Drive

Starring: Kadeem Hardison, Mark Dacascos Director: Steve Wang Original UK Premiere: 1996 Dvd Release: 16th May, 2003 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: Collector's Edition, PAL, Widescreen, Region 2 Encoding

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DVD Extras: 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 & accurate colours & minimal grain. The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is equally strong, with sound-effects & 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 & 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, & it's easy to see why they were deleted. Also included are the original theatrical trailer, three photo galleries, cast & crew biographies & interview galleries with director Steve Wang & four of the main stars totalling about 20 minutes of material. The informative commentary track has Wang, Dacascos, Hardison & stunt co-ordinator Koichi Sakamoto revelling in their sheer enthusiasm for the movie & for Hong Kong action in general.

Drive takes the standard American mismatched-buddies action comedy formula & turbo-charges it with furious Hong Kong wirework & 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 with Rush Hour as a biologically enhanced Mark Dacascos flees a small army of Hong Kong assassins through California, teaming up with comedian Kadeem Hardison & delivering an almost unbelievable amount of bang per buck. Director Steve Wang stages the action with flair & clarity, the stunts, wirework & fights being exceptionally well-choreographed & shot. With Hardisons patter, two offbeat redneck assassins & a TV show about a frog with Einsteins brain theres abundant surprisingly genial humour, aided by Brittany Murphys 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 , adding motorcycle killersstraight out of Rollerball . Drive captures the rush of Hong Kong action movies yet almost has the feel of a musical, the mayhem replacing song & dance & offering more popcorn entertainment than many a bloated summer blockbuster.

Steve Wang is an award-winning makeup artist & filmmaker. Born in Taiwan, he & his parents moved to the US when he was 9. His greatest inspirations were the tokusatsu superhero TV shows Ultraman & Kamen Rider, as well as Hong Kong kung fu films including Master of the Flying Guillotine. As a veteran makeup artist & creature designer, Steve has worked with fellow veterans before him including Stan Winston, Rick Baker & Dick Smith. He has received great praise for his two film adaptations of the manga superhero, Guyver. He also made independent films such as Kung Fu Rascals, based on a series of 8mm short films he did years before. Death Studios - Steve Wangs online portfolio. Biomorphs - Official Steve Wang Mask Website. Interviews Drive Kung Fu Cinema - Review Without a single reservation, Drive is the number one American martial arts movie of the 20th century.

Editors Choice: Guyver, Drive, View DVDology

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