Review by Leonard Norwitz
Overview:
It would seem that car chases and street racing were made
for the home theatre experience – all the more so in high
definition picture and sound. From
Bullitt and
The French Connection, to
The Bourne Trilogy,
Ronin and the
Transporter movies, to fantasy
films like
The Dark Knight and
Wanted, to
classic chase films like
Vanishing Point and
The
Road Warrior, the extended genre has made its presence
felt. These movies have a particular seductive draw,
especially for those fortunate enough to have large displays
or front projection and dynamic surround sound. The Fast
and the Furious franchise seems to have been
deliberately devised with this after-market market in view.
Timed to coincide with the release of the fourth installment
of the Fast franchise, and hot on Vin Diesel's
exhaust from Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick,
Universal delves once more into their HD-DVD library to
bring to Blu-ray life the movie and the first two sequels,
now billed as The Fast and the Furious Trilogy - even
in the face of the new Fast and Furious 4 that will
reunite Vin Diesel and Paul Walker with the director of
Fast 3: Tokyo Drift.
The HD-DVD editions, released in September of 2006, only a
few months into the high-definition software wars, were very
well received in respect to image and sound quality, the
latter not yet availed of lossless audio. Even if there
were no other "upgrades" for the new Blu-ray set, a well
produced DTS HD-MA track for all three movies would be
reason enough for die-hard fans of the franchise to switch,
and those that stuck with the Sony camp or are new to HD to
check it out. As it is, the Blu-ray trilogy offers a number
of new extra features, some in high def, plus U-Control
invested in all three movies (keep in mind that the HD-DVD
had 30 GB capacity vs. the BR's 50), and a Digital Copy Disc
for each movie.
I've had the unique opportunity to watch these three movies
for the first time on successive nights on Blu-ray in one of
the best home theatre setups in town (he said in all
humility) and I have to admit I found a certain appeal
despite their obvious, one might say, deliberate, lack of
value beyond the visuals, the noise, the babes, the music,
the chase – in short, the thrill – for none of these movies
are very long on screenplay or character. Nor should they
be.
I imagine that, despite their similarities, each viewer will
have their favorites based on the way the races are
contrived and edited, on the cars and their paint jobs, the
babes – not just the ones front and center, but those
massaging the cars and lusting after the players and the
winners, and of course, the music and the way it is mixed
into the effects. So for me, F&F1 and F&F3
are the clear winners here. F&F2 has some good ideas
and the presence of Ms. Mendes and Mr. Tyrese, but its
reliance on a monotonous drum track for two of the chases
and the absence of a fully fleshed out race makes it less
interesting. F&F3 has a good deal going for it: a
new locale, new women, and a different form of racing
altogether (to say nothing of driving on the left side of
the street in left and right drive cars – that our hero
somehow gets the knack of all too easily), and by far the
most varied music in the most dynamic mix of the bunch.
The Fast and the Furious
Directed by Rob Cohen
2001
Studio:
Theatrical: Neal H. Moritz
Video: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Review: Leonard Norwitz
Video:
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Resolution: 1080p
Codec: VC-1 @ high 20s-low 30s
Capacity: BD-50
Supplements: English 2.0 Dolby Digital @ 1080i & 480i/p
Runtime: 107 minutes
Chapters: 20
Audio:
English DTS HD-Master Audio 5.1; Spanish & French DTS 5.1.
Subtitles:
English SDH, Spanish & French
Extras (Hi-Def): (NOTE: 'NEW' features are marked in
RED)
• Dom's Charger (4:22)
• Quarter Mile at a Time (9:44)
Extras (SD)
* Commentary with Director Rob Cohen
* The Making of The Fast and the Furious
* (8) Deleted Scenes
• Extended Scenes
• Alternate Ending
* Paul Walker Public Service Announcement
* Tricking Out a Hot Import Car
* Turbo Charged Prelude to 2 Fast 2 Furious
• Sneak Peak at 2 Fast 2 Furious
* Multiple Camera Angle: Stunt Sequence
* Editing Featurette
* Movie Magic Interactive
* Visual Effects Montage
• Storyboards to Final Feature Comparison
* 4 Music Videos [didn't HD-DVD have 3 ?]
* Theatrical Trailer
• Speed News Wrap (Easter Egg)
• Crash Montage (Easter Egg)
• D-Box Enabled
• Digital Copy Disc
Exclusive to Blu-ray:
• U-Control:
• Picture-in-Picture: cast & crew interviews [as versus the
"Instant Access track on the HD-DVD]
• Tech Specs
• BD-Live 2.0
Standard Blu-ray Case
Street Date: March 24th, 2009
The Movie:
6
It's illegal drag racing on the streets of East Los
Angeles. The hottest cars - real and virtual - the hottest
babes of all races and cultures, an undercover cop who finds
the racing life a little too seductive for his own good.
