Of the many high quality films of the last twelve months, there is one which is etched into the memory as being one of the very best, and the one that seemed to come from absolutely nowhere. Overlooked largely during this awards season, there is hardly anything that comes close to the adrenaline-filled, high octane visual wonder that is Ron Howard’s RUSH.
The film, actually a co-production between Britain and Germany, though directed by an American and starring an Australian in one of the lead roles, made a very respectable $90 million at the worldwide box-office at the tail end of last year, and is set to do even better when it arrives on Sky Store on Monday 27th January.
It scored a very impressive 89% on meta-scoring website Rotten Tomatoes, quite an achievement for a racing movie, and has been applauded by one of its subjects as being impressively accurate to those very true events that happened in the late 1970s.
The film revolves predominantly around the 1976 Formula One championship and more specifically with the great rivalry that occured between Britain’s James Hunt (played here by Chris Hemsworth) and Austrian Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl). The story of that season is legendary, and the big talking point was the race for the title where Hunt was intent one stealing the world championship from reigning champ Lauda. That particular season is also talked about for a very different reason; the events leading up to and during the German Grand Prix at the famous Nurburgring on the 1st of August of that year. The race was a very wet one, rain pouring down all weekend, right up until the race start time. Lauda warned of the danger in the driver’s meeting prior to the race, a scene that is very specifically depicted in the film, but indeed, despite the conditions that race still went on. What happened next was to change the way Formula One was regulated forever.
After changing tyres following the first lap, and just after taking the fast left before the Bergwerk right hand curve, Lauda’s Ferrari 312T2 careered into the fencing at the side of the corner and bounced back onto the track engulfing it in flames. British driver Guy Edwards managed to avoid Lauda’s Ferrari but Harald Ertl and Brett Lunger hit it full on, adding to the fiery inferno. Lauda burned inside his Ferrari for over a minute before being dragged to safety by the three aforementioned drivers. He was airlifted immediately the Bundeswehr hospital in Koblenz where he stayed for many weeks. Hunt went on to win the race.
Despite Lauda’s horrific injuries, and being read the last rites by a priest in his hospital bed, the Austrian returned to the track just six weeks later, and challenged for the title in the remaining races of that legendary season.
As well as the above, this movie shows the rivalry and the friendship of these two very different characters. The story of RUSH is truly amazing, and in the words of the film’s director, the events are so unbelievable they must be true. So, this Monday, go out and hunt down your copy of quite possible one of the top films of the last year.
To celebrate the release of Ron Howard’s Formula 1 film RUSH on Sky Store, Sky are offering an all-expenses-paid trip to the Silverstone Grand Prix, and are throwing in exclusive pit lane access! It’s a remarkable money-cannot buy prize, and you can find all of the neccessary info to enter on end of this link on the Sky Store. Good luck.
