My experience with auto-racing movies has always been visceral.

After I saw “Grand Prix,” starring James Garner, at the Plaza Theater in Whitehall in 1966, I walked to the parking lot where I saw that the trunk of my dad’s Ford Galaxie had been bashed in by a hit-and-run, or better said, park-and-run, driver.

Fortunately, after I saw “F1: The Movie,” there was no damage to my vehicle in the parking lot at the AMC Center Valley 16.

The experience of seeing “F1: The Movie” is so realistic that it’s good that the film-makers added the appellation “The Movie” to the film’s title.

“F1: The Movie” has some of the most amazing auto-racing footage seen on the big screen since “Grand Prix” (1966).

“Grand Prix,” directed by John Frankenheimer, was a fictionalized account of the 1966 Formula One racing season. Filmed in Super Panavision 70 by cinematographer Lionel Lindon and presented in 70mm Cinerama in some theaters, “Grand Prix” was regarded as the gold standard for auto-racing films.

That laurel is now passed on to “F1: The Movie,” directed by Joseph Kosinski, and which is a fictionalized version of the 2023 Formula One racing season. “F1: The Movie” was filmed for IMAX by Claudio Miranda. I saw the film in the IMAX at AMC Center Valley 16.

“F1: The Movie” really does put the movie-goer in the driver’s seat. If you are an auto-racing fan, you will love this movie. The wheel-to-wheel action, the camera angles (many filmed with iPhone cameras or newly-designed Sony cameras), the two-second staccato editing, the road race turns thrills and straight-away competition is truly astounding.

The movie’s title “F1: The Movie,” which was produced by Apple Original Films, differentiates it from the Netflix documentary series, “Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” about the Formula One World Championship, which began in 2019 and continues with the 2025 season.

For those who haven’t seen “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” or are unfamiliar with Formula One racing, “F1: The Movie” is a crash course in the world of Formula One racing.

In “F1: The Movie,” Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) joins the Formula One racing team of Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), which has a rookie driver, Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris). The plan is for the experienced driver to mentor the new driver.

The two drivers, Sonny and Joshua, don’t get along on the racetrack or off the racetrack. This leads to spectacular ego clashes and racetrack crashes.

Sonny urges Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon), the racing team’s technical director, to modify the racing cars for more on-track combat.

Director Joseph Kosinski (director, “Top Gun: Maverick,” 2022) brings gladiatorial colosseum drama to the plotline. The main characters are not so much racing drivers as gods of motorsports.

Brad Pitt rises to the occasion with lead-foot realism as Sonny, a bull-headed old-school charger who drives through, between or around the competition with death-defying determination.

Brad Pitt brings a casual, rueful, sardonic sensibility to his persona. He doesn’t seem to care about anyone except himself. That image is softened in his scenes with Kerry Condon, who brings out the best, rather than the beast, in him.

Damson Idris as Joshua has a strong presence as the up-and-coming driver whose ego is also in overdrive.

The racing scenes at tracks around the world, including in Belgium, Mexico, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi, are augmented by a soundtrack by Hans Zimmer.

“F1: The Movie,” though formulaic in its plot, will keep your eyes riveted to the screen as modern-day knights in shining car armor zoom, zoom, zoom around the screen in the movie theater room. If you are a fan of F1, auto-racing, Brad Pitt and director Joseph Kosinski, don’t miss it.

“F1: The Movie,” MPAA rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned: Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13) for strong language and action; Genre: Motorsports, Drama; Run Time. Distributed by Warner Bros..

Credit Readers Anonymous: A scene during the end credits depicts Sonny (Brad Pitt) competing in the annual Baja1000 off-road race in California and Mexico.

At The Movies: “F1: The Movie” was seen in IMAX at AMC Center Valley 16.

Theatrical Movies Domestic Weekend Box Office, July 11 - 13: “Superman,” directed by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet as Clark Kent, Superman, did super numbers, opening at No. 1 with $122 million in 4,135 theaters, stopping the one-week No. 1 run in its tracks of “Jurassic World: Rebirth,” dropping one place to No. 2 with a still-strong $40 million in 4,324 theaters, $232.1 million, two weeks.

3. “F1: The Movie,” dropped one place, $13 million in 3,412 theaters, $136.1 million, three weeks. 4. “How to Train Your Dragon” dropped one place, $7.8 million in 3,285 theaters, $239.8 million, five weeks. 5. “Elio” dropped one place, $3.9 million in 2,730 theaters, $63.6 million, four weeks. 6. “28 Years Later” dropped one place, $2.7 million in 2,208 theaters, $65.7 million, four weeks. 7. “Lilo & Stitch” stayed in place, $2.7 million in 2,075 theaters, $414.5 million, eight weeks. 8. “Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning” stayed in place, $1.4 million in 1,132 theaters, $193.9 million, eight weeks. 9. “M3GAN 2.0” dropped three places, $1.3. million in 1,638 theaters, $22.3 million, three weeks. 10. “Materialists” dropped one place, $720,498 in 589 theaters, $35.1 million, five weeks.

Movie box office information from Box Office Mojo as of July 13 is subject to change.

Unreel, July 18:

“Smurfs,” PG: Chris Miller directs the voice talents of Rihanna, James Corden, Nick Offerman, Dan Levy, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Jimmy Kimmel, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingham, Alex Winter, Billie Lourd, Kurt Russell and John Goodman and the animation in the Action Fantasy film. Papa Smurf is kidnapped and must be rescued.

“I Know What You Did Last Summer,” R: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson directs Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Sarah Pidgeon, Billy Campbell, Tyriq Withers, Lola Tung, and Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt (who were in the original 1997 movie and its 1998 sequel) in the Slasher Horror film. Friends are terrorized by a stalker who knows about an incident from their past.

“Eddington,” R: Ari Aster directs Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone and Austin Butler in the Comedy Western. A standoff between a sheriff and a mayor takes place in Eddington, New Mexico.

“Saint Clare,” No MPAA rating: Mitzi Peirone directs Ryan Phillippe, Bella Thorne and Rebecca De Mornay in the Horror Thriller. A woman is haunted by voices that cause her to kill bad people.

Movie opening dates from Internet Movie Database as of July 13 are subject to change.

Three Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes