Blu-Ray Review: Drive Hard

By Brad Henderson

I first discovered Brian Trenchard-Smith when I saw Night Of The Demons 2. I didn’t know it was him at that time but I later recognized his name when I saw a film called Turkey Shoot (a.k.a. Escape 2000) and since then his name has been imbedded into my mind.

Trenchard-Smith knows how to take a $20 dollar budget and make a movie look like a multi-million dollar flick. I can guarantee that everyone in their life has seen a film by Brian Trenchard-Smith. Although I think his strongest work is in horror films, he’s touched on just about every genre.

He’s made films like BMX Bandits, The Quest, Dead End Drive-In, Leprechaun 3 and 4, and now he is back with Drive Hard. As a fan there are many things in this film I can appreciate and enjoy. I do agree that Trenchard-Smith is trying to be a little more commercial to appeal to a wider audience. I’m OK with that but sometimes those films are bland and forgettable, and unfortunately, that is the case with Drive Hard.

Drive Hard does have a few things going for it and these are its actors and the dialogue between them. I’ve always been a fan of Thomas Jane and John Cusack so to see them together in a film of this caliber it was a delight. One thing I wasn’t happy about is the plot device for the film. There are way too many films in which we have a “driver” and he is the best of the best and helps the good/bad guy. It’s been done a few times so calling the movie Drive Hard was probably not the smartest thing in the world. I realize that the marketing behind it is trying to use the success of these past films to help promote this one but like I said, the title is forgettable.

I think I would have preferred this as a buddy cop flick instead because the chemistry between Cusack and Jane is great and feels real. That is the one thing that Drive Hard has going for it. It feels like it was trying to be something else that it wasn’t. Brian Trenchard-Smith should’ve stayed true to his work and to himself. I’m still happy that he’s is making films and I hope he continues to do so, even if they are subpar like this one.

Drive Hard was released on November 11 by Image Entertainment.