The Fast And The Furious (DVD)

THE PLOT
Brian O’Conner (Actor Paul Walker from films such as ‘Timeline’ and ‘Roadkill’) is a cop looking to ‘up his badge’ by taking on an undercover job to find out who are the perpetrators behind a recent spate of ‘Lorry-Jacking’ incidents. The police/FBI believe these robberies are linked to a particular group of members of the L.A. ‘Import’ Street Race (‘Ricer’) scene as the victims keep reporting a Tag-Team of ‘Tricked-Out’ jet-black ...
...desperate to get in on the L.A. Street Race scene and has allegedly come all the way from Arizona in his rather nicely tuned green Mitsubishi Eclipse with a view to staking his claim … Hell! He even gets a job working at the local tuning shop ‘The Racer’s Edge’ to further add credibility!

To begin with … things don’t go quite to plan for Brian – firstly he falls foul of the anti-hero ‘Alpha’ Male, king of the street, Dom Toretto (played ... more

THE PLOT
Brian O’Conner (Actor Paul Walker from films such as ‘Timeline’ and ‘Roadkill’) is a cop looking to ‘up his badge’ by taking on an undercover job to find out who are the perpetrators behind a recent spate of ‘Lorry-Jacking’ incidents. The police/FBI believe these robberies are linked to a particular group of members of the L.A. ‘Import’ Street Race (‘Ricer’) scene as the victims keep reporting a Tag-Team of ‘Tricked-Out’ jet-black colour Honda Civics with green neon tube lighting underneath. Brian O’Conner thus becomes Brian Earl Spilner a keen ‘wannabe’ who seems quite desperate to get in on the L.A. Street Race scene and has allegedly come all the way from Arizona in his rather nicely tuned green Mitsubishi Eclipse with a view to staking his claim … Hell! He even gets a job working at the local tuning shop ‘The Racer’s Edge’ to further add credibility!

To begin with … things don’t go quite to plan for Brian – firstly he falls foul of the anti-hero ‘Alpha’ Male, king of the street, Dom Toretto (played by the extremely charismatic Vin Diesel … as seen in ‘Saving Private Ryan’, ‘Pitch Black’, ‘Triple X’, ‘Boiler Room’ etc.) by getting into a well choreographed fist-fight with one of Toretto’s mates, Vince (Matt Schulze) over trying to win the affections of Dom’s lil’sister, Mia (Jordanna Brewster) … Dom even tries (albeit in vain, thankfully) to get Brian fired from his job at ‘The Racer’s Edge’ using his influence. Then, secondly, Brian loses his car (which was vouched in lieu of the necessary cash that is put down towards the ‘winner take all’ prize money) when he races against Dom and 2 other drivers – he almost wins but Dom just ‘pips’ him at the final post … and as Dom points out after the race ‘Winning is Winning’ whether by an inch or by a mile!

But all is not lost!! At the end of the race the cops bust up the scene and are doing their damnedest to arrest as many street racers as they can, with little success (you should see just how quickly these cars can be made to ‘scarper’ when needed!) – however Dom is abandoned by his mates in the panic that sets in, and a little later on gets spotted by the cops, whilst walking on foot – who then set after him in their cruisers with spotlights on and sirens wailing. He’s been ‘inside’ before and does NOT want to go back in under any circumstances whatsoever (as he tells Brian later on ... “I’ll die before I go back!”) – and right then his chances of avoiding another internment aren’t looking too good…. Until Brian – intercepting the Police’s pursuit of Dom – pulls up in the car that he’s just lost to him in the race (as the sudden ‘interruption’ by the ‘Five-Oh’ had prevented Dom from taking delivery of the car) and rescues him from the police with an exceptional display of superb getaway driving, to boot, that seems to impress Dom and certainly after this ‘good deed’ is carried out Brian finds himself on a very fast track indeed into Dominic’s very close Circle of Trust, as it were.

