Drive

Never mind the Matrix and the influx of Jackie Chan and Jet Li films. As far as martial arts films go this still has the best fight sequences outside of Hong Kong. The fights are amazing and capture the essence of Hong Kong chop socky flicks.

Merely having great fights wouldn't be enough, this has quality in terms of look and sound that a lot of Hong Kong films don't and it is minus the cheesy dubbing. What it also adds is a genuinely funny, if wafer thin script. It is of course just a series of events that give excuse for elaborate fight scenes.

Mark Dacascos stars in the lead and really shows his stuff. He moves like a cat, and really shines in the fights. The version you have to see of this film is the directors cut, the studio completely hacked away any sort of plot or character development. In the studio version we see Toby Wong (Dacascos) as merely a mercenary, but Wang's cut gives far more insight into his motives and gives the character an extra dimension. We get the chance to see Dacasco's acting abilities as well. He shows that he is an action star with more talent than most on all levels. You compare him to bigger money earners like Arnie, Van Damme and Seagal and he can out act them all as well as being even more impressive with the physical acting. Kadeem Hardison co-stars as Malik, who is initially Wang's hostage but they turn out to be best buds, cliché yes, but hey this is an action movie. Kadeem is hilarious, most of his lines are ad-libbed and you can see the other actors trying not to burst into laughter. Also Brittany Murphy is a scream as Deliverance a rather wacky motel owner, who is extremely randy and has the hots for Malik. The three of them together have amazing chemistry and it really adds to the humour. John Pyper Ferguson is also very funny as one of the bad guys. He comes out with some great lines, and also some hilariously cheesy lines such as `look its my favourite cheese eating, dick monkey' WHAT?!!

The film is pure mindless escapism, it's fast, it's funny, there's genuine chemistry there, and to hell with plot in a film like this, which features some jaw dropping fight scenes. Overall this is an action classic to savour. 8/10

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.

[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 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.

American-born director and FX makeup man Steve Wang hooked up with Power Rangers stunt guru Koichi Sakamoto to make Guyver 2, a Japanese manga-inspired sci-fi movie with martial arts. Their next collaboration was Drive, a low-budget hi-tech action movie that has gained quite a following on DVD.

The movie stars Hawaiian martial arts genius Mark Dacascos as Toby, a guy on the run from the evil corporation that killed his girlfriend and implanted him with a 'Bio-engine', a device that gives Toby superhuman strength and speed. Arriving in America he enlists the reluctant help of Malik (Kadeem Hardison) and the two cross America in Malik's increasingly beat-up hot rod. Along the way there are a few laughs, a touch of romance, the occasional shootout and, oh yes, kung fu. Lots and lots of kung fu.

To be honest the plot is really just a way to get from one action scene to the next, but when the action is as good as this who cares? Wang, Sakamoto and Dacascos (is it me or does that sound like the world's weirdest legal firm?) have come up with some of the finest fight action you'll see in a film made outside Hong Kong. Dacascos proves he is every bit as flexible and forceful as Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Jackie Chan and the rest, while fight master Sakamoto is no less talented than Yuen Woo Ping or Cory Yuen Kuei. It's quite sickening that Dacascos is mostly confined to 10th-rate direct to video movies while overweight personal trainers and ballet dancers like Steven Seagull and Jean Claude Van Donut still manage to get cast in big-budget theatrical releases (well, maybe not Jean Claude anymore).

Fans of The Matrix will no doubt get a kick out of the lightning-fast moves and vaguely sci-fi setting (although it's worth noting that this film predates The Matrix by several years). Anyone looking for no-brainer popcorn entertainment that is actually good will also find much to enjoy.

Note: the US release of this film was cut by about 20 minutes and re-scored with a shockingly bad hip-hop soundtrack. The director's cut, available on UK DVD, is much better and worth seeking out.