The Fast and the Furious is a 2001 car film starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster. It was directed by Rob Cohen. The Fast and the Furious was the first mainstream film to feature the Asian automotive import scene in North America. It is the first film in The Fast and the Furious film series. It is not a remake of the 1955 film of the same name. It was loosely inspired by a Vibe magazine article about street racing in New York City.
Plot
Brian O'Conner (Walker) rating Hollywood's street racing scene. Going by the name Brian Earl Spilner, O'Conner races elite street racer Dominic Toretto and two other racers. Brian loses his car and the race to Toretto but gets in his good graces by saving him from the police.
Brian reports his findings to his superiors, but they soon notice he's getting close with Toretto, growing wary of Brian, who has begun a serious relationship with Dom's sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster). After another truck hijacking occurs, the police move in and arrest all the members of Tran's gang, but find that the players were legally purchased and that they are not the ones doing the hijackings. Brian's superior tells him about the truckers arming themselves and that it has to be Toretto doing it, giving him a sudden deadline. Brian casually asks Toretto that whatever he is doing, he wants in on it as well. Toretto agrees as long as Brian wins the upcoming Race Wars.
During Race Wars, Toretto's friend Jesse races his Volkswagen Jetta against Johnny Tran's Honda S2000 for pink slips and loses. In a state of panic, Jesse drives away from the race. Shortly after beating Jesse in a race, Tran then confronts Dominic Toretto and accuses him of calling the feds on him and having him being disrespected in front of his father and family, which leads to Dominic punching him out 6 times and they having a scuffle on the ground (not realizing the person responsible for the SWAT invasion, Brian O'Conner, was right in front of him). During the night, Toretto and the rest of the clan drive out. Brian confesses to Mia that he's a cop and tells her that the truckers are now armed. He convinces her to come with him to save her brother and his friends.
They trace his cell phone and track him down. Toretto pulls out the Honda Civics to make one last truck jacking. While pulling the job, Toretto notices the truck driver is armed with a shotgun. Vince's arm is trapped in the wire as Letty and Toretto try to rescue him. Letty's Civic soon flips over and Dominic soon skids off the road. Brian catches up and helps Vince off the truck. Brian phones in for a life flight helicopter, revealing to Toretto his serial number and that he is a cop. Vince is taken to a hospital, and Toretto and Mia drive off angrily.
Brian confronts Toretto at his house. When Jesse comes back, Johnny Tran and his cousin show up to pull off a drive-by, killing Jesse in the process. Brian and Dominic drive out to go after them. Dominic forces Lance's cycle to flip over using his 1970 Dodge Charger. Brian successfully shoots Tran, killing him. They then find themselves at an intersection and engage in a street race to a set of train tracks exactly a quarter mile away. As a train approaches, both cars manage to speed up and pass the tracks as the train barrels down on them. Dominic is then sideswiped by an unexpected truck and his car flips over. Brian then goes to check on Dominic. Suddenly, they notice that the cops are coming. Knowing Dominic will be arrested when they arrive, Brian gives his keys to Dominic, saying, "I owe you a ten-second car." Brian then walks away....ending the movie. Later on in the credits shows a final scene where Dominic is in Mexico in a red Chevelle SS with black racing stripes driving off saying "I live my life a quarter mile at a time, nothing else matters, for those ten seconds or less, I'm free."
Cast
- Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner, an LAPD undercover police officer who infiltrates Dominic Toretto's street racing crew, losing a race to him but gaining his respect by helping him escape police custody. He develops a serious relationship with Dom's sister, Mia Toretto, as well as befriending Dom. However, when Brian's superiors give him a sudden deadline, he is forced to ask to be let in to Toretto's illegal dealings, which he agrees to, but only if Brian wins the Race Wars. After the competition, Dom and his crew head out, and Brian is forced to reveal his true identity to Mia, asking her help to locate Dominic. They catch up just in time to rescue Vince, a crew member, but in so doing he reveals he is a cop to Dom. Brian later goes to Dom's house to confront him, but both are interrupted by rival racer Johnny Tran killing Jesse, a kid and crew techie for Dom. They pursue Tran, and Brian fatally wounds him; he later races Dom, narrowly losing. Dom crashes his Dodge Challenger, but instead of taking him in, Brian gives him the keys to his own car, claiming to owe him a ten-second car, leading to aiding and abetting charges.
- Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, a street racer who got involved due to his father's stock racing and watched his father die in a 120 mph collision during a race. Dom has known most of his crew since a very young age and maintains a close relationship with his sister, Mia. Besides street racing, Dom and his crew have been doing a series of car-jacks. When Brian O'Conner seeks entrance to his crew, he gives it to him after he helps him escape the police. Dom later allows Brian to participate in the Street Wars, but after a confrontation with Tran, leaves on a mission at night; Brian and Mia later aid he and his group, with Brian revealing he is a cop. Returning to his house, Dominic is confronted by Brian, only to witness Tran kill Jesse, a member of his crew, and the two then seek revenge. They race afterward with Dom narrowly winning, just before crashing into another car. Rather than arrest him, Brian gives him the keys to his car, claiming that he owes Dom a ten-second car. Dominic later goes to Mexico.
- Michelle Rodriguez as Leticia "Letty" Ortiz, Dominic's tomboyish girlfriend, a fellow racer. Letty can be headstrong, sometimes forced to get after Dom and does not put up with "skanks". She is fiercely loyal to Dom, and both enjoy a highly physical relationship. She proves her loyalty by choosing to race for money rather than sex in the Race Wars and fighting alongside him against Tran and his boys. Letty goes with Dom on the final carjacking mission, but soon flips her Honda Civic over, after which Dom tenderly says he loves her.
- Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto, Dominic's younger sister, who develops a serious relationship with Brian O'Conner. When Brian reveals to her that he is a cop, Mia agrees to help him find Dom to save him despite feelings of betrayal. They succeed, and Brian is forced to reveal himself; feeling angry and betrayed, Mia leaves with her brother, not speaking to Brian for five years.
- Rick Yune as Johnny Tran, a fellow racer and competitor. When Brian and Dom have to cross his gang turf, he blows up their car. Tran is arrested by Brian with the FBI and DEA, but without conclusive evidence; he later blames Dominic for the arrest in the Race Wars, not realizing Brian is responsible. He later kills Jesse in a drive by at Dom's house, and is in turn killed by Brian.
- Chad Lindberg as Jesse, the youngest member of Dom's crew, who Dom acts as a surrogate big brother to. After losing to Tran's brother, Hector, he leaves the Race Wars in the car (to be given to the winner) panicked. He returns to Dom's house at the end of the film, only to be shot in the head by Tran.
- Johnny Strong as Leon, a member of Dominic's gang, who helps Letty out of her wrecked car.
- Matt Schulze as Vincent, a hotheaded member of Dom's crew who has a crush on Mia. He is the only one suspicious of Brian; ironically, Brian later saves his life just before proving him right.
- Ja Rule as Edwin, a member of a racing crew.
- Ted Levine as Sgt. Tanner, O'Conner's first superior, who he reports to on any suspicious activity on Dominic or his crew's parts.
- Thom Barry as Agent Bilkins, Brian's stern but fair supervisor. He is persistent in catching Toretto, but is not unduly harsh.
- Noel Gugliemi as Hector, member of a racing crew; purchases Civic parts from Dom
Production
Casting
Mehki Phifer, Mark Wahlberg, Eminem and Christian Bale were considered for the role of Brian O' Conner. Walker was chosen over them all.[citation needed]
Music
A soundtrack was released on June 22, 2001. It features mostly rock while music in the film is a mixture of rock and hip hop.
- "Superstar" - Saliva
- "Faithless" - Injected
- "Crawling in the Dark - Hoobastank
- "Dominic's Story" - BT
- "This Life" - Primer 55
- "Crashing Around You" - Machine Head
- "Idi Banashapan"
- "Lock It Down" - Digital Assassins
- "Race Wars" - BT
- "Click Click Boom" - Saliva
- "Shelter" - Greenwheel
- "Watch Your Back"
- "Pokas Palabras" - Molotov
- "Fast and Furious (Theme)" - BT
- "Debonaire" - Dope*
- Not featured on soundtrack.
Reception
The Fast and the Furious was met with mixed reviews, and received particularly harsh criticism for what some felt was its derivative storyline, which shared many similarities with the 1991 film Point Break.
Early on, the script drew criticism from die-hard tuner enthusiasts for its technical inaccuracies and for its use of the word "NOS" (Nitrous Oxide System, a registered trademark of Holley Performance Products) to refer generically to several forms of nitrous oxide injection: in the film, both Holley's NOS and Nitrous Express' NX systems are displayed prominently. This gaffe was corrected in the sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious, wherein nitrous oxide injection systems were referred to as, simply, "nitrous."
The movie spawned video games and three sequels. The movie was filmed under the working-title "Redline" and it was not until months after wrapping that the title was officially set. The title was later used by an unrelated film that drew its inspiration from The Fast and the Furious.
