Bus Driver (2016) User Reviews

You have to be pretty forgiving with this one.

[TherzThz · 5/10 · 16 October 2016]

This really isn't that bad. It looks quite cheap but after seeing the title card I can almost believe this came out in the 1970's. If there wasn't a few cell phone references in the beginning this could have taken place in 1977 or something. That really would have worked in it's favour.

The plot isn't particularly new. A bus carrying a few teachers and some troubled teens crashes, and the group looks for help in a nest of drug cartel types. But wouldn't you know it? The bus driver is some sort of ex military ass kicker.

It's pretty fun. There's a few nice stylistic shots, some good violent fights and some well needed nudity and some good lines. The film knows it's place and tries to tick all the boxes. The main characters are decent enough; they don't aimlessly bicker like we see in low budget horror, which is a nice change.

I'd recommend this if you like low budget action from the 70's and 80's. It isn't a good movie by critical or mainstream standards. But the plot is pretty tight and the characters deal with the situation in believable and proactive ways. Which is all one can ask of any movie.

Poor low budget offering

[scott_dunning · 3/10 · 16 October 2016]

Acting was terrible, special effects were terrible, fight scenes were laughable. Aside from that...... This movie had an estimated budget of 1 million dollars which as you could imagine for an action movie that's not really very much. Add to this a guest appearance by Robert Forster (Jackie Brown) and the money was obviously spread very thin. There were parts of this movie which I liked including the 'time reversal' way they explained how certain things happened (which we didn't originally see), and the comedy from Steven Chase which was OK and made me snicker at times. Unfortunately the rest was hard to watch. The main star of this movie was of course the title character 'The Bus Driver' played by Steve Daron. Steve doesn't have a long list of credits to his acting career and based on his offering as bus driver Joe Smythe things aren't looking up. Everything about Steve's performance seemed forced and drawn out. Even his facial expressions were way off. I wasn't surprised to see Steve Doran also produced this movie. Some people may like this movie and it's an OK way to waste an hour and a half but if you are looking for some decent actions scenes i'd look elsewhere. Did I mention Robert Forster is in this??? That's the most confusing thing of all. Cheers

Decent B Budget Flick

[jackhuntermtl · 5/10 · 17 October 2016]

Best thing I can say about this film is that, unlike Suicide Squad and new Ghostbusters, I finished it without fast forwarding.

Its low budget. It overuses rewind few minutes to show things from different perspective too much for my taste. Acting is notch below what I would have liked. The "pretty girl" is slightly too plain for role she got (although her breasts get a 10/10).

But then film has that 80's B Budget vibe and one can easily see that people had fun making this. I've never seen any of actors in this film in anything else, which is a good thing, as when you watch actor who you know always survives, or always dies, or just generally gets typecast, that entire "new car smell" is not there. I simply expected a far below average film, yet got entertaining experience, so I am rating this above most AAA Hollywood garbage I saw this year.

Not great, but better than I expected

[a_chinn · 4/10 · 2 July 2017]

Scrappy, super low budget action film about a bus full of high school juvenile delinquent types on a field trip. When their bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere, they stop off at the closest farm, which ends up being a drug operation. The rest of the movie is a siege film of sorts, with the kids, their idiot gym teacher, and the heroic titular bus driver (you know, like the cook in "Under Siege") saving everyone from the drug dealers try to kill everyone in order to protect their operation. The main reason I watched this film was that Robert Forster was in it, but I again fell for the B-picture bait-and-switch and Forster was hardly in the film. Still, for a super low budget picture, director Brian Herzlinger brought a level of energy that reminded me of "El Mariachi," though this film is certainly no "El Mariachi." Still, it's better than most of it's micro budget ilk.

This is abysmal, so much potential, and completely...

[olderthangod · 16 October 2016]

This is abysmal, so much potential, and completely wasted, if your into 'B' movies of the worst kind this is for you, the entire plot has been sacrificed to something unintelligible to those over 14 years old, avoid this and watch paint dry, it's much more exciting.

