# Rush (2013 film)
**Rush** is a 2013 action-drama film directed by [Ron Howard](https://www.edgepedia.org/ron-howard) and written by [Peter Morgan](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-morgan) that dramatizes the mid-1970s Formula 1 rivalry between the English driver [James Hunt](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-hunt) and the Austrian driver Niki Lauda, culminating in the 1976 world championship.[1](https://www.uphe.com/movies/rush) Chris Hemsworth plays Hunt and Daniel Brühl plays Lauda, with Olivia Wilde and Alexandra Maria Lara in supporting roles.[1](https://www.uphe.com/movies/rush) The film runs 123 minutes and carries an R rating for sexual content, nudity, language, some disturbing images, and brief drug use.[1](https://www.uphe.com/movies/rush)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Ron Howard; screenplay by Peter Morgan[2](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/rush) |
| Principal cast | Chris Hemsworth (James Hunt), Daniel Brühl (Niki Lauda), Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Maria Lara[2](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/rush) |
| Subject | The 1976 Formula 1 championship battle, including Lauda's near-fatal crash at the Nürburgring and his return weeks later[2](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/rush) |
| Key crew | Cinematography Anthony Dod Mantle; music Hans Zimmer; editing Dan Hanley and Mike Hill[2](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/rush) |
| Release | Opened in New York and Los Angeles on September 20, 2013, wide release September 27; French release September 25, 2013[3](https://www.autoweek.com/racing/formula-1/a1938121/interview-ron-howard-and-photo-gallery-ahead-rush-release/) • [4](https://international.pathefilms.com/en/movies/rush/) |
| Reception | Metascore 74 from 43 critic reviews; 89% Tomatometer and 88% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rush/critic-reviews/) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rush_2013) |
| Box office | About $27 million in wide US release; a hit in the United Kingdom, finishing in the box office top 2 three weeks running[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-most-underrated-movie-the-east-rush-2013-20131229-story.html) |
## Spoilers
### Story and subject
The film follows Hunt, a charismatic English playboy, and Lauda, a methodical, perfectionist Austrian, as they clash on and off the Grand Prix racetrack and push themselves to the limits of physical and psychological endurance.[1](https://www.uphe.com/movies/rush) The British Council database describes the project as a biography of Lauda and the 1976 crash that almost claimed his life, after which he returned to the wheel mere weeks later to challenge Hunt.[2](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/rush)
The historical outcome frames the climax: Hunt beat Lauda to the 1976 F1 World Championship by a single point, a result determined partly by Hunt's drive and more so by Lauda's decision to abandon a treacherous rain-soaked race at Fuji, judging that the risk outweighed the reward three months after his near-death crash at the [Nürburgring](https://www.edgepedia.org/nurburgring).[8](https://www.topgear.com/car-news/movies/exclusive-behind-scenes-rush)
## Production
Peter Morgan wrote the screenplay as a spec script that studios rejected for financing; Howard has said that as an independent film it escaped studio pressure to make the characters more likeable.[9](https://www.indielondon.co.uk/Film-Review/rush-ron-howard-interview/) Morgan later described the two racers as representing "two halves of me," and said directors [Paul Greengrass](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-greengrass) and Ron Howard both encouraged him to write it.[10](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-xpm-2013-dec-12-la-et-mn-writing-rush-ron-howard-20131212-story.html) Howard did not seek a formal partnership with [Formula One](https://www.edgepedia.org/formula-one), though [Bernie Ecclestone](https://www.edgepedia.org/bernie-ecclestone) gave Morgan and Howard an interview at Silverstone two years before release.[11](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2013/07/15/In-Depth/Rush/?issueId=H6X2OD5CHOVIZ57EVGPI3EOOYM)
**Cars and filming.** Wherever possible Howard used genuine 1976 Formula 1 cars to give the racing scenes authenticity, but the team also built replicas for the trickier action scenes and for use where local noise restrictions made it impossible to run a DFV or Ferrari flat-12 engine; two BRM P160s were created for the film.[12](https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/special-article/best-of-racing-at-the-movies/37/rush-the-real-thing/) Some racing footage was shot at a former Second World War airfield in Surrey, including a helicopter scene near the climax filmed with cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle positioned behind a detached Bell Jet Ranger door for Lauda's point of view.[8](https://www.topgear.com/car-news/movies/exclusive-behind-scenes-rush)
The crew combined [Slumdog Millionaire](https://www.edgepedia.org/slumdog-millionaire) veterans such as Dod Mantle and production designer Mark Digby with Howard's regular editors Dan Hanley and Mike Hill and composer [Hans Zimmer](https://www.edgepedia.org/hans-zimmer).[13](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-rush-movie-review-20130920-story.html) Howard said his editors told him it was one of the hardest of his films to assemble, because of the demands of relaying a story within the races without exhausting the audience with racing.[14](https://static.bafta.org/files/ron-howard-life-in-pictures-transcript-1860.pdf)
