Not just for petrol heads

Rush (15)
Running time 123 minutes
Rating: *****
As many a doctor will tell you, the most powerful, the most addictive and the most dangerous drug in the world is adrenaline – one drop can transform a meek and mild human into a gibbering speed-freak who (it has been proved) can perform superhuman acts such as lifting cars off injured people.
Some who become adrenaline ‘junkies’ parachute off mountains, others free climb, some ride motorcycles (known darkly in some quarters as organ donor transport vehicles), but some, perhaps the best rewarded, sit behind the wheel of F1 racing cars.
Rush, directed by Ron Howard, is the story – mostly true – of F1 legends James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) who, in 1976, had the most thrilling and unbelievable contest to decide the World Championship.
Documentary-style motor racing films, such as the 1970s story of Fangio and the much more recent story of Ayrton Senna, can lack the extreme excitement of a fictional tale. Rush amends that fault and provides the audience with everything.
From giant egos clashing on and off the track, to horrendous crashes causing bloody injuries that result from soft flesh hitting hard metal or concrete at 170mph, to a pointless contest elevated to an artform, Rush has everything. It even has good acting, which is not always a given.
James Hunt was a hard-drinking, drug-taking, womanising playboy who could drive brilliantly through aggression, razor sharp instincts and an all-consuming will to prove himself.
Niki Lauda was a cold, methodical driving machine, who calculated risk and reward to within 10 decimal points and also had an all-consuming will to prove himself.
After Lauda comprehensively beat Hunt in the 1975 championships, the 1976 season started with both men struggling. Lauda was more consistent and leading easily until a crash at the German Grand Prix on the widowmaker Nurburgring.
He became trapped in a blazing car for more than a minute, melting most of his face and scarring his lungs. Hunt was allowed the opportunity to win sufficient races to catch up.
The final race of the season was the decider and the outcome, which left Hunt World Champion, astonished the racing world.
Rush is grim and gritty, and shows how risky the sport of motor racing was in the 1970s, when Lauda, analytical as ever, said: “I know when I get in the car for a race there is a 20 per cent chance I will die. That is acceptable.”
Lauda won two more world championships, but Hunt, after 1976, failed to reach the same heights and died of a heart attack at the age of 45.
There are plenty of side-stories too in Rush, such as the ill-fated adventure into motor racing by Lord Hesketh, who supported Hunt – a venture that eventually bankrupted him, and of the poor technicians who worked days and nights endlessly to make Lauda 0.1 of a second faster than anyone else.
Rush is a very good film, well constructed by a great director, with stunning effects and an all-consuming story so gripping you can hardly believe that it’s true.