| Fast Five | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Justin Lin |
| Produced by | Neal H. Moritz Vin Diesel Michael Fottrell |
| Written by | Chris Morgan |
| Based on | Characters by Gary Scott Thompson |
| Starring | Vin Diesel Paul Walker Jordana Brewster Dwayne Johnson |
| Music by | Brian Tyler |
| Cinematography | Stephen F. Windon |
| Editing by | Kelly Matsumoto Fred Raskin Christian Wagner |
| Studio | Original Film One Race Films |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | April 20, 2011 (Australia) April 29, 2011 (United States) |
| Running time | 130 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $125 million[2] |
| Box office | $626.1 million[3] |
Fast Five (alternatively known as Fast & Furious 5[1] or Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist[4]) is a 2011 American action film written by Chris Morgan and directed by Justin Lin. It is the fifth installment in the Fast and the Furious film series. It was released first in Australia on April 20, 2011, and then in the United States on April 29, 2011. Fast Five follows Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) and Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) as they plan a heist to steal $100 million from corrupt businessman Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) while being pursued for arrest by U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson).
When developing Fast Five, Universal Studios deliberately departed from the street racing theme prevalent in previous films in the series, to transform the franchise into a heist action series involving cars. By doing so, they hoped to attract wider audiences that might otherwise be put off by a heavy emphasis on cars and car culture. Fast Five is considered the transitional film in the series, featuring only one car race and giving more attention to action set pieces such as gun fights, brawls and the heist of $100 million. The production mounted a comprehensive marketing campaign, marketing the film through social media, virtual games, cinema chains, automobile manufacturers and at NASCAR races.
Fast Five achieved financial success, breaking box office records for the highest-grossing April opening weekend and the second highest spring opening weekend. It surpassed Fast & Furious (2009) to become the highest-grossing film in the franchise and overtook Rio to become the highest-grossing film of 2011, holding this title for fifteen days before being replaced by Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Fast Five has grossed over $625 million worldwide, making it number 56 on the all-time worldwide list of highest-grossing films, in unadjusted dollars.
The film was praised by critics, who liked the combination of comedy and "action sequences that toy idly with the laws of physics";[5] some labeled the film the best of the series.[6] Johnson was singled out for his performance, critics calling him "the best thing, by far, in Fast Five"[7] and remarking that scenes shared by Johnson and Diesel were often the "best moments".[6] Despite the positive response, many were critical of the film's running time, considering it too long, and others criticized the treatment of women, stating "[Females] cameo strikingly in buttock form. Others actually have first names."[8] South American reviewers were critical of the film's portrayal of Rio de Janeiro as a haven for drug trafficking and corruption, labeling it a "stereotype".[9]
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When Dominic "Dom" Toretto (Vin Diesel) is being transported to Lompoc prison by bus, his sister Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) and friend Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) lead an assault on the bus, causing it to crash and freeing Dom. While the authorities search for them, the trio escape to Rio de Janeiro. Awaiting Dom's arrival, Mia and Brian join their friend Vince (Matt Schulze) and other participants on a job to steal three cars from a train. Brian and Mia discover that agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) are also on the train and that the cars are seized property. When Dom arrives with the rest of the participants, he realizes that one of them, Zizi (Michael Irby), is only interested in stealing one car, a Ford GT40. Dom has Mia steal the car herself while he and Brian fight Zizi and his henchmen, during which Zizi kills the DEA agents assigned to the vehicles. Dom and Brian are captured and brought to crime lord Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), the owner of the cars and Zizi's boss. Reyes orders the pair be interrogated to discover the location of the car, but they manage to escape and retreat to their safehouse.
While Brian, Dom, and Mia examine the car to discover its importance, Vince arrives and is caught trying to remove a computer chip from it. He admits he was planning to sell the chip to Reyes on his own, and Dom forces him to leave. Brian investigates the chip and discovers it contains details of Reyes' criminal empire, including the locations of US$100 million in cash.
Following the murder of the DEA agents aboard the train, blamed on Dom and his team, DSS agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and his team arrive in Rio to arrest Dom and Brian. With the help of local officer Elena Neves (Elsa Pataky), they travel to Dom's safehouse, but find it under assault by Reyes' men. Brian, Dom and Mia escape, and Dom suggests they split up and leave Rio, but Mia announces she is pregnant with Brian's child. Dom agrees to stick together and suggests they steal Reyes' money to start a new life. The trio organizes a team to perform the heist, recruiting Han Seoul-Oh (Sung Kang), Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), Tej Parker (Ludacris), Gisele Yashar (Gal Gadot), Leo (Tego Calderón) and Santos (Don Omar). Vince later joins the team after saving Mia from being captured by Reyes' men, earning Dom's trust once more.
