Fast & Furious is a 2009 American street racing action film directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan. It is the fourth installment in The Fast and the Furious film series and the third chronologically. The plot connects with the franchise's original film from which Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster reprise their roles.[2][3]
Meanwhile, U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) is trying to track down a drug dealer named Arturo Braga (John Ortiz). His search leads him to David Park. Dominic arrives at Park's apartment first and hangs him out of the window by his ankles before letting go. Brian, who was also on his way to Park's place, saves Park and Park becomes the F.B.I.'s new informant. Park gets Brian into a street race through Los Angeles. Brian selects a modified Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 from the Impound Lot. Dominic also shows up to race in his modified 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle. Gisele Yashar (Gal Gadot), the liaison for Braga, reveals that the winner will become the last driver on a team that traffics heroin between the Mexico–United States border. Dominic wins by bumping Brian's car, making him lose control. Brian uses his power as an F.B.I. agent to arrest another driver, Dwight Mueller (Greg Cipes), and takes his place on the team.
The following day, the team meets one of Braga's men. They drive across the border using underground tunnels to avoid detection. Brian had prior knowledge that, after the heroin was delivered, Braga ordered the drivers to be killed. However it was revealed to Dominic from Fenix that he killed Leticia and after a tense stand-off, Dominic detonates his car with nitrous to distract Braga's men and Brian hijacks a Hummer with $60 million worth of heroin. Both Dominic and Brian drive back to Los Angeles and hide the heroin in a police impound lot where Brian picks up a modified Subaru Impreza WRX STI. Later on, Dominic finds out Brian was the last person to contact Leticia, which results in him being attacked by Dominic before he could explain to him until he learns Leticia was working undercover for Brian, tracking down Braga in exchange for clearing Dominic's name. Brian tells his superiors that in exchange for Dominic's pardon, he will lure Braga into a trap, forcing him to personally show up to exchange money for the heroin. At the drop site, however, Ramon Campos (Robert Miano), the man who claims to be "Braga", is revealed as a decoy, and "Campos", the real Braga, escapes and flees to Mexico.
Brian and Dominic travel to Mexico on their own to catch Braga. They find him at a church and apprehend him. As Braga's henchmen try to rescue Braga, Brian and Dominic drive through the underground tunnels back to the United States. Brian crashes his car after taking fire from Braga's men. He is then injured after being T-boned by Fenix at the end of the tunnel. Before Fenix can kill Brian, Dominic drives into and kills Fenix. As police and helicopters start approaching the crash site on the American side of the border, Brian tells Dominic to leave, but Dominic refuses saying that he is tired of running. Despite Brian's request for clemency, the judge sentences Dominic to 25 years to life while Brian resigns from the F.B.I. Dominic boards a prison bus that will transport him to Lompoc penitentiary. As the bus drives down the road, Brian, Mia, Leo, and Santos arrive in their cars to intercept it, leading to the events of Fast Five.
The original Dodge Charger 426 Hemi R/T that was used in the original movie was a 1970, but the car in this movie was a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T 426 Hemi with a slightly modified front grill to appear as a 1970 car; the original 1970 Dodge Charger was in pieces, being totally disassembled for restoration.
The most radical vehicles built for the film were the Chevy trucks constructed for the fuel heist. Powered by 502ci GM big block motors, the '67 had a giant ladder-bar suspension with airbags using a massive 10-ton semi rear axle with the biggest and widest truck tires they could find. The '88 Chevy Crew Cab was built with twin full-floating GM 1-ton axles equipped with Detroit Lockers and a transfer case directing power to both axles and capable of a four-wheel burnouts.[7]
Another vehicle built for the film was the blue Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 owned by an uncredited owner who modified the vehicle to 1,200 horsepower and drove it at Japan's Shuto Expressway at 241 miles per hour. It was a hard car to build for the production so they made clones by acquiring Nissan Skyline 25GTs and made them look like the original car. The Skyline that was also used at the desert was actually a dune buggy using the shell of an R34.
The trailers for the film feature the track "We Are Rockstars" by Does It Offend You, Yeah? and a Travis Barker-remixed version of "Crank That" by Soulja Boy Tell 'Em.
