The Fast and the Furious (2001 film)

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox film The Fast and the Furious is a 2001 action film directed by Rob Cohen and written by Gary Scott Thompson, Erik Bergquist, and David Ayer, based on the Vibe magazine article "Racer X" by Ken Li. The first installment in the Fast & Furious franchise, it stars Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Rick Yune, Chad Lindberg, Johnny Strong, and Ted Levine. In the film, undercover cop Brian O'Conner (Walker) infiltrates a street racing crew to investigate a series of hijackings and finds himself developing a complex friendship with the group's leader, Dominic Toretto (Diesel).

The Fast and the Furious entered development in late 1998, its concept inspired by Li's Vibe article about illegal street racing. Thompson and Bergquist wrote the original screenplay that year, with Ayer hired soon after.<ref>Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: Template:Cite magazineTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Various actors were considered for the roles of O'Conner and Toretto, with Walker cast in 1998 and then Diesel in early 1999, with the pair attending actual street races in preparation for the film. Principal photography began in July 2000 and finished that October, with filming locations primarily including Los Angeles and the surrounding area in Southern California. Record producer BT was hired to compose the score.

The Fast and the Furious premiered at the Mann Village Theatre in Los Angeles on June 18, 2001, and was released in the United States on June 22, by Universal Pictures. Critics praised the action sequences and the performances but criticized its story; the film is considered Diesel's, Walker's, and Rodriguez's breakthrough roles. The Fast and the Furious grossed $207 million worldwide on a $38 million budget. The film's success spawned a franchise of consisting of 9 sequels, a spin-off film, a TV series, and several video games. It was followed by 2 Fast 2 Furious in 2003.

Plot

Outside Los Angeles, a heist crew driving three heavily modified Honda Civics hijack a semi-truck trailer carrying electronic goods and escape into the night along the Terminal Island Freeway. Meanwhile, LAPD officer Brian O'Conner is sent undercover as part of a joint LAPD-FBI task force to locate the crew responsible. Brian investigates Toretto's Market & Cafe managed by Mia, sister of notorious street racer Dominic “Dom” Toretto. When Dom's crew arrivesTemplate:EmdashVince, Leon, Jesse, and Dom's girlfriend LettyTemplate:EmdashVince becomes suspicious of Brian and picks a fight with him. As a result of the fight, Dom threatens to fire Brian from his undercover job at Harry's garage and ban him from the market, but Harry manages to reason with him and keep Brian employed.

Brian brings a modified 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS to a car meet, hoping to find a lead on the heist crew. Dom arrives in his Mazda RX-7 and initiates a race. Without credibility, Brian wagers his car; he, Dom, and two other drivers race. Brian's car malfunctions and Dom wins the race, but LAPD officers arrive, forcing Dom to flee. Brian rescues him, helping him escape, inadvertently venturing into territory held by a rival racing gang led by Johnny Tran and his cousin Lance. Tran and Lance destroy the Eclipse, and the two are forced to return to Dom's home on foot. Dom reiterates that Brian still owes him a ten-second car.

Brian delivers a decrepit MK4 Toyota Supra to Dom's garage, and the crew begins the process of restoring it. At the same time, he begins dating Mia and looks into Tran's finances.

Hector comes to Harry’s garage and speaks to Brian with the intent to buy performance parts for Honda Civics. While Brian is investigating one of Hector's garages, looking for the Civics that have been involved in the heists, Brian is discovered by Dom and Vince; he convinces the latter he is researching Tran's gang's vehicles in preparation for Race Wars.

In the process, the three discover a large number of electronic goods, which Brian reports to his superiors, LAPD Sergeant Tanner and FBI Special Agent Bilkins. Tran is arrested, but is found to have acquired the goods legally. An enraged Bilkins berates Tanner and Brian. Bilkins then informs Brian that the truck drivers have begun arming themselves to kill the hijackers and notifies him that he has 36 hours to find them, whom the former believes was Dom all along. Brian and Dom attend Race Wars, where Jesse wagers and loses his father's MK3 Volkswagen Jetta in a drag race against Tran driving his Honda S2000. Jesse flees upon losing, resulting in a confrontation between Dom and Tran. Tran accuses Dom of being a narc, and the two fight before being broken up.

That evening, Brian witnesses Dom leaving with his crew to carry out the heist. Brian reveals his identity to a distraught Mia, convincing her to help him knowing their danger. Dom, Letty, Vince, and Leon attempt to hijack the truck; the driver fires on Vince, critically injuring him and running Letty off the road in the process. Brian and Mia catch up to help, but Brian is forced to reveal his identity when he calls for MEDEVAC to save Vince. Dom, Mia, Letty, and Leon flee the scene before the police arrive.