Box office
The film was an unexpected summer hit. It grossed $40,089,015 on its opening weekend, surpassing the film's $38 million budget.[1] It grossed a total of $144,533,925 on the domestic market, and $62,750,000 overseas, for a total of $207,283,925.
Video game
In Japan where the movie is known as Wild Speed, a The Fast and The Furious arcade video game was released by Taito in 2006.[2] A trailer for the movie was included in the 2001 PlayStation 2 game Tokyo Extreme Racer Zero which is part of the influential long running Shutokou Battle series itself inspired by the Freeway Speedway 1980s movies. Also, a game for the Wii known as Crusin' is an almost exact copy of the Fast and the Furious arcade game.
Featured cars
Various modified and upgraded cars are featured in the movie, including the following:[3]
Sequels
The film has spawned three sequels: 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), and Fast & Furious (2009). Paul Walker returned for 2 Fast 2 Furious, teaming up with Tyrese Gibson, but sat out for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Lucas Black starred instead, and Vin Diesel made a cameo at the end. The fourth sequel, Fast & Furious, was released on Apr. 3, 2009 and features Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster reprising and returning to their roles from the first film.
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Nothing but sheer entertainment - and I love it
It might surprise many that I've given a supposedly moronic and
dtgonehome from United States - 25 April 2009mindless movie like The Fast and the Furious as high a rating as 8/10.
But I, being totally against discrimination against the less serious of
film genres, defend my rating and will do so vehemently. I feel that
this high rating is indeed justifiable; The Fast and the Furious is a
movie that doesn't set out to be more than it's meant to be. In other
words, it's nothing but a movie for sheer entertainment but it doesn't
try to be thought-provoking, dramatic or highly artistic – it's simply
meant to entertain, and that's exactly what it does. Therefore, it can
be said that the movie is an undeniable success.From the moment the film first starts, the mood and tone is set for the
rest of the movie. The glam and 'bling' of the title screen, alongside
the modern hip-hop/rap music of today's youth playing in the
background, immediately tells you that the film is targeted at the
respective demographic of youth. Afterwards we're taken straight to the
action without any wishy-washy, and the following scene shows a
semi-trailer filled to the brim with expensive electronics equipment
being hijacked by a mysterious band of synchronised racing cars. The
mystery is all set up, and the audience starts guessing immediately and
becomes gripped by the film.Afterwards we're introduced to Brian Spilner AKA Brian O'Connor, a
rookie police detective who's been sent undercover to infiltrate Los
Angeles' underground racing circles, in an attempt to discover who's
been terrorising the trucks on the highways. After a series of races
and competitions (the former of which being the whole focus of the
film), Brian becomes part of the inner circle of Dominic Toretto (Vin
Diesel), a major racing kingpin in L.A. Through him he meets Dom's
sister Letty, and they both eventually start getting romantically
linked; however it's this intimate relationship with which Brian is
blinded by, and he refuses to believe that Dominic, the prime suspect
of the investigation, is the man behind the hijackings. Eventually he
must learn to put his feelings and friendships aside in order to do
what's best. Cue dozens of car races, chases and guns.The film's plot is very cheesy to say the least, as clearly evident
when reading the plot summary – I couldn't make it any less corny than
what it is now. In fact, the whole movie reeks – well I wouldn't say
reeks, more 'has a faint whiff' – of cheese and corn. This isn't a
problem that mires the film by a considerable amount, but many key
aspects, including acting, screenplay, dialogue and whatnot, are quite
noticeably amateurish.But then again The Fast and the Furious isn't meant to be a film of
high artistic merit, like I stated above. It's not meant to do anything
but entertain the audience, and like I also said that's exactly what it
does, and does so nearly effortlessly. The film is essentially a summer
blockbuster, an action flick and something to chew popcorn to. It
succeeds on all counts; it's large fanbase and target audience ensures
its 'blockbuster' status, the film has a bevy of action scenes that are
very well-done, and these said scenes are extremely thrilling that you
wouldn't want to miss seeing it on the big screen.The Fast and the Furious also gets extra marks for not relying heavily
on CGI, like a lot of other films today mistakenly do; the action in
the film is unique, thrilling and seldom gets tiring despite
essentially revolving around the same topic: cars and racing. I never
knew that such a simple movie could be so entertaining and pleasing,
and I find it hard not to commend it for so excellently pulling off its
initial goal. Yes it's not perfect and yes it is flawed, but in the end
The Fast and the Furious remains an excellent way to please an audience
and pass time.
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