The official soundtrack was released on 31 March 2009 on Star Trak. The first single from the soundtrack was titled "Blanco" and is by Pitbull featuring Pharrell Williams and is produced by The Neptunes.[8] The second single from the album is "Krazy" by Pitbull featuring Lil Jon. The track is also featured on Pitbull's album Rebelution. The third and final single from the album is "Bad Girls" by Robin Thicke. The soundtrack will also feature the song "G-Stro" by Busta Rhymes featuring Pharrell Williams and also produced by The Neptunes. The track is a leftover track from Busta Rhymes' album Back on My B.S. Amazon gave the album an average score of 3.5 out of 5, calling it a Spanish-themed rap soundtrack with mostly average tracks. Interscope and Star Trak Records released the soundtrack for the film with "Crank That" not included.
Another song that was omitted from the album was song "Rising Sun" by South Korean group TVXQ.
The Japanese version of the movie features the song "Before I Decay" by Japanese rock group The GazettE.
Also featured in the background under a club scene which was omitted from the album, was song "Ride" written by Kervins Joseph and Travis Baker, published by InDigi Avenue Music Publishing (ASCAP), courtesy InDigi Music, and Virtual Diva Performed By Don Omar.[citation needed]
Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gives the film a B+, saying, "Fast & Furious is still no Point Break. But it's perfectly aware of its limited dramatic mission...and...it offers an attractive getaway route from self-importance, snark, and chatty comedies about male bonding."[12] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter thought this movie was the first real sequel to the first and also gave it a positive review, writing, "Fast & Furious is the first true sequel of the bunch. By reuniting the two male stars from the original and...continuing the story from the first film, this new film should re-ignite the franchise."[13] Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times gave it a positive review, providing viewers were car fans, writing, "If you're a lover of stomach-clenching speed that turns the world into a neon blur...then Fast & Furious, the fourth edition of that metal-twisting series, should leave you exhausted and satiated for a very long time."[14]
Roger Ebert, who gave positive reviews to the previous films, gave an unfavorable review of the film, writing, "I admire the craft involved, but the movie leaves me profoundly indifferent. After three earlier movies in the series, which have been transmuted into video games, why do we need a fourth one? Oh. I just answered my own question."[15]
It also held the record for the highest-grossing opening weekend in April[18] and of any car-oriented film, the record having been previously held by Cars, which grossed $60.1 million. Both of these records were broken two years later by Fast Five, which grossed $86.2 million.[19] Fast & Furious also held the record for the highest opening weekend for a Spring release, until it was broken by Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Its worldwide gross on its opening weekend stands at $102.6 million[20] with $7.2 million coming from the UK, $8.6 million from Russia, $6 million in France and $3 million from Germany.[21]
As of 27 July 2011 the film had grossed a total of $155,064,265 in the United States and $363,164,265 worldwide (making it the third most successful film in the franchise behind Fast & Furious 6 and Fast Five) and is the fourth highest-grossing film in the car genre, behind Fast & Furious 6, Fast Five and Cars.[1]
It was re-released in Australia on Blu-ray including a digital copy and re-titled Fast & Furious 4 on 30 March 2011.
Contents
Plot
Five years after the events of The Fast and the Furious, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his new crew, Leticia "Letty" Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), Leo Tego (Tego Calderón), Rico Santos (Don Omar), Cara Mirtha (Mirtha Michelle) and Han Seoul-Oh (Sung Kang), are hijacking fuel tankers in the Dominican Republic. Dominic begins to suspect the trail is too hot and leaves Leticia behind in order to protect her from harm. Several weeks later, in Panama City, Dominic gets a call from his sister, Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster), who tells him that Leticia has been murdered by Fenix Calderon (Laz Alonzo), after getting into a near fatal car accident. Dominic heads back to Los Angeles to examine Leticia's crash and finds traces of nitromethane. He then goes to the only car mechanic that uses nitromethane and coerces him into giving him the name David Park (Ron Yuan), the man who ordered the fuel.Meanwhile, U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) is trying to track down a drug dealer named Arturo Braga (John Ortiz). His search leads him to David Park. Dominic arrives at Park's apartment first and hangs him out of the window by his ankles before letting go. Brian, who was also on his way to Park's place, saves Park and Park becomes the F.B.I.'s new informant. Park gets Brian into a street race through Los Angeles. Brian selects a modified Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 from the Impound Lot. Dominic also shows up to race in his modified 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle. Gisele Yashar (Gal Gadot), the liaison for Braga, reveals that the winner will become the last driver on a team that traffics heroin between the Mexico–United States border. Dominic wins by bumping Brian's car, making him lose control. Brian uses his power as an F.B.I. agent to arrest another driver, Dwight Mueller (Greg Cipes), and takes his place on the team.
