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Drive (2011): Love it or hate it?
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I've seem to come across a lot of mixed reviews on Drive. People have either adored it or scolded it. I happen to think its a great flick. People complained about the drawn out shots and lacking dialogue from Gosling. But i thought it was a beautifully made film with a surprising performance from Gosling. The opening action shot of the car chase is hands down one of the best chase scenes ever.
What are your guy's thoughts?
Top Comment:
Here's what I love most of all. Refn brought his idea to Hollywood and they turned up their nose at him. No studio would touch it. He then shot a meticulously crafted film using the cream of the crop of their A-list actors for only 15 million, and he did it right in their own fucking back yard.
I can't help but enjoy it as a grand cinematic fuck you to the Hollywood system.
Thoughts on Drive (2011)
Main Post: Thoughts on Drive (2011)
Top Comment: This movie excelled in setting tone, mood, and style, heightened by its amazing soundtrack. Probably introduced a whole generation of fans to the synthwave genre too.
Drive - is Driver supposed to come across as a bit “simple”?
Main Post: Drive - is Driver supposed to come across as a bit “simple”?
Top Comment: Everyone with a white scorpion jacket is typing furiously right now
Drive 2011. Book vs film. And the elevator scene. What are our thoughts?
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I recently read the book and then rewatched the movie.
I enjoyed the book. Easy read. Liked the tone and vibe of the story, a peek into Driver's past, explaining his violent nature. But I get why some say it's not well-written. Book Driver talked too much. His conflict with the Mafia characters was murky and got thrown into the background while Driver went on his "side quests" for a huge chunk of the book. And Irene's death came out of nowhere. Didn't drive the story nor matter much to Driver. Book Driver was also too aloof. Cold. Those things I didn't like.
The film managed to take the seeds of a good story from the book and turn it into something more coherent and better: a forbidden love story. But strangely, I remember getting bored to the point of dozing off while watching it with a friend who likes Ryan Gosling. She was fidgety and clearly bored. Her lack of enjoyment for the film dragged me down. Every scene felt like such a slog. It was a strange experience as Drive 2011 remains one of my favorite movies. In the recent rewatch, I breezed through it alone. None of the scenes felt slow at all. Loved every minute of it.
And that elevator scene. I've not watched any director's interview, but the common consensus seems to be that Driver ACTUALLY kissed Irene in the elevator before head-stomping the thug to death. But in my headcanon, I kinda wish that the dimming of the lights and the slow-mo implied that the last kiss was all in his head. After repeated viewing, it made more sense and felt more poetic that way. Since Irene just slapped him moments ago, she would still be grappling with what Driver had told her. It doesn't make much sense to me that Irene wasn't taken aback at all when being kissed by the man who contributed to her husband's death.
For those who have read the source material, what did you like or dislike about it?
For those who only saw the movie, which do you prefer? An actual last kiss or wishful thinking in Driver's mind?
What are your thoughts?
Top Comment: I love Drive and it’s one of the few instances where I think the movie is better than the book. As for the elevator scene, yes I believe it does really happen. I remember reading an interview with Gosling (possibly NWR, it was a while ago) where he basically said that the kiss was the last thing he could do before showing her the werewolf that he really is. I really love that interpretation and it’s one of my favorite scenes in the movie for that reason.
Drive (2011)
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I really enjoyed this film. It is a love story, in a way, but it is not sappy. While there is a great deal of driving, that is not the movie's main theme. Perhaps it is what drives the lead character. The movie has brutal scenes, but the viewer can understand the cause of the brutality. Ryan Gosling is quietly intense and very believable. The soundtrack really sets the mood as well. Albert Brooks is surprisingly good at being the bad guy. A truly captivating movie.
Top Comment: Drive is just a modern western. Mysterious dude without a name shows up to town in a car (instead of a horse), and like all good westerns uses violence to proclaim his love, and then mysteriously leaves town. It's a classic John Wayne movie. Love it.
How'd you guys interpret the ending?
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The director went on the record saying he liked making movies with "open endings" so I wanted to see where you all landed on it
Do you think the driver actually survived at the end and drove off into the night to protect Irene, or do you think he died and the ending was a sort of afterlife-esque sequence where he gets to do what he does; Drive?
Top Comment: I thought it was pretty clear that he does survive, and drives away to protect Irene. He wanted to move away from his life of crime, but he realizes that that life will follow him forever as it is in his nature, hence the scorpion and the frog story.
Why do people like Drive so much?
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So, I have been seeing alot of posts and articles on the internet about the movie Drive, and was just wondering why people like it so much. I saw it and thought it was incredibly boring and tedious, so I was just wondering what others saw that I didn't.
Top Comment: What you see as tedious and boring others enjoy as patient and deliberate filmmaking. The first time I saw Drive, I went into it expecting a "Fast and Furious" type of car flick, but was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be more of a quiet character study. Gosling's introversion and stillness were captivating for me, but I can definitely understand why some would find it boring. Try watching it one more time. I like to give films two honest viewings before I decide to banish them to my imaginary "Piece of Shit" pile.
Drive (2024) Entertaining thriller
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After watching 2 disappointing movies this week namely '' Revolver'' that I was looking forward to watch as I love a good Korean thriller movie but for a revenge movie was kinda boring and lacking in the revenge part.
Then followed by ''Officer Black Belt'' me as a martial arts movie junkie was hoping for a fun martial arts flick but it disappointed at all fronts, namely a annoying lead especially in the first half and the fights were underwhelming for the most part only getting a bit more entertaining towards the end.
Now ''Drive'' had no expectations at all just hoping for a decent thriller as most recent Korean thrillers been really disappointing and mainly watched for the female lead Park Ju Hyun that I really liked in her break out role the series '' Extracurricular'' but all her other projects haven't interested me or were just bad as the recent movie '' Project Silence'' were she only has a sup role. But always interested in her new projects if they look interesting.
Here her character is a Youtube streamer that gets kidnapped and put in the trunk of her own car and has to make a live stream and earn the money her kidnaper demands before midnight or get killed.
The movie is fast paced doesn't waste any second really to get to the main plot but with enough background on the lead to know somewhat her personality and be interested in her character. What I liked about her was that she was no innocent person and had some dark edges around her personality.
At the end this comes with a nice little climax that connects the mastermind and the lead. Something the new wave of Korean thrillers would normally have to connect lead and villain together but in recent years most Korean movies the villain was some generic villain and the lead some innocent person with no connection between them.
I would have liked for a more climatic confrontation between them both but at the end it was still satisfying to a certain degree.
Overall entertaining thriller no masterpiece but good enough to watch and entertain.
Top Comment: I liked officer black belt and made several posts about it. I liked the main character, and the general plot, plus human trafficking hits really hard for me. But I get it that different people have different tastes The fact that me and the lead are both tkd black belts, immediately won me over I'll check out Drive next!