Movies - The Fast and the Furious

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	Movies - The Fast and the Furious

The Fast and the Furious is a 2001 action film starring Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, and directed by Rob Cohen.

Plot

Dominic Toretto (Diesel) is the leader of a street racing gang that is under suspicion of hijacking trucks for their cargo of expensive electronic equipment. Undercover cop Brian O'Conner (Walker) attempts to find out who exactly is stealing the equipment by infiltrating the local racing community with the help of a local auto parts dealer, while falling for Dominic's younger sister Mia (Jordana Brewster).

After O'Conner loses his car to Toretto in a race by racing for "pink slips", a 1950s slang term for the registration documents for a car in the United States, and then loses it again when they are confronted by Toretto's rival Johnny Tran (Rick Yune), O'Conner tries to gain the trust of Toretto by working on repairing and upgrading a burned out Toyota Supra to hand over to him. While doing this, O'Conner is constantly pressured by his superiors in the LAPD and the FBI to bring the investigation to a satisfactory close, leading him to face a stark choice between the community he has embedded himself into and the woman he has become close to or discarding his cover and discovering who from the street gangs are carrying out the hijackings.

The plot is somewhat similar to that of the 1991 film Point Break
. Both films feature an undercover cop infiltrating a gang of underground competition enthusiasts in order to gain information about who is pulling off a series of heists. In both films the protagonist falls for a significant female in the team leader's life, forcing him to ultimately choose whether to take up the life of those he was tasked to spy upon or do his job.

The races are undoubtedly the setpieces of the movie and unfortunately are—by necessity— somewhat formulaic; they are mostly won by one of the racers firing nitrous oxide into the intake manifold at the last moment. The nitrous oxide systems, or NOS, play a big part in the movie, with O'Conner seeing it as vital that his car have more complex and powerful nitrous systems in an attempt to match or beat Toretto. NOS in the movie equally references nitrous oxide in general although Pennsylvania auto parts manufacturer Holley Motor Company's NOS (Nitrous Oxide System) is widely used in the film. Nitrous Express (NX)'s brand is also widely used.

The film was commercially successful and was, for an action film, reasonably well-received by critics as an enjoyable romp featuring some well-shot action scenes.

Influence on popular culture

The Fast and the Furious is also the movie that is credited among other movies with sparking America's youth in "souping up" or "tricking out" Japanese imports when originally this was only popular with the actual hardcore street racers who inspired the movie. For this it has received a cult following. Some people looking for a scapegoat also blame the film for the increase in illegal street racing even though the film does show the dangers and glorification of illegal street racing. The movie is also looked down at by some, as they say that it is responsible with filling the streets up with Rice burners despite the fact "Ricer Burners" have been around for 20 years. The film has also gained a bad reputation within some modified car commmunities, largely because of the "all show and no go" nature of the cars (the sound systems, loud paintwork etc) and the exaggeration of the effects of nitrous oxide. Some also highlight some of the wooden acting in the film of the main cast, and the fact some of the scenes are not well thought through.

Outside the US, TF&TF has helped to popularize the interests in performance Japanese cars, especially in the UK, assisted by the SVA regulation, which saw a mass influx of imported second hand mid and large size sporting cars especially Imprezas and Supras. The movie also helped to change the image of Honda Civics in Europe, as modifications has recently became popular for the model.

It may also have been an influence, due to the "glamour" of the film's villain, Johnny Tran, on the sudden increase in sales of small, high-powered sportsbikes, commonly referred to as crotch rockets (a euphemism Toretto uses in the film). Sportsbikes, typically produced by Japanese motor companies like Suzuki, Honda, and Yamaha Motor Company Ltd., and the Italian company, Ducati Motor Holding, provide a source of transportation that is cheaper (both in price and fuel cost) than an automobile and are popular among the late-teen, early 20s crowd, mainly for its low price.

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Movies - The Fast and the Furious

Plot

Influence on popular culture

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