Drive (Blu-ray) Official AVSForum Review - Page 2

Will have to give that a try. Thanks.

haha, same here...the cool thing is that it's available on bluray and the transfer is more than acceptable. I'd even say it looks pretty good. I honestly didn't think a car chase would really hold up since this film was from the 60s, but it really does. Just a really good movie overall, IMO.

As for Drive, I know one of the guys who was doing some of the writing, and he was talking about how good the film was going to be before I'd even knew of its existence. So given the feedback in this thread, as well as his enthusiasm, I'm looking forward to giving it a go.

Carey Mulligan in Hi-Def and it's a good movie to boot with top-notch PQ/AQ!!..I'm so there.

I give it out of

Agreed, Bullit looks pretty good on Blu-ray. Another interesting note about Steve McQueen, he chose to do his own driving in that film.

I didn't know that...very impressive! I remember reading on the back of the bluray (this was a purchase for me) how the film had one of the best car chases ever, but even with that expectation it still impressed me.

Ryan Gosling does an outstanding job .. his contrast between violence and meek / mild is so unsettling .. his performance alone is worth a rental ..

Enjoyed it thoroughly .. start to finish

He's becoming one of my favorite actors...he's growing as a character actor, too.

Watched this last night and it did not really work for me mainly due to the performance by Gosling. To me, he was very unconvincing and did not pull off the "very few words tuff guy" type role very well. I could practically see the uninterested vibe in his performance which is unfortunate since the movie heavily relied on him being convincing in this role.

Audio was serviceable and supported the film well, but nothing memorable in general.

On a positive note, I thought the PQ/cinematography was excellent! I really enjoyed it from that perspective.

I have to disagree with the guy above me in a big way and I'm only about half-way into the film. The scene in the strip club is one of the best "hard-ass walks into a room and gets everyone's attention" scenes I've seen.

Like mgkdragn said, "his [Gosling's] contrast between violence and meek / mild is so unsettling." At least as far as I'm concerned, and assuming you find Gosling's Driver convincing, it is this unsettling contrast that made the strip club scene and the "put on gloves and get truth from woman accomplice" scene so powerful. Almost out of nowhere, I got the sense that this cool, man of few words Driver had a disturbing and unlimited capacity to do violence. Like Ralph, I also get the man with no name vibe, particularly if you cross that character with Viggo Mortensen's from A History of Violence.

The bluray sounds great. Those first few gunshots; wow.

Watched this last night and loved it--definitely a "Man with no name" edge to the driver character. I thought Ryan Gosling did a fine job with his character--very believable to me. Fun to see favorites Ron Perlman and Bryan Cranston together too. A very different movie and a nice addition to my library.

No worries. I had a different perspective which is fine as well. Gosling just did not work for me in this roll.

Honestly,

I didn't care for it either and I was really looking forward to liking it based on the reviews. I found it unoriginal and the acting uninspiring.

S~

That's why this is the best forum here on AVS...people have different takes all the time, but things never turn into arguments or antagonism.

Watched this today and quite enjoyed it. A tight character-driven story with a wonderful cast. Nothing new here, just extremely well done. I thought the PQ and AQ were excellent.

Finally recieved my copy will watch it tonight.

I really like that about the review forum as well....its cool we can all express our opinions and things stay nice and civil.

Same here, brother Ralph!

I agree Todd

Ill have to give this a second viewing later down the track as i fell asleep. I recommend rental first.

I'm on the fence as there were things I liked and didn't like. I'll say this, I'm glad I saw it, that dimple helped , but I'm glad I didn't blind buy it. Recommended though!.

The Wraith is a very under rated movie. One of my favorites from the 80's.

I enjoy all types of movies but was disappointed with this one.....too many "awkward" moments, the sound from the cars (since when does a new Mustang and a 300C sound like a 73 Chevy P/U with leaky headers?) and the constant shifting of gears.....altho they were automatics The soundtrack also was described as a "must have".....I'm not sure for who but it wasn't me.

And none of us liked the ending....what the

I was looking forward to this movie, the storyline, the action, Ryan Gosling (Canadian ya know) but I should've waited and watched the "shared" version 1st.

The car and Sherilyn Fenn period.

Bingo. I wouldn't listen to the songs on my ipod, but they really fit the (perfectly lit) scenes so well. The music really elevated several parts of the movie.

Side note and spoilers below:

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1) Blinky Game- The game Driver played with the child throughout the movie forshadowed the ending. After the accident in the end, Driver stares into the sky for a while before blinking. This leads me to believe he was thinking of the little child. A possible ending is that he "went back" to the girl and the child. The scene was amplified further by the "real hero" theme song.

2) Scorpion - “Have you ever heard of the story of the scorpion and the frog?” This line was spoken by Ryan’s character towards the end of the film. Many people may have missed it as it at first seemed like a throw-away line. However, I am aware of the story so I immediately starting putting two and two together and suddenly, the film made a whole lot more sense. Here is the basis of the story: The Scorpion and the Frog is a fable about a scorpion asking a frog to carry him across the river. The frog is afraid of being stung during the trip, but the scorpion argues that if it stung the frog, the frog would sink and the scorpion would then drown too. The frog agrees and begins carrying the scorpion but midway across the river, the scorpion does indeed sting the frog – dooming them both. When asked why, the scorpion points out that this is its nature. The film brilliantly portrays Ryan’s character as the scorpion with his awesome jacket (which I want by the way). The fable basically tells us that some creatures (or humans) do things not because they necessarily want to, but because they feel they need to. They don’t compute the ramifications or think things through, they just act on impulse. This fits Ryan’s character perfectly.

Ralph,
I consider you the most trusted reviewer online period.
I often make blind buys just off of your reviews and you haven't failed me....yet.

Keep up the good work.