The following day, the team meets one of Braga's men. They drive across the border using underground tunnels to avoid detection. Brian had prior knowledge that, after the heroin was delivered, Braga ordered the drivers to be killed. However it was revealed to Dominic from Fenix that he killed Leticia and after a tense stand-off, Dominic detonates his car with nitrous to distract Braga's men and Brian hijacks a Hummer with $60 million worth of heroin. Both Dominic and Brian drive back to Los Angeles and hide the heroin in a police impound lot where Brian picks up a modified Subaru Impreza WRX STI. Later on, Dominic finds out Brian was the last person to contact Leticia, which results in him being attacked by Dominic before he could explain to him until he learns Leticia was working undercover for Brian, tracking down Braga in exchange for clearing Dominic's name. Brian tells his superiors that in exchange for Dominic's pardon, he will lure Braga into a trap, forcing him to personally show up to exchange money for the heroin. At the drop site, however, Ramon Campos (Robert Miano), the man who claims to be "Braga", is revealed as a decoy, and "Campos", the real Braga, escapes and flees to Mexico.
Brian and Dominic travel to Mexico on their own to catch Braga. They find him at a church and apprehend him. As Braga's henchmen try to rescue Braga, Brian and Dominic drive through the underground tunnels back to the United States. Brian crashes his car after taking fire from Braga's men. He is then injured after being T-boned by Fenix at the end of the tunnel. Before Fenix can kill Brian, Dominic drives into and kills Fenix. As police and helicopters start approaching the crash site on the American side of the border, Brian tells Dominic to leave, but Dominic refuses saying that he is tired of running. Despite Brian's request for clemency, the judge sentences Dominic to 25 years to life while Brian resigns from the F.B.I. Dominic boards a prison bus that will transport him to Lompoc penitentiary. As the bus drives down the road, Brian, Mia, Leo, and Santos arrive in their cars to intercept it, leading to the events of Fast Five.
Cast
Main article: List of The Fast and the Furious characters
- Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, an auto mechanic, ex-convict, elite street racer and a street smart hijacker from the United States. Dominic is wanted for committing numerous semi-truck hijackings. At the beginning of the film, he is living in the Dominican Republic and drives a black Buick Grand National to hijack fuel trucks.[4]
- Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner, a former police officer, auto mechanic and elite street racer. Brian is now an F.B.I. agent on the trail of the Mexican drug lord Arturo Braga. He drives a Nissan Skyline GT-R R34, and then switches to Subaru Impreza STI Hatchback.
- Michelle Rodríguez as Leticia Ortiz, Dominic's girlfriend who lives with him in the Dominican Republic. She drives a silver Plymouth Satellite (with Road Runner lights).
- Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto, Dominic's younger sister and Brian's former girlfriend. She drives a Honda NSX-R (although she also owns a white Honda Integra Type R).
- John Ortiz as Arturo Braga / Ramon Campos, a drug lord who wants drivers to smuggle heroin across the USA / Mexico Border.
- Laz Alonso as Fenix Calderon, Arturo Braga's main henchman. He is also Letty's murderer (although it was revealed in Fast Five that she is alive), and he drives a green 1972 Ford Gran Torino Sport.
- Gal Gadot as Gisele Yashar, a liaison for Braga.
- Sung Kang as Han, a street racer and member of Dominic's crew, who also appeared in Tokyo Drift (setting this film as a prequel).
- Jack Conley as Penning, head of F.B.I.
- Shea Whigham as Ben Stasiak, F.B.I. agent.
- Liza Lapira as Sophie Trinh, F.B.I. agent.
- Tego Calderón as Leo Tego, a member of Dominic's crew.
- Don Omar as Rico Santos, a member of Dominic's crew.
- Mirtha Michelle as Cara Mirtha, a member of Dominic's crew and Han's girlfriend.
- Greg Cipes as Dwight Mueller, Braga's Camaro driver.
- Ron Yuan as David Park.
- Disha Mysore as Laila, a street racer and member of Dominic's crew
Production
The movie cars were built in Southern California's San Fernando Valley. Around 240 cars were built for the film.[5] However, the replica vehicles do not match the specifications they were supposed to represent. For example, the replica version of F-Bomb, a 1973 Chevrolet Camaro built by Tom Nelson of NRE and David Freiburger of Hot Rod magazine, included a 300 hp crate V8 engine with a 3-speed automatic transmission, whereas the actual car included a twin-turbo 1,500 hp engine and a 5-speed transmission.[6]The original Dodge Charger 426 Hemi R/T that was used in the original movie was a 1970, but the car in this movie was a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T 426 Hemi with a slightly modified front grill to appear as a 1970 car; the original 1970 Dodge Charger was in pieces, being totally disassembled for restoration.
