User blog:BeastMan14/Let's Ride! Stuntman Mike (Death Proof) vs The Driver (Drive)



Tonight on Deadliest Fiction, we put peddle to the metal and pit two of the most skilled and brutal stunt drivers in Hollywood against each other in a high-speed duel to the death! Watch through your fingers as Stuntman Mike, the sadistic serial killer who preys on innocent women, clashes with the Driver, the best getaway driver on the West Coast! It'll be a race to the finish as we compare their vehicles and skills to determine...

WHO...IS...DEADLIEST???

Stuntman Mike


"You know how people say "you're okay in my book" or "in my book, that's no good"? Well, I actually have a book, and everybody I ever meet goes in this book, and now I've met you and you're going in the book. Only I'm afraid I must file you under chicken shit."

- Stuntman Mike

Little is known about the serial killer known as Stuntman Mike beyond his history as an aging stunt driver and his preference in victim: young, unsuspecting women who he stalks from a distance before striking. Mike first appears in Austin, Texas, where he strikes up a conversation with radio DJ Jungle Julia and her friends Arlene and Shannon at a bar. Despite initial tension, Mike charms the girls, who leave for their weekend trip with their friend Lanna while he brings Julia's old classmate Pam home in his highly-customized muscle car.

In reality, Mike's friendliness is a ruse, and he smashes Pam's head into the dashboard before crashing into Lanna's car, killing everyone, though he is unharmed. As he was sober while everyone else was drunk, the police are forced to let him go, though Ranger Earl McGraw suspects Mike's true nature and forces him to leave town.

Fourteen months later, Mike finds a new batch of victims in the form of Abernathy Ross, Kim Mathis, Lee Montgomery, and Zoe Bell, four women who work various jobs in Hollywood and are getting together between films. After stalking from afar and taking pictures, Mike attacks Abernathy, Kim, and Zoe while they're test-driving a 1970 Dodge Charger, leading to a high-speed chase that culminates in Zoe being flung from the hood of the car and Kim shooting Mike in the shoulder. Shocked at his injury, Mike flees, and the girls pursue him, crashing his car off the road before dragging him out and beating him to death.

The Driver


"There's a hundred-thousand streets in this city. You don't need to know the route. You give me a time and a place, I give you a five minute window. Anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours. No matter what. Anything happens a minute either side of that and you're on your own. Do you understand?"

- The Driver

The Driver is a well known getaway driver who follows a set of rules. Renowned for his cool demeanor and refusal to work with the same crew twice, he lives alone in a run-down apartment building until he befriends a woman named Irene and her son, Benicio.

Discovering Irene's husband is a ex-con deeply indebted to the mafia, The Driver agrees to help him perform one last heist to please Cook, a violent enforcer for two Jewish mobsters, Bernie, an affable mobster who attempts to let cooler heads prevail, and Nino, a boisterous man who had the Driver's friend Shannon's pelvis broken after he overpriced for a job.

The heist is a set-up and Irene's husband is killed, forcing Bernie and Nino to cut all ties, including the Driver, Irene, and Shannon. The Driver kills three hitmen, brutally injures another, and kills Nino in an attempt to stop the attempts on his and Irene's lives. Bernie ultimately agrees to a deal, but not before being forced to kill Shannon. The Driver gives Bernie the heist money and is promptly stabbed. The Driver kills Bernie and drives off into the night, his fate uncertain, but Irene and her son are saved.

Stuntman Mike
"Hey, Pam, remember when I said this car was death proof? Well, that wasn't a lie. This car is 100% death proof. Only to get the benefit of it, honey, you REALLY need to be sitting in my seat."

- Stuntman Mike


 * Stunt Car: Mike drives a 1970 Chevy Nova that is specially modified to protect Mike in the event of a crash. It's most notable feature is it's crash cage, equipped with a special seatbelt and series of protections throughout the driver seat to ensure Mike can escape from a crash without suffering anything beyond mild injury. Other improvements include a signature skull and lightning crossbones across the hood and an angry duck hood ornament.

The Driver
"If I drive for you, you get your money. You tell me where we start, where we're going, where we're going afterwards. I give you five minutes when we get there. Anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours. No matter what. Anything a minute on either side of that and you're on your own. I don't sit in while you're running it down. I don't carry a gun. I drive."

- The Driver


 * Chevy Malibu: While he's shown working with a variety of vehicles for both his jobs, the Driver's personal vehicle is a 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu. While it doesn't appear to have any special modifications, it's shown to be easily capable of overtaking and destroying more modern cars with little difficulty or damage to itself.

Explanations

 * While it's never explicitly stated how long he's been at it, Stuntman Mike is established to have a few kills under his belt before the events of Death Proof, though all of his kills were largely defenseless and unsuspecting victims. His one real duel ultimately ended with the targets turning the tables on him and killing him, and his behavior throughout the chase made it clear he's never faced skilled foes before. The Driver tends to avoid combat, but he's no stranger to it, easily defeating a variety of hitmen and police over the course of his career, and if the tie-in comic is canon, he's been driving since he was a teenager.
 * Both these men are crafty, cunning drivers with an eye for detail, but the Driver tends to favor brute force and improvisation over real strategy, playing things by ear until he gets an opening to finish it. Mike's smart behind the wheel, but his most dangerous trait is his ability to pick up on and play off of his target's insecurities, as evidenced by his interactions with Julia's friends, where he isolated and manipulated Arlene's sense of loneliness and a desire to be wanted just for his own amusement.
 * It's clear the Driver has some deep-seated, repressed rage within him and the few moments where he gets to release it are vicious, making it clear he won't hesitate to kill someone if they're a threat, but he does have morals, as evidenced by his refusal to carry a gun and active attempts to protect Irene and Benicio. Mike, on the other hand, is a monster, drawing pleasure from inflicting as much as pain as possible and showing no signs of empathy or remorse for the people he kills.
 * Both are alert and capable of pulling off some impressive stunts, but Mike loses out slightly because it's clear he's more used to dealing with people who can't match him in skill level, going for simpler tricks and being unprepared for quick surprises, like Kim carrying a gun. The A lifetime of looking over his shoulder has made the Driver ready for anything, instantly recognizing several ambushes and easily evading them before either outracing or killing his assailants.
 * Mike is a master of blending in, making himself come off of as a friendly, if a bit eccentric stuntman with stories to tell, before springing his trap and catching his kills unaware, but his tendency to draw enjoyment from killing means he'll sacrifice careful planning for flashy kills, best showcased when he stopped to brag to a grieving Kim and Abernathy rather than just killing them. The Driver is quiet, totally unassuming and skilled at quick escapes, his style often involves evading pursuers by sticking to the shadows and alleyways rather than just outrunning them outright.