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Both Paul Walker and Vin Diesel reprise their roles from the 1st Fast & Furious for this 4th installment of the series (not counting the 1955 original - how many readers have seen that?). The series has earned over $600 million worldwide so far.
Set your calenders for June 5th, 2009!
About his quick cameo in Fast & Furious 3 (Tokyo Drift), Diesel recently explained his interest in a full return: "I saw how people related to the characters' stories as much as the cars and action." You may also remember that the DVD of the 1st film added an after-credit scene of him driving a muscle car while hiding in Mexico... perhaps an indication way back then that the originators of the series had a return in mind for his character.
Readers will find several pictures on the net taken during the shooting of the film over the past several months. The following three were officially released by the studio this month.
Rumor has it that Michelle Rodriquez will reprise her role as Letty in the new film as well, although apparently she is killed off early in the film. Could that have been because of her recent jail sentence, and reputed unreliability? Or was it because she had an affair with Diesel during the making of the 1st film and was summarily discarded by him afterwards?
Lets hope that Jordana Brewster also returns - for the entire film. Her date with Paul Walker's character in the film at the Cuban restaurant was memorable, although at the end of the film she unfortunately choose to leave with her brother instead of facing prison.
OK, I admit it: there's some dumb stuff in these films (especially #2), but as a whole I like 'em because they're lots of fun. I saw the first one 3 times when it came out, twice with car clubs, and saw #3 twice (the ending with the cameo by Vin Diesel was great, and the cameo by Keiichi Tsuchiya was even better - but how many people know who he is, or his history?), and of course all of these films are a part of my movie library. Anything about Americans in Tokyo interests me - I want to work there professionally for a year someday. I've also been to Universal City in Los Angeles to see some of the F&F cars on display. Several were also shown at last November's Los Angeles Auto Show.
Memorable moments in the franchise:
the Lightning pickup full of parts for the Supra build-up in #1 - something that no enthusiast could resist. There's nothing more I'd like to do than order an enormous load of parts for a Supra TT and start a serious build up (although the orange paint and graphics wouldn't be a part of it for me).
the appearance of the black S2000 in #1... although it was unused.
The race party in the desert. Who wouldn't want to attend that?
Driving a GT-R around town!
Deplorable/silly moments:
reprogramming your engine while in the middle of a race... with a laptop hidden under your passenger's seat.
silly children in bright colored cars in #2... especially the embarrassing pink S2000.
All the racing scenes in #2 - clearly the writing had to change if the series was going to continue.
Speaking of #2, it was obviously the low point in the series. I didn't have high expectations for #3, but it turned out to be a fun film and well done. Generally, I don't like drifting, but I do intend to someday drive some of the mountain roads in Japan where drifting started.
But lets get back to #4: the first image probably reveals a significant moment in the plot, suggesting truck hijacking is again part of the film.
The next two are undoubtedly Dominic Toretto's return to his many street admirers, and his reunion with Paul Walker's character.
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