AUTOS: Hollywood's Hottest Car Chases; The Fast and The Furious (2001)

Automotive Lifestyle

AUTOS: Hollywood’s Hottest Car Chases; The Fast and The Furious (2001)

The tuner car scene came to the forefront in The Fast and Furious.

David Harris | Posted November 12, 2010 Charlotte, NC

Fast and Furious pits Dominic Toretto (played by Vin Diesel) in a classic muscle car against LAPD/FBI joint operations officer Brian O’Conner (played by Paul Walker) in a modern tuner. (Photo: Neal H. Moritz Productions)

The Fast and The Furious was a game-changing movie when it premiered in 2001. Where others had focused on either American or European vehicles, this movie was the first dramatic look into the underground Asian and import street racing scene. The unexpected popularity of this movie – particularly among younger audiences – has turned this franchise into a modern-day institution. So much so, the next installment premieres in 2011 with Fast Five.

The story is based around the unlikely friendship between street racing gang member Dominic Toretto (played by Vin Diesel), and LAPD/FBI joint operations officer Brian O’Conner (played by Paul Walker). They became fast friends after O’Conner intensely challenged Toretto and two others in a high-dollar street race. Despite losing, O’Conner helped Toretto escape a police raid, gaining Toretto’s respect. As it turned out, O’Conner’s relationships within (including a budding love interest) ended up impeding the original reason he infiltrated.

While highly illegal and supremely dangerous, the opening race scene from The Fast and The Furious still sets the table for a very enjoyable watch throughout. The multitude of great car references, scenes and sounds, bridged the gap between worlds’ previously only known to classics like American Graffiti and Two Lane Blacktop. True to those famous words, ‘I live my life one quarter mile at a time.’

What to look for… Director Rob Cohen was inspired to do the movie after reading Ken Li’s Vibe magazine article entitled, Racer X, and venturing out to witness and actual illegal street race in Los Angeles one evening. Those influences weighed heavily on the opening race scene, in particular.

Watch The race.

Saving Vince…
http://www.hulu.com/watch/27463/the-fast-and-the-furious-saving-vince#s-p1-so-i0

Everyone has their favorite car chase scene… and many have multiple ones. On Thanksgiving Night (Nov. 25), SPEED enters the conversation with a two-hour special called, Hollywood’s Hottest Car Chases, premiering at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

New York City’s Pangolin Pictures looks at the last 40 years of cinematic car chases, re-living many great scenes through the eyes of those who created, shot and played out what has become one of Hollywood’s greatest creative contributions. Broken out in themes, this feature presentation is produced to be the most comprehensive look at how this genre has evolved from Steve McQueen’s Bullitt to Matt Damon’s Bourne Identity.

Through Thanksgiving, SPEED will roll out some of our favorites from around the studio here in Charlotte. This not a countdown per se, and we want to hear from you, as we’ll introduce a new car chase scene every Monday through Thursday. Let the Chase Begin…

Here’s What They Are Saying over at Autoblog.com…
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/11/speed-announces-hollywoods-hottest-car-chases-with-mega/