Posted by : Muzaffar Thursday, September 26, 2013


Haha, honestly its been a while since I last did a review like this on my blog but I really wanted to do this one since the movie was just too good to pass up writing upon. There is nothing more I like than a good "car" movie, one which actually is based around Formula 1 and has a certain truth to it! There has been a lot of rivalry in F1 over the years, and although the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda isn't as intense as say, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, Rush managed to show everything great about F1 in the 70's. Where the drivers drove like real men, risking their lives race after race, and what happens on and off the track is all about personality and self expression. Its not like today where everything is so well organized and having regulations spoiling the fun.

Anyhow, I don't really wanna go into too much detail regarding F1 or even about the movie but basically the movie is about the heated battle between James Hunt and Niki Lauda during the 1976 season and what they had to deal with throughout the season. There is plenty of action throughout the movie and the racing itself is pretty good too! (its F1, what do you expect?) You're not gonna see some CG overload or one of those cheesy scenes like in Fast & Furious, oh no... this is all pure balls out racing and nothing else. Also there is nothing sweeter than the sound of a Formula 1 engine either, haha. So the story itself is pretty good, the characters are also portrayed very well to their real life counterpart (Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt & Daniel Brühl as Niki Lauda respectively) and the soundtrack (done no less by the ever talented Hans Zimmer) and you already have a recipe for a really good movie. I would gladly say this is probably one of the movies to watch this year and I won't be too surprised if this movie won an award or two.

While watching this movie throughout, I can say I feel very satisfied watching this. All sorts of emotions just went through me and at the end I just felt very inspired. This movie will teach you a lot regarding how dangerous motorsport really is and what it takes to become a racing driver, and that you really need to have the balls in order to take a car such as those F1 cars in the 70's and push it way past the limits. Somehow I wished I could be a racing driver back then and even be in their shoes for a bit. Its dangerous, but as quoted by the late James Hunt; "The closer you are to death, the more alive you feel" and I think this the more reason why I wanted to become a racing driver. Sure things today might have been more safer and restricted, but it doesn't make it any less dangerous! (as proven by the passing of the late Allan Simonsen at Le Mans last June) So yeah... I'd rather risk my life as a racing driver than to live a boring and mundane life like everyone else. (but I guess I'll save that for another blog post in the future)

Overall... what do I think about the movie? I'd say its fabulous and totally worth watching. Sure it might not be for everyone, but you can still appreciate all the effort they put into making this movie and judging by the reviews, its been praised quite well actually. So yeah... its not a matter of if you like cars or F1 or even racing in general, (it helps a lot if you're into it though, lol) but once you've watched this then you know what was so great about F1 or pretty much anything motorsport related things were back then (and maybe to a certain point, even today) and who knows... maybe I'll inspire you to break your boring habits and try to do something adventurous for once?

I'll probably give this movie an 8 out of 10, maybe even an 8.5 if I'm cheeky. Only thing why I can't give it a full 9 or even a 10 is only because I feel like the movie is a bit too fast (to me anyhow) and somehow during the time I watched at the cinema they had way too many parts being cut out. (there are other reasons too, but its not worth pointing out) I guess I'll have to wait until the blu-ray release to be out so I can enjoy watching this again. =P

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