Ron Howard is back and arguably better than ever

Rating: 8/10 (6 March 2014)

Based on the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, Rush is a magnificent movie that will grip the audience even if they have no interest in racing.
Nicki Lauda, played by Daniel Bruhl, gave up the chance to manage his family's business back in Austria in order to become a racer. In a Formula Three race in 1970, he meets the flamboyant Brit James Hunt, who is played by Chris Hemsworth. The two develop a rivalry and eventually cross paths in the Formula One. The movie takes place during the 1976 Formula One season, where Lauda and Hunt try to not only win the World Championship, but prove who the better racer is. Along the way, we see that both men are polar opposites of each other. Lauda is a more calculating, vigilant racer who only races because it's the thing he does best. Racing is almost like solving an equation for him. For Hunt however, racing is his passion. He wants to "stare death in the face, and to cheat it".
One thing I loved about Rush was that it didn't have a good guy for us to cheer, and a bad guy for us to boo. Both of these men have flaws but in the end, they're human and it really felt like it in the movie. You'll find yourself cheering for Hunt at times and for Lauda at other times.
Before the movie was released I saw pictures of the cast and their real life counterparts. I thought that the casting was perfect. They looked almost identical. But I didn't know that the acting would be so good. This movie wouldn't have been nearly as good if the acting was sub-par. We needed to believe that we were seeing James Hunt and Niki Lauda, and that's what we got. If the movie wasn't released in such a stacked year, I think both of them would've got an Oscar nomination.
But you need more than good actors and a good premise to make a good movie, you also need a good director who is capable of bringing everything together, and this movie has just that. On his day, Ron Howard is one of the best directors working right now, and he shows why with Rush. The movie looks beautiful. The racing scenes where masterfully captured and along with the great work of Hans Zimmer, you felt like you were right in the middle of the action.
All in all, Rush is an outstanding movie. Anyone who appreciates wonderful cinematography and acting, or even just wants to see a good sports movie, should check this one out.