempts to make the scenes where Jann is playing the video game as close as possible to reality and his life story. One example is the scene where Jann qualifies for the GT Academy race. In this scene, he is using a specific gaming rig that he custom-built.
While the rig that the real-life Jann Mardenborough actually used wasn’t used in the film, the filmmakers did speak with Mardenborough to get his input to create an exact copy of the rig that Mardenborough originally used. This rig was accurate enough that he managed to learn how to really drive through the simulator.
2The PlayStation Transitions
Neill Blomkamp didn’t shy away from frustrating Xbox Users with parts of his film. Despite the console battle over which gaming system is superior,Gran Turismohas always had itself firmly planted on the side of PlayStation,leading to it breaking a number of recordsas a franchise. Jann Mardenborough in real life played on PlayStation rather than Xbox, so this was used in the film.
During title cards and other transitions spread across the film, viewers can hear the sounds of a PlayStation turning on and other sound effects used on the platform. These sounds are common to gamers in the know, but they meant little to many regular cinema-goers. Again, this was a signal from Blomkamp himself that he wanted to make this movie for everyone, but a little more for gamers than others. Despite being a PlayStation brand for a long time,Gran Turismoiscurrently considering the possibility of a PC release.
1The Podium
The final reference in theGran Turismofilm is the ending. Jann and his team manage to achieve a podium finish in the Le Mans race, surpassing any expectations that anyone had for them, and getting their celebratory final moment.
While the celebrations look pretty much like what viewers would expect of real racing drivers at the end of a big race, there is something specific about the way they celebrate. The poses and champagne popping are all lifted almost exactly from theGran Turismogames. These scenes make an excellent final homage to the series that started it all,and that the film was similar to in many ways.
