Recently, my family and I went and saw the film Rush. I first saw the previews on IMDB way back in the early part of this year and I was definitely impressed. There are almost no problems that I saw with this movie. It kind of reminded me of the Sylvester Stallone film Driven but take the quality of Driven and then multiply by 1000.
So Rush is based on a true story about Formula 1 race car drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt during the 1976 racing season and how they almost killed themselves trying to beat each other in their rivalry. These two characters are so contrasting that it is like night and day in the difference of how they live their lives. To elaborate, James Hunt is this British playboy who knows how to have a good time, while Niki Lauda is this uptight, high-strung Austrian man who is brutally honest and a bit overly arrogant about his driving skills. While Lauda was a total jerk and few people liked him, he innovated the sport with all of his innovations and modifications to his car. Meanwhile, Hunt would be having threesomes and snort coke lines When it comes to the characters of this film, they are very three dimensional and the plot comes full circle about their private and public lives.
Technical-wise, the camera shots were great and they were nothing like I have ever seen before. There were camera shots inside the helmet that made me feel like I was in the helmet with the drivers, and it was not the normal "straight into the eyes of the driver" kind of shot. There were also shots within the frame of the cars that were very cool and showed a new perspective of the workings of a race car which was really interesting. The score behind it was perfect using both orchestral and songs from the period as well.
This film was very close to the history behind the rivalry. The costumes are period and even the medical practices are period. The most amazingly period part of this movie were the cars. None of the race-cars in this movie to my knowledge were replicas. They were all borrowed from collectors that wanted to be a contributor to this movie which was very interesting to hear. While this film was very close to its story, it did miss a few parts of the real story that were removed for dramatic effect but who can blame them.
While I found this movie to be great, there were some problems with this movie. One of them is the gore. If you have a problem with people being burnt up or cut up then there will several moments you cringe and cover your eyes. Another problem that is also kind of a good thing is that it is SUPER LOUD and anybody who can't stand a super loud movie should not see this movie in theaters but when it comes out at Red Box.
Despite these few problems, this movie was excellent. Great characters, great camera-work, and great writing. This movie is definitely worth the money. Anybody who believes that automobile racing is not a sport is about to be proven completely wrong. I would give 4.5 out of 5 stars. Everyone needs to Rush on over to the theater to see this movie.
