I consider myself a connoisseur of crap cinema. Whether it's an overblown, big budget misfire or low budget, straight-to-video B movie, I love to watch filmmakers fail. Not to revel in their defeat, but rather to learn from their mistakes. To quote the Scottish reformer Samuel Smiles "We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success." Drive however is a surprising success.

When I first discovered this film I was shocked that I hadn't seen or even heard of it. It's a sci-fi/action/Kung fu movie, which is maybe my favorite genre (semi kidding) and it stars Kadeem Hardison, one of my favorite comedic actors from childhood and Mark Dacascos, who is (in my opinion) the most overlooked action star of his era. Drive is the exact type of obscure film I make it my business to know all about and it let slip through the cracks for decades. For shame.

The second shock came when I searched the title on IMDb and discovered it had a 6.8 rating. I have never seen a low budget, direct-to-video, action film with such a high rating. 6.8 is a great rating for any film. There are movies that have been nominated for the Oscar for best picture that don't have a 6.8 rating. Now I was intrigued.

The final shock came when I was viewing the credits and I saw another familiar name: Koichi Sakamoto. Koichi was the long running fight coordinator for the TV show Power Rangers, a show I watched religiously from ages 2 to 14. 14 was probably too old to watching Power Rangers but Koichi's amazing fight choreography, which just got more elaborate and impressive as the series went on, made it well worth the ridicule.

With this film Mark, Kadeem, and Koichi handedly prove you don't need a big budget, gaudy special effects, and A list actors to elevate a film beyond it's ridiculous premise.

And the premise is ridiculous. It's like Rush Hour mixed with Iron Man. But director Steve Wang, who's work is obviously inspired by tokusatsu superheroes, is in a clear but strange comfort zone. Wang, who moved to the United States from Taiwan when he was 9, masterfully blends Eastern and Western influences more effectively than most directors.

This film moves with the brisk, breakneck pace of the best American action movies, features some of the most inventive fight choreography in any movie I've see , low budget or blockbuster, and the actors performances, while not Oscar worthy, are certainly solid.

As I was watching this movie, listening intently to the dialogue, scanning the faces of every performer, looking for something to grumble about. To criticize. To roll my eyes at...and I found nothing. Drive is a rare gem and totally deserves it's 6.8 rating. Drive was cheaply made but not poorly made. Everyone from the visual department, to the stunt team, to the actors brought their A game and it shows.

Lastly... Rush Hour is a complete rip off of this film. Watch Drive and then Rush Hour. Or vice versa. The similarities are obvious and devastating . Shame on you Brett Ratner. Shame.

I stumbled upon this film about 7 or so years ago in the video store, and on a whim picked it out. I must admit to being fairly entertained with what I saw. The fight scenes are gloriously over the top and well choreographed, so much so I think I was laughing at several points during the film.

The plot is about as complex as a glass of water, but forget that for now, this is a film you watch for the action, for the cheesy comedy factor, for the hyper-kinetic, lighting quick scenes of martial arts mayhem. The fight scenes come frequent enough and do not disappoint. There are killer ninja robots, gun wielding assassins who burst through windows on stunt bikes, and a large supply of hapless henchmen who couldn't shoot a barn door at 3 paces.

Marc Dacascos shows of his talents in the lead role as Toby Wang, the hero and scene stealer of the film, Kadeem Hardison is on hand as Malik, the out of luck barfly who gets caught up in the ordeal, then there is Brittany Murphy in one pre-famous roles as a the ditsy daughter of a Motel owning couple.

Toby Wong (Mark Dacascos) stowaways from Hong Kong on a freighter to America. He is escaping from the Chinese government who installed a prototype "biological energy module" in his chest. They are trying to recapture him without killing him or shooting him in the chest. Orders are given to Chinese operatives and local hired thug Vic Madison to shoot him only in the legs. Toby brings the fight to a local bar where Malik Brody (Kadeem Hardison) is hanging out. Toby takes Malik hostage. They get arrested by fake cops and handcuffed. They manage to escape. Toby is trying to get to L.A. to sell the module for $5 million and offers half to Malik. At a road side motel, they meet hyper-active clerk Deliverance Bodine (Brittany Murphy).

This is a straight to video movie with a certain B-movie charm. There is plenty of fight action and gun action. Dacascos' charisma is limited but better than many. Hardison is a lesser black sidekick. Brittany Murphy comes in much later around 45 minutes and really camps it up for about 30 minutes. It's a mindless popcorn action movie that has some weird camp fun value. Although Murphy needs to stay in more of the movie to maintain its campiness. Dacascos' singing is the bad kind of camp.