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, but this film differs
because it succeeds in being both funny and entertaining. The version on this DVD is also the
director's cut which includes 16 minutes of additional footage.
Essentially, this is one long chase film. The target is what's located in Toby's body.
He used to work for the Chinese government but left in 1987, with a condition to have a
biological energy module implanted in his chest - a device that enables you to increase your
strength and reaction time. All he has to do is deliver it to Contac,
an American corporation that will pay him $5million for it. Sounds easy, but not when all and
sundry are out for his blood and will shoot on sight - no questions asked.
Malik's story is that, having been dragged into the race for their lives after frequenting
the bar in which he meets Toby, life hasn't been too kind to him, leaving him jobless, wifeless
and homeless. Things will change though if he helps Toby get to his destination as he's been
promised half the cash.
The love interest is portrayed by Brittany Murphy as Deliverance,
the daughter of a motel owner, who comes on strong with Malik and provides them with free board
and lodgings as long as he 'returns the favour' later on. However, the one thing that really
puts me off her, despite her alluring breathy Jennifer Tilly-esque performance, is that
she is the absolute spitting image of a supervisor I used to know who made Hitler seem like the most
reasonable ruler on Earth.
The important thing though, is that as the film progresses when the action flies forward there's
so much going on at once that you can't take your eyes off it for a second. Also worthy of note
is a performance from James Shigeta as chief bad guy Mr. Lau - he's better known as
Takagi, the big wig of the Nakatomi Plaza building in Die Hard who wouldn't spill the
beans, so Alan Rickman spilled his blood. Of the many other baddies after our two heroes,
one is a distinct dead ringer for film critic/oddball Kim Newman.
While Hong Kong Legends made a disastrous cock-up with
Snake in the Eagle's Shadow,
by cropping it from 2.35:1 to 16:9, thinking that's what the customers wanted when anyone
with a brain knew it wasn't, they've restored the balance by releasing this film in its
original 2.35:1 theatrical ratio and it's an anamorphic print to boot.
Mostly it looks excellent too, with just the occasional trace of artifacts during smoky-looking
scenes, but this is a rare sight. The average bitrate is a so-so 5.34Mb/s, hovering just
over 6Mb/s for most of the film.
A tense score, gunfire, explosions and lots of profanity ooze out of the speakers with
a glorious soundmix, available here in both a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix and Dolby SR (Spectral
Recording, which basically equates to Dolby Surround in the home).
Extras :
Chapters :
There are a welcome 30 chapters to the disc over its near-2hr running time.
Languages & Subtitles :
Just the original English language, but sadly no subtitles, save for the odd non-English-speaking
occasion. There's no reason why we couldn't have had English subtitles as far as I can see.
And there's more... :
First off is a series of theatrical trailers for, not only Drive, but also
Drunken Master, The Black Sheep Affair, The New Dragon Gate Inn and the
aforementioned
Snake in the Eagle's Shadow.
There are three sets of Photo Galleries with scores of production pics, Interviews
with the two male leads, director Wang, Stunt/Fight Coordinator Koichi Sakamoto and
Wyatt Weed. The Biographies and filmographies section gives details for most
of the aforementioned plus Brittany Murphy.
Add to this six Deleted Scenes including two extended versions of scenes already
in the film, "The Force Behind The Storm", a 48-minute Making of Documentary
and a feature-length Audio Commentary from Steve Wang, Koichi Sakamoto,
Mark Dacascos and Kadeem Hardison and there's a great wealth of supplemental material on
display here.
Menu :
Brilliant animated menus with excerpts from the soundtrack and action clips behind the
options, plus cool screen wipes from each menu to the next.
Overall, for me this film succeeds where
Rush Hour failed miserably.
Drive is a cool film with action and comedy that blend well together and actually
works. Add to this a great picture, top-notch sound and stacks of extras and you have a
heartily-recommended DVD.
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