Pusher

Although there is nothing seriously wrong with the movie, it is however a pointless remake of a superior product. Basically the only point of the movie is to cash in the 'executive producers' name/previous work. The performances of most of the actors was adequate, however I would advise anyone interested in the themes and concepts explored in this sub- standard remake to watch the original (in fact watch all 3 of the Pusher trilogy, although 2 and 3 seem a little rushed they remain better quality than this version). Having said that; it was good to see Zlatko Buric in a role in this film.- hmmm only nine lines and just like my friend said to me last night: 'I need another line'. ANyway I give Pusher (2012) 4/10 and thats Pushing it...

I have to say this 'remake' was incredibly disappointing. well to say that i was expecting much is not quite accurate, in fact, i was expecting not very much. however, what i saw with this film was utter mediocrity by this director with poorly directed scenes which if properly produced would not have made the final cut. overall it's an amateur production of this cult film remake. around the halfway point it did in fact start to pick up its pace and there were some memorable scenes. overall though i have to say most scenes were unmemorable. the cliché British techno/house score did not help matters. a big plus was seeing the actor who portrays Milo in this film, as he starred in 2 of the original pusher films by refn. he actually made the film enjoyable to watch at times by his performance. ultimately, Refn had far less of a budget to make his pusher film compared to the budget Luis Prieto had to work with. So to create such a lackluster effort all around by Prieto and the crew is quite a disappointment. Refn had stated early on he did not want to interfere with this remake, though I think he should have considering it does reflect on him somewhat, albeit indirectly.

5.5/10

Review: Honestly, how much bad luck can one man have. He was definitely in the wrong profession! Anyway, I quite enjoyed this movie but the music was so annoying. All of the actors put in good performances, and the storyline was cleverly written to keep the audience in suspense. It does tend to go round and round in circles and it could have done with a bit more action, but for a British film, it was good to see something fresh without the same old faces. We have seen this storyline many times before, but the director showed us a the life of a drug dealer from a different point of view. I did expect more after watching the first half an hour, but its not a bad watch.

Round-Up: I haven't seen Richard Coyle in any other movies, but he brings a kind of intensity to the role as Frank, which worked well in the movie. Although his character has followed the bad path in life, you can't help but feeling sorry for him throughout the movie because of his bad luck. The main question that comes to mind whilst watching the movie is, Who Do You Trust, even though everyone seems to like Frank in one way or another. It also shows the dark underworld with drugs and violence which we have seen quite often in movies nowadays with the involvement of Eastern Europeans.

I recommend this movie to people who enjoy there British movies about drugs and violence and a man trying to pay of a debt. 4/10

PUSHER was a strong and vivid little Danish crime thriller, made by Nicolas Winding Refn back in 1996. It was the start of what has become a successful Hollywood career, and obviously at some point somebody had the grand of idea of shooting an English-language remake. Unfortunately, this remake is completely redundant for anybody who's seen the original. It's a scene-for-scene copy, one of those which I hate, and other than the different backdrops and actors everything plays out almost exactly the same. And, somewhat inevitably, it's an inferior product to the first film in every respect.

The cast just don't scream authenticity here as they did in the original film. Richard Coyle is a selfish, mean-spirited protagonist and I found myself actively wishing for his demise. Bronson Webb takes the Mads Mikkelsen role from the first film and is absolutely awful, going way over the top without any attempt at restraint. The only decent performance comes from Zlatko Buric, making a welcome turn from the Danish film and playing the same role.

Inevitably the sex, violence, and profanity are ramped up from the original movie, but the script feels lowbrow and director Luis Prieto is no Nicolas Winding Refn, that's for sure. His attempts at style, with the camera speeding around his protagonist while thumping music plays, just feel dated and very 1999. Not a good film at all.

For some strange reason, I thought this film being executive produced by NWR would render better results. Alas, I was duped again by marketing.

I should have known. After all, what made the original Pusher (and it's two sequels) great was not the very basic, over told story, but rather the style of NWR's direction, the performances of the actors and the very real time nature of the film.

The directing here is quite pedestrian and downright lazy, bringing nothing of the style of the original. The acting is decent, but again we've already seen this done better.

And by the way, this film was already remade two years ago in India.

Every director has movies they just LOVE and would want to emulate. For such a basic story, this director could have come up with any one of many basic "drug deal gone bad" stories and used his style to tell it. Unfortunately, this film takes the easy way out, trying to simply capitalize on the name of the original, without elevating it.