Rush (2013) Quick Review | Film – online media reviews

First of all I’m not a big racing fan, secondly I didn’t  know the story of James Hunt and Niki Lauda. However I watched the film and want to give my verdict on it.

Rush is based off of the true story of James Hunt and his path to the Formula 1 championships, meanwhile his rival Niki Lauda is seen buying his way into the Formula 1 championships, which inevitably means both Hunt and Lauda will cross paths. After speaking to different individuals about the film afterwards I learnt that the person they preferred differed between Lauda and Hunt.

For me personally I disliked Lauda as if he was the antagonist, but as the film develops after a series of tragic events it led me to begin to understand Lauda more and view them both as just competitive protagonists. This is done by an emotionally moving scene after a crash that Lauda was involved in. The sound in Rush is truly amazing and sounds great on a good set of speakers, which makes the racing feel more intense. Rush also goes more into the characters personal lives as it does the racing, which makes you care about the characters even if you do not know a lot about Formula 1.

The other great aspect I found amazing was the atmosphere created in certain scenes, for example Hunt is often seen being physically sick due to nerves, particularly on certain tracks because both racers know that each race there is a chance they could die and both have previously seen others being taken away for treatment. This sense of near death is played well in the characters and you begin to easily be able to read what the characters are feeling. The atmosphere in particular is also at its peak in scenes where the weather is at its most intense, creating a real sense of danger.

I heavily recommend Rush especially for those who are into Formula 1, but if you are not then the film doesn’t penalise you for not knowing much on the topic of Formula 1. I found that not knowing the story of James Hunt particularly good because it left me on my toes anticipating what was going to happen.

Reviewed by: Tom