I didn't see anywhere logical to post this in the general forum, so I'll slap it into Mid-Atlantic...

We saw the movie last night. The local Ferrari dealer bought out one of the theaters, and invited customers. A friend gave me two tickets. The story was well-told, with plenty of action. As I had read in advance, at least one of the after-accident scenes had a gruesome open leg fracture, and the Lauda burn scenes were very cringe-inducing. Still, it's a compelling story, and even my wife really liked it. Almost as much as she liked Senna, which was a lot. Ron Howard always does a good job of telling a complicated story in a simple, narrative way - like he did in Apollo 13. Very interesting racing scenes, and I liked the 'inside the engine' effects they did several times. Good realism for the racing bits. The sub-story about the Hesketh team was entertaining, too. No real Jaguar content, though.

Afterward, as you might expect with a theater full of Ferrari owners, there was a bit of carping about the liberties taken with the Hunt-Lauda relationship, and some other details. Nothing really bothered me, terribly, but I could not help but think someone was damned proud of finding a 6-wheeled Tyrell, since it popped up in scene after scene. The Lotus 72 got some good screen time, as well.

All in all, a racing movie all Lotus people - or anyone interested in F1 - ought to see. For comparison purposes, I didn't find it quite as good as Grand Prix or LeMans, but this is one I will definitely see again!

--Bob Collum

 

Thanks for that Bob, I was wondering if it was worth going to see this one.
I'm not sure that SWMBO will be into it though.

 

Most of the women, (and a lot of us men) were affected by the burn unit scenes - very realistic, and you really know it's excruciating for Lauda. Still, it's a really good story. The women I heard from (admittedly, from Ferrari families - maybe not typical) seemed to really like the movie.

--Bob Collum

 

Mmm it's showing at the theatre just next to my hotel, I might slide over at the weekend and check it out.
I always enjoyed JH's commentating on the F1 with Murray Walker but I still believe he was more than a tad fortunate to finish up as world champion.

 

I saw it as well as part of the FOW invite. The movie is a must see in a theater as the screen and sounds are fantastic. My wife and I plan to see it again. Yes a little graphic but that is the reality of racing and life.

The movie is different than Grand Prix or Lemans but is most assuredly worth seeing if you are a car person or a racing fan. Go see it. You will not be disapointed.

Bobert

 

Enough Ferrari customers in your area to fill a theatre!

There's another thread on Rush in Off Topic forum:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/o...6/rush-103462/

Interesting to compare.

Graham

 

I was at the FoW screening, too - sorry I didn't get to meet you guys.

I thought the aftermath of the Cevert crash was far more gruesome than the leg fracture. Did y'all miss that? It did go by pretty quickly (thankfully).

There is a recent BBC documentary about this very story which is streaming on Vimeo. Well worth the watch, like watching "Rush" all over again, but more realistic (period footage, narration by people who actually lived it).

gp

 

I thought the whole movie was sort of middlebrow, and it simmered the whole time and never really came to a full boil. The acting was excellent, I thought, but they kept harping on "knowing what it means to live when you are so close to death" and "20% risk of dying" so much in a cliched, overdone way that I started to lose interest.

That, and I don't think the rivalry between Lauda and Hunt was as "epic" as they wanted it to be, and it showed in the movie. Then again, I wasn't alive back then so I wouldn't know!

There were some really good moments, though. The highlight of the movie by far for me was when the car Lauda was driving from a party in broke down on the side of the road. The pretty girl he was with flagged a passing car down, and the driver with two younger men stopped a few seconds later and threw the car into reverse and got out. The woman proclaims, "Three seconds, not bad, huh?" and then is expecting to be flirted with by the occupants of the car. The young men then pass right by her and say, "ARE YOU NIKI LAUDA?!" I laughed so hard...

B-