‘Rush’: One Of The Best Racing Stories Ever Told

Rush is Ron Howard’s new racing movie and the PR machine is roaring in anticipation of the nationwide premiere next Friday, in one of the best racing stories ever told.

With strong performances from Daniel Brühl, who many are calling to be nominated for an Academy Award before the movie even opens, for his performance as egotistical Austrian legend Niki Lauda and Chris Hemsworth in his first main role as a modern times man, as the playboy-daredevil James Hunt, Rush should touch audiences of different ages.

The movie also has a solid script courtesy of Peter Morgan who has penned such successful films as Frost/Nixon and TheQueen.

An all around strong film, with a powerful backdrop story. It’s 1976 and the Formula One championship is almost a sure bet for Austrian defending champ Niki Lauda, but fate has other plans, when during the German Grand Prix at Nurburing, his Ferrari crashes while taking a turn on the second lap.

The result is a horrifying explosion watched by thousands of spectators on the track and television screens showing a trapped Lauda being pulled out, but suffering disfiguring injuries due to first and third degree burns.

Lauda and Hunt were rivals on and off the race track, but there is more to the story than just their rivalry. Many elements make this film more than a mere race car flick.

There is Hunt’s antics off the track. Known as a playboy, always surrounded by women, he was the complete opposite to Lauda in every regard. The only thing they both shared was a passion for their sport and a precision that would help them both overcome Lauda’s near death experience.

Rush is not only for Formula One fans, but any who want a good real life story in which there are no heroes or villains.

The racing sequences are thrilling to watch and even though the events are embellished in some cases the story works. The relationship between Lauda and Hunt was not as contentious in real life as the movie depicts. Lauda has said the two used to hang out and party together.

But this is a story about beating the odds, about unlikely comebacks and unlikely heroes. When favorites become underdogs and the fans switch allegiances.

Niki Lauda, has paid Daniel Brühl the best compliment anyone could have given him, saying that when he saw the movie, he saw himself.

Rush with Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl opens everywhere on September 27.