Rating: Summary: Ranks as one of the worse Movies of This Century Review: Three word describes this movie, boring, boring, boring. Poor acting, and the bad script were the better parts of this movie.I have seen a lot of movies and this one ranks up there with Josie and The Pussycats. Don't waste your money!
Rating: Summary: Good, but not great Review: I guess this movie is not made for hardcore fans of the CART FedEx Championship or Formula One, but for a broad audience of thrill seeking, movie goers. One of the real drivers said it best - this is not a documentary. The real footage is actually more exciting than the fabricated stuff. The big dissappointment was that the stunt cars they used were very different (CART 101 school cars) from real Champ Cars, and it was quite noticeable. The antics on-track were very far-fetched, but when all was said and done, it was Rambo Goes Racing, and entertaining. Stallone is actually very good, and his young student is excellent. Stallone had unprecedented access to the real racing grids and venues and this shows. That is the strongest part of the film. Music is great, cinematography of the real racing and styled sequences are great, but the film really suffers from too many crashes, explosions, and by not being more accurate. It is fun, but no where close to real.The best racing film ever made for intrigue, real footage, and accuracy is "LeMans" starring Steve McQueen, from 1971. It is hailed by people inside of real racing as the closest anyone has come to capturing the thrill, drama, and intensity of auto racing.
Rating: Summary: VA VA VAROOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!! Review: I just saw the movie yesterday in the theater... am still on the adrenaline high I got from watching it. Yeah, the reviews say - it's terrible - and the story is kinda lame but the movie is a racing lover's dream come true - the sound, the race sequences, the crashes - the different race tracks - when I left the theater, I was driving a 110 mph for a few seconds before I forced myslef to leave the highway for fear of killing myself!!! Can hardly wait for the DVD, this one will push your amp to its fullest and boy, will those surrounds and sub be abused!!!!! Go see it!
Rating: Summary: One hell of a ride Review: This movie was awesome. Car racing movies can't get much better than this. When Gone In 60 Seconds came out, everyone booed at the movie for having the stupidest plot. People... We watch these kind of movies for fun~ It's not a movie that makes you think and you can obviously tell that from the trailer. Anyways, Driven had some spectacular racing/crash scenes that everyone in the theater said "WHOA~!" and I can see why Stallon was proud to write this movie. The movie also focuses on Stallon's real life, which was very nicely done. If you like car movies, this one is a MUST SEE. 10 out of 10
Rating: Summary: Very Entertaining Review: Look, I know this movie is not awesome. But it's chock full of some really good action sequences, like the car chase in Chicago. Add some great music pumping in the background (songs by Filter, Tantric, Vertical Horizon to name a few), and I was clamoring for more. The acting is average at best, and some of the dialogue is pathetic to be quite frank. However, the pace of the film and some of the action helped me to overlook some of the flaws in this film. If you like Days of Thunder and Gone in 60 Seconds, you will probably like this one. It is not nearly as good a movie as Days of Thunder, but gives you more of a Gone in 60 feel (no real story but great action). If you are one of those people that only want to see a thought-provoking movie, you will give this movie one star. As a fan of both thought-provoking movies and mindless action movies, I actually enjoyed this one. 3 and 1/2 stars...
Rating: Summary: Kip Pardue- A Rising Star Review: ... I thought DRIVEN was a suspenseful thrill ride from beginning to end. I thought we saw some fine acting from Stallone but the real star of this movie was young Kip Pardue (Jimmy Bly) I think he stole the show... I have been waiting anxiously for DRIVEN's arrival in theatres and the wait was well worth while. The intensity and message of the movie was addicting and I encourage others to see it, as I will, AGAIN, and AGAIN, and AGAIN!
Rating: Summary: Good heart, bad gloss-over Review: What is it about racing movies that turn directors into ADD-afflicted goons? Renny Harlin has made much better movies, with far more of an attention span, not to mention a better hold on their emotional core. Instead, it almost appears that this film was made by a graduate of the Michael Bay School of Hyper-Editing. The fact that this film is slightly more in-depth then your average sports film (though not by much) gets completely lost in all the hubbub. Yes, the characters and situations are entirely off-the-shelf. We often forget that there's a reason they're up there: sometimes, they work. Instead of simply leaving the cliches as-is, screenwriter/star Stallone takes them in a few new and interesting directions, and it's not really as predictable as you would think from any description you would hear. Yes, there's a pushy agent. He's the young hotshot's brother, though, and is pushy because he really does care. Will the girl choose the young hero/hotshot, or go back to her ex? If you can find your way into all of this, you'd be a bit surprised how well Stallone bends the rules. Cutting through the gloss, though, is the big problem. Director Harlin edits like he's in a race with the afore-mentioned Bay, throwing in nifty point-of-view shots that merely serve to distract, even (especially?) in the dramatic scenes. That's not to say that none of this works. There's an amusing chase through the streets of Chicago that re-capture the fun of some of Harlin's previous films, and the final race is cleverly shot. If I had come in at the beginning of said race and stayed until the end, I might have figured the movie could have been worth my while. And I would almost have been right. Almost.
