Rush
 

Ron Howard's F1 masterpiece "Rush" was released today in DVD and Blu-ray formats; available for sale at retailers, and for rent at your local Redbox.

If you missed this great slice of '70s racing history, at a time "when sex was safe, and motor racing was dangerous", now's your chance to see it.

TO

Wow, how times have changed, 2014 Racing History, "When sex is dangerous, and motor racing is dangerous"

^isn't that "when sex was safe and racing was dangerous"?

I gave up after 30 mins. Great slice of motor racing history? More like horrendous b movie thinly disguised by modern production quality.

Remain baffled by the love for this film. I assume because of the latent sentiment for the subject matter, but how bad would the film have to be...?

I'd love to see a great film about Hunt v Lauda. Rush isn't it.

Couldn't disagree more. Loved the movie. Saw it first on the Imax and then watched it again at home.

Not the greatest script. However and more importantly, Olivia Wild was smoking hot as a blonde, in fact she's tied with Margot Robbie (Wolf of Wall St.) for hottest blonde in a movie in 2014.
The guy who played Lauda (who we remember from Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds) did a tremendous job, much better than Jonah Hill who actually got his second Academy award nomination. They should have spent much more time showing how totally different is to drive these tin cans than today's automatic F1 cars. For instance Jackie Stewart's drive around the N-ring in a Rolls Royce in 'The Quick and the Dead' where he tells you how utterly insane it was to drive a 1970's single seater on that track should have been worked into this script somehow as it's the most important race of the whole story.

I would have really loved to see Michael Mann do this film instead of Ron Howard.
Mann did an amazing job with Public Enemies (Christian Bale, Johnny Depp), another historical film.

The guy who played Lauda was good, agreed. But Chris Hemsworth was laughable casting for Hunt and as soon as you saw that choice, you knew the people behind this film either didn't have a clue or didn't care. And so it proved.

Thor was not the best choice but I give him credit for losing 100 pounds to play Hunt.
I think Jude Law would have been a better choice for pompous and "posh" racing driver.

And I would have given Cristoph Waltz a shot at playing Lauda. But at the end of the day these racing films never do well because racing drivers with a couple of exceptions like Senna, aren't that interesting in real life. It has to be an interesting story first, which you certainly had here, but the script has to be very gritty and raw. This was more a PG-13 type of a thing. You could only do so much with this script no matter the casting.
Downton Abbey has more interesting script-writing and that's about a bunch of rich unemployed people eating dinner in tails every night.

I am generally harsh critic of anything anything from Hollywood but have a soft spot for racing/cars movies so I tend to look the other way. I enjoyed Rush even with its warts.

Agreed. But the first 30 mins of Rush were chronically derivative, cliched claptrap, not gritty and raw. The film really could have been about anything. That's the real pity. The real story is so good, the atmosphere and the way they went about things back then so different. To make it into a generic racing b movie, full of idiotic dialogue and voice overs, was just depressing. Which is why I couldn't get through it.

It's all very subjective, of course. I just found it a deeply naff (nearest translation in US english = tacky) film.

I loved it, saw it on a bigger than normal screen in the theatre, pre-ordered the DVD, received it today. Can't wait to watch it again!

I thought Daniel Bruhl's performance was actually Oscar-worthy. I didn't think Hemsworth did nearly as well portraying Hunt, but Hunt was such a complex and larger-than-life character, WHO, really, could have played him?

Even after all these years, I still respect Niki greatly, and I really miss James.

I'm glad everyone enjoyed it. As a favor to Ron, I did some of the stunt driving.

Loved the movie, watched it on an IMAX screen and plan to pick up a copy. Hollywood didn't get it perfect, but this film was way better than the majority of the movies that get churned out.

Enjoyed it. Hated the Hunt casting...but it is what it is. I've more respect for the movie after watching several interviews with Lauda with his point of view.

My wife LOVED the movie. Absolutely went bonkers for it.

