THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS - TOKYO DRIFT (2006)

Featuring: Lucas Black; Lil' Bow Wow

Director: Justin Lin

This third delivery in the Fast & Furious series is a little bit misplaced. I am not sure what the producers had in mind when they decided to make this movie. Be that as it may, here we are introduced to another aspect of the illegal street racing culture, namely: drifting. For the uninformed, drifting is where you drive your car as fast as possible around a roughly demarcated track - sideways...

Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) is your typical high school-er who likes to strut his stuff by way of racing. But when he writes off one car too many, he gets shipped off to his dad in Tokyo, Japan. There he meets Twinkie (Lil' Bow Wow) a fellow ex-pat, who introduces him to the local street racing scene.

Like I said, there is very little recognizable of the original recipe that made this franchise such a success (except for a scene right at the very end of the film). Still, it is not bad but just not quite as good as the rest. That is the reason why I rate it only 2 out of 5 stars.

Trailer link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8HQ2JLlc4E

 

Lucas Black and Lil' Bow Wow 

2 FAST 2 FURIOUS (2003)

Featuring: Paul Walker; Tyrese Gibson; Eva Mendes

Director: John Singleton

After what happened in LA (in the previous movie) Brian is kicked off the police force. With criminal charges hanging over his head, he moved to Miami where he now makes a living from illegal street racing. But when the law catches up with him, it isn't to arrest him. In stead they make him an offer he can't refuse...

In this first sequel we learn a bit more about the street racing culture. We get a fascinating look at this little known secretive sub-culture which exists not only in the USA but apparently is a worldwide phenomenon. Suped-up cars, scantily clothed women, macho men and lots of bet flying around are what it seems to be all about. But don't worry, besides all the action there is again a good story as well. As far as the cast is concerned, it is mostly new faces. In fact, it is only Paul Walker and Thom Barry (as FBI agent Bilkins) that make a re-appearance in this film. 

I rate this edition 3 out of 5 stars.

Trailer link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_VIM03DXWI

 

 Paul Walker and Tyrese Gibson with director John Singleton (middle)

THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS (2001)

Featuring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster

Director: Rob Cohen

One of the most successful movie franchises this side of the turn of the century is the Fast And Furious series. The recipe for their success is to combine a good story with a lot of realistic action - very little CG, if any.

In the first film we meet the characters that would later become household names: Brian (Paul Walker), Dom (Vin Diesel), Letty (Michelle Rodrigues) and Mia (Jordana Brewster). Brian O'Conner is a rookie cop recruited by the FBI to identify and infiltrate a hi-jacking gang that plagues the trucking industry of Southern California. But when he falls in love with one of the key suspects, he has to choose between his loyalty to the LAPD and true love.

Although Vin Diesel appeared in several movies before, this was the one that put him on the map. The same goes for Paul Walker. But for the rest of the relatively young cast, this was pretty much their first time out and they did a stellar job of it. In the coming weeks I hope to look at the rest of this franchise. For this first one though, I give 3 out of 5 stars.

Trailer link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsJz2TJAPjw

 The main cast...

 ...and the two main 'characters'

THE FOUR MUSKETEERS (1974)

Featuring: Oliver Reed; Richard Chamberlain; Michael York; Frank Finlay

Director: Richard Lester

Although released as a sequel one year later, it was actually shot simultaneously with The Three Musketeers as one film. Therefor, this one basically picks up where the first one left off.

D'Artagnan is now officially one of the king's musketeers. When the French army besieges the protestant rebels at La Rochelle, Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston) sends Milady Winter (Fay Dunaway) to London in order to assassinate the Duke of Buckingham (Jean-Pierre Cassel), out of fear that the latter might come to the aid of the rebels. But when Queen Anne (Geraldine Chaplin) gets wind of this, she in turn sends the four musketeers in whom she trust (still played by Reed, Chamberlain, York and Finlay) to warn her beloved Duke of the impending danger.

The top cast is again in top form which makes this follow-on just as enjoyable as the previous movie. Some years later, in 1989, Richard Lester tried to repeat the same recipe with some of the original cast members in The Return Of The Musketeers. Unfortunately, this time round he was not quite able to recreate the ambience of the original two movies. The Four Musketeers, though, also earns 3 of 5 stars from me.

Trailer link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMhwGUGNuxI

 Scenes for The Four Musketeers