For the first time in years, barring the LotR and Hobbit, I went to watch I movie I wanted, not a family-oriented one, RomCom, or CGI talking animals. Of course, I don’t really like going to the cinema, so it’s not that strange.
I wanted to watch Rush because I’ve watched Formula 1 since 1978 and I knew the story completely. I told my wife to go with me, if she wanted, and said yes.
Really impressed by the quality of the acting, the writing, the photography. Even though my wife doesn’t really like car racing she was incredibly happy about the movie. The personality clash is very well played. The races, using some real cars and some replicas is incredibly convincing (rare for racing movies).
Although it’s not that important, the actors are incredibly similar to the real guys. The guy playing Clay Regazzoni has to be a clone.
Trying to get my daughters to go because they are big Chris Hemsworth fans because he’s so handsome. I don’t know how to break it to them that, compared with Hunt, he’s rather ordinary looking. It took me a long time to accept that he was a very good driver and that Lord Hesketh didn’t just hire him for his looks and because he was a Brit, though I think that was the party line at R&T back then. Y’see, Rob Walker just adored Lauda.
I dunno. That was the age when I first started dreading reading race reports because too often a favorite driver got killed or maimed. And even more often, almost every race it seemed, someone I hadn’t heard of died in practice. A crazy-dangerous sport back then, but it taught a boy important lessons in fatalism and that one shouldn’t invest any emotions in anybody because they could get snatched away at any moment, even in the full flower of youth.
I couldn’t wait to see this even though I have no interest in car racing, had never heard of either of these guys and didn’t know the story at all. I avoided reading anything about the movie, and I’d tune out the trailers when they played in the theater so I could come to the story fresh. I was enthralled, on the edge of my seat. It’s a hell of a story, worth telling and worth watching. Rush is a well-directed, well-written, well-shot, and well-acted film. I found it inspiring, exciting, funny, moving and tragic. It hasn’t done as well in America as it has in Europe, which isn’t surprising, but I hope it gets some awards attention and that more people see it.
It’s good to hear that the actors were so similar to the real men. I liked Chris Hemsworth a lot, admittedly he is the reason I couldn’t wait to see it, but Daniel Brühl was the one who really took a chance on several levels and did a great job. Brühl is not a household name, yet, but I think he might well be one of these days. He’s been in a lot of movies I’ve seen (John Rabe, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Edukators, The Countess and others) but so far his highest-profile role in America has been as the Nazi sniper “hero” Fredrick Zoller in Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, the one who takes a stalkery-like shine to Shoshanna and is the star of the movie-within-the-movie. He was like a mini-Hans Landa, aw-shucks and charming one moment, frightening and deadly the next. The kid’s going places.
Defintiely the best movie I’ve seen this year, although the accident recovery stuff was difficult to watch - there was a ‘hard as nails’ kind of guy in the audience when I saw it who suddenly felt the need to get fresh air during the lung vacuum-ing scenes!
I thought it was great. Bruhl was excellent - he rounded out Lauda’s rat/jerk character.
I was surprised that:
a) They didn’t show any direct Lauda/Hunt race sequences. Watching them both encounter a race situation where Lauda was careful and Hunt pushed it would’ve been interesting (yes, they did that with the fact that Lauda was more calculated in dealing with rainy conditions - I mean while actually racing)
b) Hunt’s wife (Olivia Wilde) had such a small role. I thought that story and that actor would be featured a bit more. Perhaps it was because Hemworth had better cleavage when he left his shirt unbuttoned all the way down
I closely followed the exploits of F1 of the period through Rob Walker’s dispatches in Road & Track, so I was majorly looking forward to this movie. Can’t say I was disappointed.
Overall the film remained reasonably close to the facts of that incredible racing season, but then the basic story is sufficiently amazing that not much embellishment would be necessary. I was glad to see that the vehicles and racing sequences were pretty much spot on, although for me the CGI enhancements in a number of scenes were a bit too obvious.
The main actors nailed their roles, particularly Bruhl, although it has been widely noted that the movie plays up the Hunt/Lauda rivalry to be rather more bitter than was actually the case. Also, I mean it as a compliment that the film seemed as though if could have been directed by a European rather an American - Howard did a great job of establishing time and place.
Best of the year? Don’t know, but it was pretty damn good.
Does anyone know if the scene where Hunt punches the journalist for asking that question to Lauda has any basis in reality? That was one of my favourite scenes!
Finally saw it this weekend with my wife, we both thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve only been following F1 for a couple of years (and my wife for about half that time), so while I knew the final outcome all of the details were new to me.
I’ve been fixated on the 'Ring for years, and due to Lauda’s history with the track (the wreck, and his record), Niki Lauda, as well.
Yes, it is a fantastic movie. I thought Brühl and the writer, Peter Morgan, both did particularly wonderful jobs. Lauda’s opening voice over was almost enough to bring me to tears. My only complaint was that the race in Japan was presented as a mess that you couldn’t see anything in. I realize that’s pretty much the view the driver gets, but am not sure having the whole scene that way was useful. When I compare the race footage in this movie to Grand Prix, it comes up a little short. Since every other racing movie comes up short when you compare their non-racing scenes to Rush, it certainly is a minor complaint. I’ll be buying a copy soon.
A movie that is so true to life that people complain about it! Japan '76 was a mess. What should Opie have done to convey that while giving the audience a better view?
I despise “the movies” and want to see this. (Haven’t been to a theater since I had to take my mom to “Dances with Wolves”. Which Sucked.) F1 fan for 30+ years.
But Goddammit, I hate CGI.
Maybe I’ll just get it from the library. Some day. I know who wins.
I think Howard had a difficult balancing act. He needed enough racing to satisfy us petrol-heads, but at the same time he needed a story for the non-fan.
He succeeded.
He could’ve made a more “racing” film and I would have loved it even more, but then he would’ve lost 75% of huis market and we can watch the races on youtube. Tyrrell P34 are funny looking.
The thing is that there isn’t a 0% CGI version of this movie that anyone wants to watch. That’s be a documentary that you’d watch on a couple of episodes with Burger King commercials in the middle.
Wath it, you’ll like it.
