Barnes & Noble

This supercharged melodrama was the year’s undisputed sleeper hit for good reason. Edgy and stylish, The Fast and the Furious goes beyond the extremely limited parameters of youth-oriented action films and very nearly attains the mythic quality associated with the rugged westerns of John Ford and Howard Hawks. Teen-movie hunk Paul Walker, in his first leading role, plays a hotshot driver who joins a cultlike coterie of Los Angeles street racers and becomes the protégé of local legend Dominic Torreto (Vin Diesel), whose posse rules the ‘hood. Their sleek, souped-up cars are fueled as much with testosterone as with gasoline, and violent clashes with rival gangs account for the film’s non-racing action highlights. Rob Cohen, who previously directed Walker in The Skulls, deliberately and effectively contrasts the brash and enigmatic novice with his unsavory mentor, a thoroughgoing hoodlum who adheres rigidly to his own peculiar code of honor. With his shaved head, muscular physique, and deep bass voice, Diesel is quickly becoming the most imposing screen presence of his generation. He imbues Torreto with charisma to spare. With the less complex part, Walker displays a heretofore unsuspected star quality, and Jordana Brewster shines as Diesel’s loyal sister. Occasionally improbable to the point of absurdity, The Fast and the Furious nonetheless succeeds in achieving a sort of surreal authenticity that makes it not only believable but genuinely gripping. The Collectors Edition DVD offers a commentary by Cohen in addition to deleted scenes, a making-of documentary, a montage of visual effects used to enhance the first racing sequence, an interactive segment showing the same car stunt from eight different angles, a featurette on the film's editing, storyboard-to-film comparisons, and several music videos Ed Hulse

Barnes & Noble

"It delivers what it promises to deliver, and knows that a chase scene is supposed to be about something more than special effects." -- Roger Ebert,

All Movie Guide

A magazine article about real-life car racing gangs for Vibe becomes this fast-paced automotive thriller from director Rob Cohen. Paul Walker stars as Brian O'Conner, a youthful FBI agent investigating a series of hijackings by going undercover with a street gang led by charismatic Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel). Caught up in Toretto's world of gang conflict that is resolved in late-night car races, Spindler starts to sympathize with his chief suspect and falls in love with Toretto's younger sister Mia (Jordana Brewster). In the meantime, Spindler initially suspects the wrong gang of complicity in the crimes he's probing, while Toretto remains involved in a forbidden romance, à la Romeo and Juliet, with his girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez). The Fast and the Furious co-stars Ted Levine, Rick Yune, and Matt Schulze. Karl Williams

Chicago Sun-Times

It delivers what it promises to deliver, and knows that a chase scene is supposed to be about something more than special effects. Roger Ebert

Hollywood Reporter

Has B-movie grit, with sexy young actors, even sexier cars and the smarts to realize a teen movie will only work if you empathize with its characters. Kirk Honeycutt

Product Details

• UPC: 025195055505
• Source: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Editions: Special Edition, Subtitled, Slip Sleeve, Dubbed
• Time: 1:47:00
• Sales Rank: 24,839

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Fast & the Furious Trilogy
• Fast & Furious: 4-Movie Collection

Features: