Home Video Review - Drive

We may be a little miffed that Drive didn’t pick up any significant Oscar nominations but at least this home video release gives audiences another chance to catch Nicolas Winding Refn near masterpiece.



The film is about Driver (Ryan Gosling) who has a dual life as a stunt car player and a getaway driver. When he tries to help out a neighbour with a job, things don’t go as planned and he ends up on the run.

Drive is a slow burner, taking serious time to build up a slightly played relationship between Gosling and Carrie Mulligan. But when the proverbial hits the fan in the second half, all bets are off for a revenge-fuelled rampage towards the curtain call.

Drive is a movie of rare beauty, soaked in a neon filled, near fairytale vision of Los Angeles. It’s helped by a naïve central performance from Gosling that slowly devolves into something more sinister but is always reined in by an attempt to do what’s right. In a year where the star dominated the screen, this might have been his finest performance.

Drive won’t be to everyone’s taste, its slow moving, introverted and has bursts of brutal violence but it’s bound for fanatical cult film status and looks absolutely amazing on blu-ray.

Extras: You’ll only find a handful of bits and pieces here including a region 2 exclusive BFI chat with director Nicolas Winding Refn, plus TV spots, the trailer and a gallery. It’s a poor enough showing for a film this beloved but Winding Refn has promised a more impressive special edition in the future.