For sure. The scripts of "Le Mans" and "Grand Prix" weren't anything great, either, but the racing was so exciting that the silly subplots didn't really matter. Now, if you tell me there's no good racing in "Rush", I'll take it out of my Netflix queue.

I loved Grand Prix the filming at speed was great. I was 8 years old made my mother and cousin take me. My cousing got sick. LeMans, terrible story but I live anything with Porsches especially the mighty 917's! Ordered Rush looking forward to seeing it. I am suprised Hunt casting was not to your liking.

I liked 'Rush', but just watched the documentary '1' and enjoyed it much more. For die-hard F1 fans, sometimes just jumps/skips around parts of some stories, but focuses on the evolution of safety and has some great footage. I had not heard of this movie but glad I came across it.

"F1" Formula 1 - Exclusive Trailer [HD] Official Movie 2013 Formula One History - MostMovies - YouTube

I thought I read that it was streaming for free (it may have ended) but you can get the DVD or stream it from Amazon.

1: the latest and best Formula 1 film - Formula 1 - Motor Sport Magazine

-Tom

^ that was an excellent documentary. If you have surround sound the engines in that movie make me wish that's how it was today vs. the F1 kitchen blenders of today or at least before the engine switch for 2014.

on a side note, the Cevert life story would make the best movie ever. I can't believe Ron Howard made this Lauda v. Hunt movie first. People watch Rush and think Lauda had bad luck instead of realizing he was very lucky for this era. The number of guys getting wasted by crappy cars and crappier tracks during Stewart/Cevert's time was mind-boggling.

No, Lauda was NOT lucky for his era. His era was the same as Stewart's and Cevert's. Cevert perished at Watkins Glen in 1973, the same "time" that Lauda and Hunt were competing in Grand Prix with him and Jackie.

There were minimal safety changes between 1973 and 1976, when Lauda had his shunt at the "Ring". In fact, there was only one change to the cars: "safety structures" around dashboard and pedals, which had NO effect on Lauda's injuries. The most severe was the burning of his lungs.

The most dangerous time in F1 was between 1968-1977, when there were 9 driver fatalities. There are a lot of "stories" that can be told about that time that might make an interesting film. Ron Howard chose to direct this film from a script written by an Englishman who felt the story worthwhile.

I agree.

TO

That reminds me, I have a phot on my wall of a driver's meeting at Watkins Glen 1972. Lauda looks like a rather normal fellow prior to the fire, and Cevert looks like he is asking a question to the Chief Steward. Must have been before Hunt joined the circus, as he is not in the photo.

Lots of other interesting fellows: Andretti, Redman, Fittipaldi, Revson, Ickx, Regazzoni, Schecter. Most of these guys made it out alive, and are still with us today.

Yes, James did not participate in the 1972 U.S. Grand Prix. He didn't enter F1 until the following year. I witnessed one of his first tests in Lord Hesketh's March 731 in 1973 at Snetterton, near Norfolk UK.

I stationed myself at the bridge above the esses, and vividly remember him screaming down the straight with "eyeballs out on sticks", just before braking.

At the infamous 1973 British GP, I remember James and Niki on the grid. That was the GP when Jody Scheckter bolloxed up his exit from Woodcote and took out almost half the field on the first lap. The real stars of the show were Jackie Stewart and Ronnie Peterson. Jackie was running away with the race until he made a rookie mistake. Ronnie showed how big his "extremities" were by taking Woodcote flat. At the time, that was unheard of. Peter Revson scored a great victory for us Yanks.

Niki showed his future form by making a great (almost dangerous) start in his BRM, and James soldiered on to finish fourth.

Later on, me and my mates enjoyed a great after-GP party at a mansion in Oxford, hosted by Marlboro Europe.

Good times..................

TO

Couldn't agree more - had to stop after about 35 minutes!

I saw it last night and thought it was terrific. Had some exciting racing footage and an interesting story to it also.

You guys gave up too early, it got better imo as it went on.

Rush was made to be a Movie, not a documentary about F1. It was based upon the titanic struggle between polar opposites; Hunt and Lauda. I thought for what it was and meant to be (a movie to draw maximum box office turn out) Ron Howard did a pretty good job.

