Drive

Plot synopsis:
The unnamed Driver works as a mechanic, a movie double, and a stunt driver, as well as a criminal-for-hire getaway driver. He is managed in all jobs by auto shop owner Shannon, who persuades Jewish mobsters Bernie Rose and Nino to purchase a car for the Driver to race. The Driver meets his new neighbor, Irene, and becomes close to her and her young son, Benicio. Irene's husband, Standard Gabriel, is in prison. After Standard is released, Irene still asks the Driver to visit them.
Standard owes protection money from his time in prison and is beaten up by Albanian gangster Cook, who demands that Standard rob a pawnshop for $40,000 to pay off the debt. Cook gives Benicio a bullet as a symbol that he and his mother are in danger. The Driver, concerned for the safety of Irene and Benicio, offers to act as the getaway driver for the pawnshop robbery.
The job goes awry when Standard is shot and killed by the pawnshop owner while the Driver is waiting for him with Cook's accomplice, Blanche. The Driver and Blanche escape after an intense car chase with a mysterious adversary. The Driver hides with Blanche in a motel, where he learns that the bag contains a million dollars and that Blanche and Cook planned to re-steal the money with the car that chased them. Two of Cook's men ambush them in the motel room, killing Blanche before the Driver manages to kill them both (the first one is stabbed in the neck by the Driver with a curtain rod and the second one is shot dead).
At the auto shop, Shannon offers to hide the money, but the Driver refuses. He hunts down Cook in a strip club, smashes his fingers with a hammer, threatens to kill him, and force-feeds him the bullet that was given to Benicio. Cook reveals that Nino was behind the robbery. The Driver decides to return the money, but Nino dismisses the offer and instead sends a hitman to the Driver's apartment building. Entering the elevator with Irene, the Driver encounters the hitman. He then kisses Irene and brutally beats the hitman to death. Afterwards, Irene exits the elevator stunned and horrified.
At his pizzeria, Nino reveals to Bernie that the money was stashed at the pawnshop by a low-level Philadelphia wise guy from the "East Coast mob" and, since anyone tied to the robbery could lead the East Coast Mafia to them, they need to kill everyone involved. Bernie warns Nino that nobody steals from the Italian Mob. Nino is angry because the Italian Mob has marginalized and insulted him due to his Jewish heritage. He convinces Bernie to follow his plan. Bernie then murders Cook, as he is the sole witness to their agreement. After Shannon refuses to divulge the whereabouts of the Driver, Bernie kills him at the auto shop with a straight razor.
The Driver, disguising himself with a rubber mask from his stuntman job, follows Nino from the pizzeria to the Pacific Coast Highway and T-bones Nino's car onto a beach, then chases him from the wreck to the ocean and drowns him. He makes a phone call to Irene to tell her he is leaving and that meeting her and Benicio was the best thing that ever happened to him. The Driver goes to meet Bernie, who promises that Irene will be safe in exchange for the money. The Driver gives Bernie the money, but Bernie attempts to kill him, stabbing him in the stomach. The Driver in turn fatally stabs Bernie, then drives away, abandoning the money. Irene knocks at the Driver's apartment, but gets no response. The movie ends with the Driver driving away into the night.

Tags: cult, suspenseful, violence

Review:
It's quite the action experience for direct-to-video fare, the fight choreography is great, Dacascos is at the top of his form and is better than anyone I've seen in the kick-kick genre of late.
As far as martial arts films go this still has the best fight sequences outside of Hong Kong.
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.
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.
There's a great cast, who seem to be having a lot of fun, the film pays homage to Jackie Chan movies at points plus the fight choreography is well thought out.The fight sequences are filmed in a very unique way, with the camera moving at very sharp, precise angles, which gives it a unique style.
Although not the best scenes you will see, the combination of humour and good action direction, really show off the skills on offer here.So if you're a martial arts movie fan, and not seen this, give this it a whirl!
