Astonishingly, “Rush”, the long awaited, epic, Formula 1 drama, brought to screen by Ron Howard, has been overlooked for an Academy Award nomination. “RUSH” is a recreation of the historical rivalry during the ‘70’s between World Champion race drivers Englishman, James Hunt and Austrian, Nikki Lauda. How “Rush” was shut out of the Oscar nominations is amazing since it is a movie told with the direction and contribution of some of the world’s greatest filmmakers and it is a remarkable film, certainly worthy of this recognition.

The director to tell this story is certainly two-time Academy Award® winner Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Frost/Nixon), who with fellow two-time Academy Award® nominee, writer Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen), present the high action drama, “Rush”. “Rush”, nominated for 2 Golden Globes; Best Motion Picture Drama and Best Performance by an actor in a supporting role, Daniel Brühl, is a spectacular re-creation this race story, revealing the heart of the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda. It also stars the beautiful and talented Olivia Wilde as Hunt’s wife and girl friend and Alexandra Maria Lara as Lauda’s girlfriend and then wife. Music is composed and selected by 7-time Academy Award winning composer, Hans Zimmer (The Lion King, Crimson Tide, The Thin Red Line, Gladiator, The Last Samurai, The Dark Knight and Inception). Zimmer has the distinction of being listed by the Daily Telegraph as one of the Top 100 Living Geniuses.

“Rush” headlines Chris Hemsworth (The Avengers) as the charismatic Englishman, James Hunt and Daniel Brühl (Inglourious Basterds) as the disciplined Austrian perfectionist, Niki Lauda. The historic and epic personal rivalry between these two stars on the Grand Prix circuit added a new and fascinating element of drama to an already high-octane sport. Rush captures this energy and carries the viewer into the fast paced, highly competitive and dangerous world of Grand Prix racing. Director Ron Howard has masterfully told the story, contrasting these two very different personalities, bringing the story to an emotional climax with Nikki Lauda’s crash at the German Grand Prix at Nürburgring in 1976.

The long awaited epic movie about two of the world’s most famous Formula 1 World Champions, Austrian Nikki Lauda and Englishman, James Hunt.

Behind the Scenes We caught up with the stars on the Red Carpet:

Chris Hemsworth on the Red Carpet in Toronto discussing how he captured the role of James Hunt and the highlights of working on this movie.

Director Ron Howard talks about how he made Rush, the challenges of recreating a world from scratch, reinventing the 70’s, the design challenge, the music, Hans Zimmer, the 70’s songs and ones that were hits in Europe in the 70’s

Screenwriter Peter Morgan on the Red Carpet in Toronto speaks about his personal relationship with Nikki Lauder and how he won the opportunity to write Nikki Lauda and James Hunt’s story.

Producer Andrew Eaton on the Red Carpet in Toronto discussing getting the vintage F1 Cars used and other challenges of the movie. All the cars still exist and the owners actually raced their own cars. How he and Ron Howard chose Daniel and James as the leads, creating authenticity and choosing the music.

Youtube of Actual crash footage Nikki Lauda crash from 1976

“Rush” is distributed by Studio: Entertainment One and is available on Blu-ray.

– Moira Romano

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