Product Details

• Actors: Brent Briscoe, John Della Penna, Dan Duran, Stacy Edwards, Verona Feldbusch
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: February 5, 2002
• Run Time: 116 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (176 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00003CXTL
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #43,711 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #31 in

  Video > Action & Adventure > Action Stars > Sylvester Stallone

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Motorsport movies have a lousy track record, so it's not surprising that Driven joins the ranks of previous race-car clunkers like Grand Prix, Le Mans, Bobby Deerfield, and Days of Thunder. To varying degrees, all of these films offer spectacular racing footage (especially Le Mans), but what is surprising is that Driven was written by its star and coproducer Sylvester Stallone, who shows virtually no sign of the talent that created Rocky over a quarter-century earlier. Under the tepid direction of Renny Harlin, this superficial speedfest fulfills its primary obligation--the racing sequences are adequately exciting, despite the Cuisinart editing and a glaring lack of kinetic continuity. But whenever this adrenaline-pumped drama gets off the track, well... let's just say it's a hybrid of Top Gun and Days of Thunder, but makes those Tom Cruise vehicles look masterful by comparison.

Stallone's a retired Grand Prix champion, called back into action by his disabled crew chief (Burt Reynolds) to boost the career of a hotshot driver (Kip Pardue, the pretty-boy from Remember the Titans) who's trailing a German ace (charismatic Til Schweiger) in the current 20-race season. The female contingent consists of a reporter (Stacy Edwards, too talented for this tripe) who's writing about "male domination in sports"; Stallone's embittered, remarried ex-wife (Gina Gershon, parodying her bitchy persona); and the requisite kewpie doll (Estella Warren) who comes between Boy Wonder and the reigning champ. It's airhead melodrama all the way, so you'd better enjoy the breakneck racing scenes--including a ludicrous prototype-racer joyride through downtown Chicago--or you'll blow a piston on your straightaway sprint to the bad-movie finish line. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker

Bring earplugs. Renny Harlin and Sylvester Stallone, the team who gave us the vertical thrills of "Cliffhanger," try to go horizontal with a car-racing movie. It's not a bad popcorn flick as long as Sly and the gang stay in their cars, but when they emerge it gets ugly. -Michael Agger
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Release the Director's Cut, October 2, 2001

By	Martin "mhull49" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Driven (DVD)

With Sylvester Stallone and Renny Harlin behind the wheel, you would expect "Driven" to be more entertaining than it actually is. The deleted scenes on the DVD give you a taste of what might have been. A "director's cut" is definitely in order.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great action; no story, April 30, 2001

By A Customer

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Intentions I Suppose, December 3, 2005

By	gobirds2 (New England) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Driven (DVD)

This film is definitely not character-driven. In fact each character is barely given a thumbnail sketch. It has the feel it was taken from some cardboard outline drafted by a screenwriter on his lunch break. Direction is also at a bare minimum, but this is a trend that we are seeing more frequently with more recent action oriented films. Directors are taking a back seat to the editors and this film seems to be definitely editor-driven. Digital editing is a tool and like every tool it is only as good as the hand using it. It is good to see Sylvester Stallone and Burt Reynolds in the same movie but this should have and could have been a much better film. If you watch John Frankenheimer's GRAND PRIX it becomes very evident how filmmaking and story telling has changed in 35 years.