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The Fast and the Furious (DVD Cover)

The cover of the Collector's Edition of The Fast and the Furious DVD, featuring the central four characters of the franchise: Dominic Toretto, Letty Ortiz, Mia Toretto and Brian O'Conner.

The Fast and the Furious (also known as The Fast Saga and Fast & Furious) is an American franchise including a series of action films centered on illegal street racing, heists, and espionage and various other media portraying the characters and situations from the films.

Distributed by Universal Pictures, the series was established with the 2001 film titled The Fast and the Furious; followed by seven sequels, two short films that tie into the series, plus video game series. Having earned over $5 billion at the worldwide box office as of April 2017, The Fast and the Furious has become Universal's biggest franchise of all time.

History

Origins

Main article: The Fast and the Furious (film)
Racer X (Vibe Magazine, May 1998)-02

A scan of Rafael Estevez from the "Racer X" article, featured in the May 1998 issue of Vibe magazine.

The inspiration for the first film was taken from an article featured in the May 1998 issue of Vibe Magazine. "Racer X", written by Ken Li, covered street racing in New York City from the point of view of Rafael Estevev[1], who was interviewed for the piece.[2] Director, Rob Cohen, known for films like The Skulls and Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, expressed that he was interested in directing a film about street racing, the people and the lifestyle behind it. Additionally, Cohen attended a street race himself for first hand experience.[3]

Following the purchase to the rights of the name of the 1955 film The Fast and the Furious, the production of the film was able to go forward. Since the first film's release, The Fast and the Furious was compared to the 1991 film Point Break, on account of its plot similarities, however, the original Vibe magazine interview that inspired the film was added to the official DVD release for audience context and clarification.

Further Sequels

The success of the first film lead to the production of two more films, 2 Fast 2 Furious and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Directed by John Singleton, 2 Fast 2 Furious continued the story of the first film's protagonist, Brian O'Conner and introduced R&B singer and actor, Tyrese as O'Conner's childhood friend, Roman Pearce and created the character, Tej for Ludacris when Ja Rule declined to return when he was not given a bigger role.[4] Both films established the traditional two year gap between films.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, directed by Justin Lin, was produced with a stronger emphasis the street racing element, in particular the phenomena known as Drifting. Tokyo Drift also introduced an entirely new cast of characters, and starred Bow Wow, Sung Kang, Sonny Chiba, and Lucas Black as a high school student who learns how to "Drift" in Tokyo, Japan.

"Fast & Furious" Trilogies

After the release of Tokyo Drift, Universal Pictures was of the mind of producing future sequels for "Direct-to-DVD" profits. "The talk internally was that the franchise was played out," Jeffrey Kirschenbaum, Universal Pictures co-president of production, told TheWrap. "At that point we were weighing whether to go straight to video or not for future sequels. We weren't sure what we were going to do."[5]

Vin Diesel had originally been approached to appear in both 2 Fast 2 Furious and Tokyo Drift but declined initially.[6] However, Universal's intention was still to remodel the series for theatrical releases. Vin Diesel and Pitch Black director David Twohy, were looking to own the rights to The Chronicles of Riddick, so he agreed to make a cameo appearance at the end of Tokyo Drift if the rights to Riddick were given to him.[6]

The reception to Diesel's appearance in the film was positive enough that Universal believed that they could "reboot" the series. Their intention with Fast & Furious, Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6 was to downplay the street racing elements and instead focus on the criminal elements of the film such as armed robberies and the procedural elements that were briefly focused on in The Fast and the Furious with Brian O'Conner as law enforcement.