BRIAN’S CHANGING MOTIVES
It is clear to see that little by little Brian and Dom develop a good friendship – and Brian seems to become far more engrossed in the ‘scene’ than he perhaps should be … especially when this was only supposed to have been a means to an end – with the real reason being in order to catch and put a stop to the ‘Lorry-Jacking’ road –pirates. I’ll never forget the look on Brian O’Conner’s face when he’s just finished his first race and although he hasn’t won there is this incredible feeling of excitement, and adrenaline-hunger satiation that he clearly has never felt before in his life whilst being a cop. I am not going to tell you any more about the plot (just in case you haven’t seen it yet!) but suffice it to say that Brian’s change of heart becomes a major issue as the plot further unfolds and hidden secrets are discovered which put a heavily deciding factor upon where Brian’s loyalties will ultimately lie. If you want to know more and are intrigued by what I have told you so far then ... Quite simply … go see the film as I reckon (in my opinion) that this is a good enough rule of thumb to deduce, for starters, that you’ll probably enjoy it !

MY TAKE ON IT
I have read quite a few reviews on Ciao re this film which I enjoyed in most cases immensely and they are all pretty good and tell it pretty much like it is!! Yes .... I know the plot might be considered by 'High-Brow' film critics as perhaps a little predictable, and there have seemingly been references to how parts of the plot, apparently bear similarities to the film Point Break (which I must confess I haven't seen yet!) and in some cases a truly critical eye might see some (but certainly NOT all) of the acting as a bit ‘wooden’ and perhaps corny. I myself didn't view it that way for 2 reasons: (1) I don't really consider myself a connoisseur of acting ability - I really wouldn't know where to begin :-( so I, by default, have not got involved with this aspect (especially as other reviewers on Ciao have done such an excellent job anyway!) That said I honestly didn't notice any blatant flaws whatsoever in the acting that might have been in any way incongruent with the script! (2) Second Reason is I have something else to focus on in this review which I hope will offer those who read this review perhaps an Alternative Insight.

THE WEST-COAST 'RICER' SCENE
A 'Ricer' (which is essentially slang for the cliché ‘Rice-Rocket’, a phrase coined by West-Coast Americans who are into the 'scene' - perhaps not a very P.C. name, but nevertheless this is what those within the culture know it as!) is an imported car which tends to be 99.5% of the time being of Japanese Origin. If you have read some of my other reviews you may possibly already have a good idea of the fact that I am a Japanese car fan - particularly of Japanese 'Import' Sports Cars (i.e. not initially intended to be marketed on a wide scale into the UK market - like other Japanese models) so essentially ... rather than wanting a BMW, Porsche or perhaps even a Ferrari (Second hand of course!!) I would much rather blow my hard earned cash on something like a Nissan Skyline GTR, Toyota Supra (3rd Gen.), Mitsubishi GTO, Lancer 'EVO' 6 etc. etc.

I should warn you that if cars and the subject of automotive engineering bore the hell out of you - well then – I don’t think you’ll be into the next 2 paragraphs … so please be warned!

A CLOSER LOOK INTO THE 'SCENE'
So what the hell's so special about the 'Rice-Rocket' scene? - I hear you ask! To my mind I think it's the fact that Japanese Engineering is so thorough, perfected and that the engines on 'Bog Standard' hatchbacks such as a Honda Civic are so surprisingly (to those who hitherto didn't know these virtues) incredibly Over-Engineered - that they very, very easily indeed lend themselves to being 'Tricked-Out' or to the layman race tuned - but without 'knackering' the engines as easily and as probably with perhaps a make of car that is not Japanese. If you don't know just how reliable Japanese cars are in standard form - then you may not get this point fully - but a quick review of the latest J.D. Power car reliability survey will surely show you exactly what I mean.

So .... Imagine for example a regular Honda Civic 'Shopping Trolley' - in Standard Un-Modified form it's got say a 1600cc engine with, er ... I dunno!! ..... say ... maybe 100 or 120 Horsepower for arguments sake – Ok , so it’s a fairly nippy car good for hitting 60mph from a standstill in perhaps 9 and a half seconds or so …. Nothing wrong with that! BUT!! ….. what if you knew what you were doing with the engines computer and were able to ‘Trick’ the ‘brain’ of the engine into giving you another 30 horsepower and maybe another 80 after the Turbo has been then fitted. Then perhaps another 30 on top of that by improving the ‘breathing’ with performance air filtration and exhaust systems. And maybe after these after market accessories have been fitted you play with the ‘brain’ again and ‘eek’ out another 30 bhp on top of that? Before you know it you’re close to 300 Horsepower and you haven’t even considered the ‘Spray’ (Nitrous Oxide Injection) yet which can add anywhere from 75 to 125 bhp at the push of a button from your steering wheel (under the correct conditions of course!). And you are now looking at a car that that will now do sixty in about 4 seconds – in less than half the time it would normally take before it was ‘Tricked Out’!!

