Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Drive Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 9, 2021

Note: Somewhat hilariously, in my recent Ghost Story Blu-ray review, I quoted copyright law about how titles can't be copyrighted, sometimes leading to multiple films with the same title. In that regard, the film currently under discussion should not be mistaken for the identically titled Drive with Ryan Gosling.

Chances are that even if you consider yourself an ardent film fan you probably haven’t heard very much if anything about either the director of Drive, Steve Wang, or its cinematographer, Michael G. Wojciechowski, and yet, if you are an ardent film fan who pays attention to and appreciates technique, you will notice a refreshing level of competency in “simple” things like framings and camera moves from the opening scenes of this film that frankly help to elevate it above a lot of other straight to video offerings. As Wang gets into in the fun if just slightly snarky commentary included on this disc, Drive was “revised” by a producer, and the version that many evidently caught on HBO back in the day is quite a bit different than Wang’s own preferred version (commendably, both versions of the film are offered on this disc). But no amount of editing and/or redacting can really hide the general proficiency that both Wang and Wojciechowski bring to this enterprise, which is aided and abetted by some really sharp fight choreography by Koichi Sakamoto. Now, any film that has a featured character known as "Advanced Model" has to be accepted on its own frequently gonzo merits, but for those wanting a well crafted action flick with a decent premise and some very well done set pieces, Drive should more than fill the bill. Drive also serves as a somewhat bittersweet reminder of what an engaging presence the late Brittany Murphy could be, and she brings the story a somewhat daffy but endearing characterization that brings to mind a kind of weird combination of traits from the perhaps unlikely duo of Marilyn Monroe and Jennifer Tilly.

While there's a fitful stab at some political "relevance" in terms of China taking back control of Hong Kong from the British circa 1997 courtesy of focal character Toby Wong (Mark Dacascos), the supposed "context" in the story is actually pretty disposable. Wong has been outfitted (or perhaps more accurately, infitted) with a device that gives him superhuman abilities, including astounding speed and incredible accuracy in fighting. Those two skills are seen in abundance in the opening sequence, just the first of several hyperbolic set pieces the film indulges in. Of course there are nefarious bad guy types out to claim the technology implanted in Toby, including a somewhat unlikely hitman named Vic Madison (John Pyper- Ferguson).

Toby ends up more or less taking an innocent bystander hostage, a sweet and (formerly) carefree musician named Malik Brody (Kadeem Hardison), and somewhat like Midnight Run, the two mismatched men take off on a calamitous road trip as Toby attempts to get to safety. There are a number of vignettes that ensue, including a brief quasi- reference to The Defiant Ones, but arguably the film's most outré element is a breathy voiced vixen named Deliverance Bodine (Brittany Murphy), who operates a motel the two guys end up at. Murphy is charmingly provocative in her scenes, as Deliverance is obviously more than a bit attracted to Malik, and there's a good deal of snap, crackle and pop to this section.

Now, there is also a fair degree of glaring illogic to the underlying story, since it turns out Mr. Lau (the great James Shigeta), the creator of Toby's implant, who is one of the bad guys trying to get it back, has created a "new, improved" version, which is in fact that aforementioned character officially listed as Advanced Model (Masaya Kato). One might wonder why the "old, unimproved" version would be so sought after due to this development, but of course that might prevent the expected walloping showdown between Advanced Model and Toby the provides a suitably rambunctious climax.

Drive Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Drive is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Rewind Collection, an imprint of MVD Visual, and FilmRise with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.34:1. The back cover of this release slightly misidentifies the aspect ratio, but discloses this was culled from "a brand new 4K HD scan of the original camera negative". The results are largely quite nice looking, especially with regard to the vividly suffused palette, which offers a range of appealing hues, but which pops particularly well when primaries (notably red) are in the frame. Detail levels are routinely excellent, with elements like the patterned brocade on Deliverance's pink sweater looking precise. There is occasional damage that can spotted, including a couple of relatively large but short blotches, along with more typical things like slight scratches. There are also a few selected moments where densities falter just very slightly. Grain looks natural, occasionally having either a slightly yellowish or purplish quality.

Drive Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Drive features a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track along with an LPCM 2.0 track. Regular readers of my reviews know I tend to prefer uncompressed audio, but that stated, the Dolby track here does significantly open up both the music (Wang's preferred score) and especially some of the effects work, even if the low end might have been intensified with lossless audio. The LPCM track sounds fine, and both tracks provide good support for dialogue. The disc has kind of funnily been authored so that pressing the Subtitle button on your remote does actually toggle between an "Off" setting and and "English" setting, but there are no actual subtitles on the disc.

Drive Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Original Theatrical Cut (HD; 1:39:46) comes with the following introduction:

  Drive: Theatrical Version has been included on this disc as supplemental material. It was sourced from an older, undated master and as a result, the image is not in the correct aspect ratio and may contain coloring issues, grain, damage, and occasional pixellation.

  For those wondering, this is presented in 1.78:1 and has LPCM 2.0 audio. A number of the changes made for this version are addressed by Steve Wang in the commentary (see below).


• Deleted Scenes (SD; 8:44)


• "The Force Behind the Storm" Documentary (SD; 47:42) is an archival making of featurette.


• Cast Interviews (SD; 24:38) include Mark Dacascos, Steve Wang, Wyatt Reed, Koichi Sakamoto, and Kadeem Hardison.


• Commentary features Steve Wang, Koichi Sakamoto, Mark Dacascos and Kadeem Hardison, and can be accessed under the Setup menu.


• Trailers includes Drive (SD; 1:38) along with trailers for a number of other MVD releases.

Additionally, the keepcase houses a folded mini-poster.

Drive Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Drive doesn't have any outsized ambitions, but it still is a good deal better than its straight to video background might suggest. A decent if derivative premise and some outstanding fight and stunt work make this goofily enjoyable, and this Blu-ray release offers secure technical merits and some good supplements. Recommended.