Later, Brian arrives to arrest Dom, but the latter demands he leave in order to save Jesse from the danger he's in from Tran's gang. Jesse arrives, pleading for help, but he is gunned down by Tran and Lance on motorcycles. Brian foregoes his arrest of Dom and gives chase to Tran and Lance, with Dom getting into his father's 1970 Dodge Charger R/T to pursue Tran and avenge Jesse. During the chase, Dom runs Lance off the road before Brian accidentally kills Tran.

Brian then pursues Dom, and the two agree to a quarter-mile race over a railroad crossing. The race narrowly ends in a draw, but Dom is t-boned by a passing truck. Instead of arresting him, Brian hands over the keys to his Supra, reminding Dom he was owed a ten-second car. He walks away as Dom drives off.

In the post-credits scene, Dom is seen driving through Baja California, Mexico, in a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS.

Cast

• Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner:
  An LAPD police officer sent to infiltrate a crew of hijackers and also Mia's primary love interest.
• Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto:
  Leader of the heist crew and a professional street racer. He was banned from professional racing after a violent retaliatory attack on the man he believed had accidentally killed his father.
• Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz:
  A member of Dom's crew and his girlfriend.
• Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto:
  Dom's sister and owner of the Toretto general store. Brian's love interest.
• Rick Yune as Johnny Tran:
  A Vietnamese gang leader and rival of Dom.
• Chad Lindberg as Jesse:
  A member of Dom's crew. Highly intelligent with math, algebra, and in computing, but he dropped out of school due to his attention deficit disorder.
• Johnny Strong as Leon:
  A member of Dom's crew.

The central cast is rounded out by Ted Levine and Thom Barry as Tanner and Bilkins, respectively, members of the team that organized the investigation to place Brian undercover, and Matt Schulze as Vince, a member of Dom's crew and his childhood friend. Noel Gugliemi appears as Hector, the organizer of the drag race. Musician and rapper Ja Rule and car tuner R.J. de Vera also act as Edwin and Danny, fellow drivers at the drag race who race against Dom and Brian. Vyto Ruginis plays Harry, an informant and owner of The Racer's Edge. Reggie Lee portrays Lance Nguyen, Tran's cousin, and right-hand man. Neal H. Moritz and Rob Cohen both appear in cameos; Moritz plays an unnamed driver of a black Ferrari F355 convertible who is given a challenge by Brian, while Cohen plays a Pizza Hut delivery man. Gugliemi has reprised his role as Hector in future Fast & Furious movies, and has also played similar characters with the same name in other films and TV shows.

Production

Development

In 2000, actor Paul Walker had worked with director Rob Cohen on The Skulls. Cohen secured a deal with producer Neal H. Moritz for an untitled action film for Universal Pictures, and approached Walker and asked him to suggest his "dream" action film; Walker suggested a mash-up of the films Days of Thunder (1990) and Donnie Brasco (1997).<ref name="Amy Kaufman">Template:Cite web</ref> Soon thereafter, Cohen and Moritz brought him the Vibe magazine article "Racer X" by Ken Li, published in May 1998, which detailed underground street racing operating in New York City,<ref name="Yahoo! Movies">Template:Cite news</ref> and suggested a story set to follow Walker as an undercover cop tasked with infiltrating the world of underground street racing.<ref name="Amy Kaufman" /> The screenplay was originally developed by Gary Scott Thompson and Erik Bergquist. David Ayer was brought into the project to help rework the script. Ayer changed it from the "mostly white and suburban story" set in New York to a diverse one set in Los Angeles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Upon being offered the role, Walker signed on immediately.<ref name="Amy Kaufman" /> Eminem was offered the role, but turned it down to work on the film 8 Mile (2002), and Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale were also considered.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref> Originally, the studio told the producers they would green-light the film if they could get Timothy Olyphant to play the role of Dominic Toretto. Olyphant, however, who had starred in the previous year's car-themed film Gone in 60 Seconds, declined the role. Olyphant said that he turned down the role as he thought the film would be "stupid".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Moritz instead suggested Vin Diesel, who had to be convinced to take the role even though he had only played supporting roles up to that point.<ref name="Entertainment Weekly">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The role of Mia Toretto was originally written for Eliza Dushku, who declined it, and Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jessica Biel, Kirsten Dunst, and Natalie Portman auditioned before Jordana Brewster was cast.<ref name="auto"/>

Moritz had difficulty choosing between the titles Racer X (after the article), Redline, Race Wars and Street Wars, but was ultimately inspired by a documentary on American International Pictures, which included the 1954 film The Fast and the Furious. Moritz was traded use of some stock footage to its director, Roger Corman, in exchange for a license to use the title.<ref>Franich, Darren. "Fast & Furious' producer on the first film: 'We were the little movie nobody really cared about." Template:Webarchive EW.com, May 25, 2016. Retrieved: September 25, 2017.</ref><ref name="oral-history">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Filming

