Pusher

A Danish Cult Classic Gets A Somewhat Unnecessary British Remake
It's hard to discuss the British crime drama "Pusher" without acknowledging that it is a remake of a tremendous Danish film by Nicholas Winding Refn. Winding Refn, in fact, created a trio of films now known as the Pusher Trilogy (the movies were from 1996, 2004 and 2005) and I would run, not walk, to see them if this genre interests you. A true auteur, Winding Refn has a brutal machismo and an unrelenting eye for the randomness of violence that is showcased in works including "Bronson" with Tom Hardy, "Valhalla Rising" with Mads Mikkelsen, "Drive" with Ryan Gosling, and the current "Only God Forgives" (also with Gosling) which opened to division and controversy at this year's Cannes Film Festival. I begin with this discussion of Winding Refn, because he endorsed this version with an executive producer credit. It may not be entirely fair to judge the two films with one another, so I'll try to break it down in a more helpful way. Fans of the original "Pusher" film will likely be...

strictly a comparison to the original
This film didn't need to be made and was not as good as the original. I got more 'real' feeling from the original and I thought it was way better done than this movie. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Go watch the original instead.

3 stars is kind 2stars is being mean
It is a film that rides on the back of a far more sucessful film, judging by the other 3star review here. It is not a good reason to make a film. Wan is the word. On the other hand it is not pretending to be more than it isn't either. So it keeps its integrity intact. From that springboard, the film revives itself as it goes along by its characters of interest. There are much worse films out there. Another way of keeping it's credability is because it's british , which tends to have higher standards in terms of taste and senability over-all , than if an american version copy-catting? Veg out to it if you see it for free on netflix but dont bother to buy it. I'm glad I found out about the real Pusher version from the other review here since I thought Valhalla Rising was excellent from the same director.

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