Drive [DVD]

Drive takes the standard American mismatched-buddies action comedy formula and turbo-charges it with furious Hong Kong wirework and martial arts. The result is a three-and-a-half million dollar "B" picture which looks like it cost 10 times more. The perfunctory story crosses Universal Solider (1992) with Rush Hour (1997) as a biologically enhanced Mark Dacascos flees a small army of Hong Kong assassins through California, teaming up with comedian Kadeem Hardison and delivering an almost unbelievable amount of bang per buck. Director Steve Wang stages the action with flair and clarity, the stunts, wirework and fights being exceptionally well-choreographed and shot. With Hardison's patter, two offbeat redneck assassins and a TV show about a frog with Einstein's brain there's abundant surprisingly genial humour, aided by Brittany Murphy's ditzy performance as a Twin Peaks-like teenager with hormones in overdrive. The cyborg aspect simply justifies the superhuman combat, but nevertheless a huge showdown in a retro-space age club is clearly styled after the "Tech Noir" bar sequence in The Terminator (1984), adding motorcycle killersstraight out of Rollerball (1975). Drive captures the rush of Hong Kong action movies yet almost has the feel of a musical, the mayhem replacing song and dance and offering more popcorn entertainment than many a bloated summer blockbuster.

On the DVD: For such a low budget movie the 2.35:1 anamorphically enhanced image puts many far bigger features to shame, being pin-sharp throughout, with strong and accurate colours and minimal grain. The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is equally strong, with sound-effects and music both having considerable impact, explosions ripping thorough the room like the latest Arnie shoot 'em up. There is a 47-minute retrospective documentary which is particularly interesting on the way the film was cut and restored for American release--this DVD presenting the director's cut which runs over 16 minutes longer than the US version. Six deleted/extended scenes are presented in a variety of formats, and it's easy to see why they were deleted. Also included are the original theatrical trailer, three photo galleries, cast and crew biographies and interview galleries with director Steve Wang and four of the main stars totalling about 20 minutes of material. The informative commentary track has Wang, Dacascos, Hardison and stunt co-ordinator Koichi Sakamoto revelling in their sheer enthusiasm for the movie and for Hong Kong action in general. --Gary S Dalkin

Region 2
Directors Cut
Original Theatrical Soundtrack
Photo Galleries
Interview Gallery
Deleted Scenes
Theatrical Trailer

Starring action-superstar Mark Dacascos and outrageous comedy talent Kadeem Hardison, Drive fuses ultra-slick fight-action with stunning camera work and inspired editing to deliver the best martial arts action-adventure ever made by a Hollywood Studio!

For Drive, visionary director Steve Wang worked with partner and ace fight-choreographer Koichi Sakamoto, to eveolve a ground-breaking formula for the presentation of martial arts action sequences, which is unparralleled outside the Far East , and gives Drive a distinctive 'live-wire' quality which has so far endeared it to festival audiences all over the world, and won for the movie two prestigious awards.

- Winner of the Toshiko (critics) award at the Yubari International Fantastic Adventure Film Festival.

- Winner of the Best International Film Award at the 3rd Annual Fant-Asia Film Festival in Montreal (Beating Jacki Chan's Drunken Master 2)

If you are regularly disappointed by the quality of Western Martial Arts Action Adventures - enjoy the difference...DRIVE WILL BLOW YOU AWAY!