The Fast and the Furious (2001 film)
Encyclopedia
The Fast and the Furious is a 2001 street racing
Street racing
Street racing is a form of unsanctioned and illegal motor racing which takes place on public roads. Street racing can either be spontaneous or well-planned and coordinated. Well coordinated races are planned in advance and often have people communicating via 2-way radio/citizens' band radio and...

 action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...

 starring Paul Walker
Paul Walker
Paul William Walker IV is an American actor. He became well known in 1999 after his role in the hit film Varsity Blues. He is also known for starring in the surprise summer hit The Fast and the Furious. His other films include Joy Ride, Running Scared, Into the Blue and Eight Below...

, Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He became known in the early 2000s, appearing in several successful Hollywood films, including The Fast and the Furious and xXx...

, Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez
Mayte Michelle Rodríguez , known professionally as Michelle Rodriguez, is an American actress. Following on from her breakthrough role in 2000's Girlfight, she is best known for playing tough-girl roles and starring in Hollywood blockbusters such as The Fast and the Furious, Resident Evil,...

 and Jordana Brewster
Jordana Brewster
Jordana Brewster is an American actress. She began her acting career in her late teens, with a 1995 one-episode role in the soap opera All My Children. She followed that appearance with the recurring role as Nikki Munson in As the World Turns, for which Brewster was nominated for Outstanding Teen...

. Directed by Rob Cohen
Rob Cohen
Robert "Rob" Cohen is an American film director, producer and writer.-Early life:Cohen was born in Cornwall, New York. He was raised and spent his childhood in the Town of Newburgh and graduated from Newburgh Free Academy in 1967...

, The Fast and the Furious was the first mainstream film to feature the Asian automotive import scene
Import scene
The Import Scene or Import Racing Scene or Tuner Scene refers to the subculture that revolves around modifying imported brand cars , especially those of Japanese brands, for street racing.-History:...

 in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. It is the first film in The Fast and the Furious film series
The Fast and the Furious (film series)
The Fast and the Furious is a series of action films that focuses on street racing and heists. Produced by Universal Studios, the series was established in 2001 with the eponymous first installment, which has since been followed by four sequels, and two short films that tie into the series...

. The film's concept was inspired by a Vibe magazine article about street racing in New York City, and its plot is loosely based on No Man's Land
No Man's Land (1987 film)
No Man's Land is a 1987 film directed by Peter Werner and starring D. B. Sweeney, Charlie Sheen and Randy Quaid. Brad Pitt made his acting debut in this film as an uncredited extra.-Plot:...

, and Point Break
Point Break
Point Break is a 1991 action film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The title refers to the surfing term point break, where a wave breaks as it hits a point of land jutting out from the coastline.The film was a box office success upon...

. It bears no relation to the earlier racing film of the same name. The Fast and the Furious film series was followed by 2 Fast 2 Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious is a 2003 street racing action film directed by John Singleton. It is the second film in The Fast and the Furious film series following The Fast and the Furious . It stars Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes, Devon Aoki, and Chris Bridges; and was directed by John Singleton. The...

(2003), The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is a 2006 street racing action film directed by Justin Lin. It is the third installment in the The Fast and the Furious film series and currently the sixth in terms of series chronology...

(2006) (chronologically the last), Fast & Furious (2009) and Fast Five (2011).

Plot

Elite street racer and ex-convict Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He became known in the early 2000s, appearing in several successful Hollywood films, including The Fast and the Furious and xXx...

) and his crew: Jesse (Chad Lindberg
Chad Lindberg
Chad Tyler Lindberg is an American actor. He is best known for his film role as Jesse in The Fast and the Furious and for a rape scene in the 2010 remake I Spit On Your Grave.-Life and career:...

), Leon (Johnny Strong
Johnny Strong
Johnny Strong is an American actor, musician and martial artist. He is best known for his roles in Black Hawk Down and The Fast and the Furious as Leon. Aside from acting, Strong is also the founder of the band Operator.-Biography:Strong was born in Los Angeles, California...

