So Drive was my first Refn film and I liked it quite a bit but since then I've watched Only God Forgives and Valhalla Rising and I wouldn't call them awful but I didn't enjoy them quite as much. Drive did have long periods of silence but both OGF and VR sometimes felt like they were moving as slow as possible just to waste time. Drive's silences felt purposeful and he wasn't afraid to use dialogue when necessary. The other two just kind of dragged on at times.
Is Drive just unique for a Refn film? Are all of his others going to be closer to Only God Forgives and Valhalla Rising? Or did I just make bad choices and he actually has more in his filmography like Drive?
Bumping because I'd like to have this question answered as well
Matthew Parker
Same.
Logan Harris
Hey me too
Angel Martinez
I'm surprised two other people are wondering about this.
Liam Cox
Yeah, only 2 of those posts are me
Jackson Long
watch Bronson, it's equally good or better and much less inscrutable than his others and then stop posting.
Chase Baker
I mean, I haven't seen those other films, but I really liked Drive and would like to see more Refn, even if his name does seem like a typo.
Carter Wood
Oh, that's good to hear. Bronson was the next one I was planning on watching. I just didn't know what kind of film to be ready for.
Isaiah Martinez
Don't know if you are up for watching foreign movies. But his first danish pictures, the 'pusher' triology is pretty good. It also stars Mads Mikkelsen in his first role too.
Wyatt Gray
Seconding this. Bronson might be his best. Also, for OP, Neon Demon is good. Where OGF felt boring, Neon Demon feels hypnotic.
Robert Flores
I really enjoyed Valhalla Rising, I thought the atmosphere was great, watched Neon Demon recently and was pretty meh on it but I think I was in the wrong mood
Austin Jones
I have no problem with foreign movies, and plus I like Mads Mikkelsen anyway, so I'll check those out too. Thanks.
Cool to hear. That was another one I was planning to try. I guess if I'd just continued watching I would have found out for myself without having to ask, but I appreciate the reassurance that I haven't seen the best of what Refn's got to offer.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it, I just didn't like it as much as Drive. It was kind of an acquired taste for me.
Julian Myers
>open tonight's DRIVE thread >it's not a "i-i drive" thread
Oliver Baker
Refn is overall pretty shit. His movies are visually fantastic, but that's where his talents starts and ends. And the problem with Refns more symbolic movies is that the symbolism is always on the nose while taking itself far too fucking seriously. Refn isn't subtle with his subtle symbolism.
Drive was a fluke. That movie was fantastic. Maybe it was just because of a special circumstance in Refns life during which the script was written, but that movie will probably forever be Refns only fantastic film.
Bronson was "decent" though
Samuel Diaz
he didn't write Drive
Noah Watson
Oh. Still, i think the way drive is directed, stylized, the pacing and all is what makes the film. Under a different director it could've been incredibly boring, so i still give him credit that it turned out a great movie. Don't know how specific the script is about what we see. Maybe i'll read it up in a bit
Jeremiah White
here are some refn pairings, not rankings, ie ones that are similar even if by a stretch or by no stretch at all
Drive, Fear x
Valhalla Rising, Only God Forgives
Bronson, Neon Demon
Pusher 1-3, Bleeder
Nolan Cook
in other words, the ones you watched after Drive that put you off Refn, whatever reason you found in them that put you off you probably wont find in his other movies
Adrian Allen
The Neon Demon is alright but it has some of the same problems as his other shit.
As much as I want to like the guy, he just has different standards for what makes a quality film than me. There's nothing tight about his storytelling, it's all sloppy and loose and mostly pointless. He creates a good atmosphere but that's just a small part of a good film so meh
Henry Wright
No, the writing is what makes the film.
You wouldn't understand, you know nothing of filmmaking.
Luke Ward
Only God Forgives is literally his greatest film, only plebs fail to see this
Ayden Cruz
Drive was Refn's best impression of Micheal Mann.
His other films are garbage because he's being him self
Juan Moore
I blame reddit
Robert Lewis
>muh thief bye rddit
Dominic Phillips
where is the deluxe version?
Owen Gutierrez
>youtube.com/watch?v=_e3r689dZEU >Driver staring blankly for a minute making you wonder if he died only for a real hero to start playing in the background >he blinks and goosebumps all over the place as the song loudly playing >that frame of him leaving Bernie's dead body as he drives away >that end where he drives to the night Will there ever as KINO as this?
Levi Diaz
A REAL HUMAN BEING (and a real hero) REAL HUMAN BEING
tfw to intelligent to subscribe to pleb-tier analyses like this faggot's.
Jaxon Lee
>show it to my sister last night >she doesn't pick up on any of the deeper themes >all she has to complain about is how the ginger slut was a useless character and 'acted unrealistically' How could my little sister possibly be so pleb?
Jack Peterson
>dude neon....the director Lmao
Ethan Edwards
This fucking idiot.
Daniel Ward
>tfw my mom said the movie was stupid because he left the money in the parking lot I know those shitty gene pool feels familia.
Jonathan Reed
personally, i think the neon demon was great. not as good as drive, but id put it above only god forgives.
The fact that he needs to constantly separate "true film fans" like himself from the "casual audience" is really cringy. It feels like he's almost talking down to the viewer
Samuel Perry
Meant to reply to this one
Camden Stewart
this!
Brandon Lee
drive is a ripoff of thief which explains everything
Nathan Gray
I watched Valhalla Rising when I was coming down from acid. Loved it
Austin Long
RLM told me any other director would have a montage of the driver walking through the strip club when they go to see cook, instead of him just walking down a hallway to the dressing room. Changes like these would have ruined the film. Are they wrong and you're right?
Jaxson Harris
Refn overall is great. If you look at movies he made when he was financially struggling or trying to break out, you'll see he made conventional masterpieces (pusher trilogy, Bronson, drive). When he's allowed to he makes experimental movies, but not because he does a bad job, but because he intends them to be that way.
Brandon Reyes
"Drive" was the film that put Refn on the map and thus people started to explore his other works by, to an extent, comparing it to "Drive". See, the reason lots of people were let down by "Only God Forgives" is because they expected "Drive 2: Drive Harder" and got something different. All his films are relatively slow (I've only seen Bronson, Valhalla Rising, Drive, and Only God Forgives; by the looks of it Neon Demon fits the bill as well) because I would guess that is his stylistic trademark as a director - like Zack Snyder and slow-motion or Quentin Tarantino and stylized violence/dialogue.
What makes "Drive" so appealing then? A variety (I would even say, combination) of reasons: the soundtrack and GTA: Vice City vibe, awkward love story, simple heist story, isolation (akin to "Taxi Driver" and "Nightcrawler"), a relatable protagonist (a simple guy, somewhat blank slate that one can project upon).
Think of him as a musician who suddenly has a hit and now everyone is listening to their discography and comparing it to that hit going "hm, it's not as good" even though they might be great songs themselves; likewise for future expectations.