Here's the movie that initiated the franchise, kick-started
the career of Vin Diesel, and made home theatre enthusiasts
all over the world very happy.
Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) is an undercover cop working
his way into the world of illegal street racing to try to
learn what's become of the contents of highjacked trucks.
There's some serious money invested in and gambled on these
sleek , tricked out cars, and following that money leads
O'Connor to Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) by way of his
sister Mia (Jordana Brewster). But there is another group
of much badder asses led by Johnny Tran (Rick Yune) burning
rubber and cars as pleases them – but which is responsible
for the highjackings – if either?
Image: 9/9
The first number indicates a relative level of excellence
compared to other Blu-ray video discs on a ten-point scale.
The second number places this image along the full range of
DVD and Blu-ray discs.
All three Fast & Furious movies have demonstration
level image quality. Perhaps because for no good reason I
expected less, I was very impressed with the image. For the
longest while I was having trouble finding my critical hat,
but then, especially with the prayer scene at the backyard
bar-b-q, its orange filtration began to creep into my
perceptual consciousness. In any case none of this would
have been the fault of the transfer, which I imagine is
faithful to the director's intentions. Black levels and
contrast are spot on and I found no evidence of annoying
artifacts when I could slow things down long enough to think
about it.
Audio & Music: 9/7
I can see why they call this music "Rave." It's the perfect
supportive soundscape for the crunching visceral experience
that is The Fast and the Furious. The truck
highjacking that starts off the movie is enhanced with some
impressive deep growls that will make your tokus
tingle and your gut tighten. I can't imagine this being as
impressive without the benefit of uncompressed audio, as it
did not have in the HD-DVD (whose audio received general
applause at that). There is a presence to the goings on,
whether subtle or explosive, that is downright tangible at
times.
Operations: 8
Universal's U-Control, which we now take more or less for
granted, is the new feature here, since it was not yet
employed in the HD-DVD. The menu, which we get to at once
upon loading, is laid out like other Universal Blu-rays.
Arrows tell you which way to direct your remote, and the
bonus feature instructions are detailed and intuitive. The
chapter menu includes buttons for U-Control in case you want
to approach those functions from that point. And, there are
the usual number of U-Control opportunities to invite,
delight and confuse.
Extras: 7
The numerous features in standard definition that appeared
on DVD and/or HD-DVD also appear here (I won't review these,
except to express my amusement at Rob Cohen's assertion that
the beginning of his movie was "stolen" from John Ford's
Stagecoach. The audacity of the comparison is equaled
by the fact the scene he compares his movie to in some
detail doesn't exist in John Ford's movie.) On the new
Blu-ray there are also two new featurettes in high-def,
U-Control interactive access, D-Box enablement and a Digital
Copy Disc. The new featurettes are: "Dom's Charger," which
struck me as a little disorganized, as if it didn't know if
it wanted to be about the Charger, where they created the
impression of one car out of many, or simply an promo piece
for the coming F&F4. "Quarter Mile at
a Time" is a quasi-documentary
about street racing from its beginnings with Henry Ford,
into the days of booze-running Prohibition, to what has
become a global phenomenon. Ostensibly in HD, a
considerable amount of this segment consists of archival
footage, so don't get your hopes up.
2 Fast 2 Furious
Directed by John Singleton
2003
Studio:
Theatrical: Neal H. Moritz
Video: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Review: Leonard Norwitz
Video:
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Resolution: 1080p
Codec: AVC @ mid 30s
Capacity: BD-50
Supplements: English 2.0 Dolby Digital @ 1080i & 480i/p
Runtime: 108 minutes
Chapters: 19
Audio:
English DTS HD-Master Audio 5.1; Spanish & French DTS 5.1.
Subtitles:
English SDH, Spanish & French
Extras (Hi-Def):
• Fast Females (7:54)
• Hollywood Impact (13:23)
Extras (SD)
* Commentary with Director John Singleton
* Inside 2 Fast 2 Furious
* Deleted Scenes
* Outtakes
* Tricking Out a Hot Import Car (also on F&F1)
* Prelude to 2 Fast 2 Furious (also on F&F1)
• Sneak Peak at 2 Fast 2 Furious
* Actor Driving School
* Supercharged Stunts
• Making Music with Ludacris (4:59)
• Furious Afterburners (3:23)
* Actor Spotlights: Tyrese Gibson, Paul Walker, Devon Aoki
* Car Spotlights: The Spyder, The Evo VII, The S2000
• D-Box Enabled
• Digital Copy Disc
Exclusive to Blu-ray:
• U-Control:
• Picture-in-Picture cast & crew interviews
• Tech Specs
• Animated Anecdotes
• BD-Live 2.0
Standard Blu-ray Case
ASIN: B001QWQJ3S
Street Date: March 24, 2009
Comment:
Singleton says he was going for a different look as versus
the first F&F movie – his influences being Japanese
anime, the old Speed Racer cartoons, and the
Grand Turismo video game. However, I felt his movie
was the least creative of the three. Its setup deliberately
duplicates the first movie from the nighttime street race
through to O'Connor's arrest so that this time he will be
taken in as an ex-cop on the run instead of a cop working
undercover. It's a punch line that doesn't support the
weight of repetition. The new locale (Miami) certainly
offers a new look to the movie and Singleton capitalizes on
this with a burnished daytime color palette, but the plot is
weak, even for something as mindless as this, and everything
strikes us as forced. So much about the final crash is
ludacris, except the actor who is somewhere else getting a
speeding ticket.
