8.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.1 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
A Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist gone wrong.
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar IsaacDrama | 100% |
Crime | 97% |
Thriller | 75% |
Heist | 33% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English, English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
BD-Live
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
I drive.
Any guy-oriented movie that that emblazons pink titles across its opening shots must be fairly confident in itself. Drive oozes confidence in
every fiber of its being. Hello, and welcome, pink titles. The latest from Director Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson) is Drive, a superbly assembled picture that's one of
the
year's most enthralling, a movie that, yes, is evidently confident with every passing shot, and it's even more stylistically engaging than it is so openly
sure of itself. Few movies are as dynamically realized as Drive. From the opening seconds, the picture surrounds its viewers with
unflappable
visual perfection, the picture's every frame defining the essence of cool. But it's not flashy. Instead, Drive is one of the more unassuming
pictures out there, but it is made so exceptionally well, and its story defined by its always-evident cadence and painstakingly exacting visuals, that
one
cannot help but to become immersed in its very essence, an essence which actually supersedes the fairly routine specifics of the plot. The result is a
movie that's not harmed but rather helped by its unflinching dedication to style-as-storytelling. The plot is a basic one of respect, friendship, love,
revenge, mafia,
money, skill, and thrills, but it's all played within a
structure that emphasizes lingering shots and shadows that define motive, shape the story, and tell the tale. It's a minimalist approach, but a
welcome and highly successful approach. Drive is the embodiment of cinema that's reliant on confident style rather than the typical visual
and aural distractions so easily constructed within the medium that often only mask shortcomings rather than enhance the whole. Drive's
approach greatly amplifies cinematic basics, and morphs what likely would had been
in
lesser hands a throwaway nothing of a movie into one of the most captivating experiences of the past few years.
Get in.
Drive features a rich and satisfying 1080p Blu-ray transfer. The digital photography translates wonderfully here. There's very light banding and noise to be seen in one or two shots, but the transfer is otherwise extraordinarily pristine. The movie opens in relative darkness, lit sparsely but effectively. Blacks are superb here and elsewhere; shadow detail is strong, and overhead nighttime shots of a city lit only by street lights and the glow of high-rise office building windows truly sparkle and showcase an almost uncanny sense of visual realism. Definition is wonderfully crisp, and clarity is oftentimes breathtaking. Even in shadows and low light, the image reveals impeccable facial and clothing details, not to mention gauges and accents inside the cars. Brighter scenes, of which there were many, sparkle. Not only does detail remain incredibly strong, but color balance proves faultless. The interior of a supermarket that's awash in bright product-pushing shades, the warm interior of a wood-paneled elevator, and the deep blue denim of a shirt are all pure, never straying from a vivid but balanced appearance. Flesh tones, no surprise, are also finely-tuned throughout. No matter its place or time, Drive's Blu-ray transfer remains strong. The digital photography never takes on that glossy, lifeless appearance, the movie instead organic and eye-catching from beginning to end. The sum of the whole is another brilliant Blu-ray outing from Sony.
Drive speeds onto Blu-ray with a sonically intense and pure DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Music styles range from soft to raucous, yet the track handles all with precision and clarity. Music accompanying a montage in chapter five plays remarkably smooth and airy, while heavier beats energize the soundstage but remain accurate and true to style. All is spacious and enveloping, which carries over to every other sonic element that shapes the movie. Whether a steady undercurrent of heavy bass -- which only takes a turn for the slightly unkempt at the very bottom -- or whisper-quiet ambience, the track always folds the listener into each and every moment. Even with subtle elements like radio police chatter or the "door ajar" warning chime of a Chevy Impala, there's no shortage of seamless, well-constructed and finely-intetgrated audible elements that round the track into seamless form. High impact sound effects are equally revealing. A helicopter buzzes overhead in an early scene. Car engines rumble, tires squeal, and metal twists in various chase scenes. Gunshots blast out with startling precision that will rattle the listener's nerves. Squishy gore effects sound authentic. Dialogue is steady and center-focused, even if it's sometimes rare. This is another strong, very well constructed lossless soundtrack from Sony.
Drive contains five film-specific supplements. Unfortunately, an audio commentary track is not amongst them.
Drive is a fine little movie that's quite unlike most pictures dotting the cinematic landscape these days. It's more style than substance, more confident than profit-driven, but this is a rare case where style is so good -- because it's so reserved and so engaging simultaneously -- that it dwarfs substance, which is fairly shallow but that does become more meaningful the further viewers want to dig. Everything in the movie plays in absolute perfect harmony, the entire thing defined by the smoothest, most faultlessly-constructed visuals in recent memory. Sony's Blu-ray release of Drive features high quality video and audio to go along with five substantive extras. Very highly recommended.
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