), Vince (Matt Schulze
Matt Schulze
Matthew Steven "Matt" Schulze is an American actor and musician.-Early life:Schulze was born and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. At age 16, he moved to Atlanta, where he studied guitar at the Atlanta Institute of Music. He moved to Los Angeles in 1992 to be a studio musician, but ended up doing...

) and Dominic's girlfriend Leticia Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez
Mayte Michelle Rodríguez , known professionally as Michelle Rodriguez, is an American actress. Following on from her breakthrough role in 2000's Girlfight, she is best known for playing tough-girl roles and starring in Hollywood blockbusters such as The Fast and the Furious, Resident Evil,...

), use three modified
Modified car
For the American oval track automobile racing series, see Modified racingThe term modified car is given to any vehicle that has been altered from its original state; most commonly with aftermarket components...

 1995 Honda Civics
Honda Civic (fifth generation)
Introduced in July 1991 the fifth generation of the Honda Civic had a more wedge-shaped body and the wheelbase was increased to 257 cm for the two-door hatchback and 262 cm for the four-door sedan. The wagon was also dropped for overseas markets, while the previous generation station...

 to perpetrate a string of high-speed, semi-trailer truck hijackings, stealing over $6 million in merchandise. LAPD officer Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker
Paul Walker
Paul William Walker IV is an American actor. He became well known in 1999 after his role in the hit film Varsity Blues. He is also known for starring in the surprise summer hit The Fast and the Furious. His other films include Joy Ride, Running Scared, Into the Blue and Eight Below...

) is sent undercover on a joint LAPD-FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...

 investigation to apprehend the gang. Brian uses his cover job at The Racer's Edge, an aftermarket parts shop, to make connections and infiltrate the local street racing scene. He enters his modified 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS 420A into an illegal race with Dominic and two other drivers by bartering the pink slips
Vehicle title
In the United States, the certificate of title for a vehicle is a legal form, establishing a person or business as the legal owner of a vehicle. Vehicle titles in the U.S...

, but loses to Dominic's modified 1993 Mazda RX-7
Mazda RX-7
Series 1 is commonly referred to as the "SA22C" from the first alphanumerics of the vehicle identification number. This series of RX-7 had exposed steel bumpers and a high-mounted indentation-located license plate, called by Werner Buhrer of Road & Track magazine a "Baroque depression."In 1980...

. Brian gains Dominic's respect, however, when he arrives in time to prevent Dominic from being caught by police responding to the race. As they flee, Dominic and Brian accidentally venture into southern California's "Little Saigon", encountering Dominic's rival, Johnny Tran (Rick Yune
Rick Yune
Richard "Rick" Yune is a Korean American actor, screenwriter, producer, and martial artist.Yune, a Korean American, was born in Washington D.C. He is the older brother of actor Karl Yune...

) and his gang, who open fire with submachine guns, rupturing a nitrous tank and destroying the Eclipse in the resulting explosion.

The next day, Brian delivers a totaled 1994 Toyota Supra to Dominic's shop and offers his talents as a driver to repay the debt incurred from losing the race. Brian begins dating Dominic's sister Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster
Jordana Brewster
Jordana Brewster is an American actress. She began her acting career in her late teens, with a 1995 one-episode role in the soap opera All My Children. She followed that appearance with the recurring role as Nikki Munson in As the World Turns, for which Brewster was nominated for Outstanding Teen...

) and Jesse goes to work restoring the Supra. The investigation eventually leads Brian to suspect Tran and his gang of performing the hijackings and he reports the findings to his superior, sergeant Tanner (Ted Levine
Ted Levine
Frank Theodore "Ted" Levine is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs and Captain Leland Stottlemeyer in the television series Monk.-Early life and career:...

) and FBI special agent Bilkins (Thom Barry
Thom Barry
Thom Barry is an American actor, notable for playing Detective Will Jeffries in Cold Case since its first episode in 2003.Barry is from Cleveland, and in the early 1980s he was a DJ in Cincinnati...

). When the subsequent raid of Tran's garage prove him to be innocent, Bilkins and Tanner return to their original theory that Dominic and his crew are the perpetrators. Tanner warns Brian not to let his feelings for Mia or his friendship with Dominic cloud his judgment, and Bilkins gives Brian thirty-six hours to break the case.