## Reception
Critical response was strongly positive overall. The film scored 74 on Metacritic from 43 critic reviews, with 37 positive, 5 mixed, and 1 negative.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rush/critic-reviews/) On Rotten Tomatoes it holds an 89% Tomatometer from 235 reviews and an 88% Popcornmeter audience score.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rush_2013) Reviewers singled out the two lead performances and the racing footage: Variety called it "not just one of the great racing movies of all time, but a virtuoso feat of filmmaking in its own right,"[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rush/critic-reviews/) and Total Film praised the "punchy lead turns" and "stunning in-car footage."[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rush/critic-reviews/) The Los Angeles Times was more reserved, arguing that Howard's polished Hollywood style was not ideally suited to the edginess the story called for.[13](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-rush-movie-review-20130920-story.html)
Commercially, the film was a hit in the United Kingdom, where it finished in the box office top 2 three weeks running, but drew only about $27 million in wide release in the less F1-inclined United States.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-most-underrated-movie-the-east-rush-2013-20131229-story.html) It was nominated for the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film at the 2014 [British Academy Film Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-academy-film-awards).[15](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1979320/awards/)
## Accuracy
The film takes liberties with the historical record. The scene in which Hunt beats up a reporter who asked Lauda how his marriage could survive his disfigurement is fictitious; the journalist's question and Lauda walking out were real, but the assault never happened.[16](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/i-rewatched-rush-anticipation-of-monaco-grand-prix-to-be-honest-i-was-frustrated) The final airport meeting between the two drivers, in which they talk through their differences and shake hands, is also a meeting that never occurred.[16](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/i-rewatched-rush-anticipation-of-monaco-grand-prix-to-be-honest-i-was-frustrated) The film likewise portrays the two men as holding serious disdain for each other for most of the story, which was not true of their real-life relationship.[16](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/i-rewatched-rush-anticipation-of-monaco-grand-prix-to-be-honest-i-was-frustrated) Some racing depictions are also questioned: F1 drivers avoid contact because the cars are delicate machines, so the frequency and force of the on-track bumping shown between Hunt and Lauda is not reflective of real racing.[16](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/i-rewatched-rush-anticipation-of-monaco-grand-prix-to-be-honest-i-was-frustrated)
## References
1. [Rush, Universal Pictures At Home](https://www.uphe.com/movies/rush)
2. [British Council UK Films Database: Rush](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/rush)
3. [Interview with Ron Howard ahead of 'Rush' release, Autoweek](https://www.autoweek.com/racing/formula-1/a1938121/interview-ron-howard-and-photo-gallery-ahead-rush-release/)
4. [RUSH, Pathé Films International Sales](https://international.pathefilms.com/en/movies/rush/)
5. [Rush critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rush/critic-reviews/)
6. [Rush (2013), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rush_2013)
7. ['The East,' 'Rush' voted most underappreciated movies of 2013, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-most-underrated-movie-the-east-rush-2013-20131229-story.html)
8. [Exclusive: behind the scenes on Rush, Top Gear](https://www.topgear.com/car-news/movies/exclusive-behind-scenes-rush)
9. [Rush - Ron Howard interview, IndieLondon](https://www.indielondon.co.uk/Film-Review/rush-ron-howard-interview/)
10. [Peter Morgan on the drive to write 'Rush', Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-xpm-2013-dec-12-la-et-mn-writing-rush-ron-howard-20131212-story.html)
11. [Ron Howard's latest movie project recalls a classic F1 rivalry, Sports Business Journal](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2013/07/15/In-Depth/Rush/?issueId=H6X2OD5CHOVIZ57EVGPI3EOOYM)
12. [Rush: The real thing, Motor Sport Magazine](https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/special-article/best-of-racing-at-the-movies/37/rush-the-real-thing/)
13. ['Rush' is a good ride, but not a great one, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-rush-movie-review-20130920-story.html)
14. [Ron Howard: A Life in Pictures, BAFTA transcript](https://static.bafta.org/files/ron-howard-life-in-pictures-transcript-1860.pdf)
15. [Rush (2013) - Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1979320/awards/)
16. [I Rewatched Rush In Anticipation Of The Monaco Grand Prix, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/i-rewatched-rush-anticipation-of-monaco-grand-prix-to-be-honest-i-was-frustrated)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2010 to 2014 › Biographical and historical drama films*
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