I have to admit, I was one of the boobirds disappointed by Drive when I saw it on its initial release. (I was a fan of James Sallis already.) I thought it lost momentum after a terrific opening, and that the sudden turn to extreme brutality was unearned.
However, I’ve since seen Bronson, which I loved, and I’ve recently caught up with the Pusher trilogy, so I think I have a better sense now of where Refn is coming from. I’ve been wanting to see Drive again, and I expect I’ll probably appreciate it more next time.
Not to mention one of the best needle drops of the decade in "Nightcall", crazy how influential the score/music from Drive became. I remember listening to the soundtrack on repeat in highschool.
I listened to this soundtrack/score for MONTHS before getting to see the movie and when I actually started it for the first time, having lived with this music for so long, it felt EPIC - still a top 5 all-time first view.
Refn is a real weirdo and I truly can't see him ever doing anything that connects like Drive ever again - a real confluence of elements (buzzy lead in a different kind of role, really amazing trailer, a movie's general vibe weirdly fitting the culture as it comes out) that Refn feels primarily disinterested in every trying for on purpose.
Too Old To Die Young is fascinating because in many ways, it really does a lot of the stuff that Drive does, but at a far more glacial pace and in a far shaggier way. I loved it mostly if also feeling like it needed a bit of trimming.
Refn often feels like a distant, almost disconnected filmmaker to me, but he (or his casting people) surely has a good eye for picking interesting actors. Brooks in Drive and Kristin Scott Thomas in Only God Forgives are such strange yet inspired choices. I haven't seen Valhalla Rising -- love Mads, so I'll have to check it out.
This movie, Blade Runner 2049, First Man -- Gosling must really love these dead-eyed roles...
This was an important film for me, coming at a time when I was ramping up from "someone who sees all the biggest movies" to "someone who sees every movie he can." The reserved, synthwave aesthetic of Drive was something I didn't know I was looking for and it energized my love of cinema in a way that primed me to become obsessed with film with the launch of The Dissolve.
For whatever reason, me always conflated this one with Baby Driver, and me finally saw latter, but me suspect this one is better of two. Me guess me should watch this one too!
A few people have mentioned this but the soundtrack to Drive was *huge*. I remember being at a party in brooklyn a few months after the movie came out and the soundtrack was playing. And deservedly so, it’s amazing!
Also, I love this movie, I love this feature, I cannot wait for the Mandy write-up.
For some reason, I bought the steelbook of this from Best Buy as a teen just getting into film. Really expected something like that magnficient opening credits and while i enjoyed it, it's faded a bit perhaps out of disappointment. I don't remember the score as much as it was hyped up, but I'm due a revisit. If anything just to see if it resembles the Hotline Miami/Outrun/Synthwave type vibe that supposedly sprung from it.
Yes I was the kind of 20/21 year old who showed this movie to girls, but those titles blaring in hot pink in the theaters simply broke my brain for a bit. During an anniversary, Chromatics did a giveaway and I got a DRIVE t-shirt. It fell apart but I miss that thing.
My goodness, how in the world have I never heard of this movie? Fast and the Furious? HA! You think the stunts in that movie are impressive? No sir. Now I know that there's only one driving movie to rule them all -- The Driver, circa 1978. You wanna see the coolest, silent-est, awesome-est protagonist ever? Ryan O'Neil. Oh my god. This movie. Please, if you have not seen this movie and you have any appreciation for cinema, you must see this film. God! What a shame it had such a poor reception during its time. This is the definition of a classic.
I have to admit, I was one of the boobirds disappointed by Drive when I saw it on its initial release. (I was a fan of James Sallis already.) I thought it lost momentum after a terrific opening, and that the sudden turn to extreme brutality was unearned.
However, I’ve since seen Bronson, which I loved, and I’ve recently caught up with the Pusher trilogy, so I think I have a better sense now of where Refn is coming from. I’ve been wanting to see Drive again, and I expect I’ll probably appreciate it more next time.
Not to mention one of the best needle drops of the decade in "Nightcall", crazy how influential the score/music from Drive became. I remember listening to the soundtrack on repeat in highschool.
I listened to this soundtrack/score for MONTHS before getting to see the movie and when I actually started it for the first time, having lived with this music for so long, it felt EPIC - still a top 5 all-time first view.
Refn is a real weirdo and I truly can't see him ever doing anything that connects like Drive ever again - a real confluence of elements (buzzy lead in a different kind of role, really amazing trailer, a movie's general vibe weirdly fitting the culture as it comes out) that Refn feels primarily disinterested in every trying for on purpose.
Too Old To Die Young is fascinating because in many ways, it really does a lot of the stuff that Drive does, but at a far more glacial pace and in a far shaggier way. I loved it mostly if also feeling like it needed a bit of trimming.
Arguably overly-excited to dig into Cowboy!
Refn often feels like a distant, almost disconnected filmmaker to me, but he (or his casting people) surely has a good eye for picking interesting actors. Brooks in Drive and Kristin Scott Thomas in Only God Forgives are such strange yet inspired choices. I haven't seen Valhalla Rising -- love Mads, so I'll have to check it out.
This movie, Blade Runner 2049, First Man -- Gosling must really love these dead-eyed roles...
This was an important film for me, coming at a time when I was ramping up from "someone who sees all the biggest movies" to "someone who sees every movie he can." The reserved, synthwave aesthetic of Drive was something I didn't know I was looking for and it energized my love of cinema in a way that primed me to become obsessed with film with the launch of The Dissolve.
Now THIS is the genre red meat I came for.
Just listening to the ‘soundtrack’ today (playlist containing the soundtrack and other adjacent songs: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Hl2xhCJ34PYoXuBikWErC?si=cp-88RI3R6Ci8TUvdqD9tw)
For whatever reason, me always conflated this one with Baby Driver, and me finally saw latter, but me suspect this one is better of two. Me guess me should watch this one too!
A few people have mentioned this but the soundtrack to Drive was *huge*. I remember being at a party in brooklyn a few months after the movie came out and the soundtrack was playing. And deservedly so, it’s amazing!
Also, I love this movie, I love this feature, I cannot wait for the Mandy write-up.
For some reason, I bought the steelbook of this from Best Buy as a teen just getting into film. Really expected something like that magnficient opening credits and while i enjoyed it, it's faded a bit perhaps out of disappointment. I don't remember the score as much as it was hyped up, but I'm due a revisit. If anything just to see if it resembles the Hotline Miami/Outrun/Synthwave type vibe that supposedly sprung from it.
Yes I was the kind of 20/21 year old who showed this movie to girls, but those titles blaring in hot pink in the theaters simply broke my brain for a bit. During an anniversary, Chromatics did a giveaway and I got a DRIVE t-shirt. It fell apart but I miss that thing.
I just want to say -- no, scream -- something:
YOU MUST ALL WATCH THE DRIVER!!!
My goodness, how in the world have I never heard of this movie? Fast and the Furious? HA! You think the stunts in that movie are impressive? No sir. Now I know that there's only one driving movie to rule them all -- The Driver, circa 1978. You wanna see the coolest, silent-est, awesome-est protagonist ever? Ryan O'Neil. Oh my god. This movie. Please, if you have not seen this movie and you have any appreciation for cinema, you must see this film. God! What a shame it had such a poor reception during its time. This is the definition of a classic.
Thank you, Scott! :)