Basically I have just, hopefully, given you a brief ‘tour’ into the realms of how a relatively sedentary vehicle can be transformed into something that may possible now be able to 'eat a Ferrari for breakfast' at the traffic lights! And – basically - you just needed a fair amount of spare cash (look at it as a hobby if you will!), and a keen insight into the marvels of Japanese car engineering and the will to make it your business to learn to ‘Trick’ more power out of what are already very good engines with heaps of untapped potential!!

THE CULTURE
Of course, as a keen and enthusiastic member /participant in the ‘scene’ would very probably indeed feel extremely proud of his/her accomplishments (yes that’s right! – don’t be so surprised! there are LOADS of gals too who are well into this hobby!), it therefore follows that one might probably choose subsequently to adorn one’s car with some external aesthetic modifications such as some cool 18” Diameter (or bigger!) Alloy Wheels and perhaps an innovative after-market body kit to further enhance the look (with a nice paint 'job') and proudly proclaim that your car is different by the way it looks not just by what you see/hear under the bonnet!!

And naturally you might want to meet with your peers to have races in order to compare how well you ‘tricked out’ your car against someone else’s!!

And so…. This brings us to the West Cost ‘Street Race’ Scene. By the way this scene is not always about racing on deserted public streets in the small hours of the morning when other citizens are tucked away in bed!! Yes it can be illegal street races sometimes …. But it may also entail other situations which there can also be quite legal, actually - with proper organised events – such as the one in the film that was called ‘Race Wars’!)

OK – SO HOW DOES THE FILM ‘THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS’ FIT IN WITH THIS SCENE?
Well – in my opinion –thanks to the tenacity of Rob Cohen (Director) … very, very well indeed. You see, I very seriously believe that Rob Cohen and his people stopped at nothing to capture this scene as best as possible and make it into a highly authentic work of fiction (i.e. as it is after all an action adventure film – not a documentary – right?).

The Passion and Dedication with which he embraced the project will surprise people who weren’t previously aware of the following few facts that I have learnt about:

EXTRAS? ….. WHAT ‘EXTRAS’!?!!
Pretty much ALL of the usually (in the making of films) so-called ‘extras’ (and there were to be many extras needed in making the film – given the fact that this is a real peer-group thing!) are Real Street Racers and Enthusiasts!! No Kidding about this!!

THE ‘RICE-ROCKETS’ FILMED
Not only that but then there’s the wide panoply of Customised and Tricked-Out Japanese Imports that must number hundreds at least. Whether they were used in the film to ‘block off ‘ street access points in order to make the designated racing strip as safe and uninterrupted as would be feasible – or whether they participated in real ‘drag-strip’ style races consecutively from sun-rise to sun-set during the filming of the set at ‘Race Wars’ …. One thing is for sure …. Almost ALL OF THEM BELONGED TO REAL ‘SCENE’ PARTICIPANTS WHO DROVE THEIR OWN CARS ALL THE WAY THROUGH FILMING!!

REAL PEOPLE
Yes – of course the action scenes must have been a combination of both stunt-people and a goodly amount of C.G. But still bear in mind that in the first proper race scene (where Paul Walker in his car is racing Vin Diesel for ‘pinks’ as well as for ‘The Respect’) one of the other drivers (there were four in that race in total) was R.J. de Vera – who actually WAS a champion racer in the illegal street racing scene and according to Rob Cohen’s commentary (I have the DVD of this film) might still, so I understand, still perhaps be wanted by the authorities! ... and whilst I am not totally sure whether the comment from Rob Cohen re ''Please don't tell the Police that he was in the movie because they're still looking for him!'' was 'tongue-in-cheek' or not ... even so ... I mean … how much more real do you want it? … for heavens’ sake!! Oh and by the way it goes without saying that R.J. de Vera was also one of the film makers Technical Advisers!

THE PASSION
Rob Cohen makes no secret of the fact that he was intrigued and awe-inspired upon the discovery of what is a very real ‘scene’ that’s probably going on right now while I am typing this review. Such was his passion that, I believe, he got really involved in the real Street Culture that surrounds this environment. His attention to detail speaks of someone who went far beyond mere research. He got EVERYTHING right – believe me – I am (whilst not wanting to seem ‘head-up-the-arse’) very well acquainted with nearly 100% of the Japanese companies that provide after market performance ‘mods’ such as Veilside, HKS, Spoon, Nismo and others. There was in my mind NO LACK OF CONTINUITY WHATSOEVER when it came to how each of the individual cars focussed upon have been tuned. I get the feeling that this guy was no ‘tourist’ … he soaked it ALL UP … and then went to work on ‘the fiction’.

