When Pusher was released back in 1996, we didn’t realise that Nicolas Winding Refn would go onto direct some of the most stylish films of the following decades (Drive, The Neon Demon, Only God Forgives) but looking back at Pusher, the evidence is most certainly there that Refn was a director to keep an eye and one who would deliver great things.
Shot on a shoestring budget in Copenhagen, Pusher took film fans into the Danish underworld with an intensity and authenticity rarely seen at the time (and some may say rarely seen since) . We had seen this type of style a few years earlier in films such as Man Bites Dog, and Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant but Refn’s film was a breathe of fresh air for the indie film world.
What made Pusher groundbreaking at the time (the same as the two films I had just mentioned) was not just its gritty realism, but its refusal to glamorize crime. No one coming away from Pusher would think ‘I want that life’ in the ways they might when they watch Goodfellas, or Reservoir Dogs. Unlike the stylized violence of many ’90s thrillers, Nicolas Winding Refn focused on the desperation, the paranoia, and human vulnerability behind the drug trade. Pusher takes us into the world of Frank (played by Kim Bodnia’s) a mid-level dealer (who reminds me so much of the late Tom Sizemore) whose life spirals out of control over the course of a week which itself is reminiscent of Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant. The handheld camerawork, the naturalistic lighting, and the documentary-style shooting style helps bring this film to life and keeps the audience in the middle of the chaos.
To fully appreciate Pusher’s impact, it’s worth remembering the cinematic landscape of 1996 the year that gave us Hollywood heavyweights like Independence Day, Mission: Impossible, and Jerry Maguire, as well as genre-defining works such as Scream and Trainspotting. While these films dominated entertainment headlines, Refn’s Pusher broke new ground in Denmark, proving that a low-budget indie could carry just as much tension and style as a blockbuster and Second Sight Films releasing the Pusher trilogy is a testament to the long life span this film and its sequels have had.
Nearly three decades later, Pusher still feels fresh, uncompromising, and essential. It remains not only a landmark in Refn’s career, but also one of the most important crime films of the 1990s and one that may have been missed by many film fans but which can now be picked up by 21st Century audiences. Thankfully we can now check it out (or revisit it if we hadn’t seen it before) on this lovely box set from Second Sight Films which brings together all three of the Pusher films in a stunning box set. The collection will be available in two versions the Pusher Limited Edition 4K UHD and Pusher Limited Edition Blu-ray and includes restorations by director Nicolas Winding Refn, complete with a slew of special features. Both are now available.
The films are presented in new 4K restorations which have been supervised by Nicolas Winding Refn and feature Dolby Atmos as well as the original stereo 2.0 mixes.
The disc based special features are split over the three discs and detailed below.
Disc One: Pusher (1996)
This features a new audio commentary with Nicolas Winding Refn and Peter Bradshaw.
Nicolas Winding Refn presents: Mellem Venner (1963) this feature film is sited as an inspiration for Pusher which is a great inclusion in this set.
Disc Two: Pusher II (2004)
New audio commentary with Nicolas Winding Refn and Catherine Shoard (Pusher II)
Nicolas Winding Refn presents: Call Girl Centralen (1964) another film that inspired Refn.
The wonderful Gambler: feature-length documentary (81 minutes) which was shot around the time of Pusher 2 and which follows Nicolas during the making and after the making of the film.
Disc Three Pusher III (2005)
New audio commentary with Nicolas Winding Refn and Alan Jones
Stenbroens “Helte” (1965) the third and final ‘extra’ movie included in the set, As the previous two films, this also inspired Refn to venture into the world of Pusher (and its sequels)
Pusher Trilogy is perhaps one of the best box sets ive seen this year, not just production wise, or special feature wise but also for the fact is brings three excellent film together in a single set and is definitely a trilogy of films worth checking out.
4K UHD & Blu-ray Limited Editions on 15th September 2025
Pusher 2 (2004)
After 8 years Nicolas Winding Refn takes us back into the Pusher world with Pusher II With a brief scene featuring Frank (played by Kim Bodnia’s) the film then shifts to and follows Tonny (played by Mads Mikkelsen) who we of course know from the first film. Tonny now fresh out of prison is desperate to prove himself to his his ruthless father, “The Duke,” a powerful gangster who constantly humiliates him and sees him as weak.
Tonny attempts to find a foothold in the criminal underworld, he finds himself involved in car thefts and drug deals, but he continually fails to meet expectations and Tonny is hardly going to end up being a gangster kingpin Pusher 2 is another tale of a gangster on a downward spiral. I actually preferred Pusher 2 to Pusher. For me it was a better film to watch although I will say that I totally get why Pusher was groundbreaking and whereas Pusher 2 doesn’t break any new ground. I did prefer 2 to 1. Its also great seeing Mads in a role pre-Bond. Mads Mikkelsen delivers a haunting performance, grounding the film in vulnerability and rage, as Tonny’s journey becomes a bleak yet compelling exploration of family, masculinity, and survival in Copenhagen’s criminal underworld.
Pusher 3 (2005)
Only a year later and we get Pusher III (2005), Nicolas Winding Refn returns to the grim underworld of Copenhagen, and in this movie we center on the story on Milo, the Serbian drug lord who lurked in the background of the first two films but was very front and centre in the first movie more than the second. Milo is now aging and struggling to keep his drug empire intact and now is trying to stay off heroin (whilst still selling it) . On his daughter’s 25th birthday, as he prepares a lavish meal (for 45 people) he also finds himself juggling mounting business problems when there is a drug shipment mix-up and this forces him to deal with Albanian gangsters, who see Milo as ‘the old’ and themselves as ‘the new’
Whereas the story in the 1996 first film was told over a week, Pusher III unfolds largely over a single day as Milo attempts to manage both his family celebration and the growing chaos in his criminal dealings. His attempts to maintain control unravel, pushing him into violent confrontations resulting in one of the most cringeworthy scenes Iv’e seen in a gangster film EVER. I will admit that I looked away quite a few times. You’ll know this scene when you see it. I generally don’t like to rank films when it comes to which entry into this franchise I prefer over another, but what I will say is that the Pusher trilogy is most definitely a solid trilogy and one that is most definitely worth watching and worth investing in this Second Sight Films box set. When you add up all the extra features, the commentaries and the films themselves. You end up with a huge amount of hours worth of viewing. Id easily guess around the 16 hour range. The performances in the trilogy are top notch and whilst the 1996 film looks a little dated in places- it certainly doesn’t lessen the enjoyment of the film at all. Quite the opposite. It puts it in the time period the film was set and allows us to time travel back to 1996 when a 25 year old Nicolas Winding Refn took us on a journey and showed us what he can do.
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