The crime thriller was one of the main influences on the 2011 modern classic Drive.
Our TV movie pick for tonight (Tuesday, 10 September) is The Driver, the 1978 neo-noir crime thriller from writer-director Walter Hill (48 Hrs, The Warriors).
It centres on a driver (played in an ice-cool performance by the late Ryan O’Neal – Barry Lyndon, Love Story) who is renowned amongst criminals in Los Angeles for his getaway skills.
However, he comes to find himself the target of a tenacious detective (a live wire Bruce Dern – The Hateful Eight) and must get help from a mysterious woman (a striking Isabelle Adjani – The Perfect Couple) to survive.
While it was a critical and commercial disappointment upon release, The Driver has grown in popularity in the decades since thanks to its visceral car chases, its mean and lean storytelling, its gritty yet stylish depiction of nighttime LA and its terrific performances.
It has been cited as an influence on the work of filmmakers like Edgar Wright, Quentin Tarantino and Nicolas Winding Refn, particularly the latter’s similar in tone Ryan Gosling-starring movie Drive.
The Driver is airing on TV tonight/tomorrow morning on the channel Legend at 1am. It is also available to rent on Apple TV and the Sky Store.
You can check out a very cool trailer for the movie made for its recent 4K restoration below.
Here are the other movies airing on TV tonight
Highlander – Legend – 9pm
“There can be only one.”
Fisherman’s Friends: One and All – Film4 – 9pm
The 2022 British comedy sequel based on the true story of Fisherman’s Friends, a group of fishermen who achieved a top 10 hit with their debut album of traditional sea shanties.
Cowboy – Legend Xtra – 9pm
A ’50s Western starring Glenn Ford and Jack Lemmon.
Pineapple Express – Comedy Central – 10pm
Two stoners (James Franco and Seth Rogen) go on the run after one of them witnesses a murder in this action comedy.
Fighting Back – Legend Xtra – 10.55pm
Tom Skerritt (Alien, Top Gun) headlines this ’80s vigilante action thriller.
Air Force One – Film4 – 11.15pm
The ’90s action classic with Harrison Ford that we’ve recommended before.
Read more:
- One of the best shows on TV’s new season finally gets UK release date
- Netflix has just added a modern classic movie set to get a sequel
- Netflix has just added one of the best thrillers of the decade
- One of the best Irish crime thrillers of recent years streaming at home now
- Netflix has just added a new action thriller with 98% on Rotten Tomatoes