The most radical vehicles built for the film were the Chevy trucks constructed for the fuel heist. Powered by 502ci GM big block motors, the '67 had a giant ladder-bar suspension with airbags using a massive 10-ton semi rear axle with the biggest and widest truck tires they could find. The '88 Chevy Crew Cab was built with twin full-floating GM 1-ton axles equipped with Detroit Lockers and a transfer case directing power to both axles and capable of a four-wheel burnouts.[7]
Another vehicle built for the film was the blue Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 owned by an uncredited owner who modified the vehicle to 1,200 horsepower and drove it at Japan's Shuto Expressway at 241 miles per hour. It was a hard car to build for the production so they made clones by acquiring Nissan Skyline 25GTs and made them look like the original car. The Skyline that was also used at the desert was actually a dune buggy using the shell of an R34.
Music
Main articles: Fast & Furious (soundtrack) and Fast & Furious (Original Motion Picture Score)
The score to Fast & Furious was composed by Brian Tyler, who recorded his score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century Fox.[8] The score album was released on CD by Varèse Sarabande Records with over 78 minutes worth of music.The trailers for the film feature the track "We Are Rockstars" by Does It Offend You, Yeah? and a Travis Barker-remixed version of "Crank That" by Soulja Boy Tell 'Em.
The official soundtrack was released on 31 March 2009 on Star Trak. The first single from the soundtrack was titled "Blanco" and is by Pitbull featuring Pharrell Williams and is produced by The Neptunes.[8] The second single from the album is "Krazy" by Pitbull featuring Lil Jon. The track is also featured on Pitbull's album Rebelution. The third and final single from the album is "Bad Girls" by Robin Thicke. The soundtrack will also feature the song "G-Stro" by Busta Rhymes featuring Pharrell Williams and also produced by The Neptunes. The track is a leftover track from Busta Rhymes' album Back on My B.S. Amazon gave the album an average score of 3.5 out of 5, calling it a Spanish-themed rap soundtrack with mostly average tracks. Interscope and Star Trak Records released the soundtrack for the film with "Crank That" not included.
Another song that was omitted from the album was song "Rising Sun" by South Korean group TVXQ.
The Japanese version of the movie features the song "Before I Decay" by Japanese rock group The GazettE.
Also featured in the background under a club scene which was omitted from the album, was song "Ride" written by Kervins Joseph and Travis Baker, published by InDigi Avenue Music Publishing (ASCAP), courtesy InDigi Music, and Virtual Diva Performed By Don Omar.[citation needed]
Release
The film was released in the United States on 3 April 2009. It was originally set to release on 12 June 2009, but moved it up to 3 April 2009 instead. It was the first motion-enhanced theatrical film to feature D-BOX motion feedback technology in selected theaters.[9]Reception
Critical response
Fast & Furious has received mixed to negative reviews from professional critics. The film is rated at 27% (the lowest in the film franchise) based on 171 reviews collected on the Rotten Tomatoes website[10] and 45 on Metacritic based on 27 reviews.[11]Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gives the film a B+, saying, "Fast & Furious is still no Point Break. But it's perfectly aware of its limited dramatic mission...and...it offers an attractive getaway route from self-importance, snark, and chatty comedies about male bonding."[12] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter thought this movie was the first real sequel to the first and also gave it a positive review, writing, "Fast & Furious is the first true sequel of the bunch. By reuniting the two male stars from the original and...continuing the story from the first film, this new film should re-ignite the franchise."[13] Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times gave it a positive review, providing viewers were car fans, writing, "If you're a lover of stomach-clenching speed that turns the world into a neon blur...then Fast & Furious, the fourth edition of that metal-twisting series, should leave you exhausted and satiated for a very long time."[14]
Roger Ebert, who gave positive reviews to the previous films, gave an unfavorable review of the film, writing, "I admire the craft involved, but the movie leaves me profoundly indifferent. After three earlier movies in the series, which have been transmuted into video games, why do we need a fourth one? Oh. I just answered my own question."[15]
Box office
