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Niki Lauda at the 1975 French Grand Prix. (Image
source: the Cahier Archive, grandprix.com)
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So I've tried putting some thought into which
tack I'd like to take when trying to offer my two-cents worth upon 'lil Ronnie
Howard's F1 film RUSH, which I saw upon its opening weekend in Seattle.
Yet what's really starting to PISS ME OFF! Is
all of the countless nit-picking over the film's authenticity, as F%%KING EH RAY! It's a *Hollywood*
movie based upon real events that occurred nearly 40 FREAKIN' Years ago! As I
tried mightily to take in Grizzled 'Journo Joe Saward's sage advice of going in
with an open mind (blank slate) and just enjoying it for its movie sake instead
of pointing out all of its mistakes...
Now I could sit here and point out how James
Hunt never punched a Journalist, or that Niki Lauda's first encounter with
eventual wife Marlene didn't happen in Italy - according to Lauda himself. Or
what I'd pondered during the movie and Keith Collantine (F1 Fanatic) -astutely
points out that the Brand Hatch race would have been overly complex to
re-create, not to mention making the two-plus hour movie even longer. Or Lord
Hesketh just announcing he never wore bright pink soaks, only red; Blah-blah-blah...
But I wasn't at the movie to tear I-T apart;
NOPE! I was there to revel in the joy of my Numero Uno sport, thee pinnacle 'O
motorsports, nee F1 being shown on the B-I-G Screen; Ja Volt! As I think it's a
true representation of just how far Formula 1 has changed since those heady
days of 1976, as Mario Andretti NO less says that the Japanese Grand Prix
should have never been started, as F1 simply would NOT do in today's world - as
I'll always remember the Korean Grand Prix for sitting up into the wee hours of
the inaugural event trying to stay awake whilst waiting out a rain delay!
As a legally blind 'Vurd Botcherer, the whole
process of watching a movie for Mwah these days I'd have to presume is totally
foreign to anybody with normal vision, eh? And with Snowbyrd MJ's insistence, I
reluctantly went about trying the virgin Walkie-Talkie headset listening device
that our Downtown Seattle theatre offered for blind & visually impaired
patrons, which I'll confess totally made 100% difference to me, not to mention
totally improving my movie going experience significantly! As I now find myself
thinking this should be mandatory for ALL movie theatre's... As I can only
imagine how much more I'd have enjoyed SENNA if somebody had read the
sub-titles dubbed in English to Mwah, as it was really nice to know when Niki
was telling Hunt to FUCK OFF in Austrian, etc; but I digress...
Actually that
was one of the most refreshing parts of the whole movie to me, the
actors actually swearing 'N cussing out each other and it's not being interrupted
by the obligatory bleeping.... Not to mention how I know Lauda's voice, yet
found myself by midway's (or before) thru the movie totally believing Daniel Bruhl was actually
Niki Lauda - while I know I've heard Hunt's voice in the past on some
'Kuhnadiun TV F1 races broadcasting the British feed, I've never really felt I
know much about him.
Since I'd even forgotten his dubious nickname; NO!
Not about his Shagging prowess but "Hunt the shunt!" While the
Englishman's "Sex, Drugs & Rock 'N Roll" lifestyle makes I-T very
simple to see why thee 'Kimster, nee Kimi "the Iceman" Raikkonen
wishes to emulate him... While I found Chris Hemsworth very convincing in
his role - as I'm told he even looked eerily similar to him? Not to mention
almost being the exact same height.
And although I've previously mentioned that
I've read Niki Lauda's book Meine Story a zillion years ago, I thought the
movie pointed out far better just how horrifically difficult his miraculous
recovery was, chuckling over how the doctor repeats to Marlene Niki's just told
the priest to Fuck Off! Not to mention how amazing his return to racing just
42-days later at la Scuderia's (Ferrari) home track of Monza, Italy was! No
less to the intense pressure of the ravenous tifosi; YIKES!
While I think another funny part of the movie
has to be Hunt's signing at McLaren when explaining Fittipaldi's gone off to Copper
Fucking Sucar! Which only died in the wool F1 fans would understand who Copersucar was...
Hence I found myself more interested in
Hunt's story and enjoyed how the movie leaves you cheering for both drivers and
their mutual respect for each other, as I found myself getting misty-eyed a few
times during the movie with my largest complaint of the movie being its
deafening sound, as I didn't know I'd need earplugs for the screening... Yet (AZ
Bureau Chief) Snobyrd MJ has made an overly astute observation towards this,
when she asked me isn't it that LOUD at the racetrack?
While Hall asked me how'd "the
Badger" do? As I've read it's a really loud movie too... Oh, you must mean
"Niki-the-Rat!" Who I'm happy to say is alive and well at the age of
64, and apparently being the 'Papa of 4-year old twins with his second wife...
While as the movie points out, Messer Hunt died of a heart attack at the
relatively young age of 45 in 1993...
Thus, I'd say just go see the movie and enjoy
it for its story, since I personally enjoyed the HELL outta I-T! Perhaps
because I just have to sit there and listen without being able to see the
drivers faces, let alone their twitching eyelashes, and even rank it above
Grand Prix which I'd say is pretty high company indeed! While also thinking
that if the movie flops at the box office, all of us 'PetrolHeadz may have to
wait a Helluva long time before somebody else attempts making a motor racing
movie, eh?