Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25525 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-02-11
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Hindi
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 107 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A guilty pleasure with excess horsepower, The Fast and the Furious efficiently combines time-honoured male fantasies (hot cars, hot women, hot action) into a vacuous plot of crystalline purity. It's trash, but it's fun trash, in which a hotshot Los Angeles cop named Brian (Paul Walker) infiltrates a gang of street racers suspected of fencing stolen goods from hijacked trucks. The gang leader is Dom (Vin Diesel), ex-con and reigning king of the street racers, who lives for those 10 seconds of freedom when his high-performance "rice rocket" (a highly modified Asian import) hurtles toward another quarter-mile victory. Racing is street theatre for a lawless youth subculture, and Dom is a star behind the wheel--charismatic, dangerous and protective toward his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster), who's attracted to Brian as the newest member of Dom's car-crazy team.

Director Rob Cohen treats this like Roman tragedy for MTV junkies, pushing every scene to adrenaline-pumping extremes; when his camera isn't caressing a spectrum of nitrous oxide-enhanced dream machines, it's ogling countless slim 'n' sexy race babes. The undercover-cop scenario cheaply borrows the split-loyalty theme perfected in Donnie Brasco; a rival Asian gang adds mystery and menace; and digital trickery is cleverly employed to explore the fuel-injected innards of the day-glo racecars. It's about as substantial as a perfume ad, but just as alluring, and for heavy-metal maniacs of any age, Diesel's super-blown 69 Charger proves that Detroit muscle never goes out of style. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

On the DVD: Appropriately bulging with macho extra features, this disc is introduced with a stirring lack of irony by a Public Service Announcement exhorting viewers not to take proceedings too seriously! The meat of the many special features are found in deconstructions of several special effects sequences, with multiple camera-angle views and a breakdown of the process by which composite shots are achieved from separate plates. There are also eight deleted or extended scenes with optional directorial commentary. The main feature commentary is surprisingly in-depth and absorbing, as Rob Cohen talks about every aspect of his up-to-date "Western with rice rockets". Other features include music videos (one of which has its lyrics censored), a standard 18-minute "making-of" featurette and, fascinatingly, a short five-minute peek at the editing process as the director and film editor strive to cut a violent scene and thereby guarantee that all-important PG-13 rating (so that young kids who can't drive will be able to watch the movie and learn about speed, the director says with a straight face). And with a choice of explosive Dolby 5.1 or DTS you, and your long-suffering neighbours, will feel like you're right in the midst of the action. --Mark Walker

DVD Description
DVD Special Features:

Making of The Fast and The Furious
Director Rob Cohen's Feature length Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Multiple Camera Angle stunt sequence
Special Effects Featurette
Editing Featurette
Visual Effects Montage
Storyboards to final feature comparison
Racer X: Article that inspire the movie
Ja Rule "Furious" Music Video
Caddilac Tah "POV City Anthem" Music Video
Saliva "Click Click Boom" Music Video
Music Highlights
Production Notes
Cast and Filmmakers' Biographies
Trailer

Synopsis
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS is a nitro-burning joyride that makes outstanding use of special effects, innovative camera work, and a nonstop throbbing soundtrack. From the opening sequence--a high-speed, high-tech truck robbery--the film never drops below the red line. Roaring along at breakneck speed, Dom (Vin Diesel) and his crew meet on the streets of L.A. each night to show off their high-powered racers. When new guy Brian (Paul Walker) wants to add his fuel to the fire, he can't cough up the cash to race, but offers up his car as collateral. In their tiny jacked compacts, Dom, Brian, and Edwin (Ja Rule) burst into a high-gear race with Brian nearly beating perennial champion Dom. But in the final moments, he loses the race and his car. Brian's debt is quickly cleared, however, when he saves Dom both from the cops and from a potentially violent encounter with Johnny Tran (Rick Yune), a rival gang lord. Dom takes Brian under his wing--a decision that disgusts his gang but delights his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster). The gang never suspects that Brian is not who he seems: he is actually an undercover cop, and though he wishes otherwise, he's there to bust Dom for committing the armed truck robbery witnessed in the opening scenes.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic!
Wow! This film will leave your mouth gaping wide open. The title really sums it up; "FAST". It has a great selection of cars and races. A lot better that gone in 60 seconds. The camera work is outstanding.

The acting within the film is fantastic. Vin Diesel was the perfect man for his part in the film, and the other casting was perfect. Paul Walker also made a great contribution with no false parts.

The wicked combination of fast women ,fast cars, and fast action triumphs and not for the very first time mind you.

Make sure that you buy it on DVD, not video. The special features are great.
A must Buy for anyone with some money !

***NO MANS LAND***
The Fast and The Furious is all day-glo coloured cars and polished chrome, lots of high speed car chases, the odd fist fight and plenty of macho posturing. That's not too say it's bad because it's actually pretty entertaining. The Fast and The Furious is a very glossy, testosterone charged male fantasy movie about a cop who infiltrates an auto-theft gang but falls in love with the gang leaders sister, causing him to question his conscience and his superiors to question his loyalties. Sound familiar?

(Does anybody remember the 1987 DB Sweeney/Charlie Sheen movie No Mans Land? If you don't then let me remind you of the plot: Rookie cop goes undercover to catch a wealthy young car thief but finds he likes the wealthy young car thief he's supposed to be trapping, and likes his sister even better).

Okay so The Fast and The Furious is not exactly Schindler's List or The Godfather when it comes to intellectual stimulation but it doesn't pretend to be and it's a very enjoyable movie, if all you are looking for is entertainment (and what's wrong with that?). Its very much testosterone charged but it still has much to recommend it: Good performances by its two male leads; the very muscular Vin Diesel as the gang leader Dom and the very handsome Paul Walker as the undercover cop. Jordana Brewster as the gang leaders sister also makes a very attractive female lead, although in many ways the cars and the stunts are the stars. Talking of stars, Vin Diesel's star is definitely on the rise and Paul Walker is certain to attract a legion of female fans to assure future star status.

The action in this movie is as the title says, fast and furious. It boasts plenty of excellent car chases and enough stunts throughout to keep you interested, if not on the edge of your seat. However, it must be said that some of the quarter of a mile car races, in supposedly super-powered cars, seem to last as long as three trips around Indianapolis's 2.5 mile oval track. It's also fair to point out that some of the dialogue is a bit "naff": In other words it will make you cringe occasionally but ALL IN ALL THIS IS PRETTY GOOD FUN. Plus the DVD boasts some reasonable extras.

(You can check out No Mans Land on VHS but I don't think its available on DVD)!

Does exactly what it says on the tin
Seeing the trailer of this movie, or simply looking at the front cover, most will automatically "judge the book by it's cover" and assume this movie is about cars, stunts, and lots of good looking people listening to songs by Limp Bizkit. They would be right. Attention: If you have no interest in cars, no interest in stunts over storyline & no interest in the youth culture of today, THIS FILM IS NOT FOR YOU.

I was one of the people who did judge it as just what it is, and I've never been particularly interested in cars or street racing, but I decided to give it a shot. I have to say I was blown away by this film. The main thing I noticed is that from the very start of the film, where the world known Universal music & logo plays but then runs straight into the intro music (I forget who the band is), the film keeps a fast pace, and does not stop without extremely good reason (a few times in the film to set a love scene between two of the characters for example). It is also obvious that music is essential throughout the film to keep up the atmosphere & pace. Indeed everything about the film really is fast & furious. The storyline isn't a groundbreaker, it sets the scene of an undercover cop (Brian Spilner/Paul Walker) attempting to find out who has been hijacking transport lorries. He begins to get a feel for the like of street racing, and makes some new friends, whom he suspects are behind the hijackings. The other main character (Domonic Toretto/Vin Diesel) begins to take him under his wing & has no idea that he is an undercover cop. To make things more interesting, Brian also forms a relationship with Domonic's sister. What I've just given away wasn't spoiling the plot, there is more to come, but there wasn't much plot to spoil in the first place. However this isn't just a film about cars, stunts, and people moshing to Limp Bizkit. It's a view into the incredible world of street racing, and the culture that surrounds it. All the crowds you see on the streets in the film & at Race Wars for example, are the real thing. The film contains many up & coming actors, and they all have been well cast. Vin Diesel plays a great role as Domonic Toretto, as does Paul Walker as Brian Spilner. Michelle Rodriguez is certainly worth looking for in other films, she doesn't have much of a part in this, but she certainly makes the most of it (expect to see her in the soon to be released Resident Evil film). This is authentic as you will get in a film about street racing, and it's definetely worth a look.

If you have a DVD player, BUY THE DVD VERSION OF THIS FILM. I cannot stress this enough. It is the best visual & sound quality DVD I have ever seen, and there are some good interviews, music videos & featurettes too.

†Venom†