Thriller Research - Fast and Furious!

Fast and Furious - Action/Crime Thriller

Director - Rob Cohen

Release Date - 14th September 2001 (UK)

Starring - Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster

Awards Won:

1. MTV Movie Award - Best On-Screen Team
2. Taurus Award - Best Work With a Vehicle
3. Hollywood Breakthrough Award - Breakthrough Male Performance (Paul Walker)

Synopsis - A police officer - Brian O'Connor - is chosen to find and arrest Dominic Toretto and his crew who are illegal street racers and have committed various theft crimes involving valuable cars. He has been sent undercover and falls in love with Toretto's Sister and finds himself involved with the racing, wanting to help the crew as oppose to bringing them down, thereby testing his loyalties.

The generic conventions of this film include convicts/criminals with the main characters breaking the law. However this film is based on their perspective as a group thus showing it from their side. This means that we as an audience favour them as oppose to the law - despite knowing that what they are doing is wrong.

Another generic convention is escaped cons which shows the pursuit of freedom particularly in the later films of the Fast and Furious film series. For example in the end of Fast and Furious 4 (Video above). This scene implies that Toretto is going escape through the help of his crew but because it cuts before we know, it then provides a cliffhanger making it a perfect beginning for the next film. The use of diegetic sound with the cars shows us the power of these vehicles and makes the film seem more fast paced and eventful with the help of quick and tense music. The location is also key as it is isolated informing the audience that this place has no boundaries and no one can stop what we assume is about to happen.

This particular screen shot from the clip is an example of the rule of thirds which is significant. The subject and object takes up roughly 2/3 of the shot and is representative of Toretto - the man they are about to help escape. It is significant because the necklace on the first third of the shot has been included throughout the film series and is recognisably Toretto's item and therefore having it included shows the power and influence he has. It represents who is crew are saving and how they will always help him because that is what they do.

Roger Ebert Review :

'"The Fast and the Furious" is not a great movie, but it delivers what it promises to deliver, and knows that a chase scene is supposed to be about something more than special effects. It has some of that grandiose self-pitying dialogue we've treasured in movies like this ever since "Rebel Without a Cause." "I live my life a quarter-mile at a time," Toretto tells Brian. "For those 10 seconds, I'm free." And, hey, even for the next 30 seconds, he's decelerating.'

I do agree with this comment as it isn't a blockbuster film but it does provide us with the nail-biting, edge of your seat kind of entertainment. The use of cliffhangers are so effective as the script isn't pre-written like a book so the whole plot could change making it unpredictable. It promises to deliver in which it most definitely does!