The Movie:
5
Our erstaz undercover cop (Paul Walker, never prettier) is
now on the run, a veteran driver and king of the streets,
but the feds want him back in the game. For his driving
teammate, O'Connor picks a schoolhood friend (Tyrese Gibson,
never cooler) that he sent up in his first days on the
force. Bad blood, however, doesn't get in the way when the
prize is a record expunged. The case before them is not
quite clear – to anyone including us - but I didn't find
that it mattered much. What is important is that Monica
Fuentes (Eva Mendes, never sexier) has been working
undercover with the criminal element (Cole Hauser, never
more menacing) for a year and, like Sean, may have gone
native. Who can you trust?
Image: 9/9
The first number indicates a relative level of excellence
compared to other Blu-ray video discs on a ten-point scale.
The second number places this image along the full range of
DVD and Blu-ray discs.
All three Fast & Furious movies have demonstration
level image quality. It is possible that my newly painted
video screen still has a way to go before it no longer
imposes its own say about the image, for in this movie it
seemed that skies and other bright areas were a little more
pixelated than they should be. But take this observation
under advisement. Given the Miami locales, the daytime
color palette is understandably vivid – a cliché perhaps,
thanks to Miami Vice and Coppertone ads. It fits the
business at hand. No artifacts or enhancements observed.
Audio & Music: 8/6
This struck me as the weakest of the three movies, partly
because of the lame drum track for a couple of the chase
sequences and partly because so much of the middle of the
film lacks the huevos of the first movie. Imaging and
effects are all in place, but overall it struck me as
thinnish for much of the movie. I say this only in
comparison to the first movie, since Tokyo Drift has
a different kind of racing to deal with.
Operations: 8
Like the first Fast and Furious, Universal's
U-Control is the new feature here, since it was not yet
employed in the HD-DVD. The menu, which we get to at once
upon loading, is laid out like other Universal Blu-rays.
Arrows tell you which way to direct your remote, and the
bonus feature instructions are detailed and intuitive. The
chapter menu includes buttons for U-Control in case you want
to approach those functions from that point. And, there are
the usual number of U-Control opportunities to invite,
delight and confuse.
Extras: 7
In addition to the numerous features in standard definition
that appeared on DVD and/or HD-DVD (which I will not review
here), there are two new featurettes in high-def, several
U-Control interactive access, D-Box enablement and a Digital
Copy Disc. The new featurettes are: "Fast Females" is a
look at the women of the Fast franchise in which Jordana
Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Eva Mendes, Devon Aoki and
Nathalie Kelley talk about their characters; and "Hollywood
Impact," where Leonard Maltin takes us on a ride of movies
that celebrate our love of driving cars from American
Graffiti through the Bourne trilogy.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Directed by Justin Lin
2006
Studio:
Theatrical: Neal H. Moritz
Video: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Review: Leonard Norwitz
Video:
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Resolution: 1080p
Codec: AVC @ low-mid 20s
Capacity: BD-50
Supplements: English 2.0 Dolby Digital @ 1080i & 480i/p
Runtime: 104 minutes
Chapters: 20
Audio:
English DTS HD-Master Audio 5.1; Spanish & French DTS 5.1.
Subtitles:
English SDH, Spanish & French
Extras (Hi-Def):
• Making of the Fast Franchise (17:02)
• Drift: A Sideways Craze (60:00)
Extras (SD)
* Commentary with Director Justin Lin
* Deleted & Extended Scenes
* Cast Cam
* The Big Breakdown: Han's Last Ride
* Tricked Out to Drift
* Drifting School
* The Real Drift King
* The Japanese Way
• Welcome to Drifting (6:14)
• Custom Made Drifter
• 3 Music Videos (there was 1 on the HD-DVD)
• D-Box Enabled
• Digital Copy Disc
Exclusive to Blu-ray:
• U-Control:
• Picture-in-Picture cast & crew interviews
• Tech Specs
• Storyboards
• GPS
• BD-Live 2.0
Standard Blu-ray Case
ASIN: B001QWQJ3S
Street Date: March 24, 2009
The Movie:
6
While F&F2 is clearly a sequel, F&F3 is a standalone simplex
that explores a quite different form of street racing:
drifting, about which there is a new extended bonus feature
in HD.