THE ACTION SCENES
I thought they were fantastic – the perfect combination of well applied up-to-date C.G. technology along with good stunt choreography. But there’s more than just action here at hand! … Cohen’s superb direction takes you on an accurate but high Computer Generated INTERNAL tour into what happens ‘scientifically’ when you put your foot down in one of these ‘Rice-Rockets’ …. From INSIDE THE ENGINE!! It’s so beautifully visually portrayed that even the most technophobe may quite possibly ‘Get’ it!!!

OH!! AND WHAT A SOUNDTRACK!!!
I loved it ... whether excellent Rap Music in the run up to the first car race scene ... thanks not least to Ja Rule who also had a decent cameo in the first race scene, or the exhilarating rave/techno tracks featured that helped to create some of the most emotive car race and car chase scenes I have ever witnessed. Even more 'static' scenes such as the 'post-race' Echo Park party ambience are further enhanced so very empathically by the usage of such wickedly funky Latino 'House' licks such as the beautifully hypnotic 'Nurega' by 'Organic Audio' (I fell in love with it after seeing its exposition in this part of the film!).

CONCLUSION
I could elaborate about many other fine ‘tell-tale’ details that show me just how much love and dedication to correctly representing the ‘scene’ was actually involved … but I get the feeling I have probably taken up a bit too much space already. I feel that this film is as much, to me, about TEACHING people about this fascinating ‘sub culture’ as it is about being an action film. My feelings also are that because it IS also an action film … the strength (or perceived weakness) of the plot is not in my mind the ‘Be all and End all!’ – And actually, I DID enjoy the plot and the performances of most of the actors! By the way ... another thing to consider is this: ROB COHEN, IN HIS DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY, MAKES IT VERY CLEAR THAT THIS IS NOT A CRIME MOVIE .... BUT A LIFESTYLE MOVIE .... I just wish the film's detractors would stop for a second and at least (please!) try to GET THEIR HEADS AROUND THIS VERY IMPORTANT FACT!!! And I want to also really convey here my approval of the extreme level of authenticity involved in making this film and that perhaps there might just possibly be more to it than just an action ‘Vroom Vroom’ film with actors that don’t perhaps really need to exert their thespian muscles too strenuously. The short and narrow of it for me is that Cohen got into the very essence of this hitherto relatively un-publicised sub-culture and did the 'scene' total justice – making a deep insight and understanding into the ‘scene’ available for the ‘layman’ to also be able to 'dig', as it were. I have nothing but praise for him, in this respect, regarding this fine work (oh and guess what? .. on a humorous note … - he also stars in a somewhat comical cameo scene in the film ... where he plays a Pizza deliverer who gets frustrated that the road has been closed off for a street race!). I can ABSOLUTELY understand why this film was so-called a 'sleeper' hit. I have always (since I was 3 years old from my earliest recollections) loved cars - but even if the viewer shares not quite the same 'passions' as me ... there is so much atmoshphere and authentic racer 'scene' substance in this film, to .... in my opinion ... rival such 'greats' as 'American Graffiti' and others! By the way, I must say that by contrast, the ‘sequel’ … ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’ was not in my opinion worthy of the same admiration that I hope I have given this film here ... I still enjoyed it - but Rob Cohen was not (so I understand) involved with it and also it was, in my mind, so very rinsed compared to this wonderfully authentic original!! So, therefore, I am just WHOLEHEARTEDLY praying that should a 'fabled' third film be made in this sequence (But ... what the hell are they going to call it!?!!) that Rob Cohen would be the director once again, and that they bring back Vin Diesel, alongside Paul Walker, and most of the original cast (and with that in mind ... let's hope they can also find a way of bringing 'Jesse', played by Chad Lindberg, 'the Mad Scientist', back too!) What a Truly Amazing Film ... I will NEVER, EVER forget it! Tricked-Out Japanese Cars (with 'obligatory' noisy 'Dump-Valves') ROCK! ......... Ohhh YES they do!!!!!! 

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