With the Supra now fully prepped to race, Brian presses Dominic for information regarding his income, citing the shop alone wouldn't pay for all his racing expenditures. Dominic gives Brian an invitation to "Race Wars", a massive street racing event held in the desert, and informs him they'll talk once Brian has proven his worth on the strip. Jesse races and loses his imprisoned father's modified 1995 Volkswagen Jetta to Tran's modified 2000 Honda S2000. Jesse panics and hastily flees the track, prompting Tran to confront Dominic and demand that he retrieve the car for him. Dominic refuses and is provoked into a fight in which he brutally beats Tran and is pulled off by Vince and two race wars security. Early the next morning, Dominic and his crew leave Race Wars to commit another hijacking.

Brian confesses to Mia his status as an undercover cop and convinces her to come with him to save her brother and his friends from the armed truck drivers. He tracks their location by triangulating his cell phone signal and they arrive at the hijacking in-progress to find Leticia, badly injured at the car accident, and Vince, critically wounded, having been shot by the truck driver. Brian and Mia work together with Dominic, Leon and Leticia to rescue Vince. Brian then makes the difficult decision to blow his cover to the crew by phoning in for a medivac. The revelation enrages Dominic, but he contains himself and flees with Leon, Leticia and Mia as the medivac arrives for Vince.
Brian follows Dominic to his house and holds him at gunpoint to prevent him from fleeing. Jesse arrives shortly afterwards, apologizing for his actions at Race Wars and pleading for help with Tran. Moments later, Tran and his cousin Lance Nguyen (Reggie Lee
Reggie Lee (actor)
Reggie Lee is an American actor who played William Kim on the show Prison Break and also appeared as Tai Huang in two Pirates of the Caribbean films, as well as The Fast and the Furious...

) perform a drive-by shooting
Drive-by shooting
A drive-by shooting is a form of hit-and-run tactic, a personal attack carried out by an individual or individuals from a moving or momentarily stopped vehicle without use of headlights to avoid being noticed. It often results in bystanders being shot instead of, or as well as, the intended target...

 and kill Jesse. Brian and Dominic chase them, with the latter driving his late father's modified 1970 Dodge Charger. He forces Lance's motorcycle off the road, severely injuring him, while Brian shoots and kills Tran. Afterwards, Brian and Dominic engage in an impromptu street race, narrowly avoiding a passing train. Dominic is then very badly injured when he collides with a semi-truck and rolls his car twice, rendering the Charger undrivable. Instead of arresting him, Brian hands over the keys to the Supra and lets him escape, making good on his promise to deliver a "ten second car". Some time later, Dominic is seen driving through Baja California, Mexico, in a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS.

Cast

  • Paul Walker
    Paul Walker
    Paul William Walker IV is an American actor. He became well known in 1999 after his role in the hit film Varsity Blues. He is also known for starring in the surprise summer hit The Fast and the Furious. His other films include Joy Ride, Running Scared, Into the Blue and Eight Below...

     as Brian O'Conner
  • Vin Diesel
    Vin Diesel
    Vin Diesel is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He became known in the early 2000s, appearing in several successful Hollywood films, including The Fast and the Furious and xXx...

     as Dominic Toretto
    Dominic Toretto
    Dominic Toretto is a fictional character portrayed by Vin Diesel in The Fast and the Furious film series created by screenwriter Gary Scott Thompson. Dom is first introduced in the film The Fast and the Furious...

  • Michelle Rodriguez
    Michelle Rodriguez
    Mayte Michelle Rodríguez , known professionally as Michelle Rodriguez, is an American actress. Following on from her breakthrough role in 2000's Girlfight, she is best known for playing tough-girl roles and starring in Hollywood blockbusters such as The Fast and the Furious, Resident Evil,...

     as Leticia Ortiz
  • Jordana Brewster
    Jordana Brewster
    Jordana Brewster is an American actress. She began her acting career in her late teens, with a 1995 one-episode role in the soap opera All My Children. She followed that appearance with the recurring role as Nikki Munson in As the World Turns, for which Brewster was nominated for Outstanding Teen...

