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The Fast and the Furious (Widescreen Tricked Out Edition) Customer Reviews (46 - 48 of 59 Reviews)

The ultimate guy flick
"The Fast and the Furious" is, if nothing else, the ultimate guy flick: full of fast cars, hot chicks, and macho dudes who beat each other up before bonding over barbecue and Coronas.

It is a testosterone-fueled, pumped, hyperkinetic dude fantasy that draws on old '60s and 70s chase films like "Bullitt" and "Grand Theft Auto," but adds a rewarding layer of character and relationship depth.

Mind you, when we're talking about character depth, we're not talking about "Glengarry Glen Ross" here, but unlike recent car-chase flicks like "Gone in Sixty Seconds," we at least understand what drives the relationships. Heck, we see that there are relationships.

The central relationship revolves around Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker). The former is a street racer who has a side business hijacking trucks; the latter is an undercover cop who infiltrates Toretto's gang. Of course, there's a male bonding experience here - Toretto beats O'Connor in a race (run through curiously traffic-free Los Angeles streets), and afterwards O'Connor saves Toretto from being picked up by the police.

Soon thereafter, O'Connor is more or less accepted into Toretto's gang, and while the central purpose of of this is to bust the gang, O'Connor finds himself becoming friends with his intended collars, and drawn into the alluring world of street racing. He also falls in love with Toretto's sister Mia (Jordana Brewster), even though that would seem to violate every rule known to undercover police work.

Of course, "The Fast and the Furious" isn't a realistic crime caper; if it were, would Toretto's gang really rip off trucks while they're moving? Their method is to surround the truck with a small flotilla of hopped-up compact cars, shoot a rope from one of the cars into the cab of the truck, and use the rope as a bridge to jump onto the truck. From there, I suppose it'd be a matter of gaining entry into the cab, subduing the driver, and stealing the truck. Now, all this is pretty exciting stuff on screen, but hasn't it occurred to Toretto that it'd just be easier to rip off the truck when it's parked?

But realism isn't the point here - adrenaline is, and "The Fast and the Furious" delivers just that, with a healthy dollop of style and testosterone. Enjoy the movie, but just don't think about it too much.

A movie that defies logic
Oh where to begin.

This movie defies logic and presents blatant stupidity.

All right, the plot is rather stupid, but it is something instead of nothing. Paul Walker stars as Officer Brian O'Connor of the LAPD who is on an undercover mission into the world of illegal street racing to try and uncover who is behind a rash of hijackings. He befriends Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) who is the "best" street racer in the area as he drives a claimed 10 second third gen RX-7. Toretto is the prime suspect behind the hijackings and it is up to Brian to find out the truth. The plot is passable, not very good, but passable.

The main attraction of the movie is the cars and the racing. I don't know anyone who saw the movie for the plot. We are treated to the typical rice mobiles with their body kits, neon lights, 18" inch wheels, stickers, exhausts, etc etc, and oh who can forget NOS. Even though it never dawned on the writers of the movie that NOS is a brand of nitrous oxide and not what it is universally called. But, that's ok because this movie wasn't made with logic intended.

One the biggest problems with this movie is the fact that they make it sound easy to run 10 seconds in the 1/4 mile. Now I will state that it is possible to make the cars in the movie run 10 seconds, but it's not going to happen when the cars have street tires and 18-19" inch wheels on them.

Want to talk about logic? How is it a 1/4 mile race with 10 second cars seems to take a minute or so to complete? The first race was a joke. Not to mention the "warp speed" effects that occured everytime someone hit the nitrous switch. Then the exchange of dialogue after the race between Paul Walker and Vin Diesel was incredibly cheesy.

The last race is quite possibly the most idiotic thing I have ever seen. A Toyota Supra with a single turbo going up against a blown Dodge Charger is laughable for a 1/4 mile race. Diesel's character states at one point that the Charger ran 9 seconds flat in the 1/4 mile. The Supra was only supposed to be running somewhere in the 10's as they never allude to what any of the claimed 10 second cars run. The Supra with street tires and 19" inch wheels is somehow able to keep up with the Charger even though the Charger pops a wheelie when it launches, and it is on a set of wrinkle walls. So the race ends in a draw then the Charger gets wrecked. Yes I forgot that this movie is supposed to cater to import owners and what not. However, this cannot and would not ever happen.

This movie is good for a one time viewing as I just sit there and laugh at everything wrong with the entire movie. It's become more of a comedy if anything to myself and most people I know who watch it multiple times. As a solid well thought out movie, it fails miserably. If you want any sort of racing movie I would suggest checking out Steve McQueen's "LeMans" film. It's not a street racing movie (it is a professional racing movie) as it came out in 1971 but it is a much better and well made film even though it came out 30 years earlier.

Full of Testosterone¿
THE MOVIE:

The Story

"The Fast and the Furious" follows the story of an undercover cop, Brian 'O Connell, infiltrating a street racing gang in hopes of uncovering a smuggling operation.

Movie Features:

Tons of fast and hot cars, "men's men," some hot women and a pounding urban hip-hop, metal soundtrack. This is definitely a guy's movie.

Downsides:

The plot isn't really well developed and to get the full story you'll probably have to watch the film a few times. For example, you really don't catch what it is that Brian is really trying to investigate.

Overall, with some of the themes in this film this movie probably isn't all that appropriate for kids and probably will not be enjoyed by the more "matured" crowd. The movie upon it's release was somewhat controversial for it's glamorization of the illegal and dangerous "street racing" culture.

Plusses:

If you're looking for a fun, action filled flick this movie does the trick for you. It's definitely high-octane and high-adrenaline with tons of fast racing scenes with fast cars and fast bikes, a handful of fighting. Plus the hard soundtrack will make you want to get up on your feet. Overall, if you're a guy who's young or young at heart, this is YOUR movie with some cool cars, hot chicks, etc.

THE DVD:

Like most new DVD releases this movie is just STACKED with tons of extras, some good and some "whatever."

1. Commentary with director Rob Cohen: standard fare...

2. Making of "The Fast and the Furious" documentary

3. Theatrical Trailer

4. Deleted scenes with director commentary: some were pretty cool but the film isn't any better with them...alright feature...

5. Music videos: Alright...

6. Special Effects Montage: This was a cool video...

7. Interactive eight camera angle stunt sequence and Movie Magic interactive special effects: Basically this just shows the different angles of the final scene in the movie with the train. It's okay...but kinda "whatever" as you view it...

8. Lots of other features including DVD ROM features, you get the idea...

Overall, if you're really into the movie the DVD features are a nice mixed bag of cool stuff (commentary, special effects montage, etc) and some not so cool stuff. If you're really into the movie get the DVD, if you are ambivalent it may be good for a rental or a pass.

THE VERDICT:

Overall, while this movie probably won't win anyone critical awards or make any "must-see" lists, this movie is good for what it is - a two hour diversion and entertainment. This movie is probably best viewed by younger guys into cars, chicks and street music. Anyone else may either take it or leave it...

Mildly Recommended

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