Rating: Summary: Great action; no story Review: I wanted to walk out of 'DRIVEN' during the first ten minutes. Music and opening sequences were confusing, loud, annoying, and generally numbing. I realize the idea was to show us Jimmy Bly (Kip Pardue's character) was close to a nervous breakdown, but I almost had one along with him. I stayed in the theatre, deciding the movie had to get better. It did, but not by much. What I LIKED was the action race scenes and that I learned some things about CART racing which I had never thought of, or realized. For example, timing a 'recovering from injuries' Jimmy to ensure he could get out of car within five seconds, to even be allowed into a race (CART rules), was interesting to me. The use of computers, laptops, and communications techniques with active drivers was cool. I loved Estella Warren in the pool(when she wasn't talking). I enjoyed the 'Luc' character (she was best at achieving most with an understated 'look'). I liked watching the action at the pit stops. What I disliked, intensely, was most of the silly dialog. (Question: "Where did you learn to swim like that?" Answer: "I was raised by frogs; Ribbit."). I thought some characters did well with what dialog they had, but some good talent was wasted here. Gina Gershon did a great bitchy job every time she was on screen; the only one who really used the limited dialog to extreme advantage. My overall opinion were too many characters and confusing stories for the limited time. The only characters I truly cared about were Jimmy, Gina, Luc, and Beau (when he was away from the 'love triangle' story line). DeMille (Jimmy's hard-driving agent/brother) would have been much more effective had he been subtle/savey in his self-absorbed ways instead of obnoxious. Sly and Burt just existed in this movie; in fact, I almost wasn't going to mention them at all. I had read, but didn't receive confirmation, that the first compilation was a four hour plus film, which Renny Harlin greatly cut. That could explain the first confusing 5-10 minutes. I actually might be interested in the DVD when it arrives it there is a director's cut, even if it is a longer movie, if it makes the story less choppy. I might even put up with some of the silly dialog if that were the case. But adding any time to this movie to get more of the same won't help it.
Rating: Summary: High Octane, But Unsatisfying Review: The latest movie from Sly takes us in the direction that we are all supposed to believe that he is a F1 racer. Now a washup (what a cliche) he is called upon to assist a new racer in winning the championship. The whole problem is that Sly is too defiant to follow the rules. The movie is directed by Renny Harlin, a man famous for blowing things up. This film affords him the opportunity of crashing numerous cars. Something that he makes full use of. This movie is supposed to be a twisted romance movie, with the occasional race thrown into keep the whitetrash at bay. The fact is that the racing action is all that any of the audience will care about, so why bother with a romantic theme. This is a movie that does not need to have any sort of plot, but the film maker tries to make you care about every race, and every character. The real fact is that by the time of the big final race, you just do not care who wins, since you do not feel an honest connection to any of these characters. All this audience wants from these people are for them to get in their cars and drive around in a circle really fast, and to see them crash. This film had a lot of potential, it does have a rotten washed up actor, but the director can do much better. It may be the fact that Sly wrote the screenplay, but the movie just feels disconnected in some way. There should be more to it (not much more, it is about racing, but something, anything) and when nothing is put in place, this movie starts to fall apart on itself.
Rating: Summary: Gave it 1 start because 0 wasn't available Review: This movie would only be watchable by people who know NOTHING (and I mean nothing - like less then my wife - who I might add thinks that Formula 1 is abrand of baby formula). It is filled with absolutely laughable impossibilities (dozens . . . maybe hundreds) like being able to jump into an IndyCar, turn the key (connected to the non-existent built-in starter), and take off down city streets at 200+. A complete and side-splitting comedy for any race fan who was unlucky enough to buy (or rent) this piece of rediculous junk thinking they were about to watch a "Real Racing Movie". It get's my vote for the "Top 10 Worst" movies list.
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