Although the film is consistently riveting, my mind kept flashing back to John Frankenheimer’s 1966 “Grand Prix,” some of the filming of which I observed thanks to one of those junkets so popular in that era. Frankenheimer, using the wiles of filmmaking at the time, expertly positioned his cameras to capture the excitement of the Grand Prix on the French Riviera. He worked wonders with the action sequences. As for Howard’s film, he had so much more in the way of updated technology at his command and he has made brilliant use of it.

Even those not especially interested in racing should find excitement in watching this saga unfurl. True, competition between rivals has been a movie staple for years, but the acting and the intensity, along with the superb cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle, make the film sparkle. The scenes on the track, including a spectacular crash, are flamboyant. At times it is almost as if we are riding in the bizarre vehicles designed for maximum speed.

Hunt and Lauda are shown as very different types. Hunt is very much of a playboy who loves to be surrounded by beautiful women and has no trouble attracting them. He is also reckless in his willingness to defy death. Lauda, for all of his daring, is cautious in the sense that he doesn’t want to take risks needlessly. When he deems a track too dangerous he doesn’t want to be macho and ignore the foolishness of going ahead with a race under such circumstances. He also shows tremendous courage in persevering toward recovery after disaster strikes him.