Rush on Poll

"Tim (Fractal Footwork)" (fractalfootwork) 09/28/2013 at 15:45 • Filed to: Poll, Rush, Ron Howard, Niki Lauda, James Hunt, OppositeLock

0

19

Most of you saw Rush last night, and I'm certain you have some opinions about it. I thought it would be interesting to aggregate these opinions and see what the average Jalop auto enthusiast thought about the movie compared to the average non-enthusiast.

Rush as a Movie

To date, Rush is the greatest automotive communication we have with the rest of the world that helps us explain why we love cars so much. Rush seemed a bit whimsical at first, but certainly changed for the better as the movie progressed. I would definitely call Ron Howard's latest production the greatest Hollywood-acted script involving cars. The current !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and this number is probably only comprised of about 40% non-enthusiasts, so is this number watered down by enthusiasts who were disappointed or spiced up by enthusiasts who were reveling in the testosterone?

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

The Sound

The moment I realized that Rush was going to be a great movie was the first time all of the engines fired. The sound was impeccable, yet as the movie progressed, I was disappointed that the sound engineers thought it best to mix those engine notes with an orchestral rivalry. I'm sure Ron Howard has seen !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , so why is it that he thought it best to drown out the engines?

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

The Racing

I personally was disappointed in the beginning sequences at the lack of racing. I do understand that this movie was made to sell, and not specifically for motoring enthusiasts. Most of the passing in Rush was done under a slipstream before breaking. I am not certain about how racing was done back in the day, but I have seen some videos of two cars both sideways into a corner that put me on the edge of my seat. The racing was still good and the dialogue about the racing was far from , but unfortunately it reminded me of the Fast and the Furious.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Inside Automotive References

When Lauda was testing for Ferrari and we saw the man sitting next to track reading a newspaper, I was certain few else knew who he was, and they refrained from mentioning it; I loved this fact, and was proud that the movie was not being dumbed down to explain all of the historical significance of certain events, like the Ferrari Tifosi or Enzo himself.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Use of Road Cars

You saw a few, and knew all of their names, then smiled; no one else cared.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Any other opinions or poll ideas are free to be discussed below.

BmacIL > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 09/28/2013 at 16:04

2

Loved the movie overall. I felt it did an amazing job of putting you as close as most of us will ever get to what it was like to be in the sport, and to know the ferocity of the cars. Outside of the cars/racing, I felt the acting was excellent, particularly for this type of film. Daniel Bruhl should be under consideration for an Oscar for his performance. Even though it occasionally got in the way of the car sounds, I also felt the soundtrack was paired beautifully by Hans Zimmer. Overall, 9.5/10 for me.

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 09/28/2013 at 16:10

1

I've yet to go see it, as it was sold out when it opened last weekend. It's got to be great though, people were really talking about it back in college, and that's people who couldn't care less for cars or Formula 1 before watching the movie.

Whatever they did with Rush, it must have been done very, very right.

Soloburrito > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 09/28/2013 at 16:14

1

I couldn't help but see the movie as an f1 fan at first. I thought it was great but yearned for more details about the sport to make their way into the film. I want to watch it again to simply appreciate it as a well made film.

MetalSonic7 > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 09/28/2013 at 16:18

0

What were the road cars in RUSH? I knew a few but not all. Can someone give me a complete list?

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 09/28/2013 at 16:26

6

Insert Oscar here.

Mikeado > MetalSonic7 09/28/2013 at 16:42

2

Off the top of my head, they broke down in a Peugeot 504 and got picked up in a Lancia somethingorother (Wiki says it's a Flavia). Clay drove Niki to that party in a Ferrari/Dino 308 GT4, surrounded by '70s prestige cars. The BMW Marlena was driving after Niki crashed, I don't know. I think it was the one that got replaced by the first 5-Series.

MetalSonic7 > Mikeado 09/28/2013 at 16:51

0

Mate thanks so much for this. I looked up a Flavia and it looks like a Lancia 2000 saloon.

If I could ask one last favour, what is the link to the wiki page? Really appreciate your time mate.

Mikeado > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 09/28/2013 at 17:06

2

I didn't like some of the writing. There was some contrived commentary (or it was being used unnecessarily to ram home the fact that "hey, these guys are rivals") and, I dunno, just a few things that they didn't really do with enough finesse, as it were. Like Niki being called "rat." They just kind of threw that in a few times because they knew they should. They were a bit too conspicuous about explaining the characters to us, too. The narrated opening I can get over, but James's award speech felt lazy. The closing comment about a diploma was fine, but it was mostly like "hey, this is some stuff about James you should know, some of which we couldn't get into the film." It was mostly stuff you'd work out for yourself during the film, and I don't honestly believe that James Hunt would be all like "yeah, I'm like this you know, and I'm a man-slut who hates authority, AM I RITE GUISE?" and so on when receiving an award. Because nobody does that!