In addition to agreeing to return as the series protagonist, Vin Diesel became the franchise's producer alongside Neal H. Moritz. There was also an effort to diversify the franchise's cast to appeal to a broader audience.[5][7] With the release of Furious 7, the seventh film in the franchise, Vin Diesel announced it was the beginning of a "new trilogy" in the same way Fast & Furious was in 2009.[8]

Later it was determined that The Fate of the Furious is the beginning of the "new trilogy", with Furious 7 functioning as a transition film and as a goodbye to Paul Walker, who died in November 30, 2013. The film was planned to be followed by two other installments. [9] F9 was released as "Part Two" of the trilogy, set to end with a potential two-part Fast X. [10] However, F9 is also considered the first part of said trilogy, which focus is the family. [11]

Filming

The Fast and the Furious was shot in various locations within Los Angeles and parts of southern California. Key locations included Dodger Stadium, Angelino Heights, Silver Lake and Echo Park, as well as Little Saigon and the San Bernardino International Airport, the venue for "Race Wars", which attracted over 1,500 import car owners and enthusiasts.[12] Since the first film and 2 Fast and 2 Furious, the franchise has filmed across the world in various locations. The most notable among them being Tokyo for specific scenes in Tokyo Drift, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in Fast Five, London, England in Fast & Furious 6, Abu Dhabi in Furious 7, and New York City in The Fate of the Furious.

Story

Vin Diesel and Chris Morgan established the narrative that began with the short film Los Bandoleros (directed by Diesel) that established the whereabouts of Dominic Toretto after he escapes Los Angeles and makes it to Baja, Mexico.

Meanwhile, Brian is now a fugitive for aiding and abetting and fled Los Angeles where he eventually made his way to Miami and engaged in the street racing scene, making friends with other street racers such as Tej Parker and Suki. However, he was eventually arrested after winning a street race and recruited by his old boss to engage in a joint FBI-U.S. Customs investigation to apprehend Argentine drug lord, Carter Verone in exchange for clemency. Brian agrees, but also requests that his childhood friend Roman Pearce also join the mission. Brian and Bilkins head to Barstow to recruit Roman, but the meeting is sour as Roman reveals that he was spent three years in prison for harboring stolen cars and subsequently was placed on house arrest, blaming Brian due to the the latter's previous association with law enforcement. However, Roman beguilingly agrees after Brian reveals that Roman's criminal records would be erased if the mission was successful. Together with aid from undercover U.S. Customs agent, Monica Fuentes, Roman and Brian are able to get closer to Verone to deliver a cache of money, with Roman also taking responsibility for his past actions. However, Monica warns the two that Verone planned to have his two hired hands, Enrique and Roberto, kill them both once they delivered Verone's money.

Taking heed of this, Roman and Brian have their called installed with NOS fueled ejection seats to get rid of Verone's henchmen. After getting the money and evading the police, Roman succeeded in disposing of Roberto, but Brian is told by Enrique to meet at Tarpon Point, where Verone eventually reveals that he knew Monica was an undercover agent and plans to slip away with her on his yacht. After Verone orders Enrique to kill Brian, Roman arrives and help Brian fight off Enrique before taking down Verone on his yacht. After Verone was arrested, Roman and Brian have their records erased and decide to remain in Miami, taking some of Verone's money with them. However, Brian eventually returns to Los Angeles, where he joins the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Los Bandoleros explores Dominic's relationship with Han Seoul-Oh and later, Letty Ortiz, his childhood sweetheart, after Dominic makes his way to the Dominican Republic. Fast & Furious establishes the catalyst for the reformation of Toretto's crew following Letty's supposed death at the hands of Fenix Calderon as she was assigned an undercover operation by the FBI to arrest drug lord Arturo Braga in exchange for clemency. The incident reunites Brian with the Toretto's, Dominic and Mia, who are looking to avenge Letty's death. To do this, Brian and Dominic go undercover to arrest Braga. During their undercover mission, they meet Gisele Yashar, an undercover intelligence operative who was working as a liaison for Braga at the time.

