Disc Reviews
Rush Blu-ray Review
Ron Howard pushes his career back into high gear again with this dramatized look at the true life rivalry between F1 competitors James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) back in the mid-1970s.
Hunt very much the suave, determine, good looking competitor. Women were drawn to him sexually, men were engaged by his enigmatic personality. Lauda on the other hand had a mind of precision and had very little other time for manners or drawing points on a best personality quiz. But on the track both were right in each other’s way – and Howard’s film beautifully captures the juxtaposition of the personalities, the track records and ultimately the friendship that sorely bloomed out of the on and off-track carnage.
Howard wisely has Anthony Dod Mantle doing as much experimentation with his camera’s as possible, getting in, under, around and right beside the cars and the drivers on the track which injects a lot of energy into the edit when it isn’t being overcast by Hans Zimmer’s thundering music choices.
Hemsworth seems perfectly fit at this time of his career to be playing the egocentric Hunt and has a close enough resemblance to carry it off for those familiar with the background. But it is Daniel Brühl as the more offensive Lauda that marks the deepest impression with a performance so nuanced and fitted to perfection that it is no surprise that his name has been popping up on the awards circuit as well.
Rush is Howard’s best film in many years, balancing looks, sound and performance as well as any engineer might need to on one of the cars. It’s also a highly re-watchable film as well, whether you are into the spot or not.
Picture and Sound quality on the Blu-ray are of a high standard as one might expect. The extras are fairly minimal, but the few behind the scenes featurettes you get do go into some detail about the making of the film as well as detailing the real life stories. There are also a slew of deleted scenes worth checking out. Overall a film well worth owning. This is high drama performing at the optimum.
Steven Hurst