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.
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.
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).
Excellent action scenes, good comedy and I don't think I have seen Mark Dacascos ever been in so many great fight scenes before.
The fight scenes are gloriously over the top and well choreographed, so much so I think I was laughing at several points during the film.The plot is about as complex as a glass of water, but forget that for now, this is a film you watch for the action, for the cheesy comedy factor, for the hyper-kinetic, lighting quick scenes of martial arts mayhem.
There are killer ninja robots, gun wielding assassins who burst through windows on stunt bikes, and a large supply of hapless henchmen who couldn't shoot a barn door at 3 paces.Marc Dacascos shows of his talents in the lead role as Toby Wang, the hero and scene stealer of the film, Kadeem Hardison is on hand as Malik, the out of luck barfly who gets caught up in the ordeal, then there is Brittany Murphy in one pre-famous roles as a the ditsy daughter of a Motel owning couple..
I thought that this movie was excellent, I watched it after a recommendation from a friend.After a slow first ten minutes when we get introduced to the main characters Toby Wong (an excellent Mark Dacascos)and Malik Brody (equally as good Kadeem Hardison) the action gets under way and doesn't stop until the closing credits.The jokes come quick and fast throughout and the film only gets better with the introduction of the fantastic but pretty unstable motel worker Deliverance Bodine (Brittany Murphy).Overall I give it 8/10.
This is a shame, cause the directors cut is awesome.Great action, great witty dialogue, the first (that I know of, correct me if I'm wrong) "cattle prod/electric baton" fight scene, and the main char.s name is TOBY WONG.
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.
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.
Considering that "Drive" is a low-budget and fairly unknown action flick from 1996, it has surprisingly amassed a small cult following in the years it's been on the home video after-market.Mark Dacascos, who was the main villain that was most recently seen duking it out with Jet Li in 2003's "Cradle 2 the Grave," has starred in a number of action movies throughout the '90s, but has yet to achieve any stardom.His character, Toby Wong, in this 1996 action thriller (that's straight out of Hong Kong, as is Dacascos' "Wong" character) apparently swims all the way to the United States, where he's forced to take an innocent bystander, Malik Brody (Kadeem Hardison), hostage.
This is by far the best show of Mark Dacascos and his martial arts action.10/10P.S.: Also, be on the lookout for a rather humorous supporting performance from Brittany Murphy as a bored, easily-excited teenager who is also brought along for the ride..
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.
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.
There were even jokes about this genre of movie - at the end Dacascos makes a typical bad pun ("Time to blow" as some rocket blows up) and Hardison looks at him and says, "Blow?" Another scene Dacascos, on the run, gives police a phony name - "Sammo Hung." Definitely worth the rental price..
Director Wang and star Dascascos have clearly studied Jet Li films very carefully; they fashion a simple chase plot that is still complicated enough to allow for intelligence on the parts of the characters, the actors, and the audience, while at the same time providing enough time for some of the fastest, wildest fight stunts ever made in an American martial arts film.
Just because it is made in the Hong Kong style and it doesn't have any big names like Jet Li or Jackie Chan doesn't make it bad either, they have made some real stinkers too and Hollywood has also made some atrocious actions films with 100 times the budget of this movie and they sucked too, money alone doesn't not ensure quality.Having said that, this is bar none one of the best Hong Kong style action films to be made in the US and it beat Hollywood to the punch this was made 3 years before The Blade and The Matrix and doesn't have those irritating rotating camera gimmicks, ( i like the Matrix don't get me wrong) so the action scenes are much more fluid.OK this isn't art and everyone isn't John Woo, I don't know about you butI watch action movies to be entertained this is one more than fills the bill.
It has a economical plot as a lot of action movies esp Hong Kong films so there all you "elitists" and that is what u want, its just enough plot to hang some framework around some astounding martial arts scenes but not enough to get in the way and slow things down without all that talking crap.