     as Mia Toretto
  • Rick Yune
    Rick Yune
    Richard "Rick" Yune is a Korean American actor, screenwriter, producer, and martial artist.Yune, a Korean American, was born in Washington D.C. He is the older brother of actor Karl Yune...

     as Johnny Tran
  • Chad Lindberg
    Chad Lindberg
    Chad Tyler Lindberg is an American actor. He is best known for his film role as Jesse in The Fast and the Furious and for a rape scene in the 2010 remake I Spit On Your Grave.-Life and career:...

     as Jesse
  • Johnny Strong
    Johnny Strong
    Johnny Strong is an American actor, musician and martial artist. He is best known for his roles in Black Hawk Down and The Fast and the Furious as Leon. Aside from acting, Strong is also the founder of the band Operator.-Biography:Strong was born in Los Angeles, California...

     as Leon
  • Matt Schulze
    Matt Schulze
    Matthew Steven "Matt" Schulze is an American actor and musician.-Early life:Schulze was born and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. At age 16, he moved to Atlanta, where he studied guitar at the Atlanta Institute of Music. He moved to Los Angeles in 1992 to be a studio musician, but ended up doing...

     as Vince
  • Ted Levine
    Ted Levine
    Frank Theodore "Ted" Levine is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs and Captain Leland Stottlemeyer in the television series Monk.-Early life and career:...

     as Tanner
  • Ja Rule
    Ja Rule
    Jeffrey Atkins , better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper, singer, and actor.Born in Hollis, Queens, he began his career in the group Cash Money Click and debuted in 1999 with Venni Vetti Vecci and its single "Holla Holla"...

     as Edwin
  • Vyto Ruginis
    Vyto Ruginis
    Vyto Ruginis is an American actor known for playing a vampire, Russell Winters, in the cult TV series Angel in its first episode, "City Of", as well as for his appearances in CSI, House MD, The X-Files, ER, Law & Order and other television programs.Vyto has appeared in such films as "Devils...

     as Harry
  • Thom Barry
    Thom Barry
    Thom Barry is an American actor, notable for playing Detective Will Jeffries in Cold Case since its first episode in 2003.Barry is from Cleveland, and in the early 1980s he was a DJ in Cincinnati...

     as Bilkins
  • Stanton Rutledge as Muse
  • Noel Guglielmi as Hector
  • RJ De Vera as Danny Yamato
  • Beau Holden as Ted Gassner
  • Reggie Lee
    Reggie Lee (actor)
    Reggie Lee is an American actor who played William Kim on the show Prison Break and also appeared as Tai Huang in two Pirates of the Caribbean films, as well as The Fast and the Furious...

     as Lance Nguyen
  • David Douglas
    David Douglas
    David Douglas was a Scottish botanist. He worked as a gardener, and explored the Scottish Highlands, North America, and Hawaii, where he died.-Early life:...

     as Rasta Racer
  • Peter Navy Tuiasosopo as Samoan Guard
  • Neal H. Moritz
    Neal H. Moritz
    Neal H. Moritz is an American film producer. He is the founder of Original Film.-Life and career:He has over 70 films to his credit...

     as Ferrari Driver
  • F. Valentino Morales as Dispatcher


Director Rob Cohen makes a cameo appearance on the first race scene as a pizza delivery man.

Production notes

The title rights, not the story rights, to the film The Fast and the Furious (1955), were purchased so that the title could be used on this project, another film about racing. The original film was shown in a theater owned by the grandfather of producer Neal H. Moritz.

According to an interview found on the original DVD release, Cohen was inspired to make this film after reading a Vibe magazine article about street racing in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and watching an actual illegal street race at night in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

.

The film was shot in various locations within Los Angeles and parts of Southern California. Key locations included Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...

 (on the opening scene where Brian tests his Eclipse on the parking lot), Angelino Heights
Angelino Heights, Los Angeles, California
Angelino Heights is a small quarter within the Echo Park district of Los Angeles, California . It is most notable for its impressive well-kept Victorian era residences, although these are small in number...