The film was shot in various locations within Los Angeles and parts of southern California, from July to October 2000. Key locations included Dodger Stadium (the opening scene where Brian tests his Eclipse in the parking lot), Angelino Heights, Silver Lake and Echo Park (the neighborhoods around the Toretto house), as well as Little Saigon (where Tran destroys the Eclipse) and the San Bernardino International Airport (the venue for Race Wars, which attracted over 1,500 import car owners and enthusiasts). The entire last rig heist scene was filmed along Domenigoni Parkway on the southern side of San Jacinto/Hemet in the San Jacinto Valley near Diamond Valley Lake.<ref name="Cinema.com">Template:Cite web</ref>

Before filming, both Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez did not have driver's licenses, so they took driving lessons during production.<ref name="Cinema.com" /><ref name="oral-history" /> For the climactic race scene between Brian and Dom, separate shots of both cars crossing the railroad and the train crossing the street were filmed, then composited together to give the illusion of the train narrowly missing the cars. A long steel rod was used as a ramp for Dom's car to crash through the semi-truck and fly in mid-air.Template:Citation needed During filming, 78 cars were wrecked both on and off-screen, of which 3 cars were shown being destroyed in the film's trailer alone.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During production, stunt coordinator and second unit director Mic Rodgers developed a vehicle named the “Mic Rig” in collaboration with special effects coordinator Matt Sweeney and the rest of the film's special effects department.<ref name="Cinema.com" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Music

The film's score was composed by music producer BT, mixing electronica with hip-hop and industrial influences. Two soundtracks were released for the film. The first one features mostly hip-hop and rap music. The second one, titled More Fast and Furious, features alternative metal, post-grunge and nu metal songs, as well as select tracks from BT's score.

Release

The Fast and the Furious premiered at the Mann Village Theatre in Los Angeles on June 18, 2001.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was then released to theaters in the United States on June 22, 2001.

Home media

The Fast and the Furious was released on DVD and VHS on January 2, 2002.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The DVD release sold 2.1 million copies during its first day of release, making it the second-highest single-day DVD sales of any film, behind Pearl Harbor.<ref name="DVDRecords">Template:Cite news Template:Open access</ref> The film also made $18.65 million in video store rental revenue in its first week, a record at the time, beating Cast Away.<ref name="DVDRecords" /> It was later surpassed by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in May.<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Open access</ref> More than 5.5 million home video units were sold by April 2002.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A second DVD release, dubbed the "Tricked Out Edition", was released on June 3, 2003, and features The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 Fast 2 Furious, a short film that set the tone of the film's sequel. An abridged version of the short film is also on the sequel's DVD release.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

An alternate ending titled "More Than Furious" was filmed, in which Tanner drops Brian off at the Toretto house, where he encounters Mia packing, intending to move away. Brian reveals that he resigned from the LAPD, who let him go quietly, and that he wants another chance with her. When Mia tells him that it is not going to be that simple, Brian tells her that he has time. This ending was released in the collection bundle DVD version.

Merchandising

Racing Champions released diecast metal replicas of the film's cars in different scales from 1/18 to 1/64.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> RadioShack sold ZipZaps micro RC versions of the cars in 2002.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1/24 scale plastic model kits of the hero cars were manufactured by AMT Ertl.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A video game was planned for a release in 2003 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox by Vivendi Universal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Two other video games were released in 2004: a mobile game and an arcade game both titled The Fast and the Furious.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The arcade game was ported to the Wii as Cruis'n in 2007.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Reception

Box office

The Fast and the Furious earned $40,089,015 during its opening weekend and ranked #1 at the box office ahead of Dr. Dolittle 2, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Atlantis: The Lost Empire.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The film became one of the four consecutive Universal films of 2001 to gross $40 million in their opening weekends, with the others being Jurassic Park III, American Pie 2 and The Mummy Returns.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its widest release was 2,889 theaters. During its run, the film made a domestic total of $144,533,925 along with an international total of $62,750,000 bringing its worldwide total of $207,283,925 on a budget of $38 million.<ref name="boxofficemojo"/>

In the United Kingdom, the film ranked in second place at the box office behind Moulin Rouge!, collecting $2.6 million during its opening weekend.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 55% based on 155 reviews, and an average rating of 5.40/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Sleek and shiny on the surface, The Fast and the Furious recalls those cheesy teenage exploitation flicks of the 1950s."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>FAST AND THE FURIOUS, THE (2001) Template:Webarchive CinemaScore</ref>