This film has breakneck pacing and fight scenes where each scene outdoes the one before.This film is a Jet Li caliber movie and is better than any of Jet Li's or Jackie Chan's Hollywood films and probably 1/50th the budget.Why Mr. Dacascos was not hired for the role of Neo in The Matrix is a mystery to me, he already knows martial arts and can act circles around Keanu Reeves or most any action star like Seagal, Van Damme, or Arnold.If you love martial arts and Hong Kong action films check this one out there is a reason that this film has won many awards at Asian film festivals Because it kicks ass.
Mark Dacascos stars as Toby Wong, a genetically altered soldier who escapes from the Chinese corporation that built him and is on the run from thugs looking to return him back, also on board is Kadeem Hardison who becomes Dacascos' hostage and partner while top notch martial arts action ensues.
Drive is certainly a fun movie, filled with non-stop martial arts, kinetically staged shoot outs and a good performance from Dacascos in the role.
He kidnaps Kadeem Hardinson to drive him to LA and remove /sell the module for 5 million dollars.In the process of getting to their destination they are pursued by a bad guy that looks like Ted Nugent and there are lots of fine choreographed fights and John Woo styled shootouts.As far as direct to video action flicks go , Drive is better than most.
The fight scenes are easily the best i've seen in a pre-Kill-Bill western movie (and that includes Jet Li and Jackie Chan's Hollywood efforts) - Mark Dacascos is really amazing, the choreography is spectacular, and the editing for once allows us to appreciate it.That alone would be enough for me to recommend this film, but the bits inbetween are an unexpected pleasure as well.
As for Brittany Murphy, i can't figure out if all that stuff was in the script or if she's making it up as she goes along, but again it's pretty funny.Overall, a likable, unpretentious film with great action scenes and more than it's share of laughs.
I have never seen martial arts action as good as this before - move over Jackie Chan - Dacascos is after your crown if this is anything to go by.
Drive was made for a negligible budget, to a brutal schedule, yet the efforts of the cast & crew clearly show and the result is better than a thousand films that cost 10 times the price.The action is clearly the star, with all parties expressing a clear love for Hong Kong cinema.
They have produced an excellent homage containing obvious Jackie Chan and Jet Li influences all executed with grace by Mark Dacascos.The script is pretty weak, though there is some good interplay between the characters, but as it is really used mainly as a framework from which to hang the action it does its job.The UK DVD is a fantastic effort from Hong Kong Legends (abbreviated to HKL for this release), containing a wide array of extras such as interviews and out-takes, as well as restoring the original soundtrack and 16 minutes of footage.
As a fan of 90's B-Action, this movie is an absolute gem that sadly flew under the radar of most people.Mark Dacascos is in top form here, and the addition of the always funny Kadeem Hardison makes their duet shine.
These two groups clashing multiple times over the course of the movie not only leads to your money's worth of awesome action; it carries a side helping of comedy to keep it fresh.If there's one true breakout star of this film, however, it can only be Walter the Einstein Frog!
The main shame of this is that the effects are pretty cheesy and some of the scenes are absurd: primarily the Britney Murphey cheering section of the film (her involvement at all is nothing to brag about) and the singing portions in the bar at the end.Now the upside: this is some of the best action that Dacascos has ever done.
The excellent moves of Mark Dacascos are the main draw (even if you are a novice in the martial arts), but Kadeem Hardison pumps up the humor (and human) factor, and Britney Murphy shines as an endearingly loony teen.
It's one of the best American Martial Arts films of the past decade (not saying much, I know), being one of the first films to mix Hong Kong-style action with an American film.Mark Dacascos' work is top-notch, and he and Kadeem Hardison play well off each other.
because unlike every single other martial arts American movie this film actually seems like it was made in Hong Kong.
Credit must go to the brilliant Japanese martial arts choreographer Koichi Sakamoto and his Alpha Stunt team for their ingenuity, Mark Dacascos is amazing in this film and proves that he could cut it in Hong Kong movies if he wanted too.
