The Fast And The Furious (2001)
May 10, 2015 12:27 AM - Subscribe

Elite street racer and ex-convict Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew: Jesse (Chad Lindberg), Leon (Johnny Strong), Vince (Matt Schulze) and Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), are under suspicion of stealing expensive electronic equipment. Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) is an undercover police officer who attempts to find out who exactly is stealing the equipment. He works for FBI agent Bilkins (Thom Barry) and LAPD Sgt. Tanner (Ted Levine).

DIrected by Rob Cohen, based on the magazine story Racer X.

Getaway Drivers, Take Note: This One's For You. Awarded 3 stars by Roger Ebert, while Common Sense Media says "this is a bad, bad move." A 58 on MetaScore and a 53% on Rotten Tomatoes solidify the love-it-or-hate-it vibe.
posted by the man of twists and turns (12 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
They're all so fucking young.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 12:37 AM on May 10, 2015 [3 favorites]


I was reviewing movies professionally at the time this came out, and I still recall what a breath of fresh air it was in its delightfully no-nonsense retro feel - compared to the rich rivers of shit pouring out of multiplexes at the time. An action movie that was pretending to be anything other than what it was. Note, also, it was the uncontested peak of Rob Cohen's career as feature film director.
posted by smoke at 4:27 AM on May 10, 2015


I just recently rewatched this. Man, they were stealing TV/DVD player combos. Whoah!

Also, yeah, young. It is oddly depressing to see Paul Walker.

And, it is surprisingly down to earth compared to where the series is now. Although, I'm not totally sure about this because I'm no car expert, but I think Vin Diesel is just reading off a random list of car parts in one scene.
posted by Literaryhero at 6:18 AM on May 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


Oh no, they were stealing TV/VHS player combos.

Such a great movie.
posted by dominik at 6:28 AM on May 10, 2015 [2 favorites]


What's interesting for me is the realisation that the fourth installment later essentially soft-rebooted these characters, in order to have a more convenient (stronger? palatable?) setup, because sure as hell Dominic Toretto was a straight-up criminal, not some outlaw out to protect the little folks.

I came to these movies a little later but before the fourth was even announced, and I remembered being surprised at how decent this movie was. it knew what it was and it was good. not bad for something that really also came out of Paul Walker's desire to have a movie with either street racing and/or being an undercover cop.
posted by cendawanita at 10:09 AM on May 10, 2015 [2 favorites]


Ooh, are we doing all of these?

Never having watched and Fast or Furious movies I just started watching the series through recently, amidst dire warning that the first few aren't much good, and I have to say this one I actually liked a lot, being dumb teenage boy nonsense of a trashy but basically good natured kind with enough weird fetishes to make it interestingly odd.

The next movie, however... But I'll wait for that.
posted by Artw at 11:41 AM on May 10, 2015


Ooh, are we doing all of these?

Yup
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:55 AM on May 10, 2015 [2 favorites]


This was the first film I watched in a theater in Los Angeles. It was fantastic in 2001, and it's fantastic now.
posted by infinitewindow at 9:30 AM on May 11, 2015 [1 favorite]


Such pulpy joy, and Vin's entrance as Dom - just the back of his head and a dismissive gesture - is one of the best character introductions ever. The ever-present campiness is there, too, from the title on down.
posted by Gin and Broadband at 12:19 PM on May 11, 2015 [1 favorite]


Yeah, Walker is so damn bright-eyed and fresh faced. Terrible cop. I had forgotten that men used to do the countdown for the cars. How times have changed.

The actor who plays Lance is Officer Wu on Grimm.
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 12:49 AM on May 25, 2015


Man, they were stealing TV/DVD player combos. Whoah!

I KNOW I was like "And falcons, and polio!"
posted by KathrynT at 9:27 PM on May 25, 2015 [2 favorites]


And now the cinematographer of this one has gone on to direct the remake of Point Break, the 'inspiration' of this one.

#thecircleiscomplete
posted by cendawanita at 8:44 PM on May 26, 2015 [3 favorites]


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