Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Summit Entertainment  – 104 minutes – 2011 – Rated R – 1080p Widescreen 1.78:1 – Dolby DTS HD 5.1 Audio Mix – 2D and 3D versions

What the hell happened to Nicolas Cage’s career? I used to love this guy because he could pull off action, comedy, and drama, play the good guy or the bad guy and you still root for him. Sure he’s having some financial troubles and his most recent batch of films haven’t exactly had folks lining up at the box office, (though he was awesome in Kick Ass). His latest film, Drive Angry, is a spin on the gritty Grindhouse style 70’s films, with the added feature of being shot in 3D. Drive Angry comes to Blu-ray 3D from Summit Entertainment, but viewers beware, this is one bumpy and ugly ride.

THE MOVIE

Nicolas Cage plays John Milton, a man who literally drives right through the walls of Hell to return to Earth. He’s a man of few words with a very bad attitude and a very big gun. He’s on a mission of revenge to find a cult leader named Jonah King (Billy Burke), who has murdered his daughter and kidnapped his newborn granddaughter to use as a sacrifice during the first full moon of the season to unleash pure evil onto the world.

To accomplish his mission Milton has two things to deal with, first he has to avoid the demon soldier who pursues him walking around dressed like an FBI agent, and calls himself The Accountant (William Fichtner). Then he must deal with a tough waitress who he’s meet along the way named Piper (Amber Heard) who has become his unofficial sidekick in the battle. Milton is a guy who has never had much luck with anything, but if he’s managed to escape the afterlife, he can save the world too.

Yes, this plot is beyond ridiculous, but it’s supposed to be. Anyone who has seen a few of those 70’s exploitation action films knows that they weren’t trying to win any Oscars. Drive Angry does all it can to push it’s R rating to the max, including with full frontal nudity and a shootout that takes place as the lead character is having sex….and he never stops humping. Violence is completely over the top with body parts being blown off and blood everywhere. Cage is basically phoning it in, because he looks terrible in the movie, (resembling his recent mug shot) and he’s just mumbling what few lines he has. The normal sarcasm that he usually brings out in his characters is not here, and it’s almost as if somebody is doing an imitation of Nic Cage, rather than it’s actually him.

Director Patrick Lussier, who also helmed the remake of My Bloody Valentine, co-wrote the script with his partner Todd Farmer, and they seem to be having a lot of fun with this “in joke.” It’s almost as if they watched Tarantino’s Death Proof and re-made it to their liking, with a lot less talk and more crazy action, sex, and car chases. This would have all be fine if the film was fun, but instead it’s beyond silly and you will actually wish that they did ask Tarantino to do a polish of the script.

As for the 3D, if there were any movie that should have never had the third dimension attached to it, Drive Angry would be the one. Instead of having the 3D added in post production, this film was actually shot from the ground up with 3D cameras…so what? Just to see fingers blown off, a car door flying at the screen, or a bullet being shot towards the camera. It’s just a gimmick that adds no thrills to the movie at all, and in fact makes a bad movie an even worse experience. James Cameron said that too many bad 3D movies are going to turn audiences away, and he’s absolutely right.

Drive Angry should have been one of those films that you look at and it becomes the guilty pleasure that we enjoy with cult movies. Instead you just keep wondering why this film was made, and can Nic Cage recover from being attached to a film that would have been better if Gary Busey starred in it. I have no problem with exploitation movies, because some of my favorite films fall in that category, but at least make one that is worth repeat viewing.

VIDEO

Hollywood is desperately trying to get an audience for 3D, both in theaters and at home by convincing people to buy TVs enabled for the third dimension. The problem is not every film is Avatar, so a film like Driver Angry falls into the “gimmick” box, to cover up that it’s just a crappy movie. This Blu-ray provides both a 3D and a 2D version of the film in full 1080p wrapped in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The film was shot in 3D (and not later converted in post production) as most recent films are, so the image quality looks more focused. Right from the beginning of the movie throws every trick at you to ensure you that this is real 3D, but this is the only time you actually will enjoy it because then it becomes routine. Watching 3D on Blu-ray is far better than the old school cardboard blue and red glasses, but in the end it’s all about content rather than flash.

The 2D version offers a stunning picture when all the 3D has been wiped away. Colors are crisps and skin tones are smooth, maybe a little to smooth because Mr. Cage’s face has seen better days. Some scenes look very glossy, but this occurs when shooting for 3D and then stripping it down to a standard 2D resolution. It just looks silly when things are coming at the camera for no reason, because the 3D effect is gone. Overall, despite being a bad movie, the image quality for both dimensions looks great.

AUDIO

Offering a Dolby Digital DTS-HD 5.1 audio mix, Drive Angry is one loud movie. This film has all the ear-smashing ingredients that you would expect from an action film: constant gunfire, explosions, screams and roaring car engines galore. The dialogue is laughable, but it is crystal clear, even when things are blowing up and the body count rises. Too bad all this effort goes into a film that will be forgotten as soon as the credits role, but if you have a sound system that you want to show off to friends along with that brand new 3D HDTV, then Drive Angry is show off material.

EXTRAS

The pickings are slim in terms of bonus features, so all you’re really paying for is a 2D and 3D combo pack. It would have been a nice if they added some 3D bonus features to make the Blu-ray much more desirable, but the dropped the ball.

An audio commentary track featuring writer/director Patrick Lussier and co-writer Todd Framer goes into their on the set tales about the trials and tribulations of shooting from the ground up in 3D.

Two deleted scenes that are less than two-minutes combined add nothing new and you’ll forget them in a blink of an eye.

Access: Drive Angry offers a Picture-in-Picture view of behind the scenes shots, interviews and trivia as the movie plays. All of this would have been more enjoyable if it were in 3D, because at least it would have held your attention.

BOTTOM LINE

Drive Angry will not win any awards during the next Oscar telecast, but to be fair the filmmakers weren’t trying to reach that plateau. There are not many 3D Blu-rays out there, so if you had to pick up one, there are better options. The 3D image quality is good, but gets tired fast, and the sound design is very well done. You get both a 2D and a 3D version of the film, but it would have been a nice addition if exclusive 3D bonus content was offered. As it stands, Drive Angry can only be recommended as a rental, but if you’re a die hard Nicolas Cage fan and must see him in 3D, then this is currently your only choice.

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie: 2.5

Video: 4.0

Sound: 4.5

Extras: 2.0

Bottom Line: 3.0