The Films
I actually hadn’t seen any of these films before getting this Blu-ray set in for review, so I was fairly excited. Going in I wasn’t sure what to expect but a straight-forward action movie from the late 90s, but overall the films are much more than that, especially the first one, The Fast & The Furious, directed by Rob Cohen.
The first entry into the popular series stars Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, with a supporting cast including several people you may not have heard of like Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Matt Schulze, and Thom Barry. The story is set in LA and centers around the hijacking of semi-trucks. Some group of highly skilled drivers are hijacking semi trucks loaded with electronics on the road, at high speed, and it’s causing quite a stir as some truckers are starting to arm themselves. FBI Agent Bilkins (Thom Barry) and Sgt. Tanner (Ted Levine) are working the case with the help of undercover operative Brian O’Conner (Walker).
Officer Brian O’Conner, who goes by Brian Spilner in the film to disguise himself, gets himself involved in the dangerous and competitive world of street racing in hopes to get a lead on which street racing gang is behind the semi truck hijackings. He befriends legendary street racer Dominic “Dom” Toretto, played by Vin Diesel, and eventually falls for his sister Mia (Brewster). At first it doesn’t appear that Toretto’s crew is behind the hijackings but eventually the evidence is undeniable and O’Conner must make the difficult decision to do his duty as a cop or let his friends get away – it’s an interesting and well done plot point that does quite a bit for the film.
That said, The Fast and the Furious is a fun and enjoyable film that’s perfect for a Saturday afternoon.
The second entry into the series, 2 Fast 2 Furious, brings some of the original cast back while adding several others. John Singleton is the director this time and Paul Walker again assumes his role as Brian O’Conner, although this time he isn’t Officer Brian O’Conner due to the events at the end of the first film. In 2 Fast, Brian O’Conner is arrested early on after winning a street race in Miami. He’s brought in and given the chance to erase his criminal record from LA and now in Miami if he helps the US Customs Agency and FBI Agent Bilkins link drug cartel leader Carter Verone to his money. An undercover Customs agent, played by Eva Mendes, has already infiltrated the Verone organization and will help O’Conner get established. The job requires two skilled drivers however, O’Conner and someone he chooses. O’Conner chooses his old friend Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), but their relationship is at first strained due to some events in the past that led to Pearce’s arrest and subsequent three year stint in prison. The two are able to work past their differences as the film goes on, and they agree to run a job for Verone that involves the two drivers transporting bags of money from one location to a shipyard several miles away. A massive police chase ensues and plenty of fanciful chase scenes and street racing make 2 Fast 2 Furious a fun movie but not quite as good overall as the original.
The third film in this trilogy box set is The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Released in 2006, Director Justin Lin takes a new view on the series by introducing a completely new cast. This would have to be my least favorite of the trilogy, but the cameo at the end with Vin Diesel was a great touch. This time the story follows Lucas Black, who plays Sean Boswell. Boswell is a high school student in Alabama who loves working on his old muscle car. At the outset of the film he gets too close to Clay’s (Zachary Ty Bryan) girlfriend and the two decide to race to see who gets the girl. Both drivers end up wrecking but survive with only minor injuries, but Boswell is facing jail time if he doesn’t move out of the city. He is sent to live with his father in Japan.
Of course, it isn’t long before Boswell befriends Twinkie (Bow Wow) and he gets himself involved in the local street racing scene. The drivers here however use something that Sean isn’t at all familiar with, though – drifting. After destroying a car that was loaned to him by a local racer, Sean agrees to learn the new skill to redeem himself.
Tokyo Drift isn’t a bad movie, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first two.
Double Clutching Its Way To Blu-ray
The box set is nicely packaged with three individual standard-sized Blu-ray cases that slide out from the open side of the box. The box also includes a coupon to save on a movie ticket for the new film, Fast and Furious, just released in theaters yesterday.
In terms of presentation quality, all three films look and sound superb. I was thoroughly impressed with the video and audio for all three films. Each film is presented in beautiful 1080p, 2:35:1 ratio and they all looked outstanding. Aside from some very minor grain on a scene or two, each film pops off the screen with vibrant colors and sharp edges. In my opinion, Universal releases the highest quality Blu-rays and this no exception.
The audio doesn’t disappoint at all, either. The DTS-HD 5.1 track for each film puts you in the drivers seat to all of the action. No complaints here either.
As far as extra features, there are quite a few, including some exclusive to this Blu-ray release. Each film includes D-Box Motion Control support, Universal’s U-Control feature, and a Digital Copy for use with iTunes or Windows Media Player. In addition, the extras include:
The Fast and the Furious:
-Audio Commentary with Director Rob Cohen
-Tech Specs – Specifications on the cars in the film as well as estimated insurance costs from the damage of said cars. Informational and kind of funny.
-Dom’s Charger – A brief look at the supped up Charger that Dom drives in the film, which he’ll also be using in the new film in theaters.
-Quarter Mile At A Time – A nearly ten minute feature about street racing, dating all the way back to the twenties.
-PSA – Paul Walker reminds us that we shouldn’t attempt what we see in the film in real life.
-Racer X
-The Making of The Fast and the Furious
-Multiple Camera Angle Stunt Sequences
-Movie Magic Interactive Special Effects
-Visual Effects Montage
-Deleted Scenes
-Trickin Out A Hot Import Car
-MPAA Editing
-Storyboard to Final Feature Comparison
-Music Videos
2 Fast 2 Furious:
-Audio Commentary with Director John Singleton
-Fast Females – A short feature about the women from the trilogy.
-Hollywood Impact – A neat feature about cars and Hollywood.
-Inside 2 Fast 2 Furious
-Driving School With the Cast
-Making Music with Ludacris
-Outtakes
-Deleted Scenes
-Trickin Out A Hot Import Car
-Prelude to 2 Fast 2 Furious
-Spotlight on the Cast
-Spotlight on the Cars
-Animated Anecdotes
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift:
-Audio Commentary with Director Justin Lin
-Making of the Fast Franchise – A making of feature of not only Tokyo Drift, but the original two and a bit about the new one.
-Drift: A Sideways Craze – Clocks in at about an hour and examines the lives of three real drifters.
-Drifting School
-Trick Out To Drift
-The Big Breakdown
-Han’s Last Ride
-Cast Cam
-The Real Drift King
-The Japanese Way
-Deleted Scenes
Quite a nice box set… let’s get to the summary.
