The Gran Turismo movie 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 the Gran Turismo racing 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 critics haven'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, and Gran Turismo had them in abundance.
7 Jann’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.
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.
6 The 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 actual Gran Turismo creator, Kazunori Yamauchi. This famous game designer, who managed to solve a number of huge problems to create Gran Turismo and 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 accurate Gran Turismo is 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.
5 The Cars
Though every racing movie features a variety of great cars, there are some specifics from Gran Turismo that 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 the Gran Turismo game 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 next Gran Turismo game, which is already possibly in development.
4 The Video Game Feel
The Gran Turismo movie 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.
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 Turismo tried 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 to make everything as realistic as possible, especially the cars.
3 The Rig
In addition to trying to make some of the action scenes in the film feel like a video game, Gran Turismo also 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 in order 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.
2 The 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 Turismo has always had itself firmly planted on the side of PlayStation, leading to it breaking a number of records as 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 Turismo is currently considering the possibility of a PC release.
1 The Podium
The final reference in the Gran Turismo film 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 the Gran Turismo games. These scenes make an excellent final homage to the series that started it all, and that the film was similar to in many ways.