F1: The Moviehas been a massive success both critically and commercially, pulling in over $350 million across the world. The film is the most recent outing from acclaimed director Joseph Kosinski, whose previous hit feature was the Best Picture-nominatedTop Gun: Maverick. Now thatF1could also receive a Best Picture nomination, the director is receiving huge amounts of praise.
This has understandably led many tocompareF1toTop Gun: Maverick— but there’s actually another project that more closely resembles the high-octane storytelling ofF1.Both Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt are among the most popular and highest-earning actors of their generation,and their respective collaborations with Kosinski are reminiscent of another sports drama from the early ’90s.
F1’s Comparisons To Tony Scott’s Sports Drama Are Well-Deserved
The comparisons may be primarily betweenF1andTop Gun: Maverick, butthe more accurate correlation for Pitt’s new action movie is with Tony Scott’sDays of Thunder.Released in 1990,Days of Thunderfollows Tom Cruise’s lead, a professional racing driver who strikes up a friendship with his competitor and later enters a heated rivalry with a newcomer on the track.
The movie has plenty of thematic similarities toF1,from the cost of ambition to the bonding nature of sports. Kosinski’s fierce, dynamic action scenes inF1are also very reminiscent of the way Scott filmedDays of Thunder, with plenty of exciting practical effects and on-location set pieces. This, in turn, has sparked many comparisons between Scott and Kosinski as filmmakers.
These parallels are further strengthened by the fact thatScott was the director of the originalTop Gun, before Kosinski came along to direct the sequel. There are clearly plenty of similarities between these directors, which will likely only become more evident whenKosinski returns withTop Gun 3in a few years.
However, it’s Brad Pitt who’s the star of the show inF1,and the movie gives him plenty of scene-stealing moments that are very reminiscent of Cruise’s performance inDays of Thunder.The pair previously crossed paths on 1994’sInterview with the Vampire, but Cruise and Pitt surprisingly haven’t worked together since then, despite their careers following very similar high-profile trajectories.
Both Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt are well-known as actors who can adapt swiftly to any genre, from studio comedies to action blockbusters, butF1is a lot more high-octane than anything Pitt has done before. In the same way thatDays of Thunderhelped introduce Cruise to the sports/action genre,F1is achieving a similar feat for Pitt — further proving just how similar these two projects are.
Days of Thunder
Cast
Days of Thunder, directed by Tony Scott, stars Tom Cruise as Cole Trickle, a young and talented race car driver entering the high-stakes world of NASCAR. The 1990 film follows Trickle’s journey as he forms a pivotal partnership with legendary crew chief Harry Hogge, portrayed by Robert Duvall. Together, they navigate the competitive circuit, facing fierce rivalries and personal challenges in their pursuit of victory.
