Formula 1 racing is one of the most dangerous sports on Earth. You’re strapped inside of a supercharged car with nothing but winding roads and uncontrollable weather conditions in front of you. Some may look at it as a suicidal event, and others love the thrill of looking death in its face, rushing towards it with every changing gear. I’m not a fan of racing because all I ever saw it as was cars driving in endless laps for 2 hours or so, and there’s not much excitement about that (unless you see a crash on Sportscentre the following night). In this biopic directed by Ron Howard, he puts the audience in the racer’s seat of not only just the sport, but in the front seat which was spotlighted by a great rivalry between two great racers in the 70s. James Hunt & Niki Lauda from the get go had no likeliness for each other as people, but when it came down to the race track, their competitive spirit shined in riveting motion.

James (played by Chris Hemsworth) was the hot-headed speedster who was attractive and had the flare, swagger, and charisma that any would take a race car driver to me. He was reckless as a person, but what he possessed was the raw will to win by any means. He lived for the thrill of the race and living every day like it could be his last, because in the sport any day could be your last. Niki (played by Daniel Brühl) was the studious one. His calculated intelligence is what gave him the advantage, but being swarmed by the numbers and mathematics could prove to be detrimental, and unfortunately for him, an accident could have taken his life and that would have been the end of it for him. What was the leading cause of his return was the competitive obsession he had with beating James Hunt, and when he wasn’t able to, that was motivation enough for him to get back in it. Between the rivalry, you saw the personal struggles with women, drugs, and a culmination of events that added fuel to their fire. Visually, this movie was gripping from start to finish, faintly leaving any room for dullness to takeover.

What I liked the most about this movie was that the tension between the two showed that they needed each other more than ever to push themselves to being better. James treated the sport as a life passion, but he enjoyed it. Niki treated it with a business mindset and wanted to win more than he wanted to enjoy it. There’s nothing wrong with being a competitor, but when you have consumed so much energy into beating someone over and over again without an ounce of enjoying the moment, then what are you left with – misery. Niki had a line in the movie that summed up the personality of his character:

“Happiness is the enemy.”

When you get what you want, then that’s when you discover you have something(s) to lose. I wouldn’t advise looking at life like that, but I understand the concept of it. Being driven to win is what motivates so many to being better in whatever they do, but it shouldn’t be the only motivating factor. This movie showed the importance of rivalries and how it keeps the blood boiling. It could be the difference between life and death (especially in Niki’s case), and how everything came together on screen was great. Competition taken to the next level is what separates individuals from ordinary to extraordinary, and that’s what entices people to watch, hence why sports are such a popular past time. I’d definitely advise going out to watch this, but for now, this is my opinion, this is my review

That’s My Word & It STiXX