Drive: Special Edition, Director`s Cut (UK)

8 / 10
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There ain`t no cruise control
Certificate: 18
Running Time: 112 mins
Retail Price: £19.99
Release Date:

Synopsis:
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 evolve a ground-breaking formula for the presentation of martial arts action sequences, which is unparalleled 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.

Special Features:
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Full Director`s Cut (featuring 16mins of previously unseen footage)
Feature length audio commentary
Photo Galleries
Interview Gallery
Cast and Crew bios
Deleted Scenes
"The Force Behind the Storm Documentary" (featuring exclusive `behind the scenes` footage and out-takes)
Theatrical Trailer

Video Tracks:
Widescreen Anamorphic 2.35:1

Audio Tracks:
Dolby Digital 5.1 English

Directed By:
Steve Wang

Written By:

Starring:
James Shigeta
Tracey Walter
Brittany Murphy
John Pyper-Ferguson
Kadeem Hardison
Mark Dacascos

Soundtrack By:
Walter Werzowa

Director of Photography:
Michael G. Wojciechowski

Editor:
Ivan Ladizinsky

Costume Designer:
Jennifer McManus

Production Designer:
Terrence Foster

Producer:
Don Phillips
Michael Leahy
Cathryn James
W.K. Border

Executive Producer:
Joel Soisson
Taka Ichise

Distributor:
Medusa Pictures

Your Opinions and Comments

10 / 10
Drive is, in one word, fantastic. If you love all those Eastern Martial Arts classics like Drunken Master and Armour Of God, you must see this film.

Mark Dacascos stars as Toby Wong, an assassin with a "bio-engine" in his chest. He is pursued by Madasun and "Hedgehog" - two often hilarious characters, and on the way manages to pick up comic genious Malik Brody (Kadeem Hardison). There are some fantastic fight scenes theat follow, much in the style of some of Jackie Chan`s earlier films, which are never usually matched by any Western films. You may recognise wire work style fights from The Matrix, but this film was actually made in 1995, about 4 years before The Matrix.

The picture, for most of the film, is very crisp and clear, with the occasional glitch in the shadows, but easily much better than the VHS edition.

Audio is good, with some good effects thrown in, but I think the rear channels could have been put to better use on the Dolby Digital track. This is usual with a lot of remixed film tracks though.

There are a lot of features making this worthy of it`s "Special Collectors Edition" title. There is a 50 minute documentary - The Force Behind The Storm, a trailer and music promo, the usual biographies and filmographies, out-takes, deleted scenes (most of inferior quality, but worth seeing and a nice addition) and various other promos for other Hong Kong Legends titles.

The extra 16 minutes makes this a "Directors Cut", with many scenes reinstated from the VHS release.

This disc is far superior to the Region 1 release which was 4:3 full-frame and only Dolby Pro Logic.

If you like this sort of film (try it if you`ve seen Rush Hour and The Matrix - it beats both of those), then get this disc.
posted by Chris Legg on 17/12/2000 14:55
7 / 10
goofy
posted by ad6 on 18/12/2000 22:42
9 / 10
Drive was the first DVD I bought after seeing it air on Channel 5 cut badly.
I recommend this disc to any action fan. Video quality is not as good compared to other discs by bigger companies but the audio mix is very good for a low budget film such as this.
Special Features are of good quality including the hour long documentary.
The commentary is a right laugh, the best I have heard yet.
posted by groovedoctor on 22/3/2001 18:34
7 / 10
Great Martial Arts/Action Flick. Its nothing special plotwise but Dacascos and Kadeem team up well to create some wit and humour. The fights are what really make this movie. The choreography is fantastic. The editing and action isnt quite as good as the Matrix IMO but this film was made a few years before the Matrix so it doesnt lose any points for that. The movie is not really that well known.

The picture is not as sharp/crisp as could be but is still a pretty good steady transfer. The audio is quite great and the movie has a great soundtrack which adds to the enjoyment.
The extras are plentiful. I recommend listening to the commentary as its quite good.

Overall great action flick that is available quite cheaply so I do recommend owning this dvd (I picked up mines for £5.99 from choices)
posted by dicanio on 18/1/2003 00:52