Drive

My wife and I both liked this action thriller, which is a fast-paced, witty road movie about a super assassin (Dacascos) hunted down by his own people, teaming up with Hardison and trying to get to Los Angeles. There's little plot but the action scenes and the dialogue more than make up for that. It was a sort of cross between the Bourne Identity and the Rush Hour films (without all the yelling!), and if you liked those, you will probably like this.

Murphy's character added some additional female humour to what was otherwise a male-dominated thriller.

I saw the director's cut, so I don't know what scenes were missing from the original. 8 out of 10.

The straight to video action genre must be the fastest expanding percentage of the home video market I swear not. So these days with so much out there, it's hard to figure out what's worth your time, money and what's best left on the shelf for eternity. Yes it may be a stereotype that guys like car crash movies, guns 'n babes flicks and any movie with the words "death" "kill" or "gun" in it's title, but it rings sorta true. It's on this simple premise many movies come out each year with titles that you expect to know what you're getting. The box naturally trying it's hardest to win you over too. Let's take a hypothetical situation. There's three movie boxes in front of you. All action titles.

(1) First one stars a familiar face or two, but nobody special. The movie's box is predominately pretty plain looking (cheap). Two guys on top of a car firing guns right at us. The title screams "boring". The kind of box you've seen a hundred times before on your local video shelves.

(2) A pair of sexy blondes (dillinger in stockings: optional) stand off to the side of the b-movie star holding a silenced handgun. In the background, an overlay of a building blowing up and a helicopter whistling through the air with a man hanging out. The box is suggestive and the art sells it.

(3) Box displays a fallen Hollywood star now resigned to doing B-movie leads lying in the grass in full cameo fatigues with a sniper's rifle. A sexy brunette assassin in the background showing ample cleavage, a mighty sharp blade and all of this is surrounded by one large red rifle sight.

The visual creatures we men are - chances are you're thinking about (2) or (3). Alas in my deepest hopes of saving you from another disappointment, I recommend Drive.

An absolute gem for all of us action movies junkies. The kinda flick that makes up for the ten or so dog piles you've gone through previously. It's quite the action experience for direct-to-video fare. The fight choreography is great, Dacascos is at the top of his form and is better than anyone I've seen in the kick-kick genre of late. The explosions work, the acting is surprisingly decent for this sort of nonsense and the start, middle and end are entertaining. Yeah the story is somewhat of a test pattern, but everyone involved make it work and god it's about time. A quasi buddy movie - Kadeem Hardison and Dacascos put together some fun stuff and if this is low budget it's not showing. The production values are crisp. All except maybe that fake, prosthetic arm.

This is definitely a movie I could live with a sequel from. It deserves one because it overcame the odds. Do yourself a favor. Rent this. If you're a fan of DTV action fare and you want it tight and refreshingly done then this is your meal ticket. Oh yeah and before I forget ... remember that hypothetical situation with the movie boxes? Drive was (1). The irony.

[Action/Martial-Arts - Graphic Violence/Profanity - 10 out of 10]

Unlike most Hollywood produced martial-arts movies in which fights seem toned down and silly rather than exciting, this movie shows a strong tie to older and much more "alive" martial arts movies in that the fights are strong and unhindered leaving a truly amazing style. This could be the reason why it has won two international film awards and has been called the best martial arts done by a western studio.

Aside from the normal dose of corny jokes and lack of consistent acting expertise, this movie is true to the genre of martial-arts. The fight-choreography done by Koichi Sakamoto and his team alone should make this a film worth watching. The main character (played by a skilled martial-arts actor) goes through no less than five large fight scenes worthy of anything done by Jet Li or Jackie Chan. The ending fight scene prominently displays some of the best and most powerful hits that I have ever seen on screen. My favorite fight sequence is inside a hotel room when four men attack the main character in a space no larger than 20 square feet. I've never really seen a fight that cramped before. The fight itself is very fluid and the moves in the close-quarters battle are outstandingly original.

