25 Years Ago, The Fast and the Furious Was Just Another Racing Movie
Before they went to space, Vin Diesel and his crew tore up the streets of L.A. in souped-up Honda Civics.
The Fast & Furious movies as we know them today take place in another reality, one that looks similar to our own but is unencumbered by such petty concerns as “gravity” and other so-called “laws of physics.” They’re spy movies first, and racing movies second — although much of the mayhem is still vehicular, car culture and driving aren’t the main focus. “Big, loud, and dumb” are the name of the game, and and if you’re only familiar with the later sequels, you’d never guess that that Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his “family” have a surprisingly grounded origin story.
Dom isn’t even the main character of The Fast and the Furious — that would be Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker), who at this point is an undercover LAPD officer who infiltrates Dom’s gang as part of an investigation into a series of daring robberies-slash-hijackings. (In a very millennial touch, the first thing that Dom and the crew rip off is a semi truck full of TV/VCR combos.) Later on, Brian’s loyalties would shift, as would the makeup of the cast: Aside from Dom’s on-again, off-again love interest (and badass in her own right) Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), none of the series’ core supporting players appear in the first film. But the most seismic change came when Walker passed in a car crash in 2013, changing the course of the series on and off screen.
From the beginning, the macho chemistry between frenemies Walker and Diesel was undeniable, launching both actors — then relatively unknown — into action-movie stardom. The film’s budget was modest, and critics bashed it for its cliché plot (which does bear quite a few similarities to Point Break, when you think about it). But there was something about this multiracial crew of speed junkies reciting ridiculous lines — “I live my life a quarter mile at a time” comes to mind — with deadly seriousness that resonated with audiences, and The Fast and the Furious was a huge hit in the summer of 2001.
Part of the film’s appeal is that it’s drawn from a real phenomenon: The street-racing culture of the late ‘90s that writer Kenneth Li documented in “Racer X,” the Vibe article that inspired the film. That article documented the underground scene of souped-up imports vying for drag-race dominance on the East Coast, run by gearheads who took “puny four-cylinder rice burner[s] that your moms would drive,” as Li called them, and optimized them into blindingly fast race cars. (In the heist scenes, Dom and his crew drive Honda Civics.)
The movie moves the action to Los Angeles, the birthplace of urban drag racing, whose wide streets provide a cinematic backdrop for the film’s racing sequences. Even when they’re a bit dated (the CGI shots of car engines revving are very of their era), these scenes are tense and exhilarating, moving with great forward momentum and featuring breathtaking practical stunts like a dangerous jump in front of a moving train in the final race scene. In fact, the Fast & Furious movies are still showcases for top-tier stunt work — that’s one thing that hasn’t changed.
Numerous sequels, prequels and spinoffs later, The Fast and the Furious has become a bona fide classic — even its early ‘00s fashions (dig those bucket hats and tiny oval sunglasses) are coming back into style. Building on the trend of big-screen revivals (see also: Warner Bros’ recent re-release of Speed Racer), Universal Pictures is bringing the movie back to theaters in honor of its 25th anniversary. What’s that in quarter-miles?
