A gritty and gratifying cheap thrill, Rob Cohen's high-octane hot-car meller is a true rarity these days, a really good exploitationer, the sort of thing that would rule at drive-ins if they still existed.
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:32
Fresh:21
Rotten:11
Average Rating:5.8/10
Consensus: Sleek and shiny on the surface, The Fast and the Furious recalls those cheesy teenage exploitation flicks of the 1950s.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for violence, sexual content, and language
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:Jun 22, 2001 Wide
Box Office: $142,542,950
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... 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. [More]
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Rick Yune
Director: Rob Cohen
Director: Rob Cohen
Screenwriter: Gary Scott Thompson, David Ayer
Producer: Neal H. Moritz
Composer: Brian Tyler
Studio: Universal Pictures
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Reviews for The Fast and the Furious
While few of the paper-thin characters register long enough to make much of an impression, Diesel carries the movie with his unsettling mix of Zen-like tranquillity and barely controlled rage.
Works hard to be exciting, but the movie scarcely lives up to its title.
Even those who've never heard of 'rice rockets' (Japanese imports souped up with computerized hydraulics and customized engines) might be charmed by the film's blend of kineticism, car-culture rituals, and hilariously flat-footed dialogue.
Diesel, Brewster and Rodriguez have undeniable charisma, while Walker is serviceable in his role.
Cohen ... at least knows how to keep matters moving and the action sequences exciting.
Rob Cohen, who last directed The Skulls -- ouch! -- can consider this one another career-killing skid mark.
Guilt-free pleasure, the sort that wears its trashiness on its sleeve and exults in it.
Such a drag that it ends up doing something hard to imagine: it makes you long for the soulless professionalism of a Jerry Bruckheimer movie.
Yes, the whole thing is pretty dumb, and every character and every situation is familiar from better movies.
An action picture that's surprising in the complexity of its key characters and portents of tragedy.
These gear-heads may spout car-talk like know-it-alls, but they sound no less nerdy than trivia-obsessed Trekkers.
Has B-movie grit, with sexy young actors, even sexier cars and the smarts to realize a teen movie will only work if you empathize with its characters.
The disconcertingly but finally happy surprise of the picture comes with the way it persuades you to its perverse point of view.
It's been a long time since we've had a junky exploitation movie we could really fall for. The Fast and the Furious is that movie.
Screenwriters Gary Scott Thompson, Erik Bergquist, and David Ayer haven't really written a movie, they've followed a formula.
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April 01, 2009:
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It's a good week for Watchmen fans, as the highly anticipated animated short Tales of the Black Freighter (and the faux-documentary Under the Hood) arrive on shelves. Animation... More...
August 25, 2008:
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In what promises to be even faster and more furious to a greater degree, we've got the official first look at the trailer for Fast & Furious, which will reunite original cast... More...
November 21, 2007:
Jordana Brewster Joining The Fast and the Furious 4?
Justin Lin has already convinced Vin Diesel and Paul Walker to get on board for The Fast and the Furious 4 -- but they may not be the only members of the first installment's... More...
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