The director of this movie is yet to learn how to grab an audience to what he/she wants to impart to you, the viewer.

the leading character is a loud mouthed small guy trying to be a big guy and failing miserably...kids on a school bus ?..if their in their late twenties that's a stretch...and casting Robert Forster (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Forster a much respected actor as the hero ??..sorry, that just didn't work for me.

This is Hollywood at it's worst, avoid this unless your getting it for nothing..

Cheap indie actioner

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 5 June 2018]

BUS DRIVER is a cheap indie action thriller with laughable plotting and insipid action sequences. The story is about a bus that breaks down and thereafter the criminals that proceed to menace those inside. I suppose this is a decent watch if you're wondering what happened to the careers of Robert Forster (he cameos and appears to be channelling the spirit of Richard Crenna in FIRST BLOOD) and THE HILLS HAVE EYES hard-man Michael Bailey Smith. Despite some cheesy moments this is silly stuff indeed, way too cheap looking to make anything approaching an impact.

Not even a "B" movie ......

[lobosangel · 1/10 · 21 May 2017]

I can't believe I even watched this movie! I still can't believe it was made in 2016 .... Worse than "Diamondbacks " Even the boobs were fake ..... I would not waste my money on this ... actually I wouldn't even watch it if it were free... seriously, a waste of time . A real best driver could do better than this ! I'm still in shock .....

Solid B Movie

[lizduncan50 · 8/10 · 13 April 2017]

This is the best B movie I have ever seen! It totally embraced its B-movie-ness with excessive fake blood, numerous slow-motion shots, the gratuitous sex scene, '70s-looking credits, and over-the-top acting (LOVE the gym teacher!). I feel like what Scream was to horror movies, Bus Driver is to action movies. These people know they're making something campy, and they go for it full-throttle. I found this movie quite enjoyable and entertaining. It felt good to laugh and escape for 75 minutes!

Low-Budget But Entertaining "Rambo" Clone

[zardoz-13 · 7/10 · 21 October 2016]

Co-scenarist & director Brian Herzlinger has fashioned a low-budget but entertaining, B-movie thriller about a school bus driver who has to contend with a hysterical teacher, several delinquent students, and an army of meth-making desperadoes. "The Bus Driver" could use a new sound mix because it is sometimes difficult to understand what the characters are saying. Nevertheless, the set-up and the resolution are fun from start to finish, and the eponymous bus driver turns out to be a Rambo type. He learn at the end that he was an Army Colonel when his former commanding officer (Robert Forster of "Jackie Brown") appears in a cameo to reason with him about putting on his uniform again. Mind you, we're never told what prompted him to hang up his uniform. The combat sequences are appropriately gritty, and our unshaven hero Joe Smythe (Steve Daron of "Hidden Assets") has his work cut out for him as he tangles with thuggish villains led by a tenacious dame, Dylan (Holly Elissa of "Alien Incursion"), who refuses to let a bus driver dictate terms to her. Okay, some of the acting is amateurish, but this isn't a bad melodrama. When it looks like our heroes have gotten away from Dylan's dastards, they discover to their chagrin that they have miscounted and left of the students behind. Smythe refuses to leave one of the them behind because he wouldn't have abandoned a wounded or dead soldier on the battlefield. Meantime, Dylan has little respect for Smythe despite the warning that her brutish second-in-command, Jace (Michael Bailey Smith), gives her about their adversary. Smythe drives back to the trailer, where they ran into trouble in the first place and later found a horde of meth, and has a showdown with the ruffians. The first surprise near the end fade takes place when the whining school teacher careens back onto the property in a VW bug and smashes into Jace, hurling him through the wall of a building. The special effects involving bogus blood and make-up are solid. Dyland makes a formidable villainess. She and Smythe go after each other in a bravura wrap as the school bus lurches into a railway crossing. Smythe slams Dylan face first into the gear shift and kills her that way. Naturally, a locomotive pulling a lot of freight cars accelerating onto the scene, and Smythe barely gets off the bus before the train crashes into the school. This is a pretty good scene because the filmmakers show Smythe in the same shot as the train piles into the vehicle. Clocking in at 76 lean minutes, Herzlinger doesn't malinger and the action unfolds with predictable swiftness. In spite of its budgetary limitations, "The Bus Driver" rates a cool little movie.