Also, I couldn't help but recognise the tracks they filmed the racing on. The Nürburgring was legit, but Monza was Donington Park and maybe a bit of Brands Hatch, and Fuji was something else as well. I know that aside from the 'Ring it was all filmed in the UK and thus on British circuits, but yeah, I spotted the real things. They generally did a good job of making it all look legit and from the 1970s, but when they've tried so hard to satisfy F1 fans and then filmed "Monza" somewhere with big altitude changes, it just kinda takes the shine off those scenes a bit for me. I don't now how they did the Parabolica shot. Probs CGI like the Sudschleife part of the Nürburgring.

The racing itself was OK though. While they were using the real F1 cars for closeups, the racing scenes were done with (exceedingly accurate) replicas of the M23 and 312T based on junior formula cars, so they could've pushed the boat out a little bit further, but really the film's not focused on the racing beyond it being the medium through which the story is told. Oh, and all movies have soundtracks. They need to keep more people than just car fans engaged, and it helps set the tone a bit more. I thought it was generally used quite well.

Everything about the film I haven't mentioned was either as good as I was hoping for or better, and despite what I've said above it's a really fantastic film. I like that they snuck in some real racing footage when the characters were watching TV screens, and the ending was really nice. The acting was great too. Daniel Brühl for one was tremendous, and the casting was spot-on.

Mikeado > MetalSonic7 09/28/2013 at 17:11

1

Oh, I meant the Wiki page for the Lancia Flavia.

There are a few on here, though: http://www.imcdb.org/movie_1979320-…

promoted by the color red > MetalSonic7 09/28/2013 at 17:18

0

There was a quick cameo from an Abarth 750 (?) that nearly gets hit by a wheel, James Hunt tools about in a Mini Cooper S, Lord Hesketh and his groupies tool about in a bunch of Silver Shadows, and a pair of Toyota Celicas and a Crown can be seen as Niki helicopters away at the end.

UserNotFound > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 09/28/2013 at 22:04

1

I loved all the shots of the Tyrrell P34 and I was rooting for Mario at Fuji.

MetalSonic7 > Mikeado 09/29/2013 at 15:43

0

Thanks very much for this and all of your help!

designlife > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 10/01/2013 at 12:07

0

only problem with the movie was why was thor racing f1, but i put this on the top of car movies.

volvomoose > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 10/01/2013 at 12:15

0

The only thing about Rush that really bothered me about the cars in RUSH, was the Mini Cooper had modern tires on it.

BionicPhil > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 10/01/2013 at 12:27

0

In regards to the "insider" bits: I was able to see the movie twice since its open. Here are things I liked:

Characters who were not mentioned by name, but were there: Enzo (sitting there reading the paper, classic...). Luca di Montezemolo. Emerson Fittipaldi, Sterling Moss, Murray Walker...

Driver's helmets. I found myself looking at them to determine drivers in cars, just like when I watch F1 today.

Clay Reggazzoni telling Lauda "You are a member of the Ferrari family as long as you are winning..." is so true, even today.

Seeing the design of the cars change from 1975 to 1976...

StoneColdSteveUrkel > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 10/01/2013 at 12:36

0

I would have loved to see Lauda interacting with Enzo Ferrari. My understanding is that Enzo had great respect for the Austrian. Too bad the significance of Lauda signing with the Scuderia was handled 'off-screen'.

More racing would have been nice. I was hoping to see more action shots of the cars at The Ring. Especially when all four wheels get off the ground at Flugplatz. To see the Ferrari do that only once in the movie was a shame. Images of the cars airborne are transfixing....

It's a "Porch-uh" > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 10/01/2013 at 13:12

0

Just watched it last night. IMO, good movie, but not great. The main issue for me being that a great movie surprises me, which is tough when you know what's going to happen (SPOILER ALERT: Hunt wins the championship in '76). So all the drama that they built up, didn't really work on me since I know the history. For somebody who didn't know, I think it would have been better.

It's a "Porch-uh" > It's a "Porch-uh" 10/01/2013 at 13:15

0

Also, the one visual I really liked was the "inside the helmet view" where the camera was looking at their eyes from the side, but like you were inside the helmet. There was something about that view and the sound of their breathing that brought back a strong memory of what it's like inside a helmet right before a race.

JCAlan > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 10/01/2013 at 22:16

0

I'm glad you included sound on this poll. It REALLY bothers me how movies and TV never get engine sounds properly matched to automobiles. Especially motorcycles. Rush paid special attention to this and I think they mostly nailed it.

I'm a car enthusiast but not an F1 fan. I intentionally avoided stumbling into spoilers leading up to the movie release. For me, the ending was still anti-climactic. So Lauda quit the race and the lesser driver won the series, barely. Meh.

Good flick though, for sure. Just not great.