In 1976, Formula One experienced one of those rivalries that define the sport for generations. When people think of great F1 battles, Senna and Prost usually come to mind but James hunt and Niki Lauda had a fierce battle for the title and if you consider that the former was severely injured, it makes for a good story.
Translating that story to the big screen is the tough part of Hollywood veteran Ron Howard has thrown his reputation into the racing movie meat grinder to see if he could pull it off. Racing movies have mostly died on the vine and even the successful ones take a bit of moxie to make it through. The stories are all terrific when you consider the subject matter of F1 but it is very difficult to get a movie screenplay written about it because the action is mostly on track. If there is a compelling personal story, then things come together in a more cohesive manner.
Nikki Lauda and James Hunt certainly had compelling personal stories so let’s hope that this movie doesn’t betray the reality of F1 with silly brainstem-severing notions such as the movie Driven displayed and that it moves faster than Grand Prix or even Le Mans. If it doesn’t, Ron Howard may find himself holding up bloodied hands screaming…” is this what you want!!??”.
The movie is salted for release in September of 2013.
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