DRIVE ANGRY DVD (2011)
SYNOPSIS: In the high-octane, action-adventure DRIVE ANGRY, Nicolas Cage stars as Milton, a hardened felon who has broken out of hell intent on finding the vicious cult who brutally murdered his daughter and kidnapped her baby. He joins forces with Piper (Amber Heard) - a sexy, tough-as-nails waitress with a '69 Charger, who's also seeking redemption of her own. Now, the two of them are hot on the trail of the deadly leader of the cult (Billy Burke), all while being pursued by an enigmatic killer (William Fichtner) who has been sent by the Dveil to retrieve Milton and deliver him back to hell. Caught in a deadly race against time, Milton has 3 days to avoid capture, avenge his daughter's death, and stop the cult before she's mercilessly sacrificed by the cult.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Love plenty of onscreen sex and boobs? Gratuitous violence? Throw in some outrageous 3D effects for good measure and you get the perfect antidote for a movie getaway in the form of “Drive Angry”.
Truth to be told, “Drive Angry” is nothing more than an exploitation movie and its trashy treatment of the material makes Quentin Taratino/Robert Rodriguez’ Grindhouse project Oscar-worthy. Not that it is pretentious anyway, director Patrick Lussier and partner-in-crime, writer Todd Farmer (both responsible for My Bloody Valentine 3D) seems like paying serious homage to the genre that the duo make sure the audience get a cheap nudity shot, cheesy one-liners every minute or so.
Not to be mistaken as “Ghost Rider II: Drive Angry”, the sequel to another Nicolas Cage’s flick. The one-movie-per-month prolific actor plays Milton, a hardcore criminal who escaped from hell to save his granddaughter from the hands of an evil cult leader, Jonah King (played by Bella’s dad in Twilight, Billy Burke). With the help of a hot, gung-ho waitress Piper (Amber Heard), Milton must rescue the baby before she is being sacrificed by King.
Is Milton a ghost or a demon? Why is that guy known as the ‘accountant’ (William Fichtner) out to bring him back to hell? Devil? Cult? Nah, obviously these are plot points that aren’t worth exploring further or even elaborate to the slightest. Milton is the good guy, Jonah is the baddie, the accountant is the supporting cast member and Piper the eye candy. See everything is clearly established. The filmmakers simply can’t wait to unleash the carnage and car porn. At one point, Cage even tries to outdo Clive Owen’s notorious sex scene in “Shoot ‘Em Up”.
As usual, Cage is sleep-walking in another of his dozen-like revengeful characters. William Fichtner is absolutely a delight to watch as the Devil’s bounty hunter I believe while Burke is excellent as the sinister cult leader. Kudos to Amber Heard for looking so hot and the dozens of unknown actresses parading in their birthday suits.
I guess by now you should probably realize the tone of “Drive Angry”. Never mind the hokey CG backgrounds and 80’s style, special effects. It’s a homage remember? Sit back, relax and soak in all the gore and intentional humour.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Making of Drive Angry consists of the usual cast interviews. Is this the director’s or Cage’s Favourite Scenes? It never states anything except these are just short clips from the movie. Drive Angry: Behind The Camera is minutes of uninformative B-roll footages. When you select the Audio Commentary with Filmmakers Patrick Lussier & Todd Farmer feature, interviews with the director and cast pops up instead. Probably the devil’s doing. Theatrical Trailers round up the disc extras.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The video transfer is good enough for you to spot the goofy and inadequate visual effects. Otherwise, fine visual presentation. Loud rock music, high octane blasts and gunfire ruled the soundstage for the audio quality though unfortunately didn’t come equipped with a 5.1 soundtrack.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Posted on 14 June 2011