As for plot, I find it pretty original. The very basic summary is this: a man with an implant in his chest that triples strength and increases stamina is being hunted by the organization that put it there in order to stop him before he sells it to a rival corporation. Along the way he meets up with someone that could use the money that he is offered and an instant friendship is created in-between non-stop attacks on their person. The Director's Cut offers more plot-explanation as well as an original score but that is not the version that is being reviewed.

I'd like to compare `Drive' to some other movies but I can't think of anything like it. `Rush Hour' perhaps, due to it's Asian/American tag team action. `Drive' definitely excels in choreography and action but not in character chemistry or plot. Another movie that comes to mind is `The One' with one of the main characters possessing the ability to move faster and outmaneuver the opposition. The only difference is that `Drive' does not use computer effects in order to show the supremacy of the main character's skills. I believe that `Drive' is an original film that excels beyond anything it is similar to.

This relatively unknown masterpiece has raised my expectations for all martial-arts/action movies like The Matrix raised the bar for action. If one cannot see how this movie surpasses the others in its genre, then they should be fine with watching such films as `Shanghai Noon' or `Kiss of the Dragon' and leave `Drive' to those that can truly appreciate it's unique qualities.

I thought that this movie was excellent, I watched it after a recommendation from a friend.

After a slow first ten minutes when we get introduced to the main characters Toby Wong (an excellent Mark Dacascos)and Malik Brody (equally as good Kadeem Hardison) the action gets under way and doesn't stop until the closing credits.

The jokes come quick and fast throughout and the film only gets better with the introduction of the fantastic but pretty unstable motel worker Deliverance Bodine (Brittany Murphy).

Overall I give it 8/10

I consider myself a connoisseur of crap cinema. Whether it's an overblown, big budget misfire or low budget, straight-to-video B movie, I love to watch filmmakers fail. Not to revel in their defeat, but rather to learn from their mistakes. To quote the Scottish reformer Samuel Smiles "We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success." Drive however is a surprising success.

When I first discovered this film I was shocked that I hadn't seen or even heard of it. It's a sci-fi/action/Kung fu movie, which is maybe my favorite genre (semi kidding) and it stars Kadeem Hardison, one of my favorite comedic actors from childhood and Mark Dacascos, who is (in my opinion) the most overlooked action star of his era. Drive is the exact type of obscure film I make it my business to know all about and it let slip through the cracks for decades. For shame.

The second shock came when I searched the title on IMDb and discovered it had a 6.8 rating. I have never seen a low budget, direct-to-video, action film with such a high rating. 6.8 is a great rating for any film. There are movies that have been nominated for the Oscar for best picture that don't have a 6.8 rating. Now I was intrigued.

The final shock came when I was viewing the credits and I saw another familiar name: Koichi Sakamoto. Koichi was the long running fight coordinator for the TV show Power Rangers, a show I watched religiously from ages 2 to 14. 14 was probably too old to watching Power Rangers but Koichi's amazing fight choreography, which just got more elaborate and impressive as the series went on, made it well worth the ridicule.

With this film Mark, Kadeem, and Koichi handedly prove you don't need a big budget, gaudy special effects, and A list actors to elevate a film beyond it's ridiculous premise.

And the premise is ridiculous. It's like Rush Hour mixed with Iron Man. But director Steve Wang, who's work is obviously inspired by tokusatsu superheroes, is in a clear but strange comfort zone. Wang, who moved to the United States from Taiwan when he was 9, masterfully blends Eastern and Western influences more effectively than most directors.

This film moves with the brisk, breakneck pace of the best American action movies, features some of the most inventive fight choreography in any movie I've see , low budget or blockbuster, and the actors performances, while not Oscar worthy, are certainly solid.

As I was watching this movie, listening intently to the dialogue, scanning the faces of every performer, looking for something to grumble about. To criticize. To roll my eyes at...and I found nothing. Drive is a rare gem and totally deserves it's 6.8 rating. Drive was cheaply made but not poorly made. Everyone from the visual department, to the stunt team, to the actors brought their A game and it shows.

Lastly... Rush Hour is a complete rip off of this film. Watch Drive and then Rush Hour. Or vice versa. The similarities are obvious and devastating . Shame on you Brett Ratner. Shame.