Drive (1997)

Lack of good storyline.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Ah, now I saw this film whilst browsing as you do, and thought I'd make a comment as this is a favourite of mine.Now it's no Oscar winner and the plot is ridiculous really, straight out of a comic book. But lets face it, this film is all about the action. The kung-fu sequences show you in this film what a wasted talent Mark Dacascus is. He never gets the credit he deserves, and whilst not a great actor, he is very likable and a talented martial artist. It's such a shame we don't see him in more enjoyable movies; If you only ever watch Mark in one movie, make it this one. There's a great cast, who seem to be having a lot of fun, the film pays homage to Jackie Chan movies at points plus the fight choreography is well thought out.The fight sequences are filmed in a very unique way, with the camera moving at very sharp, precise angles, which gives it a unique style. You never miss a move and the fighting does go at a fast pace. At the end of the day, a kung-fu movie lives or dies on the strength of it's fight scenes. Although not the best scenes you will see, the combination of humour and good action direction, really show off the skills on offer here.So if you're a martial arts movie fan, and not seen this, give this it a whirl! It might just pleasantly surprise you.

Mark Dacascos stars as Toby Wong, a genetically altered soldier who escapes from the Chinese corporation that built him and is on the run from thugs looking to return him back, also on board is Kadeem Hardison who becomes Dacascos' hostage and partner while top notch martial arts action ensues. Drive is certainly a fun movie, filled with non-stop martial arts, kinetically staged shoot outs and a good performance from Dacascos in the role. What really hurts Drive is its far too jokey tone which is just too much to take. The dialog and would be humor is too obvious and the movie really only comes to life when Dacascos springs back in action. This of course isn't that much of a problem, as it's not much of a problem that the villains are underwritten and the movie is often vague in its science fiction elements, Drive is a very enjoyable B.movie, certainly among straight to video movies, however this could've been easily a four star movie had it just not strained so hard to be funny. Don't let me get the wrong idea that this is not a good movie, it is, in fact it's a great B.movie it's just a flaw that sort of bothered my otherwise pleasing viewing of Drive.* * * out of 4-(Good)

I was sceptical at first because straight to video martial arts films tend to scream 'rubbish' from the front cover all the way to the final credits. But this film is certainly different. The story is beautifully basic and uncomplicated, yet never seems too simplistic or rehashed. A biomechanically augmented ex-assassin and wise cracking bar-fly hardly seem the most likely pair yet this film manages to pull it off as it follows them running from bounty hunters, police and various explosions alike. The star of the film is certainly Dacascos who demonstrates such physical ability on a par with the likes of Jet Li and Ong Bak's star Tony Jaa. Due to the low budget - which adds to rather than detracts from the style of the film - there's no CGI and wire work is clearly minimal. Kinetic, frenetic and beautiful are certainly words that describe the fight sequences in this film. Dacascos fits the part of an enhanced fighter with a speed reminiscent of Bruce Lee, and the varied and stylised arenas complement the action no end. I cant believe Hollywood didn't target Dacascos for the biggest projects, save Cradle II the Grave. Kareem Hardison is hilarious at times but also sometimes a distraction from Dacascos but his improvisations and ability to carry the story between the action cannot be overlooked. This film has everything you could want from a martial arts flick and smacks of Chinese influence despite being an Amercian project. The main reason this film is probably unheard of is that it was released at the same time as Rush Hour which was a big budget version of this film, in the sense it is an action comedy with African American/Chinese protagonists. I strongly recommend this film to anyone who has seen Dacascos before as this is surly his finest film, and also to anyone that is intrigued by an American martial arts film that can hold its own against its Chinese counterpart.

SO many people out there have words about Drive, saying it's just a knock off of Rush Hour. Nope. Drive was made first. Not only that, Drive has been referenced in a bunch of movies, as far up as THE MATRIX (Agent Smith's glasses cracking in 1/2 - that scene was shot the same day that production peoples met with the action supervisor of Drive... where the same thing happens!) It's too bad that people on the money side had to mess this film up. I saw the regular release, and liked it enough to go out and buy it. It was a better than average action film, and could have done OK in theaters, I think... it didn't need to be a direct-to-video movie. Recently I saw the director's cut and DAMN IT'S GOOD! This movie would have been huge in theaters I think. Unfortunately someone on the financing side decided to cut the movie down and change the soundtrack, so the 117 min cut became the 100 minute cut and lost it's buzz... and was eventually relegated to the direct-to-video market. This is a shame, cause the directors cut is awesome.Great action, great witty dialogue, the first (that I know of, correct me if I'm wrong) "cattle prod/electric baton" fight scene, and the main char.s name is TOBY WONG. If you don't get the reference, think about it... if you still don't get it, this movie's probably not for you anyway.This is a great movie, hopefully we'll see the director's cut eventually get a DVD release... until then the 100 min version is pretty damn good.Directors Cut: 9 out of 10 Video Cut: 7 out of 10