Rush is a 2013 biographical sports drama film centered on the rivalry between race car drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda during the 1976 Formula One motor-racing season. It was written by Peter Morgan, directed by Ron Howard and stars Chris Hemsworth as Hunt and Daniel Brühl as Lauda. The film premiered in London on September 2, 2013 and was shown at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival before its United Kingdom release on September 13, 2013.
Plot
James Hunt and Niki Lauda are two highly skilled race car drivers who first develop a fierce rivalry in 1970 at a Formula Three race at the Crystal Palace circuit in England, when both their cars spin out and Hunt eventually wins the race. Hunt is a brash, young Englishman with a tendency to vomit before every race, while Lauda is a cool, calculating Austrian technical genius who relies on precision. After a falling out with his father, Lauda takes a large bank loan and buys his way into the British Racing Motors Formula One team, meeting teammate Clay Regazzoni for the first time. Meanwhile, Hesketh Racing, the fledgling racing team Hunt drives for, enters Formula One as well. Lauda then joins Scuderia Ferrari with Regazzoni and wins his first championship in 1975. Hesketh closes shop after failing to secure a sponsor, but Hunt joins McLaren when Emerson Fittipaldi leaves the team. During this time, Hunt marries supermodel Suzy Miller, while Lauda develops a relationship with German socialite Marlene Knaus.
The 1976 Formula One season starts with Lauda dominating the first two races while Hunt struggles to catch up. Hunt wins the Spanish Grand Prix, but is disqualified after a post-race inspection rules that his car is too wide. Struggling to comply with F1 rules, McLaren suffers a series of setbacks on the next few races, and Hunt's situation is further exacerbated when Suzy is discovered to have a relationship with Richard Burton. Following his divorce, he regains his competitive spirit and his disqualification in Spain is overturned, which reinstates the points he lost and puts him back into championship contention. Meanwhile, Lauda marries Marlene in a private ceremony but begins to have concerns about the effects of his marriage on his racing career.
At the German Grand Prix, Lauda urges the F1 committee to cancel the race due to heavy rain on the already notoriously dangerous Nürburgring. At the drivers' meeting, Hunt argues that Lauda would benefit by having one fewer race in the season. The drivers vote to go ahead with the race. Both Hunt and Lauda start the race with wet weather tyres, which becomes a costly tactic due to most of the track quickly drying up. They both pit to change tyres during the second lap, but halfway through the third lap, a suspension arm in Lauda's Ferrari breaks, sending the car flying into an embankment before it bursts into flames and is further hit by other cars on the track. After being pulled out of the flaming wreckage, he is airlifted to the hospital with third-degree burns to his head and face and dangerous internal burns to his lungs. For the next six weeks, Lauda is treated for his injuries while he watches his rival dominate the races in his absence. Despite his doctor's orders, he decides to drive his Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix to finish fourth while Hunt fails to finish the race.
The 1976 season comes to a climax at the rain-soaked Japanese Grand Prix. Hunt's late rally in Lauda's absence has pulled him within three points of Lauda. At the end of the second lap, Lauda returns to the pits and retires from the race, opting to stay with Marlene instead of risking his life again on the track. This opens the door for Hunt to win the championship if he can notch a podium finish (third or better). After facing stiff competition under grueling conditions and overcoming tyre problems and injuring his hand due to the gear shifter knob breaking, Hunt finishes third, giving him enough points to win the championship by one point over Lauda. He spends the rest of the year with fame, sex, and drugs, while Lauda takes an interest in flying private planes. At a private airfield in Bologna, Lauda suggests to Hunt that he focus on the next racing season, but later on realizes that Hunt no longer has anything to prove. Hunt continues to race until his retirement in 1979, and becomes a motorsport broadcast commentator until his death in 1993 at the age of 45.
Cast
- Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt
- Daniel Brühl as Niki Lauda
- Olivia Wilde as Suzy Miller
- Alexandra Maria Lara as Marlene Lauda
- Pierfrancesco Favino as Clay Regazzoni
- David Calder as Louis Stanley
- Natalie Dormer as Nurse Gemma
- Stephen Mangan as Alastair Caldwell
- Christian McKay as Lord Hesketh
- Alistair Petrie as Stirling Moss
- Colin Stinton as Teddy Mayer
- Julian Rhind-Tutt as Anthony 'Bubbles' Horsley
Hunt and Lauda appear as themselves at the end of the film in archive footage, Lauda also cameos as himself at the climax of the movie.
Production
The film was shot on location in the United Kingdom, Germany and Austria. Filming took place at the former World War II airfield of Blackbushe Airport in Hampshire, the Snetterton (Norfolk), Cadwell Park (Lincolnshire), the former Crystal Palace circuit and Brands Hatch (Kent) motor racing circuits in England, and at the Nürburgring in Germany. Both vintage race cars and replicas were used in the filming.
The financiers include Hürth-based action concept Film- und Stuntproduktion, Egoli Tossell Film, Revolution Films (GB) and Cross Creek Pictures (US). The Film- und Medienstiftung NRW funded the film with €1.35 million, additional funding was provided by MFG Filmförderung Baden-Württemberg and the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF).
Director Ron Howard originally intended for Russell Crowe to make a cameo appearance as Richard Burton for a brief scene where he confronts James Hunt on his affair with Suzy.
Historical accuracy
Some things in the film are exaggerated (like the Hunt-Lauda rivalry), others downplayed (like Lauda's wife's shock at his disfigurement), and others invented (like Hunt beating up a reporter or the Nürburgring nickname being "the graveyard"; in fact Jackie Stewart had nicknamed it "The Green Hell").
Soundtrack
The film's orchestral score was composed by Hans Zimmer. The soundtrack includes 1970s rock music by Dave Edmunds, the Spencer Davis Group (incorrectly credited solely to Steve Winwood, its lead singer), Mud, Thin Lizzy, and David Bowie.
Marketing
BBC Two aired the documentary Hunt vs. Lauda: F1's Greatest Racing Rivals, on July 14, 2013. The documentary provides an extensive look at the rivalry between Hunt and Lauda, featuring interviews with Lauda and former crew members of the McLaren and Ferrari teams.
The Ferrari & The Cinema Society jointly organized a screening of the film at Chelsea Clearview Cinemas in New York on September 18, 2013. Chris Hemsworth attended the screening.
Reception
Box office
Rush earned a worldwide gross of $90.2 million against a budget of $38 million.
Critical reception
Rush has received positive reviews. As of 23 September 2013, it holds a rating of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 210 reviews with an average rating of 7.6 out of 10, and a rating of 92% based on 39 Top Critics reviews, with an average rating of 7.6 out of 10. Its consensus reads "A sleek, slick, well-oiled machine, Rush is a finely crafted sports drama with exhilarating race sequences and strong performances from Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl." Another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 75 based on 44 reviews.
Niki Lauda was pleased with the overall look of the film. He was quoted as saying: "When I saw it the first time I was impressed. There was no Hollywood changes or things changed a little bit Hollywood-like. It is very accurate. And this really surprised me very positively."
Home media
Rush was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 28, 2014. A Sainsburys exclusive edition complete with a Bonus Disc of new special features was released for a limited time.
Accolades
Notes and References
Notes
References
External links
- Official website
- Rush on Facebook
- Rush's channel on YouTube
- Rush at the Internet Movie Database
- Rush at History vs. Hollywood
- Rush at Rotten Tomatoes
- Rush at Metacritic