Hobbs and his team eventually find and arrest Dom, Mia, Brian and Vince. While transporting them to the airport for extradition to the United States, the convoy is attacked by Reyes' men, who kill Hobbs' team. Hobbs and Elena are saved by Dom, Brian, Mia and Vince as they fight back against Reyes' men and escape, but Vince is shot in the process and dies. Wanting to avenge his murdered team, Hobbs and Elena agree to help with the heist. The gang breaks into the police station where Reyes' money is kept and tear the vault from the building using their cars, dragging it through the city with police in pursuit. Believing they cannot outrun the police, Dom makes Brian continue without him while he attacks the police and the pursuing Reyes, using the vault attached to his car to smash their vehicles. Brian returns to kill Zizi, while Reyes is badly injured by Dom's assault. Hobbs arrives on the scene and kills Reyes. Hobbs refuses to let Dom and Brian go free but, unwilling to arrest them, agrees to give them a 24-hour head start to escape. The gang splits Reyes' money, leaving Vince's share to his family, before the members go their separate ways.
On a tropical beach, Brian and a visibly pregnant Mia relax. They are met by Dom and Elena. Brian challenges Dom to a final, no-stakes race to prove who is the better driver.
In a post-credits scene, Hobbs is given a file by Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes) concerning the hijack of a military convoy in Berlin. In the file, Hobbs discovers a recent photo of Dom's former girlfriend Letty Ortiz, who had been presumed dead.
The central cast is rounded out by Puerto Rican singers Tego Calderón and Don Omar as Leo and Santos respectively, members of the heist team. Michael Irby plays Reyes' right-hand man Zizi.[11] Alimi Ballard, Fernando Chien, Yorgo Constantine and Geoff Meedy portray Hobbs' team members Fusco, Wilkes, Chato and Macroy. Michelle Rodriguez appears in photographs as Letty Ortiz, Dominic's former girlfriend, who is presumed dead following the events of Fast & Furious.[18] Eva Mendes appears in an uncredited cameo as agent Monica Fuentes, reprising her role from 2 Fast 2 Furious.[18]
By February 3, 2010, it was confirmed that a fifth film, referred to as Fast Five, was going into production in the Fast and Furious series, and that Diesel, Walker, writer Chris Morgan and producer Neal H. Moritz would all return to their roles for the new installment.[19] Moritz confirmed that, following the success of Fast & Furious (2009), which had reunited Diesel, Brewster, Walker and Rodriguez from the original film, the production wanted to bring them back again for the next one. Diesel felt that the story between the characters portrayed by himself and Walker should continue, envisioning it as three chapters, of which Fast Five would be the last. Diesel also wanted to bring back a variety of characters that had been in previous films without interacting, put them together and "have a lot of fun".[11]
The production had originally intended to film on location in Rio de Janeiro. However, the Puerto Rican government offered tax incentives, influencing the decision to film there, using Puerto Rico to represent Rio de Janeiro.[13]
"For me, each chapter in this franchise is an extension of the first one, and they each get bigger. It is always a privilege to be able to revisit a good character-driven story. This franchise is more than street racing and tuner cars; it really is about this larger family and community of racers."