With Letty avenged after Braga's arrest and the death of Fenix, Dominic was sentenced to prison for 25 years to life for his past crimes. When Mia and Brian help initiate Dominic's escape, Brian and Mia make a bid to disappear forever when they decide to steal from Hernan Reyes during a heist in Rio de Janeiro, where they reunite with Vince. Their plan requires the assistance of Roman Pearce, Tej Parker, Han, Gisele, Tego Leo and Rico Santos. Despite opposition from DSS agent Luke Hobbs, local cop Elena Neves, and Reyes himself, the crew are able to steal Reyes' money after Hobbs and Elena temporarily aligns themselves with Dom and his crew after the latter's teammates were killed in an ambush staged by Reyes. After a lengthy chase through Rio with a contingent of corrupt cops under Reyes' payroll pursuing them, Hobbs kills Reyes and the crew is able to escape and start new lives in countries without extradition treaties with the United States.

Letty's death was eventually revealed to have been a falsehood when former U.S. Customs agent, Monica Fuentes presents Hobbs photographic confirmation of her survival. Eventually, the entire crew fighting against an ex-SAS operative turned international criminal named Owen Shaw. It is revealed that Owen was affiliated with Braga and played a major role in the assassination attempt on Letty. The team are confront Owen and his team to secure an EMP device known as Nightshade, gain amnesty for their past crimes and to help save Letty, who was left amnesiac and willingly worked for Shaw. The mission is a success and Owen's team is eliminated, with Owen himself being gravely injured after failing from a plane and Gisele seemingly sacrifices herself to save Han.

Following the team's return to the United States, Han eventually travels to Tokyo, where he develops a team of his own and finds solace in the city's drifting community. Additionally, he forms a business partnership with Takashi, a prominent street racer known as the Drift King of Tokyo's street racing scene. Soon, an American expat named Sean Boswell arrives in Tokyo where he is mentored by Han in street drifting and forms a romantic bond with another expat named Neela, much to Takashi's anger. After Han is caught stealing from Kamata, a Yakuza boss and Takashi's grandfather, Han is pursued throughout Tokyo until he is t-boned and seemingly dies in a car explosion. To settle things, Sean convinces Kamata to host a street race in which the loser will be forced to leave Tokyo. After a race against Takashi through the dangerous mount sides of Japan, Sean wins and thus becomes the new Drift King.

Owen's grievous injuries at the hands of Dominic and his crew prompt his elder brother, former UKSF assassin and military officer Deckard Shaw to vow revenge. It was revealed that he was one who seemingly killed Han in Tokyo after deliberately t-boning him and hunts down the other team members to avenge his younger brother. Furious 7 brings the Braga-Shaw story to a close when the crew clash with Deckard in exchange for helping an off-the-record operative named "Mr. Nobody" save a young hacker named Ramsey from a terrorist named Mose Jakande. After rescuing Ramsey and gaining control of her hacking device, the God's Eye, the team defeat Deckard and eliminate Jakande and his team during a final battle in Los Angeles. Afterwards, Deckard was arrested by Hobbs and secured in a maximum security prison.

Three years later, Dom is on his honeymoon with Letty in Cuba until he was forced to help a mysterious cyberterrorist named Cipher in her plans to start a nuclear war. It is also revealed that she was responsible for hiring Owen and Jakande to create Nightshade and steal God's Eye for her, which led go Dom and his crew clashing with them. As a result, the team is forced to team up with Deckard to find out why Dom betrayed them and stop Cipher's plans on wrecking havoc on the world. The operation is successful as the team is able to stop Cipher from launching missiles from a nuclear submarine after Dom rejoins his team after outsmarting Cipher.