From the streets of East Los Angeles to Miami , and now
Tokyo, where drift is the name of the game and the anime and
live action Initial D, the obvious influence. Sean
Boswell (Lucas Black, at 24 an unconvincing 17-year old, but
otherwise exuding the requisite teen angst) has been sent to
Tokyo to live with his father in lieu of a stint in jail for
one too many illegal street races – the most recent with
some serious property damage. Dad, who left the family when
things got tough, insists Sean attend school and stay away
from cars. Sure. You bet. Anything you say. Before the
day is up Sean meets fellow students, "Twinkie" (Bow-Bow),
Sean's guide though everything pop-Japanese, and Neela, a
striking Australian/Japanese girl (Nathalie Kelley, who is
actually Argentian/Irish, raised in Australia) who just
happens to be the girlfriend of DK - that's "DK" for "Drift
King" – (Brian Tee) a man with some serious attitude about
everything.
A challenge naturally ensues and Sean finds he is mightily
outclassed by the subtle requirements of high speed hairpin
turns – in short, drifting, which he eventually learns from
the independent and classy Han (Sung Kang, who speaks
clearer English than anyone else in the cast), whose car
Sean wrecked in the race.
Much is made of the concept of being an outsider in a
cultural as tight as this since both Neela and Sean fit the
bill, but the motivating underdrama is about turf and face,
whose loss DK suffers at the hands of Han in the presence of
his Yakuza uncle (Sonny Chiba). Explosive results ensue.
Image: 9/9
The first number indicates a relative level of excellence
compared to other Blu-ray video discs on a ten-point scale.
The second number places this image along the full range of
DVD and Blu-ray discs.
All three Fast & Furious movies have demonstration
level image quality. This one, perhaps because of its many
locations and day and night shooting may be presented a
little softer and smoother than the others - possibly some
post-processing prior for the movie itself. In any case,
we're not talking anything noxious here. I speculated about
some judicious use of DNR, but gave up on the idea. The neon
look of reflected and painted surfaces is to die for.
Contrast and black levels are spot on. The nighttime race
down the mountain is well preserved. A dynamite picture.
Audio & Music: 10/8
This is the audio mix that I found was the best and most
varied of the three Fast & Furious movies: the racing
effects are powerful and dynamic, with scrapings, crashes,
tire screeches and engine whirrings all mixed with
spectacular surround involvement, including the music.
Different from the first two movies, the music here is of a
similar level of clarity regardless of genre, which, while
all over the map of international pop, is right on the mark
for each action sequence as well as background, foreground
and connecting material. The dialogue is clear and, along
with any other effects appropriately equalized for each
venue.
Operations: 8
The menu, which we get to at once upon loading, is laid out
like other Universal Blu-rays. Arrows tell you which way to
direct your remote, and the bonus feature instructions are
detailed and intuitive. The chapter menu includes buttons
for U-Control in case you want to approach those functions
from that point. And, there are the usual number of
U-Control opportunities to invite, delight and confuse.
Extras: 8
Universal's now commonplace interactive access to PIP
material, "U-Control", first saw the light right about the
time of this title's appearance on HD-DVD. The first two
Fast and Furious titles had no U-Control, but on the new
Blu-ray Trilogy all three movies are so blessed.
In addition to the numerous features in standard definition
that appeared on DVD and/or HD-DVD (which I will not review
here), there are two new featurettes in high-def (just as
there are on the new Blu-ray editions of the first two
movies), plus D-Box enablement and a Digital Copy Disc. The
new Blu-ray exclusive featurettes are: "Making of the 'Fast'
Franchise," which goes behind the scenes and reviews the
locales for each of the four movies; and "Drift: A Sideways
Craze," an hour long documentary in excellent quality high
definition that tracks the careers of three professional
drift drivers. This is clearly the best of all the extra
features on the disc.
"Welcome to Drifting" is new to both the DVD and the Blu-ray
and is still worthy if not a little redundant as it explores
the technique involved in not being in control while being
in control. Even so, it's a good place to start before
watching the movie. "Custom Made Drifter" is a clever piece
of computer graphics: pick the paint, highlights and wheels
of your car and watch it make circles around the chic's car
just as it did on the movie – but with your customized car.
Extras:
Recommendation: 8
Certainly The Fast and the Furious movies are not
designed to stimulate the higher intellect but to massage
the primal needs. In this the Blu-ray trilogy nails the
image and particularly the sound to perfection. With a
handful of new extra features and the inclusion of U-Control
for all three movies, this is a must have for car porn
addicts.
Leonard Norwitz
March 29th, 2009
