"Drive Angry (2011) (Special Edition Blu-Ray)" Review

Review: In the new age of 3D and "Grindhouse" style of films there is alot of them that get either one or the other wrong if you ask me. Now Drive Angry takes both the 3D gimmick and the old school exploitation style of film and does them both right and together on top of that. The Basic plot of this film is that John Milton( Nicolas Cage) breaks out of hell to save his deceased daughters child from being sacrificed by cult leader Jonah King while he is being hunted down by The Accountant(William Fichtner) who wants to take him back to hell. Along the way he gets help from a tough girl by the name of Piper (Amber Heard).

With a plot like that how could you go wrong by seeing this film and I honestly say you couldn't! What you get is a film that takes all the best elements of classic exploitation films and mixes them with an awesome cast to make it a blast of a film. Nicolas Cage does what he is best at doing and that is taking a character and making it his own and having fun while doing it. Throughout the film you can tell he was having a blast while doing it unlike a film like "The Wickerman" where it didn't seem like he really was having any fun. Nicolas Cage along with William Fichtner are honestly 2 of the best character actors that I have personally seen in quite some time. While I am talking about William Fichtner I must add that he honestly did seem to even steal alot of scenes from Nicolas Cage in this film and that was fine with me because he is an amazing actor as well. He came into this film and took charge of every scene he was in and just helped to keep the film from going stale, because honestly if it was for him and Cage both together it could of went south in a bad way I think.

Now as far as the rest of the cast go like I said before they are awesome and each one of them I personally thought helped move the story along flawlessly. Even the writer of this film Todd Farmer(My Bloody Valentine 3D) plays in this film as Frank which is cool because I really liked his small but great roll he had in the My Bloody Valentine 3D film which he wrote as well. One more actor I must mention is Billy Burke who plays as the cult leader, he is actually really good in his role and he brings a certain kind of cool to his character that I liked alot.

Now as far as the 3D effects go well from what I can tell they seem to of gotten the 3D right in this film like director Patrick Lussier did in My Bloody Valentin 3D which kicks ass because it goes more with the truest and purest form of 3D and that is to be a gimmick that actually has things flying at the screen unlike the post production 3D that just adds depth to the film. Now even though I did not see this film in 3D I still could tell all the parts that where supposed to be in 3D and that where supposed to also fly at the screen. Trust me I would of seen it in 3D if the cinemas around me would of kept it on their screens long enough.

Overall this is a badass film and is definitely one of Nicolas Cage's best films he has done recently. I would highly recommend this to any fan of old school exploitation as well as fans of over the top action films! Bottom line is that you can't beat a film that has a scene where Nicolas Cage is in a gun fight while he is screwing a girl while fully clothed with sunglasses and a gun in one hand and a bottle of Jack Daniels in the other! If that scene doesn't win you over then you just won't like this film!

-Daniel "Damnation" Lee

Director: Patrick Lussier

Genre: Action/Exploitation

DVD/Blu-Ray Release Year: 2011

Theatrical Release Year: 2011

Time Length: 105 mins.

Company: Summit Entertainment

Website: www.summit-ent.com

Blu-Ray Tech Aspects:

Video:

Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1/Espanol Dolby Digital 5.1

Video Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 1.78:1