Fast & Furious is the 4th entry in the popular street-racing franchise and it’s a fast-paced good time. Vin Diesel flexes and broods returning to the franchise as Dom, a somewhat psychotic (though oddly likable)criminal, who along with his girlfriend Letty (a briefly glimpsed, scowling Michelle Rodriguez) is still performing heists and trying to outrun the law. Paul Walker also returns as FBI agent Brian O’Connor, along with Jordanna Brewster as Dom’s sister Mia. This is the sequel people wanted to the first movie all along. It wisely tries to ignore the sequels, except for an odd bit that does nothing but remind the audience how pathetic and derivitive the third movie, “Toyko Drift” was in the first place. Drift was nothing but a shameless ripoff of the popular anime/live action movie “Initial D”
Fast and Furious is a standard revenge tale, but the stunts are cool, the women are hot, and the acting is above average for this kind of B-movie trash. Universal has given the movie a stellar transfer onto DVD and the blaring music and car crashes sound excellent on the home theatre. There are also some copious extras on the 2 disc set. There’s a short making of featurette and a terrific featurette on the big opening action sequence. There are 2 short featurettes on the cars used in the film and those are very nifty. The one on import cars is especially fun for car enthusiasts. There’s also a intriguing short film written and directed by Vin Diesel which sadly, turns out to be adequate at best, and a commentary by director Justin Lin.
Fast and Furious revives the franchise after the lame “Tokyo Drift” almost put the brakes on the movies forever. It’s well-paced, action-packed, and a lot of fun. This is the perfect DVD for a lazy, hazy summer day. The 2 DVD is tricked out with fun extras and comes highly recommended to hardcore fans and newbies alike.
DVD Grade: B+
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John Spartan
Jul 29, 2009 -
I happened to enjoy Tokyo Drift. The drifting for me is more entertaining than cars going straight inside a tunnel.
Circus80
Jul 29, 2009 -
I also liked Tokyo Drift better than the first and second Fast & Furious. I haven’t seen the new movie. I’ll wait for it on HBO. But if I may, I’d like to quote a Vin Diesel line from Fast & Furious Part 1. “You never had me! You never had your car!” 🙂
Paladin
Jul 29, 2009 -
Wow! So the “Initial D” Rip-off is popular all of a sudden? The lousy “actors” and the dumb story makes for a great waste of time.
I love drift racing–REAL, drift racing, where no one tries to kill each other on mount rip-off–featuring the car spiking over the road! Hey it’s the same scene in “Initial D”!!!
Fast and the Furious 2 was the better one of the THREE. Why? The first one was a copy of a “certain” surfing movie and Fast and Furious was the reverse of it. The second was good because the cars were cooler, the characters better, the story was fun AND the actors looked like they were having fun. Now isn’t that what racing on the street is about? It’s fun, and you meet some OK people.
John Spartan
Jul 30, 2009 -
The second movie was my least favorite. The art of racing took a backseat to a story about capturing a drug dealer, the same for the fourth installment.
I liked the first and third because even though it’s crazy at times, I feel like I can relate to it. For example, Dom is a guy that’s stealing on the side, but he still competes in these races to help out his friends and family and Tokyo Drift is about a troubled high school kid who finds a new love in drifting in Japan. It’s something that people can relate to compared to an undercover cop who’s out to bust a druglord, and happens to like cars.
John Kaufman
Jul 30, 2009 -
I agree with a couple of people here. I liked Tokyo Drift better than the second movie.
Films like The Fast and the Furious are like a load of fried clams, french fries and a vanilla shake on a hot summer day. Not nesecarily good for you but a hell of a lot of fun once in a while.
Looking forward to seeing Fast and the Furious.
Cricket
Jul 31, 2009 -
My F & F ranking:
1) Fast And The Furious – crazy stunts and entertaining throughout.
2) Fast and Furious – Last action scene kind of sucked becuase it was in a tunnel.
3) Tokyo Drift – Good race scenes but overall, the main character wasn’t really in danger.
4) 2 Fast 2 Furious – Still fun but annoying side characters. Tyrese was probably the best part.