It was one of the main influences on the 2011 modern classic Drive.
Our TV movie pick for tonight (Wednesday, 24 April) is The Driver, a 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) 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, Possession) 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 on the channel Legend at 9pm. It is also available to rent on Apple TV, Curzon 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
Gran Torino – ITV4 – 9pm
Clint Eastwood directs and stars in this powerful drama about a widowed Korean War veteran who develops a friendship with a young neighbour who tried to steal his prized 1972 Ford Gran Torino.
No Exit – Film4 – 9pm
Havana Rose Liu (Bottoms) stars in this decently received thriller about a young woman who, while stranded by a blizzard and forced to find shelter at a highway rest area with a group of strangers, stumbles upon a kidnapping.
The Bone Collector – Film4 – 10.55pm
A quadriplegic ex-homicide detective (Denzel Washington) and his partner (Angelina Jolie) try to track down a serial killer who is terrorising New York City.
Not one of Washington’s best movies, but the cast is good and those who enjoyed thrillers like Seven or Kiss the Girls should have some fun.
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