Taglines: Everyone’s driven by something.
Rush is a 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.
Rush portrays the exhilarating true story of two of the greatest rivals the world has ever witnessed—handsome English playboy James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and his methodical, brilliant opponent, Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl). Set against the sexy and glamorous golden age of Formula 1 racing, Rush follows the two drivers as they push themselves to the breaking point of physical and psychological endurance, where there is no shortcut to victory and no margin for error.
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 Briton with a penchant of vomiting before every race, while Lauda is a cool, calculating 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 BRM 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 manages to land a driving position in McLaren after Emerson Fittipaldi leaves the team. During this time, Hunt marries supermodel Suzy Miller, while Lauda develops a relationship with 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 to F1 rules, Hunt suffers a series of setbacks on the next few races, and his 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, reinstating the points he lost and putting him back into championship contention. Meanwhile, Lauda marries Marlene in a private ceremony; he starts to have concerns about the effects of his marriage to his racing career.
At the German Grand Prix, Lauda urges the F1 committee to cancel the race due to rain on an already dangerous race track; the request is vetoed by majority of the racers after Hunt convinces them that Lauda fears losing the points race. Both Hunt and Lauda start the race with rain tires, which becomes a costly tactic due to most of the track quickly drying up.
They both pit to change tires during the second lap, but halfway toward the third lap, a suspension arm in Lauda’s Ferrari breaks, sending the car crashing violently into an embankment before it bursts into flames and is further hit by other cars on the track. Lauda is airlifted to the hospital with third-degree burns to his head and toxic fumes in his lungs. For the next six weeks, Lauda is treated for his injuries while he watches his rival dominate the rest of the season. Against his doctor’s orders, he returns behind the wheel of 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, with Lauda leading Hunt by three points. By the end of the second lap, Lauda returns to the pits and retire from the race, opting to stay with his wife instead of risking his life again on the track. After facing stiff competition under grueling conditions and overcoming a late pit stop, Hunt finishes third, giving him enough points to beat Lauda by one point and win the championship. 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, Lauda suggests for Hunt to 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.
Rush (2013)
Directed by: Ron Howard
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Brühl, Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Maria Lara, Pierfrancesco Favino, Natalie Dormer, Stephen Mangan
Screenplay by: Peter Morgan
Production Design by: Mark Digby
Cinematography by: Anthony Dod Mantle
Film Editing by: Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
Costume Design by: Julian Day
Set Decoration by: Michelle Day
Art Direction by: Katrina Dunn
Music by: Hans Zimmer
MPAA Rating: R for sexual content, nudity, language, some disturbing images and brief drug use.
Studio: Universal Pictures
Release Date: September 20, 2013
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