Lin wanted to explore the elements of "freedom and family" in the film and collaborated with Morgan towards that ideal, both having worked together on previous installments of the franchise. Morgan worked with Diesel to produce a story arc that would further explore and develop Diesel's character.[11] An idea involving heisting a large safe had been conceived by Morgan during the production of Fast & Furious, but that film's premise did not work with how Morgan envisioned it. He later incorporated it into Fast Five.[11]
On a budget of $125 million,[2], the shooting of Fast Five was scheduled for July and August 2010.[20] Shooting had started by July 14, 2010,[21] but it took longer than forecast: the film was still being shot in early November 2010.[22]
Three film units worked simultaneously. The main cast were required to travel to Rio at the behest of Lin, who felt it important to understand the area and its culture to give the film a good sense of place. Diesel agreed that it was important to shoot key scenes in Brazil, commenting "we were able to shoot where other productions might not be able to shoot because our franchise has such good street cred."[11]
The Rio film unit captured aerial shots of the city including Sugarloaf Mountain, Fort Copacabana, Ipanema Beach, the Dona Marta lookout point and the Christ the Redeemer statue. Establishing shots of the heist team members were taken as each arrived in Rio. Gibson was filmed arriving in character at Galeão International Airport but, when it became publicly known that a scene was being shot at the airport, the cast and crew were mobbed. A similar situation occurred while Ludacris was shooting a scene in which his character buys a car to drive around the city. A scene where the completed heist team walk down a beach was filmed in Copacabana.[11]
The rooftop chase across favelas was filmed in Puerto Rico, where the production could have more control over the area. The main and second filming units began filming in and around the capital, San Juan. The island's mixture of tropical greenery and wide streets allowed the production to re-create the densely populated favelas of Rio while completing the larger action and external scenes without incident. Production designer Peter Wenham had the task of transforming Puerto Rico and Atlanta into the previously scouted Rio locations in four weeks, as the production deemed Rio unsuitable for filming many of the larger scenes. Wenham had to reinforce buildings to support the heavy camera equipment, and to alter the colors of more than 30 buildings in the city to make them suitable for filming. His team needed to alter the buildings and strew debris to make the area look disheveled and appear as a Rio shantytown. Wenham remarked that, though the development was difficult, in part due to the heat, it was "a walk in the park" compared with filming in the Rio favelas themselves. Wenham aimed to maintain a monochromatic color scheme for the film, with muted blacks and grays, including his choice of colors for the cars used. He only chose to add a multitude of colors in the favela set.[11]
A foot pursuit in which Diesel, Brewster and Walker are chased across favela rooftops by Johnson and his team was filmed over the course of a week in the small hillside town of Naranjito, Puerto Rico. The scene was considered difficult to shoot, as pathways were slippery from moist tropical heat and the scene involved actors and stunt doubles running while avoiding dogs, chickens and other stray animals loose in the area. To capture the scene, a 420-foot cable-camera rig was used to allow for a fast moving, birds-eye view of the action, and cameras on cranes were set up on rooftops and in alleyways. The train heist scene was filmed in Rice, California over three weeks.[11]
Filming moved to Atlanta, Georgia for the final phase. Wenham and his team transformed a defunct train yard into an abandoned auto plant used by the protagonists as their headquarters. Redesigning the train yard took place over several months. It was required to allow enough space for stunt drivers to drive into the building, and it had to include an integrated lighting system. The design team removed walls, hauled out old railway cars, suspended rusted car parts and auto-plant car rails, and constructed smaller buildings within the main building to transform the site. With twenty-five pages of script to shoot in a limited time, cinematographer Stephen Windon and his team spent three weeks setting up a series of high-powered, motorized lights in the rafters of the building, that could be controlled remotely to allow lighting to be altered quickly while fully illuminating the set. An exterior scene involving Diesel and Walker attending a car party, involving several high-performance cars, was filmed near the Georgia Dome.[11]
A brawl scene between Johnson's and Diesel's characters was considered difficult to choreograph. The characters were written to be equally formidable, so the fight was punctuated with moments of character development, as Moritz felt this made the fight more exciting. The scene required several weeks of rehearsal and more than a week of filming by the actors and their stunt doubles, who incurred several minor injuries.[11]
