Producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer have raised formula films to a science. Take a star -- it could be Beverly Hills cop Eddie Murphy, but here it's the producers' top gun, Tom Cruise -- mix in fast planes, bikes, cars or anything that makes a deafening noise, add a sexy woman, a few fights, a few laughs, a rock soundtrack (flashdance, what a feeling), and presto, you've got a critic-proof blockbuster.

It was Cruise, a racing enthusiast, who had the idea to make a film about a racing…