Two years after, Hobbs and Deckard are forced to team up for a CIA mission when Deckard's sister and MI6 agent Hattie Shaw becomes a target of Brixton Lore, a former MI6 agent and colleague of Deckard who was mortally wounded by Deckard after joining Eteon, a clandestine terrorist organization that seeks to eliminate half of the global population via the Snowflake, a lethal pathogen created by a scientist named Andreiko. After being healed by Eteon and gaining cybernetic enhancements, Brixton framed by Hattie for killing her team after she injected the Snowflake into her. With MI6 on her, she eventually teams up with Deckard and Hobbs to safely extract it from her body, although they are later set up as international fugitives following Eteon's attack on a CIA black site. It is also revealed that Deckard once served in MI6 alongside Brixton and Hattie and was framed for killing his team after he refused to join Eteon with Brixton, which resulted in Deckard becoming a fugitive. They eventually get help from Deckard's contact, Margarita, who gives them weaponry and a way to infiltrate an Eteon facility in Ukraine to recover a special extraction device.

They gain possession of the device and destroy the facility, but are forced to travel to Samoa to seek the help of Luke's estranged brother, Jonah, after the device was damaged in the escape. After a tense reunion with his family, Hobbs convinced Jonah to repair the device and fortify his family residence to prepare for battle against Brixton. After a lengthy battle in Samoa, Brixton and the Eteon army are defeated by the combined efforts of the Samoans, Hobbs and the Shaw siblings. As a result of his failure, Brixton was remotely killed by Eteon's anonymous director. After the Snowflake was successfully extracted from Hattie, the virus was placed in CIA custody.

Meanwhile, Dominic and Letty are living off the grid while continuing to raise Little Brian. However, they are forced back into the fold with their team when Mr. Nobody's plane crashes in Montequinto and an imprisoned Cipher is extracted by Jakob Toretto, Dom and Mia's younger brother who went rogue to work with his new business partner, Otto to activate a dangerous weapons program called Project Aries. It is also revealed that Dom exiled Jakob from the family after blaming him for the death of their father, Jack Toretto, after Jakob tampered with their father's car during a stock race at Baldwin Speedway in 1989. After a chase through Edinburgh, Jakob is imprisoned at a secret bunker in the Caspian Sea. There, Han reunites with his teammates and explains the nature of his faked demise. He was approached by Mr. Nobody, who once worked with Gisele during his time in the CIA and sought Han due to Gisele's connection with him. Han is tasked to recover Project Aries from a scientist couple, but came across their daughter Elle Lue, who was secretly the key to activating Project Aries. To protect Elle, Mr. Nobody used Deckard's attack as cover to fake Han's death with a holographic projection while Han and Elle went into hiding.

Soon, the base is infiltrated by Otto and his private army, who free Jakob. Jakob revealed that their father was in deep debt and Jakob was instructed to tamper with the car in an attempt to throw the race, only for the plan to go awry when Linder used dirty racing tactics and clipped his bumper. After Elle is captured, Jakob and Otto travel to Tbilisi to activate Project Aries. However, Otto soon revealed that he betrayed Jakob in favor for Cipher. As the team chase the convoy, Jakob is saved by Dom and Mia, who then is able to escape. As Project Aries is nearing completion, Jakob has a change of heart and helps the team stop Project Aries. Although the mission is success, Cipher remotely pilots a high-tech drone to kill the team, but fails and escapes afterwards. Dom and Jakob reconcile and Jakob goes into hiding.

Two years later, Dom and his crew would face their most formidable and dangerous enemy yet: Dante Reyes, Hernan's son who is seeking retribution on Dom and his crew for the Rio heist, which resulted in the destruction of his family's criminal empire. His first step is to form a partnership with Cipher, but when she refused, he coerces her operatives to kill her, effectively usurping her and taking control of her organization. Though Cipher was able to fight them off, she is wounded and goes to Dom for help. The meeting is hostile, but she nonetheless warns Dom and Letty about Dante before being arrested by the Agency.