The first trailer for Fast Five was released on Diesel's Facebook page on December 14, 2010, in what was believed to be the first ever use of this marketing approach.[23][24] At the time, Diesel's page had over 20 million subscribers (one of the top five personal sites of celebrities), providing a wide audience for the trailer. Following this debut, other members of the cast with personal social media platforms released the teaser trailer to their own fans.[23][24]
The Facebook game Car Town by Cie Games and the theater chain Regal Entertainment Group (REG) collaborated with Universal in a cross-media marketing promotion. Car Town allowed players to view the trailer for the film in an REG-branded, in-game drive-in theater and race around a virtual Rio de Janeiro. The game also featured missions and locations based on the plot of the film, while allowing players to race against Fast Five characters and take part in a bank heist. REG offered players of Car Town the ability to purchase tickets in-game via Fandango for films at REG theaters. By buying these tickets in-game, players were given promotional codes which in turn allowed them to unlock a virtual 1970s Dodge Charger, used by Diesel's character in the original film. REG promoted the partnership between the film and the game in their theaters across 37 states, online and through social media, while Universal promoted it via their own Facebook, Twitter and YouTube sites.[25][26] In October 2011, it was claimed that over 200 million races had taken place within the virtual Rio de Janeiro environment in the six months since the campaign's April launch.[27]
Automobile manufacturer Dodge collaborated with Universal in marketing the film, supplying several Dodge Chargers to use in it.[28] The partnership with Dodge included the "Fast Five" Dodge Charger driven by Robby Gordon in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series throughout April 2011 – the opening month of Fast Five. Dodge also sponsored the world premiere of the film in Rio de Janeiro.[28]
The premiere of Fast Five took place on April 15, 2011, at the Cinépolis Lagoon theater in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[29] It was hosted by actress Susie Castillo and sponsored by automobile manufacturer Dodge.[30][28]
Fast Five accrued $209,837,675 (33.5%) in the United States and Canada and a further $416,300,000 (66.5%) elsewhere – a total of $626,137,675,[3] making it the sixth highest-grossing film of 2011 worldwide.[31] This amount makes Fast Five the number 104 highest-grossing film of all time in the domestic market and the number 56 highest-grossing film of all time worldwide, in unadjusted dollars.[3][32]
On May 14, 2011, after twenty-five days in theaters, Fast Five overtook Fast & Furious to become the highest-grossing film in the Fast and the Furious franchise, with a gross of $369,744,415, and the highest grossing installment of the franchise outside the US and Canada, with $214,619,415[33] – both figures taking account of inflation.[34] On May 15, 2011, with a gross of $168,780,000, Fast Five passed Fast & Furious ($155M) in the US and Canada to become the highest-grossing film in the franchise domestically – again taking inflation into account – earning in sixteen days what it had taken Fast & Furious ninety-one days to achieve.[35][36][37] On the same day, with a worldwide gross of $440,480,000, Fast Five surpassed Rio ($428.6M) to become the highest grossing film of 2011.[38] It held this record for 15 days before being supplanted on May 30, 2011, its (then) $530.4M gross surpassed by the $623.7M of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.[39] On May 18, 2011, with a total gross of $465,717,712, it also entered the top 100 highest-grossing films of all time worldwide – in unadjusted dollars – at number 97.[40] In October 2011, with a gross of $626.1M, it reached a peak of number 55 on the same list before leaving theaters.[32]
Fast Five was initially released in Australia on Wednesday April 20, 2011 – nine days before the first release in North America – followed by further releases in the UK, South Korea and New Zealand. The earlier start in these countries was timed to coincide with their Easter holidays[41] and avoided competition from forthcoming summer films,[42] although this placed it in direct competition with the superhero film Thor. On the opening day, Fast Five took $2.1M in the UK,[43] $570,000 from South Korea[43] and $260,000 from New Zealand.[43] By the end of the opening weekend, the film had accrued a total of $24M[44] from foreign countries, including $10.3M from Australia (Universal's biggest opening in that country), $8.8M from the UK, $3.4M from South Korea and $870,000 from New Zealand.[43] On its second weekend in foreign countries, Fast Five earned an estimated $45.3M across 3,139 theaters in 14 countries, ranking first at the box office in each of its ten new overseas markets[45] and breaking records for Universal's highest-grossing openings in Russia ($11.5M), Spain and Turkey.[46] Its international gross takings, however, put it in second place behind Thor, which had opened in more countries than Fast Five.
