You've heard about Rush, the new film based on Formula One motor racing. Maybe you've seen the trailers. Now it's come to town and you're wondering whether you should see it. Don't even hesitate, my friend. I've just returned from watching Rush and I'm still on the edge of my seat. This is a great film by any standard and far and away the best motor racing movie ever produced. And you don't have to be a race fan to enjoy it.
Now, I'm not a film critic so I'm not going to pretend that role. All I can do is outline my reaction, which surprised me because the story concentrates on just one racing season, 37 years ago. It's not contemporary F1 racing, it's history. But what history it was, an epic battle between two totally opposite characters, James Hunt and Niki Lauda, who fought for the world title right down to the last race. Hunt was the handsome playboy and woman chaser, Lauda his serious, unsmiling competitor and rival. This is a true story, obviously embellished for movie screens but more or less as it happened.
Producer Ron Howard did a brilliant job of making the races realistic considering that few F1 cars of the period still exist, except those in vintage racing. His technique concentrated on close-ups rather than wide shots; cu's of cockpits, suspensions, driver's faces (and eyes), taken from unusual angles to add drama. The race scenes are very believable, using genuine race cars rather than trying to fool us with digital techniques. The crashes, which happen quickly, are frighteningly real, especially the one that became critical to the story.
Again, not being a film critic, I can't properly comment on the actor's performances except to say they were totally convincing. The Hunt and Lauda characters, Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl, even looked like the people they were portraying. But what struck me most about this film is the vast difference between yesterday's F1 cars and those that are racing today. The 70s cars seem absolutely primitive in driver safety whereas our modern race cars put a premium on protecting their drivers.
In some ways the earlier cars demanded more because gearboxes were manually operated, hence the heel-and-toe downshifting so artfully revealed by the movie. Today's cars use automatic transmissions with gears changed by paddle levers behind the steering wheel. But then, so much of modern racing is based on computer-generated technology, as is everything else in our lives.
There is a temptation to say that because of the risks and greater driver involvement yesterday's competitors were braver, faster and more skilful. I disagree. To drive a modern F1 car with its tremendous power and speed, wheel to wheel in situations where a mere 100th of a second can make the difference between winning and losing, to set up a car and manipulate the wing angles and other aerodynamic devices, takes tremendous talent. And yes, bravery.
What has changed little, however, is what goes on behind the scenes in F1 racing and for the unfamiliar, Rush will be quite a revelation. So, too, will be the glamour of international motorsport, which makes NASCAR seem bush league by comparison. Indeed, if F1's supreme leader, Bernie Ecclestone, were to spend a half-billion dollars on advertising he still couldn't buy the boost this film is going to give Formula One. Its years of relative obscurity in the USA are about to end.
All that aside, I recommend you see Rush for a very different reason. It's a whole lot of fun, perhaps the most exciting two hours you've ever spent in a movie theater.
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