The Fast and the Furious (2001 film)
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| The Fast and the Furious | |
|---|---|
 The Fast and The Furious theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Rob Cohen |
| Produced by | Neal H. Moritz |
| Written by | Ken Li (magazine article Racer X) Gary Scott Thompson Erik Bergquist David Ayer |
| Starring | Vin Diesel Paul Walker Jordana Brewster Michelle Rodriguez |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 22, 2001 (USA) |
| Running time | 106 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $38,000,000 US (est.) |
| Followed by | 2 Fast 2 Furious |
| IMDb profile | |
The Fast and the Furious is a 2001 action film starring Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, and directed by Rob Cohen. The Fast and the Furious was the first mainstream film to feature the import scene.
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[edit] Plot
Dominic Toretto (Diesel) is the leader of a street racing gang that is under suspicion of hijacking trucks for their cargo of expensive electronic equipment. Undercover cop Brian O'Conner (Walker) attempts to find out who exactly is stealing the equipment by infiltrating the local racing community with the help of a local auto parts dealer, while falling for Dominic's younger sister Mia (Jordana Brewster).
After O'Conner loses his Mitsubishi Eclipse to Toretto in a race for "pink slips" (a 1950s slang term for the registration documents for a car in the United States) and then loses it again when they are confronted by Toretto's rival Johnny Tran (Rick Yune), O'Conner tries to gain the trust of Toretto by working on repairing and upgrading a burned out Toyota Supra to hand over to him. While doing this, O'Conner is constantly pressured by his superiors in the LAPD and the FBI to bring the investigation to a satisfactory close, leading him to face a stark choice between the community he has embedded himself into and the woman he has become close to or discarding his cover and discovering who from the street gangs are carrying out the hijackings
The plot is very similar to that of the 1991 film Point Break. Both films feature an undercover cop infiltrating a gang of underground competition enthusiasts in order to gain information about who is pulling off a series of heists. In both films the protagonist falls for a significant female in the team leader's life, forcing him to ultimately choose whether to take up the life of those he was tasked to spy upon or do his job.
The races in the movie are mostly won by one of the racers firing nitrous oxide into the intake manifold at the last moment. The nitrous oxide systems, referred to as NOS, play a big part in the movie, with O'Conner seeing the complexity and power of his car's nitrous system as the key to winning a drag race.
[edit] Reception
The Fast and the Furious was met with mixed reviews, and received particulary harsh criticism for its derivative storyline, with much of it lifted directly from the 1991 film Point Break. However, the film has been credited as the first cinematic insight into the Japanese compact racing and tuning community of America. Because of this novelty as well as a set of interesting character relationships (for an action movie) and a variety of groundbreaking visuals used in the race sequences, The Fast and the Furious became one of the most well-known movies from around the turn of the millennium, and left "tricked out" Japanese compacts imprinted in popular culture.
The film and the series has been criticized for following the typical formula of white male lead protagonist and Asian male villain, despite the prevalence of Asians in the import scene. Some blame the film for an increase in illegal street racing. Proponents of the film point out that it demonstrate both the thrills and dangers of drag racing.
The movie is also looked down upon by many who say that it is responsible for flooding the streets with Rice burners, largely because of the "all show and no go" nature of the cars and the exaggeration of the effects of nitrous oxide, leading to young adult viewers of the films, ignorant of the real nature of motor vehicle maintenance and tuning, modifying their cars with largely superficial modifications (such as body kits and ground effects, fluorescent lighting, and excessive aerodynamic wings) which would not positively affect racing performance.
In addition, the script drew criticism from import tuner enthusiasts in its use of "NOS" (Nitrous Oxide System) - a registered trademark of Holley Motor Company - to refer generically to various forms of nitrous oxide injection: in various scenes of the film, both Holley's NOS and Nitrous Express's NX systems are displayed prominently. This gaffe was corrected in the sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious, wherein nitrous oxide injection systems were referred to by the more generic (and proper) designation "nitrous".
The scriptwriters also drew criticism for having poorly researched the vehicles featured in the film; for example, in one scene, a character - supposedly an experienced mechanic - reacts with surprise to find a junkyard Toyota Supra equipped with a 2JZ-GTE engine. The 2JZ-GTE engine block is an OEM, factory stock engine for the Supra Mark IV, and, while popular with mechanics for its customizability, would not be a particularly rare or unexpected find.
