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 #215 | 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 | playboy | 

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Taglines:

Everyone's driven by something.

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Genres:

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The music for Rush was composed by Hans Zimmer and was named 'Lost But Won'.

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Goofs

At Hunt's wedding, the wedding dress that of Suzy Miller is very different to that of the real Suzy's whose dress was long sleeved and the neckline was cut to around her neck.

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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

Referenced in Cash Trapped: Episode #2.16 (2017)

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Soundtracks

My Best Enemy
Written by Hans Zimmer

User Reviews

Well worth the wait!

The film is just over 2 hours long, but when it was over it seemed like I had been in the cinema about 30 minutes.

The film centres on the battle for the 1976 Formula 1 World Championship, and the rivalry between the Austrian "professor" Nikki Lauda and the British playboy James Hunt.

The two are depicted as enemies, but in actual fact they were good friends who trusted and respected each other on, as well as off-track. This bit of artistic licence does not spoil the film and is reasonable in order to make the battle between the two for the F1 crown more intense.

The film is nicely paced. We are introduced to both characters through their own narrative and scenes that leave the watcher in no doubt as to their background and philosophy on life.

The two are first seen in competition in 1970 at a Formula 3 race at Crystal Palace (where they have a coming together) and sets the scene for the rivalry throughout the film. I'm not sure if this is further artistic licence. The two definitely did race each other in F3, but I am not convinced as to whether this actual incident occurred.

After that we are given a whistle stop journey between 1973 (when Hunt came into F1) to 1975. We are shown the dangerous nature of F1 at the time with the Francois Cevert accident at Watkins Glen in gory detail – although this does not seem like gratuitous, but necessary to bring home just how unforgiving the sport was back then – and it truly was (of the top 12 points scorers in 1976, F1 cars were to claim 3, 1 ended up in a wheelchair and 1 had his career ended by a leg crunching crash).

We are then taken to 1976 and that titanic struggle for the World Crown. Only one real issue here – the British Grand Prix result, but I suspect this was simplified in the interests of time.

The casting is superb. Chris Hemsworth, an Aussie, does an excellent job on public schoolboy James Hunt, while Daniel Bruhl both sounds and looks frighteningly like the Austrian. There is little room for a supporting cast amongst the drivers which is a shame – only Clay Regazzoni has a part of any real substance. Peterson, Watson, Depailler, Scheckter, Andretti et al could have featured a little more I think. What did their contemporaries think of the two protagonists? The supporting cast is mainly required for Hunt – Lord Hesketh, "Bubbles" Horsley and Teddy Mayer / Tyler Alexander of McLaren, while the Ferrari team principals are rarely seen.

The love angle is perfectly catered for by Olivia Wilde (Hunt's first wife Suzy) and the gorgeous Alexandra Maria Lara - of Downfall fame – as the future Marlene Lauda. Both give quality performances.

The attention to detail is superb. Although the tracks are not the actual ones (for understandable reasons) the cars, the helmets, the sponsors are all authentic. The film "feels" like it's happening in the 70's.

For anyone interested in great personal stories, F1, the 70's, cars or just like to see a great film, then Rush is for you.

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

Filming Locations:

Evolution Printing, Stanhope Road, Camberley, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$38,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$187,289, 22 September 2013

Gross USA:

$26,947,624

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$96,983,009

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