, Silver Lake
Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California
Silver Lake is a hilly neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California east of Hollywood and northwest of Downtown Los Angeles. Silver Lake is inhabited by a wide variety of ethnic and socioeconomic groups, but it is best known as an eclectic gathering of hipsters and the creative class.The...

 and Echo Park
Echo Park, Los Angeles, California
Echo Park is a hilly neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, northwest of Downtown Los Angeles and southeast of Hollywood.-History:At the end of the 19th century, when the hills were still covered with native vegetation, a horse-drawn streetcar line served the dirt road that is now Echo Park Avenue...

 (the neighborhoods around Toretto's home), as well as Little Saigon (where Tran destroys the Eclipse) and the San Bernardino International Airport
San Bernardino International Airport
San Bernardino International Airport is a public airport located two miles southeast of the central business district of San Bernardino, California, in San Bernardino County, California, USA. The airport covers and has one runway. It is currently a general aviation and cargo airport located on...

 (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 South side of San Jacinto/Hemet in the San Jacinto Valley in California near Diamond Valley Lake.

Prior to filming, both Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez did not have driver's licenses, so they took driving lessons during production.

In one scene at Toretto's home, the gang is seen watching Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story is a 1993 American semi fictionalized biographical martial arts action film telling the story of actor and martial arts expert Bruce Lee, starring Jason Scott Lee as Bruce Lee, Lauren Holly and Robert Wagner...

, another film directed by Cohen.

For the climactic race scene between Brian and Toretto, 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 Toretto's car to crash through the semi-truck and fly in mid-air.

Music

The film's score was composed by music producer BT
BT (musician)
Brian Wayne Transeau is a classically trained and Grammy-nominated American music producer, composer, audio technician, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter better known by his stage name, BT. He is an artist in the electronic genre...

, mixing Electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...

 with Hip-hop and Industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...

 influences. Two soundtracks were released for the movie. The first one features mostly hip-hop and rap music. The second one, titled More Fast and Furious: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture The Fast and the Furious, features alternative metal
Alternative metal
Alternative metal is a genre of alternative rock and heavy metal that gained popularity in the early 1990s. Most notably, alternative metal bands are characterized by heavy guitar riffs and experimental approaches to heavy music.-Origins:...

, Post-grunge
Post-grunge
Post-grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged in the mid-1990s as a derivative of grunge, using the sounds and aesthetic of grunge, but with a more commercially acceptable tone...

 and Nu metal
Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...

 songs, as well as select tracks from BT's score.

Release

The Fast and the Furious was released on DVD on January 2, 2002. A second print known as the "Tricked Out Edition", released on June 3, 2003, featured Turbo-Charged Prelude
Turbo-Charged Prelude
Turbo-Charged Prelude is a 2003 short film, directed by Philip Atwell, featuring Paul Walker, reprising his role as Brian O'Conner, in a short series of sequences which bridge The Fast and The Furious with its first sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious...

, a short film that set the tone to the film's sequel
2 Fast 2 Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious is a 2003 street racing action film directed by John Singleton. It is the second film in The Fast and the Furious film series following The Fast and the Furious . It stars Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes, Devon Aoki, and Chris Bridges; and was directed by John Singleton. The...

. The scene is also on the DVD of that sequel.

The film was released on HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...

 along with 2 Fast 2 Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious is a 2003 street racing action film directed by John Singleton. It is the second film in The Fast and the Furious film series following The Fast and the Furious . It stars Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes, Devon Aoki, and Chris Bridges; and was directed by John Singleton. The...

 on September 26, 2006 along with The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is a 2006 street racing action film directed by Justin Lin. It is the third installment in the The Fast and the Furious film series and currently the sixth in terms of series chronology...

 on DVD and on Blu-ray disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...

 on July 28, 2009 along with Fast & Furious on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Reception

The Fast and the Furious was met with mixed reviews, with a score of 54% based on 142 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

 (64% among 33 top critics)

Todd McCarthy of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

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."
Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

called it "an action picture that's surprising in the complexity of its key characters and portents of tragedy."
Susan Wloszczyna of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, saying that Cohen "at least knows how to keep matters moving and the action sequences exciting."

