Overdrive is a 2017 action thriller film that was directed by Antonio Negret, and produced by Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, and Pierre Morel. Produced from a screenplay that was written by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas. The film stars Scott Eastwood, Freddie Thorp, Ana de Armas, and Gaia Weiss. Principal photography started on January 4, 2016 in Paris and Marseille, France. The film tells the story of Andrew and Garret Foster, young brothers who are skilled car thieves which having expertise in the most luxury cars, they both are sent to steal a Bugatti in Southern France, but they are getting caught by the car’s owner; a ruthless crime lord. In exchange for their lives and for an apology for attempting to steal his car, the crime lord forces the brothers into stealing a luxury Ferrari from the crime lord’s arch-rival.

The Film Itself (1/5):

Imagine a film that is similar to one of the Fast & The Furious films, but really, and I mean really, decrease the overall sense of guilty pleasure that those films have given us over the years, and cut the experience that the story gives in half and you’re given a film like Overdrive.  Sadly, with this film, we’re not only given a story that has been re-hashed time and time again in multiple different variations, but we’re given a story that really lacks in presentation from the cast and crew.  The only thing I personally found enjoyable about this movie was the really nice cars and the overall driving skills of the two lead characters.  Outside of that, the performances, no matter how hard they tried, were really flat and felt almost as if the character personalities were ultimately forced.

Picture Quality (5/5):

Being provided in 1080p, Overdrive offers an all out clean look into the story that’s being told.  Providing some of the cleanest looking cars and action sequences that I feel made the overall experience slightly better due to its flat story presentation.  Not only do the cars really pop out in the visual presentation, but the various areas in which the racing sequences take place really stand out as the drivers race to complete their attempted task.  Offering no visual distortion in the picture quality at all, at least we were able to look at the cars and their beauty.

Audio Quality (4/5):

Packaged with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio track, Overdrive does absolutely everything that it can do to offer an all out immersive experience for its viewers.  While the experience would’ve been significantly better with a 7.1 audio track, the film does definitely do a great job at making use of the technology behind its encoded audio track.  Placing viewers right into the middle of the racing action, and its use of the rear and surround speakers helps to improve that experience.

The Packaging (2.5/5):

Overdrive comes packaged in your standard single disc Blu-ray amaray case.  Within that case is the standard Blu-ray copy of the film.  The disc unfortunately does not include any artwork whatsoever outside of the standard release text.  There is no DVD copy of the film included with this release, however a digital copy redemption pamphlet has been included.  A slipcover has also been provided with this release during its initial run.

 

Special Features (2/5):

Unfortunately, the Blu-ray release of Overdrive is very barebones in terms of special features.  Sure, there are a few items that have been provided that allows viewers to explore the characters further, however none of it really explores the work that went into making this film.  Included with this release is:

• The Caper
• The Crew
• The Cars

Technical Specs:

Video

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Original Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Audio

English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Subtitles

English, English SDH, Spanish

Runtime

Original Film: 93 minutes

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I am really grateful that Paramount Pictures gave us the opportunity to review Overdrive.  Sadly, the story that’s given with this release was not nearly as good as I had hoped when I saw this show up at my doorstep.  Not only do the characters lack the chemistry that we’ve all grown to love of the F&F film series, but the story that we’re given with this film is pretty bland and generic and really doesn’t offer anything that’s unique to this film.  The overall visual and audible experience that this Blu-ray release does provide is really well done and does a great job at putting viewers right into the middle of the action.  Hell, every single one of those cars in this film really shined on my living room television.  Sadly, the special features of this release are really minimal and really do not offer a look into the work that went into the film itself, they only offer further exploration into the characters of the story.  If you’re on the fence about picking up Overdrive, I would only really recommend picking this film up once it’s gone on sale.  And even then, only if you are into films that feature high-octane racing with beautiful cars; because that was really the only good part about this movie.  This movie will be available beginning on November 7.

Note: This Blu-ray was sent to us for review. This has not affected our judgement or editorial process in any way. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this process.