Her warnings prove to be true as Letty, Roman, Tej, Ramsey, and Dom are framed by Dante as international terrorists for a devastating bomb attack during a false flag operation in Rome. The prompts Aimes, the Agency's new leader after Mr. Nobody's disappearance, to sever the Agency's ties with the crew and issue a manhunt for them. The crew are forced to split up, with Dominic heading to Rio to confront Dante with intel given from Tess, an Agency representative and Mr. Nobody's daughter. As Dante and Dom meet for the first time, they engage in a street race to settle a score, with Dom's old friend Diogo and Elena's younger sister, Isabel Neves, participating. However, Dante cheats by having explosives attached to their cars and kills Diogo, although Dom is able to save Isabel. Later, Dante depletes the crew's bank accounts and used to amass a large army of mercenaries and bounty hunters to go after the crew's family members and associates. Meanwhile, Han, Tej, Roman seek help from Deckard after Ramsey's former associate, Bowie, turned on them for the bounty on their heads. The meeting between Han and Deckard doesn't go well, but they both put aside their differences to fight off an Agency team. Deckard provides the team transports and goes out to protect his mother, Magdalene Shaw, after learning she is among those targeted by Dante.

As Dante's car was knocked of the road, Dom and Little B continued towards the airfield, butt were then cornered at a dam by two remote-controlled oil tankers. Dante soon arrived and revealed that their escape was never going to be easy. As Roman Tej, Han, and Ramsey arrives to save Dom and Little B, their transport plane was shot down by Aimes, who revealed himself as a double agent working for Dante since a partnership formed a decade ago. After the plane crashed, their fates were left uncertain. As the tankers collided, Dom and Little B drove down the dam and narrowly avoided the falling debris around them. However, Dante revealed he had rigged the dam with explosives and armed them, leaving the fates of Dom and Little B unknown. Afterwards, Dante turned his attention on Hobbs. As Hobbs and his team were investigating an abandoned theater, Dante contacted Hobbs and warned him that he was Dante's next primary target for his role in Hernan's death, possibly endangering Hobbs and his family members. Unfazed, Hobbs told Dante he "ain't hard to find".

Chronological Timeline

Name Director Writer Year
The Fast and the Furious Rob Cohen Gary Scott Thompson
Erik Bergquist
David Ayer
Ken Li ("Racer X")
2001
Turbo-Charged Prelude Philip Atwell Keith Dinielli 2003
2 Fast 2 Furious John Singleton Michael Brandt
Derek Haas
2003
Los Bandoleros Vin Diesel Vin Diesel
TJ Mancini
2009
Fast & Furious Justin Lin Chris Morgan 2009
Fast Five Justin Lin Chris Morgan 2011
Fast & Furious 6 Justin Lin Chris Morgan 2013
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Justin Lin Chris Morgan 2006
Furious 7 James Wan Chris Morgan 2015
The Fate of the Furious F. Gary Gray Chris Morgan 2017
Hobbs & Shaw David Leitch Chris Morgan 2019
F9 Justin Lin Daniel Casey
Justin Lin
2021
Fast X Louis Leterrier Dan Mazeau
Justin Lin
2023
Hobbs & Reyes TBA Chris Morgan TBC
Fast & Furious 11 TBC Christina Hodson
Oren Uziel
2025[13]

Related films

In 2002, MTV Films released Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow. The film is not considered part of the The Fast and Furious franchise, however Sung Kang, portrays a character named "Han" in Better Luck Tomorrow. The Han character in Better Luck Tomorrow was a smoker. In Fast Five, Gisele Yashar attributes Han's constant eating and need to occupy his hands to him being a former smoker, an oblique reference to Lin's film.[14]

Trivia

  • Prior to filming The Fast and the Furious, both Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez did not have driver's licenses, so they took driving lessons during production.
  • Since Tokyo Drift, The Fast and the Furious franchise has retroactively established an overarching timeline in which every film after 2 Fast 2 Furious, except Furious 7, occurs before the events of Han Seoul-Oh's faked death in Tokyo Drift.
  • There's no character who appeared in all 10 (or 11 if you count Hobbs & Shaw) films to date. Dom is the franchise's most frequent character and he appeared in 9 of the 10 main films to date. The only film where he doesn't appear is 2 Fast 2 Furious.

References

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