The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
| Posted: 19 May 2013 12:02 AM PDT There's no slowing down The Fast And The Furious franchise that introduced us to heart-thumping street racing and high-speed heists. Who would have imagined that a movie on illegal street car-racing would go on to spawn six sequels? And all of them, amazingly enough, actually have an interconnecting story arc. Currently being released in cinemas across the world is the sixth movie in The Fast And The Furious franchise: Fast & Furious 6, or Furious 6 as the opening credits style it. What's more, the cameras will start to roll on the seventh movie within the next few months, according to series' co-star and producer Vin Diesel. For someone who says he was "shy about doing sequels" at the beginning of his career, Diesel has certainly embraced the idea. Meeting with the Asian press in Manila, the Philippines, Diesel says that it wasn't until he worked with American director Sidney Lumet that he lost his fear of "doing too much action or doing sequels". And that was the point when he really committed to doing The Fast And The Furious movies. Lumet directed Diesel in the 2006 film Find Me Guilty. That was also the same year The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift – the third movie in the franchise – was released. Diesel had a cameo at the end of the movie, after turning down a role in the second movie 2 Fast 2 Furious. Starting from the fourth movie, 2009's Fast & Furious, Diesel not only returned as lead character Dominic Toretto, but also served as one of the producers. According to him, the fourth, fifth and sixth movies were envisioned as a trilogy. "In fact, at one point, (Fast And Furious) Six and Seven were going to be shot at the same time. And the reason why the studio would entertain that is because there is economy of scale if you shoot two movies at the same time. And yet, because of so many different locations, we had to take a hiatus, and we start shooting Seven this summer in LA," he says. Filming in London Fast & Furious 6 takes place in several places across Europe, most notably, in London where the film was allowed to shut down Piccadilly Circus to film a street race between Toretto and former lover Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), who was thought to have died in the fourth movie. Welsh actor and London local Luke Evans, who plays the villain Owen Shaw in Fast & Furious 6, shares that the film is only the third production to have been allowed to shut down the major traffic intersection in London's West End theatre district, and a well-known tourist attraction in its own right. Although he was not involved in the scene, Evans and a friend went to check out the filming at around 12.30am, as they had just come from an event in The Savoy, just over a kilometre away. "I was in a tuxedo, watching this car sequence around Piccadilly Circus, together with the director (Justin Lin) ," he remembers. "London is a wonderful place, and when you see London in a different light, like you see in the film, (you go) this is my home, (and) I'm very proud of it," he adds. Evans' character Shaw is a former British army SAS (Special Air Forces) major specialising in vehicular warfare, who now runs his own heist gang. Ortiz, who survives a murder attempt on her life, but subsequently loses her memory, serves as his second-in-command. The return of Letty Ortiz Rodriguez's return to the series was strongly demanded by fans, but Diesel reveals that he had promised her at the beginning of the fourth film that her character was not really going to die, as she is an integral part of the saga. "I'd even go as far as to say, if there wasn't Letty's return, there wouldn't have been a Fast & Furious 5 or 6. She became the appeal point, she became the leverage," Diesel says. Although the crew led by Toretto and ex-cop Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) are now enjoying the sweet life with the US$100mil they stole from Brazilian crime lord Hernan Reyes in the last movie, the guys decide to return to help bring Ortiz back and take down Shaw's gang. The great motivation for both Toretto and O'Conner is United States Diplomatic Security Services agent Luke Hobbs' (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) offer of a full pardon for their crimes in exchange for their aid. This would allow the crew to return home. And of course, a running theme throughout the series has always been one of family. Diesel says: "We are doing something beyond action. There is something that is being promoted here within the saga that is beyond the spectacle of incredible action sequences. And that's heart, and that's family. And we make the statement that you can create a huge blockbuster, and not sacrifice heart and family." That's not to say that the action takes a back seat; this movie seriously ups the ante with a couple of the more unbelievable action scenes involving a tank versus cars, and cars versus a huge cargo plane. Diesel also says that the upcoming Fast & Furious 7 was conceptualised as the first of a third trilogy, meaning that we can expect an eighth and ninth instalment of the series if all goes well. He even reveals, for the first time, that one of the potential action sequences in the possible eighth movie is a car race on the Great Wall of China. "We will be making Seven, Eight, Nine; and then, it would be up to the public and their appreciation of the movies to see us through." Fast & Furious 6 opens in cinemas nationwide on May 23. Related Stories: |
| Posted: 19 May 2013 12:09 AM PDT Before Fast & Furious 6 opens in cinemas, we get you up to speed on all the previous instalments. The Fast And The Furious (2001) With fast cars, hot babes and macho men, this movie was always meant to be pure mindless entertainment. Inspired by a magazine article on illegal street racing in New York, the movie revolves around Los Angeles undercover cop Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) trying to find out which street crew is behind a series of high-speed truck heists. In the process of infiltrating the street-racing scene, he befriends Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), the leader of a street crew, and even starts dating his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster). Of course, the problems begin when O'Conner discovers who's actually behind the heists, in addition to him and Toretto accidentally pissing off a rival street crew led by Johnny Tran (Rick Yune). 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) Considering that Diesel was half of the top billing on the original movie, relying on Walker alone to carry this sequel seemed a tad risky. On the run after helping Toretto escape, O'Conner is eventually caught by his former colleagues in Miami and offered a deal – help undercover US Customs agent Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes) bring down drug lord Carter Verone (Cole Hauser), in exchange for a pardon. This film had the highest babe quotient with Mendes and Devon Aoki as racer Suki. Scenes to watch out for include a deliberate car crash onto a yacht and a game of musical cars designed to confuse the cops. The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) The odd one out in the franchise, this third movie actually comes last chronologically in the current series. Seventeen-year-old Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) gets sent off to Tokyo to live with his Navy officer dad after one too many driving violations in the States. Naturally, he gets involved in the local racing scene, where instead of the usual nitrous oxide (Nos) boost, the gimmick is the driver's skill in drifting. A cameo by Diesel at the end of the movie ties it in with the rest of the series. Fast & Furious (2009) The original leads from the first movie are back for this fourth instalment where we catch up with Toretto, girlfriend Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) and their new crew. The impetus for the plot is Ortiz's murder by one of drug lord Arturo Braga's men, while she is working undercover for O'Conner in exchange for a pardon for Toretto. Brought together by this event, Toretto and O'Conner partner up to achieve their objectives: finding Ortiz's murderer and bringing down Braga respectively. The highlight of this movie is probably the usage of underground tunnels that bypass the US-Mexican border, especially during the first night-time desert drug run. Fast Five (2011) Picking up directly from Fast & Furious, the action moves to Rio de Janeiro where Mia, O'Conner and Toretto are fully embracing a life of crime, only to discover that they are robbing the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The trio discovers that one of the cars they stole contains a chip detailing the illegal empire of crime lord Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), including the location of US$100mil in cash. |
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