Imho
 

As a movie, I think Ron Howard did a lousy job. He didn't begin to catch the feeling of a Formula 1 race. Playing sappy music at times, and trying to add excitement via loud music really sucked. Having said that, it was fun going down the 1976 memory lane. Who can forget the six wheeled Tyrrell? Or, the crepes with Grand Marnier at the Paul Ricard Circuit, or climbing the trees at Zolder? I had the great good fortune to meet Niki Lauda in 1984 at Monte Carlo. He will always be a champion, at racing, business, and at life. If you have any concerns about seeing the movie, check out one of the interviews with Niki found on You Tube.

Required Reading
 

For those fans of Niki Lauda who'd like to know more than the movie told about his entry into F1, I'd recommend "Niki Lauda: Meine Story." It's available in English and covers a lot of material the movie skims over.

It was a pretty good movie. Really picks up near the middle.

In a USA media realm dominated with NASCAR and lame canned laughter TV comedy,we are damned lucky to have a movie like RUSH with its account of the greatest sport IMO.

I didn't want it to be a documentary. I wanted it to be a movie. Which it was. Just a painfully crap movie.

It was utterly generic, brain dead, bland Hollywood drivel. It could have been about just about anything. I agree Hunt v Lauda is a fascinating contrast. But this infantile, cliched nonsense was so cartoonish in execution, it just became a standard off the peg yarn about the flamboyant extrovert vs the icy introvert. Yawn.

It may have gotten better. But the casting of Hunt was fundamentally idiotic, and everything about the first half an hour was so utterly cheesy and cringeworthy, the rest of the film was beyond rescue, even if it may have improved.

Sorry to be such a grouch, but this movie frankly pissed me off.

Apparently, your historic knowledge, or "recollection" of a time when you weren't even born yet, surpasses that of those who were present at the time.

I do, however, admire your profuse use of colorful adjectives.

TO

Lighten up my friend, and have a pint.

This is going to blow your very mind, but through the marvels of technology one can see first hand a little of what the time and people were like back then. A stunning revelation, to be sure. For instance, if you want an idea of what Hunt was like:

james hunt interview - YouTube

Not sure, who is being surpassed, but if it's the likes of, say, Lauda, saying nice things about the film, there's a very long list of reasons to take any such comments with a very large dose of salt.

Regardless of what anyone like Lauda says, the script, dialogue etc is simply crass.

P.S. This is me very much being light. :D You should see me when I'm angry. http://www.pistonheads.com/inc/images/hehe.gif

Sorry, dude, but watching youtube videos is most definitely not a "first hand" look at anything. I was there in the 70's (I'm told I had a very good time!) and, while you can learn about what it was like back then, nothing can replace the experience of having lived it.

That would be like me saying that I know what it was like to live through a world war because I watched a few videos about it, which would be an absolutely preposterous claim to make (not to mention insulting to those who actually were there).

You are conflating what I said beyond any sane proportion to compare it to claiming to know what it was like to go to war based on watching a video. That's just being silly.

I said, "a little of what the time and people were like back then." And if you watch a bunch of interviews of Hunt, for instance, I maintain you will indeed grasp at least a little of what the man was like. Certainly enough to know that his bearing has little resemblance to that shown in Rush.

The same goes for what life was like. Will you have a fully realised, textured and nuanced comprehension of what it was like? Of course not. Will you grasp "a little" of what it was like? Yes.

P.S. I was born in 1973 so I was in fact alive for most of the 70s. :p

You weenies will argue over anything.........Gonna have to release the Hulk on you guys

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...ps2590727f.jpg

Hey, we're not arguing - we're having a spirited debate! Isn't that what forums are for? :D

73? I got socks older than that! :p

http://www.pistonheads.com/inc/images/hehe.gif

Who wouldn't want to be James Hunt in the 1970's...........

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...psc18e9ccb.jpg

Talk about pulling down some wool............

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...psc2632904.jpg