Leofwine_draca A vehicle for Mark Dacascos's martial arts talents cunningly masquerading as a thriller, this basic actioner has little plot to speak of and no real acting. What it does have are a string of incredible martial arts sequences, the likes of which have never been seen before in an American film, which make it extremely enjoyable. Not bad for a DTV flick, and ever since interest in the martial arts resurfaced after the blockbuster hit THE MATRIX, this even went so far as to get a DVD release! Things kick off with Dacascos arriving in the US after stowing away on a boat. Immediately he's up to his neck in bad guys who want to shoot him in the legs. After a battle on the boat, he escapes to a bar, where another gun fight ensues and Dacascos takes out about ten of the enemy single-handedly. He hooks up with a failed black writer, who provides much of the film's comic relief, and the two go on the run. They variously get handcuffed together, fight off more bad guys, hide in a motel which is then exploded and finally take on the entire force of baddies in a karaoke bar (a location which also gives the supremely talented Dacascos time to work on his warbling skills).I would instantly say that this has to be Mark Dacascos' best film. Since DRIVE, he has starred in cheap rip-offs (DNA), and loads of straight-to-video trash (THE BASE, SABOTAGE, etc.). This is the only film where he really impresses with his fighting skills, as none of the other flicks really give him a chance. His acting range may be limited, but he's a nice enough guy and the things he does with his body to turn it into a weapon are phenomenal. Here, Dacascos has strong support from Kadeem Hardison who excels in his comic relief role, Brittany Murphy, who makes the most of her seductive young girl in love with Hardison, and a whole slew of comic-book villains.For action fans, this is a must see. Sure, there's a fair share of huge explosions and gun fights, but the martial arts fights are the things that really work. From a battle in a motel room where Dacascos takes on about twenty men armed with electric shock prods to the final, prolonged battle between our hero and an advanced super model, things never let up. Super-fast editing, cool stunts and lots of wacky situations (one bad guy gets his arm cut off with a chainsaw, and then the severed limb manages to shoot him!) make this one to watch. Highly recommended!

dworldeater Not to be confused with the boring artsy movie with the same title . This Drive came first and has all the entertainment value the other Drive lacks . While this direct to video action/comedy won't blow anyones mind, it definitely delivers the goods for action. Drive is very fast paced Hong Kong styled action movie . Actor/martial artist Mark Dacascos is on the run from a rogue government corporation from Hong Kong that want to recover a bio energy module placed in his chest. He kidnaps Kadeem Hardinson to drive him to LA and remove /sell the module for 5 million dollars.In the process of getting to their destination they are pursued by a bad guy that looks like Ted Nugent and there are lots of fine choreographed fights and John Woo styled shootouts.As far as direct to video action flicks go , Drive is better than most. Mark Dacascos is very under rated as well and deserves more larger , wide release film projects.

S_Craig_Zahler the spoilers are very vague and not related to the plot.this is a heads up to martial arts movie fans who can't stand sped up fighting.it's too bad that so much of the thoughtful 'drive' fight choreography was undercranked/sped up or had "hidden" jump cuts. it was cut offline on an avid, so it's very easy to pick an choose frames.after seeing this movie, i can't actually tell how talented donnie osmond--i mean dacascos--actually is. about 60% of the final fight appears sped up or altered and about half of the bar fight and hotel fight are similarly falsified.martial arts movies are different from other action movies in that most of the best examples are not technical displays of cinematographic bravura, but showcases in which the martial artist and choreographer can show their stuff, and oftentimes, years of training.so something like 'drive'-- a movie loaded with sped up shots and jump cuts-- deflates the most important element of a martial arts movie and is an automatic fail for me, especially with a terrible plot like this one has, weak villains and 60+ minutes of situation comedy that yields about 6 or 7 laughs.

chrichtonsworld This unknown movie maybe one of the best action movies I have seen. To my surprise everything works. Mark Dacascos is great. This is one of the few where he has gotten the chance to show what he can do. Kadeem Harrison isn't annoying in the supporting role and has some good chemistry with Dacascos. Even Brittany Murphy performs well. Although again she plays a socially awkward but endearing character. I wonder how much of that is acted and how much of it is real. It is very fascinating since it is hard to tell whether she is insane or just happily disturbed.Like I said the action is top notch. MD delivers on this front like he did in Crying Freeman. Very reminiscent of Hong Kong style action. And this should not be a total surprise since Koichi Sakamoto and the Alpha Stunt Team was behind the stunts for Drive. They were attached to the Power Rangers franchise if that means anything to you. The martial arts sometimes is used in combination with wireworks. But it is not obvious. In this way it intensifies the action scenes. I must admit that the climax: fight between MD and other "super" man could have been much longer but still it is a great finale. The main highlight is the sequence in the motel where we get introduced to Brittanny Murphy's character. It's a very long but very rewarding scene interchanged with a lot of comedic bits. For a low budget production the movie looks great. The plot is adequate and provides a good background for the main characters. (At least it was in my version: director's cut).Overall it is a very fun and fast paced movie and still holds up today.