Todd McCarthy of Variety called the film "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."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called it "an action picture that's surprising in the complexity of its key characters and portents of tragedy."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Vin Diesel's portrayal of Dominic Torretto won praise, with Reece Pendleton of the Chicago Reader writing that "Diesel carries the movie with his unsettling mix of Zen-like tranquillity and barely controlled rage."<ref name="Pendleton">Template:Cite web</ref> Future franchise director Louis Leterrier and star Jason Statham went to watch the film in Paris in 2001 while on a break from filming The Transporter (2002), and praised it.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Other reviews were more mixed. Susan Wloszczyna of USA Today gave the film 2Template:Frac out of 4 stars, saying that Cohen "at least knows how to keep matters moving and the action sequences exciting."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a C, saying it "works hard to be exciting, but the movie scarcely lives up to its title."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times stated "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."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Rita Kempley of The Washington Post gave the film a scathing review, calling it "Rebel Without a Cause without a cause. The Young and the Restless with gas fumes. The Quick and the Dead with skid marks."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Paul Clinton of CNN wrote that Cohen "created a high-octane, rubber-burning extravaganza" but he criticized the film for "plot holes you could drive the proverbial truck through" and an "idiotic" ending.<ref name="edition.cnn.com">Template:Cite web</ref>

Accolades

Award	Category	Nominee	Result
AFI Award	Cinematographer of the Year	Ericson Core	Template:Nominated
ALMA Award	Outstanding Song in a Motion Picture Soundtrack	The Fast and the Furious for the song "Put It On Me"	Template:Nominated
ASCAP Award	Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures	Ja Rule for the song "Put It On Me"	Template:Won
Black Reel	Theatrical – Best Actor	Vin Diesel	Template:Nominated
BMI Film Music Award		BT	Template:Won
Golden Trailer	Best Action	The Fast and the Furious	Template:Nominated
Hollywood Breakthrough Award	Breakthrough Male Performance	Paul Walker	Template:Won
Golden Reel Award (Motion Picture Sound Editors)	Best Sound Editing – Effects & Foley, Domestic Feature Film	Bruce Stambler (supervising sound editor) Jay Nierenberg (supervising sound editor) Michael Dressel (supervising Foley editor) Steve Mann (sound editor) Kim Secrist (sound editor) Steve Nelson (sound editor) Howard Neiman (sound editor) Glenn Hoskinson (sound editor) Tim Walston (sound effects designer) Charles Deenen (sound effects designer) Scott Curtis (Foley editor) Dan Yale (Foley editor)	Template:Nominated
Golden Reel Award (Motion Picture Sound Editors)	Best Sound Editing – Dialogue & ADR, Domestic Feature Film	Bruce Stambler (supervising sound editor) Jay Nierenberg (supervising sound editor) Becky Sullivan (supervising dialogue editor/supervising adr editor) Mildred Iatrou (dialogue editor) Donald L. Warner Jr. (dialogue editor) Robert Troy (dialogue editor) Paul Curtis (dialogue editor) William Dotson (dialogue editor) Cathie Speakman (dialogue editor) Nicholas Vincent Korda (adr editor) Lee Lemont (adr editor)	Template:Nominated
MTV Movie Award	Best On-Screen Team	Vin Diesel Paul Walker	Template:Won
	Best Movie	The Fast and the Furious	Template:Nominated
	Best Male Performance	Vin Diesel	Template:Nominated
	Breakthrough Male Performance	Paul Walker	Template:Nominated
	Best Action Sequence	The Fast and the Furious	Template:Nominated
Stinkers Award	Most Intrusive Musical Score		Template:Won
Taurus Award	Best Driving	Matt Johnston Mike Justus Debbie Evans Tim Trella Christopher J. Tuck Kevin Scott (semi driver)	Template:Won
	Best Work With a Vehicle	Christopher J. Tuck Mike Justus	Template:Won
	Best Stunt by a Stunt Woman	Debbie Evans	Template:Won
	Best Stunt by a Stunt Man	Christopher J. Tuck Tim Trella	Template:Won
	Best Stunt Coordinator and/or 2nd Unit Director: Feature Film	Mic Rodgers	Template:Won
	Best Work With a Vehicle	Jimmy N. Roberts	Template:Nominated
	Hardest Hit	Mike Justus	Template:Nominated
Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie: Sleazebag	Rick Yune	Template:Nominated
	Choice Movie: Hissy Fit	Vin Diesel	Template:Nominated
	Choice Movie: Fight Scene	Paul Walker vs. Rick Yune	Template:Nominated
	Choice Summer Movie	The Fast and the Furious	Template:Nominated

Sequel

The film shattered box office expectations and a sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious, was green-lit immediately. Diesel and Cohen declined to return for the sequel, opting to develop the film XXX (2002), which starred Diesel in the lead role. To account for these changes, Universal commissioned the writers to create a standalone sequel with Walker in the lead and brought in John Singleton as the new director.<ref name="Yahoo! Movies" /><ref name="Amy Kaufman" />

External links

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