The Driver


The Driver
Directed by Walter Hill
Produced by Lawrence Gordon
Written by Walter Hill
Starring Ryan O'Neal
Bruce Dern
Isabelle Adjani
Ronee Blakley
Music by Michael Small
Cinematography Philip H. Lathrop
Editing by Tina Hirsch
Robert K. Lambert
Distributed by 20th Century Fox (North America)
EMI Films (International)
Release date(s) July 10, 1978
Running time 91 min.
Language English

The Driver is a 1978 crime film directed by Walter Hill and starring Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, and Isabelle Adjani. The film is notable for its impressive car chases and no frills style of filmmaking.

Contents

Plot

The Driver (Ryan O'Neal) is a professional who steals cars to drive as getaway vehicles for big-time robberies. Hot on The Driver's trail is The Detective (Bruce Dern), a conceited cop who refers to The Driver as "the cowboy who's never been caught" and is willing to go to any length to bring him down. The Detective becomes so obsessed that he sets up a bank job in order to entice — trap, and ultimately arrest — The Driver. But will it succeed?

Reception

Saying it's "probably advisable for film noir aficionados only," film critic Duncan Shepherd of the San Diego Reader praised the film highly (awarding it the highest 5-star rating). "The whole show, in fact, is something like a coded message passed from the moviemaker to the devotees of the genre, in full view of, but beyond the full understanding of, the rest of the audience," according to Shepherd.[1]

Trivia

  • Ryan O'Neal's character only says 350 words in the entire movie.
  • Not one character has a name in this movie, and are all addressed by their occupation e.g. "the Driver".
  • This film was originally written for Steve McQueen.
  • The original orange Mercedes which was destroyed in the multi-story carpark scene was auctioned off, in its destroyed state, to independent British movie car collector, Ian Jackson. The price of the final bid is unknown but is believed to be between £8,000,000 and £9,000,000.[citation needed]
  • The film was originally intended to be over two hours long. For years even the VHS tapes had said the length was over two hours, although it was always 90 minutes on the tapes, on television, and now on DVD. Only once was the longer version shown, in a theater in Hollywood by director Walter Hill. This director's cut involved more chase scenes and character development.
  • The 1998 video game Driver was heavily influenced by the movie. Most notably the scene in the movie in which the Driver proves his skills to some gangsters in a parking garage is copied for the first level of the game. They even went as far as to use the car crash sounds used in the movie.

References

  1. ^ Review of The Driver in the Reader.

External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Walter Hill
1970s
Hard Times (1975) · The Driver (1978) · The Warriors (1979)
1980s
The Long Riders (1980) · Southern Comfort (1981) · 48 Hrs. (1982) · Streets of Fire (1984) · Brewster's Millions (1985) · Crossroads (1986) · Extreme Prejudice (1987) · Red Heat (1988) · Johnny Handsome (1989)
1990s
Another 48 Hrs. (1990) · Trespass (1992) · Geronimo: An American Legend (1993) · Wild Bill (1995) · Last Man Standing (1996)
2000s
Supernova (2000) · Undisputed (2002)






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