In the third week after release Fast Five opened at number 1 in a further 44 countries, bringing the total to 58 – 6,979 theaters altogether. With both films open in a similar number of countries (58 for Fast Five to 57 for Thor) – Fast Five regained the number one position, with a total gross of $184.5M against Thor's $176.1M, which fell to second place.[47][48] The week saw the film break opening-weekend records for Universal in 12 countries: Argentina, Brazil ($5M),[49] Chile, France ($8.8M),[49] India, Italy ($7.4M),[49] Malaysia, Mexico ($8.6M),[49] the Netherlands, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.[47] It broke the record for the biggest ever opening gross in the United Arab Emirates ($2.6M), holding this record for two weeks before being replaced by Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ($2.7M).[50] On May 31, 2011, Fast Five, with a cumulative gross of $350M, was replaced as the highest-grossing film of 2011 internationally by Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ($472.3M).[51]
In the US and Canada Fast Five opened on April 29, 2011, in 3,644 theaters,[3] making it the 96th most widespread release of all time.[52] It took $3.8M in receipts during launch midnight showings, marking the best ever opening for a Universal title and for the Fast and the Furious series.[53] By the end of the opening day it had accrued a total of $34.4M including midnight takings, giving it the highest-grossing April opening of any year, replacing Fast & Furious ($30.1M),[54] and the second highest Friday opening outside of the summer and holiday period, behind Alice in Wonderland' ($40.8M).[55] In total, Fast Five earned $86.2M during its opening weekend, an average of $23,655 per theater,[2] with IMAX showings contributing over $8 million.[56] This amount made it the highest-grossing opening of the series and the highest-grossing opening weekend for Universal, replacing The Lost World: Jurassic Park ($72.1M),[57] the highest-grossing April opening weekend of all time, replacing Fast & Furious ($71M),[57] and the second-highest spring opening, again after Alice in Wonderland ($116.1M).[58] The film was also the highest-grossing opening for Diesel, Walker, Brewster, Johnson, Moritz and Lin.[57]
The film opened in a further eighteen cinemas (making a total of 3,662) during the second week of release (6–8 May), taking more than $32M, or $8,860 per theater.[59] This was a 62.4% drop from the previous week's takings, a result partially blamed on a reduction in IMAX and large-format screens showing the film (reduced from 244[56] to 20[31]), which only contributed $510,000 to the second weekend's gross.[47] This moved the film into second place in theaters behind the newly released Thor with $66M.[60] Despite the competition from Thor, Fast Five earned a further $20M for the week, bringing the gross for the US and Canada to over $135M.[59] On May 7, 2011, Fast Five ($139.8M) surpassed Rio ($116.5M) to become the highest-grossing film of 2011 in the United States,[31] holding the record for thirty-six days until June 11, 2011, when it was surpassed by The Hangover Part II ($203.8M).[61] On June 4, 2011, thirty-seven days after release in the US, the film became the first film of 2011 to accrue more than $200M.[62]
On June 15, 2011, Box Office Mojo compared the box office performances of ten sequel films released in 2011 with those of the original films of their franchises. Fast Five was at the head of the list, being the only sequel to have outperformed its franchise original; it was the highest-grossing film of the Fast and the Furious franchise (and the one with the highest estimated attendance since the 2001 series original). Fast Five was followed by The Hangover Part II and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides on this basis.[63]
Fast Five closed on August 11, 2011, after 105 days (15 weeks), having accrued $209,837,675 across 3,793 theaters,[3] making it the second highest-grossing heist/caper film, behind Inception ($292.5M),[64] and the second highest-grossing car-racing film, behind Cars ($244.1M) – not adjusting for inflation.[65]
| Release date(s) | Budget | Box office revenue | Box office ranking (current/peak) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US & Canada | International | Worldwide | Release year | All time US | All time worldwide | |||
| April 20, 2011 (Australia) April 29, 2011 (United States) |
$125,000,000[2] | $209,837,675[3] | $416,300,000[3] | $626,137,675[3] | #6 / #1[38][66] | #104 / #103[3][67] | #56 / #55[3][32] | |
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Fast Five has received positive critical reception since its release, earning a score of 67 out of 100 from 29 critics on review aggregate website Metacritic[68] and garnering 78% approval from 176 critics on Rotten Tomatoes, whose assessment reads: "Sleek, loud, and over the top, Fast Five proudly embraces its brainless action thrills."[69]
Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, praising it as "a skillfully assembled 130 minutes at the movies, with actors capable of doing absurd things with straight faces, and action sequences that toy idly with the laws of physics",[5] while Richard Corliss of Time Magazine considered it "maybe the first great film of the post-human era".[70] The New York Times said it deftly combined action and humor, stating "The only time you won’t be watching the screen is when your eyes have squeezed shut because you’re laughing so hard."[71] The Telegraph appreciated the presence of Johnson and Diesel together, calling it a "cosmic event", and added that director Lin had revitalized the series, saying "the start and finish here, defying every imaginable law of physics, are series highs."[72] Empire also heaped praise on Johnson, saying "How to re-ignite an ageing franchise? Drop [Johnson] on it. The best thing, by far, in Fast Five ... Dwayne Johnson hulks through the movie leaving testosterone trails in his wake." However, Empire took the view that the film itself was "not, by any normal criteria, a good film", arguing that it was too long, although conceding that the action scenes, in particular the final car chase, made the film "the most entertaining in the series."[7] Anna Smith of Time Out London also commented that the film was too long and criticized the simplistic characters and dialog, but she called the film "slick" and stated that these criticisms could be overlooked because "it doesn’t take itself too seriously."[73] Variety focused on the roles of Johnson and Diesel, lamenting the current lack of 1980s-style "brawny" leading men and of the "manly men" typical of the 1950s and 1960s, and calling their pairing "a welcome injection of tough-guy vigor". Variety commented that, based on Fast Five, a "sixth entry could be something worth waiting for".[74] The New Yorker called the action scenes "spectacular", praising director Lin by saying his "direction and the sharp editing never confuse or lose momentum", but also found the film too long and criticized the dialog, labeling it "subpar Ocean's Eleven-style banter".[75] On the characters, The New Yorker considered Walker and Diesel "serviceable", but singled out Johnson for praise for bringing a "hip, comic knowingness to his role ... his enjoyment is infectious and keeps the movie speeding along."[75]
Total Film welcomed the return of Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson to "[inject] the film with much-needed laughs" and felt that Johnson fit into the established cast with ease, though it believed the film itself was "no mould-breaker."[76] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, who disliked the previous movies, gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4, praising the transformation of the series into a heist film ("Damn it, it works"), commenting favorably on scenes between Johnson and Diesel, and judging that "Fast Five will push all your action buttons, and some you haven't thought of."[77] The Los Angeles Times felt that scenes shared by Diesel and Johnson were the "best moments" and appreciated the humor, but considered the pacing a "strange mix", switching between exposition, comedy scenes and then sudden action.[6] The reviewer echoed other critics' sentiments concerning the running time of the film, but concluded that "the sheer audacity of "Fast Five" is kind of breathtaking in a metal-twisting, death-defying, mission-implausible, B-movie-on-steroids kind of way", labeling it the "best" of the series.[6]
Both Empire and Variety noted that the final chase scene of Fast Five contained allusions to Bad Boys II (2003): Variety stated that the scene "seems inspired in part by a similarly spectacular scene in Bad Boys II"[74]; Empire said that it "nearly out-Bad-Boys-2s Bad Boys 2".[7]
Not all reviews were positive, however. Film4 criticized both the film's long running time and its treatment of female characters, remarking "[Females] cameo strikingly in buttock form. Others actually have first names". But Film4 praised Johnson's role as DSS agent Luke Hobbs, saying he "provides a more credible anti-antagonist to our anti-heroes than the straight up villains can manage".[8] The Boston Herald gave a more mixed reaction: it derided the lack of realism as removing any sense of threat to the protagonists, but conceded that "these films may be robustly anti-intellectual and deplorably commercialized, but they are the envy of the rest of the world."[78] Despite giving the film a positive review and praising the action, The Hollywood Reporter was critical of its stars, saying "it’s clear the budget wasn’t used on acting lessons for the cast."[79] The New York Post's Kyle Smith gave the film a negative review, criticizing the shortage of car-related action before the finale and calling it less a "vroomer" and more a "knucklehead Ocean's Eleven".[80] Smith went on to call the film's villain Reyes (Almeida) "unforgivably dull" and considered the long running time a result of taking "that long to read every item in the cliché dictionary."[80] Time Out New York stated that "The Fast and the Furious movies haven’t exactly gotten better as they’ve gone along" but gave the director a backhanded compliment, saying "Justin Lin, taking his third turn behind the franchise’s wheel, is at least a competent hack."[81] Ebert was more complimentary, saying "Justin Lin is emerging as a first-rate director in this second-rate genre"[5] and Rolling Stone managed "Justin Lin, who misdirected the last two sequels, finds his pace this time, staging dynamite action."
