My uncle had that Buick Free Spirit parked next to the Daytona. Who can forget the gaudy red white and blue with the eagle profile on it?
Saw Rush today and I liked the movie and am glad that it was made by a mainstream Hollywood director. I appreciated the way he developed the characters and allowed non F1 fans to better understand the sport. The only thing I didn't like was how slow the cars were going on track during the racing scenes. The safety car would have been going faster. It was a sometimes tearful and emotional film for me. I still like Lemans better
I was cheering for Niki but he still lost ..... what a goose, second time round he should have known to stay out
Saw the movie with my wife last night. We both enjoyed it. Could not have cast the movie any better IMHO. I would not call it a great movie, but it was entertaining and nice to go back in time as I was only 13 in 1976 and brings back some memories of when my interest in motorsports started. Again, not a great movie, but if you liked Le Mans and Grand Prix, you'll like this one too.
Saw this with my wife tonight, what a great movie. Thoroughly enjoyed the story line and the production. Many a NON-F1 fan may be a bit more curious after this, that can't be a bad thing for the sport in the US.
Saw the movie on Saturday. We all enjoyed it. I went with my wife, my dad and my stepmom. My dad and I thought it had too much drama, and we wanted more racing and technical stuff. The women really liked the drama part. So I guess it was a great balance between racing and drama. The sound was great too.
I enjoyed it all. Was very nervous about seeing it as I hate cringe worthy race movies, but this exceeded my expectations. Wife enjoyed it too very much. Did not realize that Lauda and Hunt had a rivalry that started in F3 ... time to do some more reading. To nit pick, two minor faults that disappointed/confused me: 1. The last race at Fuji was displayed as being very wet all race long. This was not true, rain slowed quickly after Lauda decided to retire, and therefore the wet tires of Hunt's car failing didn't make sense. They failed because they overheated due to the drying conditions. 2. When Hunt finished that Fuji race he was not apologetic but in a rage. Why didn't they depict that correctly I wonder? Pete
Actually Hunt and Lauda were flat mates (before they were rich and famous, of course). The F3 race clash didn´t happen, IIRC. I also missed the part when Hunt tried to punch Teddy Mayer after the Japanese GP, but I understand the screenwritter´s reasons to omit it: it just wouldn´t fit in the "heroic" tone the film tried to create, and as I´ve said earlier, the James Hunt of this movie is more agreeable than the real one. They just didn´t let the facts spoil a good story.
IMO the ones smiling the most after all these f1 "documentaries" are Philip Morris. They found a way to marketise legally and to the youngsters almost for free. Wonder what Senna and Hunt had in common on their mclaren livery. Schumy next?
First, met Hunt, and Lauda, numerous times. Their movie portrayals were rather close. Second, keep in mind, this is not a race movie with a sorry story like GP and LeMans. This is an interesting true story that just happens to have racing as its backdrop. So even with Lauda on set, there were some liberties to make the movie interesting for non race fans, a much wider audience. Example, I can not remember anyone dying in F1 in 1976. The obvious portrayal of the Cervert crash was 3 years late. So to nitpick is kinda silly. RUSH is great for all of us true race fans.
+1 I was wondering who died there and couldn't figure it out either and was thinking of Cevert as well.
I'd have to watch it again, but wasn't the crash supposed to be pre-76? Though clearly a reference to the Cevert accident, I don't think it was meant to portray it specifically. It's more of a storytelling device to show the gruesome reality of F1 in that era. In 1973, when Cevert was killed at Watkins Glen, Lauda was in his first and last season with BRM and Hunt was with Hesketh in the "customer" March chassis. By the way, Hunt finished a very strong second to Peterson at the Glen that year, by far his best result up to that point.
Interesting Hunt facts: With little time left before the 1976 season, Hunt was desperately looking for a drive until Emerson Fittipaldi left McLaren and joined his brother's Copersucar-Fittipaldi outfit. With no other top drivers available, the team management signed Hunt to McLaren - in a deal brokered by Marlboro's John Hogan - for the next season on a $200,000 contract. Hunt immediately caused a stir by refusing to sign a clause in his contract which stipulated he wore suits to sponsor functions. Hunt wore t-shirt and jeans and was often barefoot for sponsor-led functions with world leaders, chairmen of businesses and media moguls. Before the start of 1977, Hunt attended a gala function at the Europa Hotel in London where he was awarded the Tarmac Trophy along with a two cheques which were for £2000 and £500 respectively, a magnum of champagne and other awards. The presentation was made by HRH the Duke of Kent. Hunt made an acceptance speech after the event which was considered "suitably gracious and glamorous". The media became critical of Hunt as he attended the event dressed in jeans, t-shirt and a decrepit windbreaker. For 1979 Hunt had resolved to leave the McLaren team. Despite his poor season in 1978 he was still very much in demand. He was offered a deal to drive for Ferrari in 1979, but wary of the potentially complicated political environment at the Italian team, he opted to move instead to the initially very successful Walter Wolf Racing team. Again he had high hopes to win races and compete for the world championship in what would be his last, and ultimately brief, Formula One season. The team's ground effect car was uncompetitive and Hunt soon lost any enthusiasm for racing.Hunt could only watch as Jody Scheckter won the World Driver's championship that year driving the Ferrari 312T4. Hunt didn't want his commentaries broadcast in South Africa during the apartheid years but when he couldn't stop this from happening gave his fees to black-led groups working to overthrow apartheid. Hunt was hired by John Hogan as an adviser and tutor to drivers who were sponsored by Marlboro, instructing them in the tactics of driving and the approach to racing. Mika Häkkinen was one of the most successful drivers because Hunt had been involved with Häkkinen's discussions about not only racing but about life in general. Hunt was notorious for his unconventional behaviour on and off the track, taking drugs and having sex often minutes before a race.