{"id":3483,"date":"2013-08-25T07:56:26","date_gmt":"2013-08-25T07:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/?p=3483"},"modified":"2015-05-16T12:22:40","modified_gmt":"2015-05-16T12:22:40","slug":"film-preview-rush-the-hunt-for-f1-glory-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/?p=3483","title":{"rendered":"FILM PREVIEW: ‘Rush’ \u2013 the hunt for F1 glory"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"StudioCanal<\/a><\/p>\n

By Ray Bennett<\/p>\n

LONDON – Although car chases are the backbone of most action adventure movies, few Hollywood directors have braved the circuits of real racing but now Ron Howard steps up with \u201cRush\u201d.<\/p>\n

Due in the UK from StudioCanal on Sept. 13, it\u2019s the first blockbuster to deal with the globally popular Formula One circuit since John Frankenheimer\u2019s epic attempt in 1966 with \u201cGrand Prix\u201d (Warner Home Video) starring James Garner. That was a multi- national affair with plenty of cinematic tricks including multiple screens and some mushy romance but the film has become much loved by F1 fans for its depiction of the sport even though the director used F3 cars in order to bear the weight of the cameras of the day.<\/p>\n

Ron Howard, who has two Oscars as director and co-producer of \u201cA Beautiful Mind\u201d, has no such problems today and the trailer for \u201cRush\u201d suggests that the combination of real stunt action and computer generated images will make it highly entertaining.<\/p>\n

Bafta-winning writer Peter Morgan (\u201cThe Last King of Scotland\u201d, “The Queen”) who adapted his own play \u201cFrost\/Nixon\u201d for the film version that Howard directed, wrote the script for \u201cRush\u201d, which deals with the fierce rivalry between two F1 racers in 1976.<\/p>\n

Austrian perfectionist Niki Lauda reigned as World Champion for Ferrari in a season that saw playboy English driver James Hunt push his McLaren to a fight to the finish. The film explores the contrast in their approach to racing, their personality clash, love affairs, and deadly competition.<\/p>\n

In a behind-the-scenes clip online, the director says he wanted to make the film because it was based on a true story. Howard says: \u201cIt\u2019s the really, truly entertaining nature of these two guys. The way they went about the business of trying to be great was fascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australian actor Chris Hemsworth (\u201cThor\u201d) plays the blond, flamboyant womanising Hunt while Spanish-German Daniel Bruhl, who has starred in films such as \u201cThe Edukators\u201d, \u201cThe Bourne Ultimatum\u201d and \u201cInglourious Basterds\u201d, plays the studiously obsessed Lauda. Howard says: \u201cTheir story is so remarkable that you could only do it if it was true because people wouldn\u2019t quite believe it. They were willing to risk their lives to obtain this elite status. They paid a price for it but they defined themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olivia Wilde (\u201cHouse\u201d), Alexandra Maria Lara (\u201cControl\u201d), Stephen Langan (\u201cEpisodes\u201d) and Christian McKay (\u201cMe and Orson Welles\u201d) co-star in the film with music by Hans Zimmer (\u201cInception\u201d).<\/p>\n

Shot on actual racing circuits in England and Germany, the film uses vintage cars and replicas. The director tells SpeedTV that the challenge for filmmakers was the need for technology to come along to make everything appear authentic: \u201cTo recreate those tracks in 1976, that\u2019s where we used our computer generating stuff. But there\u2019s still a hell of a lot of driving in our movie and I was relieved when we finally wrapped because I tried to get the audience into the action, which meant putting the actors and the stunt people into the action. We had a couple of near misses but everybody was fine and I felt we\u2019d serviced the needs of the movie.\u201d<\/p>\n

To recreate the incident at the old Nurburgring track in Germany in which Lauda\u2019s car smashed and caught fire, Howard tells SpeedTV that while original film of the crash was limited, it was helpful: \u201cWe did rely on that footage. Niki couldn\u2019t remember a whole lot, but we broke it down and tried to understand what the physics were and we actually filmed at that corner on the old track at Nurburgring, which was amazing. Then, in order to really put the audience in the middle of that horrific moment, we used every trick in the book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Howard tells Entertainment Weekly the experience was like a cross between his earlier films, the space story \u201cApollo 13\u201d and firefighting tale \u201cBackdraft\u201d. He says, \u201cIn the case of \u2018Apollo 13\u2019, that\u2019s for the complexity and the authenticity and the intent to capture an era and an endeavor that blends technology, action and danger. But, then speaking of danger, it reminds me of \u2018Backdraft\u2019 because those fires scared me and so did shooting racing action in this film.\u201d<\/p>\n

Formula One is not as popular in the US as it is around the world and previous pictures that have involved professional racers have veered towards US tracks although Steve McQueen\u2019s \u201cLe Mans\u201d (1971, Paramount Home Entertainment) deals with the famous 24-hour endurance race in France.<\/p>\n

Paul Newman starred in \u201cWinning\u201d (1969, Universal Pictures UK), about the Indy 500 but otherwise they focus on stock-car or hot-rod racing such as Jeff Bridges in \u201cThe Last American Hero\u201d (1973, Second Sight), Burt Reynolds in \u201cStroker Ace\u201d (1983, WHV), Bonnie Bedelia in \u201cHeart Like a Wheel\u201d (1983, Starz\/Anchor Bay), Tom Cruise in \u201cDays of Thunder\u201d (1990, PHE), and Sylvester Stallone in \u201cDriven\u201d (2001, WHV).<\/p>\n

Howard says that he was not a fan of motorsport until he made \u201cRush\u201d. He tells SpeedTV: \u201cIf you understand and love Formula One, I want you to appreciate the movie and think we did a good job with it. If you don\u2019t know anything about it, you\u2019re going to realise what you\u2019ve been missing. That\u2019s what I\u2019ve discovered, the non-motorsport fan coming in and making this movie, and that\u2019s what I want to convey.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has gone to great lengths to get out his message including appearances at the American Film Market, the Monaco Grand Prix and the BBC\u2019s car show \u201cTop Gear\u201d. But he tells SpeedTV it\u2019s not just about racing: \u201cPeter Morgan had known Niki Lauda for some
\nyears and he began to learn about these two very different champions. He began to feel there could be something there emotional, interesting, surprising, even funny but also action-packed and intense. It has great acting opportunities, and there\u2019s real human stuff going on, drama, comedy, all authentic and visually great.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story appeared in Cue Entertainment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Although car chases are the backbone of most action adventure movies, few Hollywood directors have braved the circuits of real racing but now Ron Howard steps up with \u201cRush\u201d. Due in the UK from StudioCanal … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1365],"tags":[1868,1870,1869,1038,1552],"class_list":["post-3483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film","category-previews","tag-rush","tag-chris-hemsworth","tag-daniel-bruhl","tag-ron-howard","tag-studiocanal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3483"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7868,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3483\/revisions\/7868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}