Listening to the excellent commentary on the disc and watching the extras, you really can feel for Steve Wang, as well as everyone else who worked on the picture.But for them it seems they had a lot of fun making it, and it shows on the screen, it was such a FUN film, but it wasn't just amazing martial arts action, it had good characters, and the 'talking' bits don't drag the film down, the opposite in fact.
Jackie Chan fans will love this movie, seeing as the crew site him as a major influence in their lives.This is also a funny movie, Kareem Hardison, follows in the steps of Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor, a comedian/actor whose ad-libs are always fun to watch.This is definitely worth watching, i never got bored the whole way through, and if you like action comedies and love really good martial arts fighting, and if you are into DVDs then i urge you to buy the disc.AND PLEASE make sure you watch the Director's Cut, if at the start the main character is looking at a girl on a small video screen, then you are watching the right one.
I hope Steven Wang and Dacascos make another martial arts action movie in the future.
although that's not to say the acting is bad -- it is, in fact, pretty good.After a string of poor movies Dacascos finally shines, giving a performance that is part Bruce Lee and part David Schwimmer's Ross Gellar, and proves himself to be one of the most underrated martial arts actors around.
Fight scenes aside, Hardison steals the show with his Eddie Murphy-esque performance, dealing out some of the best quips I've heard in years, and John Pyper-Ferguson gives us another reliable offering as the not-quite incompatent assassin.In 'Drive' you have a classic merger of Hong Kong and American action that I highly recommend to fans of the action-comedy genre (as well as those who aren't).
It's a semi-buddy movie ( both Dacascos and Hardison work well together) and at times, gets a bit cheesy, but the action is fantastic.
But the very best Hong Kong-style action is found in this little-known low-budget piece.Mark Dacascos (who, I'm sorry, doesn't look remotely Chinese, guys) shows heretofore unseen promise in the hyperaction arena in a nearly endless slew of one show-stopping fight after another.
But what this does do is showcase some of the best martial arts seen in an American movie at the time it was released.
As he attempts to make his way to from San Fransisco to Los Angeles with the help of reluctant hostage Malik Brody (Kadeem Hardison), Toby is hunted by a gang of hit men (led by bumbling baddie Vic Madison, played by John Pyper-Ferguson) sent to capture him alive.The script for martial arts buddy comedy Drive isn't exactly a work of genius, matters getting very silly and rather implausible at times, but the film's relentless Jackie Chan-style fight action (star Dacascos employing a myriad of props to defeat his enemies) is so well choreographed and flawlessly executed, and the protagonists so likable, that the film proves to be a lot of fun regardless of how dumb it gets.
Drive is the best movie Mark Dacascos has ever made.
DRIVE could've been a typical b-action film, but is lifted by great, in-your-face direction from Steve Wang (The Guyver) and the presence of martial arts star Mark Dacascoes, who kicks a lot of *** in this.
the only reason i first watched this movie was because it had mark dacascos in it, hes my favourite actor (besides val kilmer) this film is excellent its funny, violent, exciting and the acting is very good for a low budget film, the bad guy is hilarious and the black guy (kadeem hardison) is great.
This is a very good action movie with plenty of martial arts.
Some of the "acrobatics" seem over the top but then these make the movie even better to watch.There are also a few comedy elements in the film to bring "light relief" after the action scenes.
Drive borrows the origins from the HongKong-movies that means You can easily forget the story in this movie, it's just an excuse for great fighting sequences.I hope the director of this film could get more movies to direct(He can direct the action well, other than many people)..
If you really loved American Ninja and thought the martial arts in Gymkata was great, then you'll love Drive, another bland, direct to video, Hong Kong action imitator.
Well worth watching if you like martial arts films where the action comes thick, fast and  well polished..
Also, although the action is very good, its still not really on a par with the better Kung Fu films coming out of Hong Kong.