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

gave the film a C, saying it "works hard to be exciting, but the movie scarcely lives up to its title."
Rita Kempley of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...

gave the film a scathing review, calling it "Rebel Without a Cause
Rebel Without a Cause
Rebel Without a Cause is a 1955 American drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social commentary and an alternative to previous films depicting delinquents in urban slum environments...

without a cause. The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...

with gas fumes. The Quick and the Dead with skid marks."
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.

Video game

The film series has spawned a couple racing video games for arcade, PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

 and PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...

.

The Fast and the Furious (Wild Speed in Japan)
The Fast and the Furious (arcade game)
The Fast and the Furious is an arcade game based on the street racing themed 2001 film of the same name. It was developed and published by Raw Thrills...

arcade video game was released by Raw Thrills
Raw Thrills
Raw Thrills, INC. is an arcade game entertainment company.-History:Raw Thrills was founded in 2001 by Eugene Jarvis, Deepak Deo, and Andrew Eloff. The staff also consists of other former Midway Games employees...

 in 2004.
In 2006, The Fast and The Furious (ファスト・アンド・フュリアス)
The Fast and the Furious (video game)
is a racing game for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. The game is based on the film series of the same name; particularly, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift...

 was released for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

 and PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...

.

Toys and model kits

Racing Champions released diecast metal
Die-cast toy
The term die-cast toy here refers to any toy or collectible model produced by using the die casting method. The toys are made of metal, with plastic, rubber or glass details. Wholly plastic toys are made by a similar process of injection moulding, but the two are rarely confused...

 replicas of the film's cars in different scales from 1/18 to 1/64. RadioShack
RadioShack
RadioShack Corporation   is an American franchise of electronics retail stores in the United States, as well as parts of Europe, South America and Africa. As of 2008, RadioShack reported net sales and operating revenues of $4.81 billion. The headquarters of RadioShack is located in Downtown...

 sold ZipZaps
ZipZaps
ZipZaps were miniature radio-controlled cars sold by RadioShack, currently marketed under the brand name XMODS Micro RC. They were commonly compared to Tomy's Bit Char-G ZipZaps were miniature radio-controlled cars sold by RadioShack, currently marketed under the brand name XMODS Micro RC. They...

 micro RC
Radio-controlled car
Radio-controlled cars are self-powered model cars or trucks that can be controlled from a distance using a specialized transmitter...

 versions of the cars in 2002. 1/24 scale plastic model kits of the hero cars were manufactured by AMT Ertl
Ertl Company
The Ertl Company is an American toy company best known for its die-cast metal alloy collectible replicas of farm equipment and vehicles. The company is based in Dyersville, Iowa, home of the National Farm Toy Museum...

.

Sequels

The film has spawned four sequels: 2 Fast 2 Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious is a 2003 street racing action film directed by John Singleton. It is the second film in The Fast and the Furious film series following The Fast and the Furious . It stars Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes, Devon Aoki, and Chris Bridges; and was directed by John Singleton. The...

(2003), The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is a 2006 street racing action film directed by Justin Lin. It is the third installment in the The Fast and the Furious film series and currently the sixth in terms of series chronology...

(2006), Fast & Furious (2009), and Fast Five
Fast Five (film)
Fast Five is a 2011 action film written by Chris Morgan and directed by Justin Lin. It is the fifth installment in the Fast and the Furious film series. It was released first in Australia on April 20, 2011, and then in the United States on April 29, 2011...

(2011) with a sixth installment on the works. Paul Walker returned for 2 Fast 2 Furious, teaming up with Tyrese Gibson, but sat out for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Lucas Black
Lucas Black
Lucas York Black is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles in the CBS television series American Gothic as well as roles in films such as Sling Blade, Jarhead, Friday Night Lights, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Legion, Get Low, and All the Pretty Horses.-Personal...

 starred instead, and Vin Diesel made a cameo
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...

 at the end. The third sequel, Fast & Furious, featured Diesel, Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster reprising and returning to their roles from the first film. The fourth sequel, Fast Five, featured most of the major stars from the previous films, excluding Michelle Rodriguez (though a photo of her intriguingly featured in a post-credits scene) and Lucas Black.

External links

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