Rewatchables Reference

• Bill: The opening scene – Sonny in a trailer, Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love' comes in, ice bath, 24 hours in Daytona with Shay Wigham. Also: the Abu Dhabi final race/flying scene, Sonny exploiting the rules to get JP in the top ten, JP crashes in the rain at Monza.
• CR: The Monza race – virtual safety car, rain coming in, the slingshot move in the rain spray. Also the British Grand Prix when Sonny doesn't start.
• Van: The 'flying' moment in the final race at Abu Dhabi. Also the diner reunion scene between Sonny and Ruben – 'you old son of a bitch, come here.'

• Bill: F1 having a major race in Las Vegas (could only have happened in the last two years); JP watching Sonny's 1993 accident on YouTube.
• Van: Making a movie like this about F1 at this particular point in F1's cultural moment.
• CR: F1 being internationally beloved and celeb-infested.

• Bill: Brad Pitt living in a trailer (iconic for him); in-race scoreboard graphic helpers that always let you know where you are in the race; asking diner waitresses for advice (undefeated); the old school opening credit sequence.
• CR: The introduction to Sonny as a guy listening to Led Zeppelin, doing his clothes at the laundromat – 'this is a dude out of step with modern times.' The overall technical filmmaking achievements.
• Van: The expensive licensed soundtrack (Led Zeppelin, Queen); Kerry Condon's character as a well-developed female role – 'I just think of CR meditationally watching this girl with a big pint.'

• Bill: The movie ends three times – should have stuck with the first ending (wins the race, walks off). The Baja coda was too much. Also: the 1993 flashback wig looks terrible – 'looks like he's wearing Wayne's World's the old Garth wig.'
• Van: Lewis Hamilton's beloved dog Roscoe is in the film but has since passed away – 'when you see him now, you think about how much that meant to Hamilton.'
• CR: Should have been more scenes of F1 drivers interacting with and commenting on the fictional reality of the movie.

• Bill: Clearly 'Whole Lotta Love' by Led Zeppelin – 'not only have we spent a lot of money on this movie, we got fucking Led Zeppelin.'
• CR: Also likes the Chris Stapleton song that plays over Sonny's first practice race when he joins the team.

• Van: JP's manager (Samson Kayo) – 'a nothing part' with no development. Even at the end when JP fires him, they haven't committed enough to make you care.
• Bill: Sonny is way too old to be an F1 driver. Looked it up: oldest F1 Grand Prix winner was Luigi Fagioli at 53 in 1951. Sonny would be 51-53 in this film. 'This would be like Jack Nicklaus winning the '86 Masters multiplied by seven.' Also: the poker game should have been way better.
• CR: Agrees Tobias Menzies/Peter Banning villain is in the movie too much and the villain turn feels 'completely wet.' 'I don't really think this movie needed that character.'

Bill: The aggressive English reporter Don Cavendish – 'he's like, I have cocaine, treating people like shit, asking crazy questions.'

• CR: Sonny winning Abu Dhabi, much like Maverick having to save everybody, is probably good for this movie but bad for the movie industry. 'It is kind of like a metaphor for baby boomers staying in their houses.' It's not good if these guys keep making movies where they say 'no, no, no, I win – thank you for your assistance.'
• Bill: I like racing movies 10 times more than actual racing. Also agrees: the better movie is if Damson wins and Sonny pays it forward.
• Van: Counters that they didn't do enough for Damson's character to make him winning satisfactory – 'I didn't go to the movie to watch Damson win.'

• Damson Idris was hired after passing the F1 driving test; no confirmed other contenders yet.
• Simone Ashley (Bridgerton) did promotional tour interviews and is in the movie as JP's love interest – then got entirely cut.
• Pitt was supposed to be in the original Ford vs. Ferrari predecessor 'Go Like Hell' with Tom Cruise, with Kosinski directing, but it fell apart.

• CR: Kim Bodnia (from Killing Eve) as Casper, the team principal. Also Will Merrick as the 'box box box' guy.
• Bill: The guy in the first scene (Shay Wigham) – but he's 'a graduated that guy,' too recognizable for one scene.
• Van's Dion Waiters pick: Shay Wigham – 'I could not understand why he showed up in the movie for one scene and then have 3 lines and then you never see him again.'

• Bruckheimer took a year to convince everyone to participate; promised everyone no villains.
• The trailer uses 'The Chain' by Fleetwood Mac, which F1 has used on BBC since 1978, but it's not in the movie.
• The crash ending Sonny's career was based on Martin Donnelly's 1990 Spanish Grand Prix crash; Donnelly advised on the film.
• Kosinski had over 5,000 hours of footage and two years to edit.
• Bernie Collins from Northern Ireland provided the inspiration for the Kerry Condon character.
• Sponsorships from brands brought in at least $40 million; cameras were the smallest ever made by Apple, operated by remote control.

• CR: F1 the sport and Joseph Kosinski – back-to-back with Maverick, 'those would be the huge movies.'
• Bill: Agrees on Kosinski. 'I think Maverick with this, that guy is now, yeah.' Also possibly Kerry Condon.
• Van: Could argue Kosinski, yeah.

• Bill: JP's car crash in slow motion – 'clear winner.'
• CR: Sonny taking the checkered flag with the fireworks going off – 'it gets my fucking heart going.'

• CR: Sonny would not be allowed to just fly to Abu Dhabi and race – 'you have to qualify.' It's a breach of F1 rules.
• Bill: A 30-hour flight in premium economy with a metal rod in his back, then racing immediately. Also: the clumsy pit crew member Jodie would have been fired 10 minutes into the movie. How does Sonny's van get to Las Vegas when he's been flying around with the crew?
• Van: Brad Pitt is a terrible movie runner – 'his running was bad. He's not Seagal level, but it was jarring.'
• Bill: The 1993 flashback wig – 'looks like he's wearing Garth's wig from 'Wayne's World'.' Also: the poker game should have been way better.

• Too soon to say, but probably sequel.
• CR: 90s prequel of Ruben and Sonny in the earlier days – Austin Butler as young Sonny.
• Van: F2 could possibly have more Damson and less Pitt.

• Van: 'Perfect movie for Spielberg' – 'this is essentially 'Jurassic Park' but with cars.'
• Bill: Would have liked Scorsese.
• CR: Spielberg.

Bill: The villain investor, Peter Banning (Tobias Menzies role). CR: 'There's no question.'

• Bill: Probably the editing.
• Van: The cinematography. CR: The cameras/cinematography, yeah.

• Van: The helmet – 'the helmet's good. Maybe the wreckage from one of the cars. What I wouldn't want is the fucking deck of cards – I don't like people who throw cards.'
• CR: Sonny's watch.
• Bill: The doctored racing magazine cover (framed). Also the trailer.

• Bill: 'It's never too late to not be the best that never was anymore.'
• CR: 'Create your own breaks.'
• Van: 'Dip your opinion of company in – it might work out.' (An office romance that worked.)

• CR: Grand Prix (1966, John Frankenheimer).
• Van: 'Days of Thunder' – 'my favorite racing movie before this.'
• Bill: Also 'Days of Thunder', because of the Bruckheimer connection.

• CR: Joseph Kosinski – 'I don't think the Russo brothers could have... there's you could fuck this movie up and he's the best.'
• Van: Was going Brad, but Kosinski is probably the answer – 'this means more for Kosinski than it does for Brad.'
• Bill: Brad Pitt – 'a little bit of a rocky last 10 years for Brad. Once Upon a Time pulled him out of it a little bit, but he needed one more. Now I feel like he's back and nobody talks about the off-the-field stuff with Brad.'