On its first day of release the movie grossed $30.5 million, and peaked at the top spot of the weekend box office with $70,950,500, more than Tokyo Drift earned in its entire domestic run.[16] The film had the sixth-biggest opening weekend of 2009 and was double what most industry observers expected.[17]It also held the record for the highest-grossing opening weekend in April[18] and of any car-oriented film, the record having been previously held by Cars, which grossed $60.1 million. Both of these records were broken two years later by Fast Five, which grossed $86.2 million.[19] Fast & Furious also held the record for the highest opening weekend for a Spring release, until it was broken by Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Its worldwide gross on its opening weekend stands at $102.6 million[20] with $7.2 million coming from the UK, $8.6 million from Russia, $6 million in France and $3 million from Germany.[21]
As of 27 July 2011 the film had grossed a total of $155,064,265 in the United States and $363,164,265 worldwide (making it the third most successful film in the franchise behind Fast & Furious 6 and Fast Five) and is the fourth highest-grossing film in the car genre, behind Fast & Furious 6, Fast Five and Cars.[1]
Home video
Fast & Furious was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 28 July 2009.[22] The DVD is a two-disc set that includes:- Digital copy of the film
- Under the Hood: Muscle Cars & Imports
- High Octane Action: The Stunts
- Shooting the Big Rig Heist
- Driving School with Vin Diesel
- Original short film Los Bandoleros, the never-before-seen short film that reveals the events leading up to the explosive beginning of Fast & Furious. It is written and directed by Vin Diesel and was produced in the Dominican Republic.[23] This has been released on the iTunes Store as a free download.
It was re-released in Australia on Blu-ray including a digital copy and re-titled Fast & Furious 4 on 30 March 2011.
Sequel
Main article: Fast Five
Vin Diesel and Paul Walker reunited for a Fast & Furious sequel, entitled Fast Five. Justin Lin directed, while Chris Morgan wrote the screenplay. It was released in April 2011.[25]References
- ^ a b c d "Fast and Furious (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
- ^ Merrick (2008-03-06). "Another Familiar Face Is Returning For The New FAST AND THE FURIOUS Film!!". AintItCool.com. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
- ^ Chris Beaumont (2008-03-07). "Michelle Rodriguez Joins Walker and Diesel for The Fast and the Furious 4". FilmSchoolRejects.com. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
- ^ [1], http://jalopnik.com/5151136/fast-and-furious-1987-buick-grand-national-gnx, later on he switches to a silver 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 424, then finally to his old 1971 Dodge Charger R/T B-body (which Letty restored).
- ^ More Cars and More Action in Fast & Furious Edmunds Insideline March 12th 2009
- ^ The F-Bomb Drops on Fast & Furious Edmunds Insideline March 13th 2009
- ^ Fast & Furious Movie Cars – Faster And More Furious Hod Rod Magazine, May 2009
- ^ a b Dan Goldwasser (2009-02-24). "Brian Tyler scores fast and furious with Fast & Furious". ScoringSessions.com. Retrieved 2009-02-24.
- ^ Ford, Allan (2009-04-02). "Fast & Furious 4 To Be First Theatrical D-BOX Release". Retrieved 2009-12-22.
- ^ "Fast & Furious". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster.
- ^ "Fast & Furious". Metacritic. CBS.
- ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (2009-04-01). "Fast & Furious (2009)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
- ^ Honeycutt, Kirk (2009-04-02). "Film Review: Fast & Furious". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
- ^ Sharkey, Betsy (2009-04-03). "Video review: Fast & Furious". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
- ^ Roger Ebert (2009-04-01). "Fast & Furious". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2001-04-25.
- ^ "Daily Box Office for Friday, 3 April 2009". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com.
- ^ Rich, Joshua (April 5, 2009). "Fast & Furious shatters box office records". Entertainment Weekly (Time Inc.). Retrieved April 5, 2009.
- ^ "Walker, Diesel will return for ‘Furious’ sequel – Access Hollywood". MSNBC. 2009-04-12. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
- ^ Weekend Report: 'Fast Five' Packs Record Heat
- ^ "Fast & Furious speeds to No. 1 worldwide". Reuters. 2009-04-05. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
- ^ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3iddc0608768893d1ea8357e895cbd27c3/[dead link]
- ^ "Blu-ray.com – Fast & Furious Blu-ray".
- ^ "Vin Diesel "adores" Dominicans, presents ‘Los Bandoleros’". dominicantoday.com. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- ^ "Fast & Furious – Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information". The Numbers. Nash Information Services. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
- ^ Reynolds, Simon (2010-02-04). "Universal greenlights fifth Fast And Furious". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