[52] Having been part of Formula One when the series was consolidating, and when it was conquering the attention of the motor sport press, Hunt became the epitome of unruly, playboy drivers and was celebrated for his English eccentricity (which included dining with his pet alsatian, Oscar, at expensive Mayfair restaurants). He also was a womaniser, sleeping with more than 5,000 women. Early in their careers Hunt and Niki Lauda shared a one-bedroom flat in London, and were close friends off the track. Lauda, in his autobiography To Hell and Back, described Hunt as an "open, honest to God pal". Lauda admired Hunt's burst of speed while Hunt envied Lauda's capacity for analysis and rigour. In the spring of 1974, Hunt moved to Spain on the advice of the International Management Group. Whilst living there as a tax exile, Hunt was the neighbour of Jody Scheckter, and they also came to be very good friends, with Hunt giving Scheckter the nickname Fletcher after the crash-prone bird in the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Another close friend was Ronnie Peterson. Peterson was a quiet and shy man, whilst Hunt was exactly the opposite, but their contrasting personalities made them very close off the track. It was Hunt who discovered Gilles Villeneuve, whom he met after being soundly beaten by him in a Formula Atlantic race in 1976. Hunt then arranged for the young Canadian to make his Grand Prix debut with McLaren in 1977. Hunt's lifestyle was as controversial as some of the events on track: he was associated with a succession of beautiful women; he preferred to turn up to formal functions in bare feet and jeans; he liked a drink, and also used cocaine and marijuana, and he lived an informal life near the beach in Marbella. He was regularly seen attending nightclubs and discos, and was generally the life and soul of the party. Hunt was an expert ball game player, and regularly played squash and tennis. He also played on the Formula One drivers' cricket and football teams and appeared on the BBC's Superstars more than once. Hunt met his first wife, Suzy Miller, in 1974 in Spain. A few weeks after their initial meeting, he proposed. Hunt held the engagement party at the apartment of his brother Peter, to the guests' surprise. The couple married on 18 October 1974 at the Brompton Oratory in Knightsbridge. By the end of 1975, Suzy had left Hunt for the actor Richard Burton, who paid Hunt's divorce settlement of $1 million, which was finalised in June 1976 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Hunt met potential third wife Helen Dyson in the winter of 1989 in a restaurant in Wimbledon, where she worked as a waitress. Dyson was 18 years Hunt's junior and worried about her parents' reactions to him. Hunt kept the relationship secret from friends and became confused over his attraction to Dyson. The relationship had brought new happiness to Hunt's life, among other factors which included his clean health, his bicycle, his casual approach to dress, his two sons and his Austin A35 van.The day before he died, Hunt proposed to Dyson via telephone. In 1980, Hunt nearly made a comeback with McLaren at the United States Grand Prix West, asking for $1 million for the race. This opportunity came about when regular driver Alain Prost broke his wrist during practice for the previous round in South Africa, and the French rookie was not fully fit to drive at Long Beach. The team's main sponsor, Marlboro, offered half the figure but negotiations ended after Hunt broke his leg while skiing. In 1982, Bernie Ecclestone owner of the Brabham team, offered Hunt a salary of £2.6 million for the season but was rejected by Hunt. Hunt was noticed as a fast driver with an aggressive, tail-happy driving style, but one prone to spectacular accidents, hence his nickname of Hunt The Shunt. In reality, while Hunt was not necessarily any more accident prone than his rivals in the lower formulae, the rhyme stuck and stayed with him. While notably highly strung, Hunt was a highly intelligent driver, more perceptive than often given credit for. In the book, James Hunt: The Biography, John Hogan said of Hunt: "James was the only driver I've ever seen who had the vaguest idea about what it actually takes to be a racing driver." After winning the world championship in 1976, Hunt inspired many teenagers to take up motor racing, and was retained by Marlboro to give guidance and support to up and coming drivers in the lower formulae. In early 2007, Formula One driver and 2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen entered and won a snowmobile race in his native Finland under the name James Hunt. Räikkönen has openly admired the lifestyles of 1970s race car drivers such as Hunt. Hunt's helmet featured his name in bold letters along with blue, yellow and red stripes on both sides and room for the sponsor Goodyear, all placed onto a black background.Additionally, the blue, yellow and red bands resemble his Wellington College school colours. During his comeback year to Formula One in 2012, 2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen sported a James Hunt painted helmet during the Monaco Grand Prix. Räikkönen repeated the tribute at the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix.
"Next lifetime, short as it may be, I want to be James Hunt".... I'm sorry, but I have a tough time with that one. 5000 days (or nights) is going on 14 years.
Unfortunately, that's always the case in movies. And if 80% was BS, it might break a movie record for 'trueness' . But it supposedly is one of the better racing movies, so will contribute to its sales success one of these evenings . The good news for them is that most of us are not familiar at all with those 2 figures in that period of time. Thanks to this forum, I'm not one of them anymore . By the way, great post RP.
I agree. The race at Fuji should have been the viral raison d'etre for attending the movie. I can't fathom why Ron Howard didn't capitalize on the momentum of the story by offering the audience at least one riveting, hypnotic depiction of racing action from the driver's viewpoint. I've seen GoPro commercials with better 'moments' than anything in RUSH. Truly a missed opportunity, imho.
Again, this was not a racing movie, it was a story that involved racing in a movie that in order to be a commercial success needed to appeal to a wider audience than race fans.In my opinion, the final race in the movie was quite riveting.
Read my post again. Hunt "discovered" Gilles, he had an impact on Mika, he could have a ride with Ferrari but said no....and I do not care if it was only 50 women, Hunt was a major influence on F1, and on Niki Lauda. Quite impressive for a playboy. F1 today is shallow without the likes of James Hunt.