Asip

[jonjonsbox · 10/10 · 18 September 2018]

If you've seen always sunny in Philadelphia than you'll understand what I mean when I say (it feels like) Mac and Charley wrote this script and than directed this movie. And that is why its 10 stars

Well... Kind of.... :)

[jahnhenrik · 7/10 · 15 October 2016]

This HAVE to be a B-film.... BUT! It's got a good story, in fact great actors (coming up in a couple of years!) and I really liked it! OK -time passing but still quite good. A little too much blood and guts. But still great in it's genre. Got some time to pass? GO FOR IT! The director is using flashbacks i B&W and they are in fact great! I'm just wondering about one thing: If an ordinary human was beaten/shot/wounded that many times - would he still be alive? ;) The "hero" is in fact an "antihero" but I'm just waiting to see him i an A-film! This can be great! :)

AND: Keep an eye on these actors in the future! :)

Jahn

This man needs to be slapped.

[nogodnomasters · 8/10 · 18 September 2017]

Gooch Girabaldi (Steven Chase) is a "Joe Pesci" type of gym instructor leading a group of misfit teens for team building to a juvenile rehab camp at "Lake...er um..Indian name." (Menasha) Along the way the tire blows out near a farm house...the type where cannibalistic serial killers live. It turns out just being a primo meth lab. As events happen, a conflict ensues and it is time for the bus driver, Joe Smythe, with a USMC tattoo to take charge of the situation and leave no man behind.

This was a simple low budget (bad CG fire) action film of one man fighting against incredible odds with a standard telephone receiver and no dial tone. Before it is all over everyone is asking, "who is this bus driver? (Steve Daron) "He is not a machine. He is not the devil He is just a G-D man!" says Holly Elissa the leader of the gang.

The movie has a fair amount of humor. Gooch Girabaldi is certainly a funny character. Olivia Alexander has overt sexuality. Robert Forster is over billed. He has a very minor role at the end. Don't blink.

Steve Daron is attempting to break into the Hollywood scene. This film should help establish him in a tough guy role and indeed this feature sets up for a sequel with Joe Smythe, bus driver. Okay, I missed the scene where they fixed the tire.

Guide: F-word, sex, nudity (Olivia Alexander)

Enjoyable light-hearted action.

[kellygwdobbs · 6/10 · 27 August 2019]

I really enjoyed this. It's got a bit of everything, and is as entertaining as!! It has characters that are all misfits, a hilarious gym teacher, a tough guy, sex addict, meth addict, and a bit of "Steven Segal" (as the movie referenced at one point.) and a bunch of bad guys. I think the story and details were well thought out, especially knowing how some movies go. And unlike a lot of "B-Action", (I hope it's OK to call it that), this movie didn't have too many laughably unbelievable moments.

Don't mess with the bus driver

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 2 March 2020]

Rough'n'tumble high school bus driver Joe Smythe (a solid and sincere performance by Steve Daron) must protect five problem students and their adult chaperone from a gang of nasty criminals.

Director/co-writer Brian Herzlinger keeps the enjoyably inane story zipping along at a breathless brisk pace, further spices things up with an amusing sense of goofy humor, and tosses in a nice pair of gratuitous bare breasts for trashy good measure. Moreover, the ineptly staged action scenes, clumsy use of strenuous slow motion, absurd black and white flashbacks, tacky CGI effects, and gloriously excessive outbursts of bloody violence all add immensely to the overall considerable rampant hilarity of this ludicrous enterprise. In addition, it's acted with zest by an enthusiastic cast, with especially lively contributions from Steven Chase as obnoxious loudmouth Gooch Girabaldi, Holly Elissa as ruthless ringleader Dylan, Michael Bailey Smith as brutish thug Jace, Mitch Holleman as egg-loving weirdo Cayden, Patrick Johnson as junkie Paul, Olivia Alexander as shameless trollop Madeline, and Ashley Jackson as the sarcastic Kim. Robert Forster pops up briefly in a nothing minor role as Joe's former superior General Sorbin. An absolute schlocky hoot.