[edit] Featured cars
Various modified and upgraded cars are featured in the movie, including the following:[1]
| Car | Color | Year | Driven by | Condition/Fate in Film |
| Dodge Charger R/T | Black | 1970*[2] | Toretto [3] | Wrecked after colliding with the front-end of a semi-truck while racing with orange Toyota Supra RZ. |
| Chevrolet Chevelle SS | Red | 1970 | Toretto | |
| Ford Lightning SVT | Red | 1999-2001 | O'Conner | |
| Honda Civic#1 2dr Coupe | Black | 1995 | Hijacker #1 | Sustains critical engine damage from semi-trailer driver's shotgun blows. |
| Honda Civic #2 2dr Coupe | Black | 1995 | Hijacker #2 | Rolled of road after being side-swiped by a semi-trailer |
| Honda Civic #3 2dr Coupe | Black | 1995 | Hijacker #3 | |
| Honda S2000 (AP1) | Black | 1999-2001 | Johnny Tran | |
| Honda Civic | White | 1992-1995 | Danny Yamato | |
| Mazda RX-7 | Red | 1993 | Toretto[4] | |
| Mitsubishi Eclipse GS | Neon Green | 1995 | O'Conner[5] | Shot at by Johnny Tran; destroyed after ruptured nitrous tanks explode. |
| Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder | Silver | 1995-1999 | Extra Character/Background Person | |
| Nissan Maxima | Blue | 1997-1999 | Vince | |
| Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R | Yellow | 1995-1998 | Leon | |
| Toyota Supra RZ (JZA80) | Orange | 1994 | O'Conner's second car[6] | Toretto fled with it; last location unknown. |
| Volkswagen Jetta | White | 1995 | Jesse | Shot at by Johnny Tran's gang in a drive-by at Toretto's home. Jesse is also shot during the incident. |
| Acura Integra GS-R | Turquoise | 1995-1999 | Mia (Toretto's sister) | |
| Ferrari F355 F1 Spyder | Black | 1999 | Driven by movie's producer Neal Moritz | |
| Nissan 240SX (S14 Silvia) 2dr Coupe | Purple | 1995-1998 | Letty (Toretto's girlfriend) | |
| Acura Integra | Red/Yellow | 1996 | Edwin (Ja Rule) [7] |
[edit] Trivia
- After the credits are done, the scene shifts to Baja, Mexico where a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS is tearing through the desert and inside it is Dom Toretto who talks about how he lives his life a quarter of a mile at a time.
- The Jetta driven by the character Jesse is owned by Frankie Muniz, who said in an interview that it's the first car he's ever owned.
- During the first night race, Director Rob Cohen makes a cameo appearance as a Pizza Hut delivery driver.
- The title "The Fast and the Furious" was taken from the 1954 film with the same name, although the plots are not related.
[edit] References
- ^ Kris Palmer The Fast and the Furious The Official Car Guide Motorbooks ISBN 0-7603-2568-5
- ^ According to the book The Fast and the Furious The Official Car Guide, Pgs 26-27, the Charger combines parts from a 1969 and 1970 Dodge Charger, but for the sake of the film, it is officially listed in the book as a 1970's model. Both years share the bar tailight across the back, while the 1970 model wears the chrome ring around its nose.
- ^ Kris Palmer The Fast and the Furious The Official Car Guide Pgs 26-27
- ^ Kris Palmer The Fast and the Furious The Official Car Guide Pgs 14-17
- ^ Kris Palmer The Fast and the Furious The Official Car Guide Pgs 10-13
- ^ Kris Palmer The Fast and the Furious The Official Car Guide Pgs 22-25
- ^ Kris Palmer The Fast and the Furious The Official Car Guide Pgs 18-21
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official Website
- The Fast and the Furious at the Internet Movie Database
- The Fast and the Furious at Rotten Tomatoes
- Holley NOS
- The Fast and the Furious Storyline (Spoiler Warning!)
- Internet Movie Cars Database - gallery of cars featured in The Fast and the Furious
