Rush (2013)

The merciless 1970s rivalry between Formula One rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda.

Director:

Ron Howard

Writer:

Peter Morgan

Stars:

Daniel Brühl, Chris Hemsworth, Olivia Wilde

Top Rated Movies #205 | Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 6 wins & 63 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chris Hemsworth	...	James Hunt
Daniel Brühl	...	Niki Lauda
Olivia Wilde	...	Suzy Miller
Alexandra Maria Lara	...	Marlene Lauda
Pierfrancesco Favino	...	Clay Regazzoni
David Calder	...	Louis Stanley
Natalie Dormer	...	Nurse Gemma
Stephen Mangan	...	Alastair Caldwell
Christian McKay	...	Lord Hesketh
Alistair Petrie	...	Stirling Moss
Julian Rhind-Tutt	...	Anthony 'Bubbles' Horsley
Colin Stinton	...	Teddy Mayer
Jamie de Courcey	...	Harvey 'Doc' Postlethwaite
Augusto Dallara	...	Enzo Ferrari (as Augusto Dall'ara)
Ilario Calvo	...	Luca Di Montezemolo

Storyline

Set against the sexy, glamorous golden age of Formula 1 racing in the 1970s, the film is based on the true story of a great sporting rivalry between handsome English playboy James Hunt (Hemsworth), and his methodical, brilliant opponent, Austrian driver Niki Lauda (Bruhl). The story follows their distinctly different personal styles on and off the track, their loves and the astonishing 1976 season in which both drivers were willing to risk everything to become world champion in a sport with no margin for error: if you make a mistake, you die.

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Plot Keywords:

formula 1 | rivalry | 1970s | racecar driver | nurburgring germany | 

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Taglines:

Everyone's driven by something.

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Genres:

Action | Biography | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content, nudity, language, some disturbing images and brief drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

UK Germany USA

Language:

English German Italian French Spanish

Release Date:

27 September 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rush: Pasión y gloria

Filming Locations:

Evolution Printing, Stanhope Road, Camberley, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$38,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$187,289, 22 September 2013, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$26,947,624

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$90,247,624

Company Credits

Production Co:

Exclusive Media Group, Cross Creek Pictures, Imagine Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Screenwriter Peter Morgan's wife is Austrian, as is real-life driver Niki Lauda. This connection proved beneficial since Morgan and Lauda met for some 30 dinners together in a Vienna restaurant.

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Goofs

The HS 125 aircraft G-IFTE which James Hunt and his friends depart on towards the end of the film was manufactured in 1978, two years after the year in which the film was set.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Niki Lauda: Twenty five drivers start every season in Formula One, and each year two of us die. What kind of person does a job like this? Not normal men, for sure. Rebels, lunatics, dreamers. People who are that desperate to make a mark, and are prepared to die trying. My name is Niki Lauda, and racing people know me for two things. The first is my rivalry with him.
[James Hunt]
Niki Lauda: I don't know why it became such a big thing. We were just drivers busting each other's balls. To me this is perfectly...

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Connections

Featured in The EE British Academy Film Awards (2014)

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Soundtracks

I Hear You Knocking
Performed by Dave Edmunds
Written by David Bartholomew (as Dave Bartholomew) and Earl King
Courtesy of EMI Records Ltd. and Dave Edmunds

User Reviews

Bound to win Academy Award nominations - and rightly so

In 1976, the rivalry between two brilliant racing car drivers, the British James Hunt and the Austrian Nikki Lauda, came to a head in the almost literally life-and-death struggle of the Formula One championship. American director Ron Howard ("Apollo 13", "A Beautiful Mind", "Frost/Nixon") and British scriptwriter Peter Morgan (both play and screenplay of "Frost/Nixon") have done a terrific job bringing the titanic struggle to the big screen, aided by some excellent casting and powerful sound and cinematography. Those were the days when most years a couple of drivers would be killed, so the stakes could not be higher.

Sensibly the car racing does not over-dominate, since this is essentially a character- driven conflict, but when the racing is on screen - notably in the final race - the excitement is visceral. The Australian Chris Hemsworth (previously best known as "Thor") and the Spanish-born German Daniel Brühl ("Inglourious Basterds") are so good as the British and Austrian drivers respectively that the dialect coaches should receive a special commendation. Arguably Brühl gives the stronger performance which should auger well for his future career.

A great strength of this tale is that there is not a hero or a villain. Both drivers had privileged backgrounds and were superbly talented, but both were flawed. although in very contrasting ways, including styles of thinking, driving and womanising (Olivia Wilde as model Suzy Miller and Alexandra Maria Lara as aristocratic Marlene Knaus respectively).

I never saw the recent film "Senna" (2010) so "Rush" reminded me most of the much older "Grand Prix" (1966), but what is stunning about "Rush" is that it all happened. A season of the fastest sport in the world decided in the last race by one point - you couldn't make it up. Rush to see the movie.