South American reviewers criticized the use of Rio de Janeiro in the film, claiming it was stereotyped as "dominated by heavily armed drug traffickers, corrupt police and sexy women".[9] Globo accused the producers of using "aerial shots and quick editing" to "deceive the viewer" into believing that the criminal acts take place in Rio. Globo also reacted negatively to the use of "foreigners" to represent Brazilians, "speaking Portuguese with laughable accents".[9] Veja agreed with Globo, saying "The city of Rio and the Rio Film Commission supported the production. But the image that will spread across the world is exactly what the city doesn't want."[82]
Tyler's score for Fast Five earned him an award at the 2011 BMI Film Music Awards.[83] The marketing components of Fast Five were nominated for three Golden Trailer Awards, winning one for Best Summer Blockbuster 2011 TV Spot.[84] For the 2011 Teen Choice Awards, Fast Five received five nominations, including Choice Action Movie and Choice Action Movie Actress.[85] Three of the five available nomination slots for Choice Action Movie Actor were taken by actors from Fast Five: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and Paul Walker.[85] The film ultimately received one Teen Choice Award, for Choice Action Movie.[86] The film received two nominations for the 2011 People's Choice Awards for Favorite Action Movie, and Favorite Action Movie Star for Diesel.[87]
In December, 2011, Richard Corliss ranked the film number 10 on his list of the Top 10 Best Movies of 2011, saying, "A carnival of roguish heroes and pretty girls, car chases and cliffhangers, Fast Five is as much a tribute as The Artist or Hugo to the cinema's primal thrills."[88] Empire placed the film number 20 on it's list of the Top 20 Films of 2011.[89] Fast Five was listed as the number 1 most illegally downloaded film of 2011 on BitTorrent with approximately 9.3 million downloads.[90][91]
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | BMI Film Music Award | Film Music | Brian Tyler | Won | [83][92] |
| Golden Trailer Awards | Best Action TV Spot | "Fast Women" - Universal Pictures, AV Squad | Nominated | [84] | |
| Best Summer 2011 Blockbuster Poster | "Fast Five" - Universal Pictures, Cold Open | Nominated | |||
| Best Summer Blockbuster 2011 TV Spot | "Superbowl" - Universal Pictures, AV Squad | Won | |||
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie - Action | Fast Five | Won | [85][86] | |
| Choice Movie Actor - Action | Vin Diesel | Nominated | [85] | ||
| Dwayne Johnson | Nominated | ||||
| Paul Walker | Nominated | ||||
| Choice Movie Actress - Action | Jordana Brewster | Nominated | |||
| 2012 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite Action Movie | Fast Five | Pending | [87] |
| Favorite Action Movie Star | Vin Diesel | Pending | |||
| Critic's Choice Awards | Best Action Movie | Fast Five | Pending | [93] |
On August 2, 2011, USA Network purchased the rights to the United States network premiere of Fast Five.[94] The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2011,[95] and in the United States on October 4, 2011,[96] in 2.35:1 aspect ratio with DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 sound. A triple pack was also released containing a Blu-ray, DVD, and digital copy of the film in either Blu-ray or DVD packaging.[97][98] The Blu-ray versions contains several exclusive additional features, including behind-the-scenes footage, cast and crew interviews, a "virtual car garage" that provides further details on the vehicles used in the production, and music tracks from the film. Both the DVD and the Blu-ray contain a theatrical and extended cut of the film,[96] director commentary, deleted scenes, a gag reel and features on the three central characters.[98] Commenting on the extended cut, Lin said "this is the version that I prefer."[96]
To promote the release of the DVD and Blu-ray, Universal Studios Home Entertainment sponsored the first race of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, at the Chicagoland Speedway. The event, renamed as the "Fast Five 225", took place on September 16, 2011, with Gibson and Brewster as Grand Marshals; Gibson sang the American national anthem for the event and Brewster acted as honorary starter. The event served as the first race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup and was won by Austin Dillon.[99] The deal marked the first time that a film promotion had been allowed to take over a NASCAR race as a title sponsor.[100] Continuing the partnership with Car Town, the game was used as the exclusive means of pre-ordering the Blu-ray/DVD combo release at Walmart, via players clicking on a Walmart-themed truck, which in turn provided the player with Fast Five branded in-game rewards.[27]
The Fast Five Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on iTunes on April 25, 2011, and on CD on May 3, 2011, by ABKCO Records. It features many reggaeton and rhythmic latin tracks, including songs by Don Omar, Busta Rhymes and others, and three pieces from Tyler's original score for the film: "Assembling the Team", "Mad Skills" and "Fast Five Suite".[101] Music guide AllMusic awarded the album 3 stars out of 5, commenting that "The goal here is to accompany a picture that, as usual, is packed with driving sequences involving flashy cars, beautiful, scantily clad women, and muscled men. That goal is accomplished with this beat-heavy music and the gruff, aggressive Latin rapping."[101] Ludacris collaborated with Slaughterhouse and Claret Jai for the soundtrack's lead single, "Furiously Dangerous".[102]
The film score was released on May 3, 2011, by Varèse Sarabande. The release has 25 tracks and plays for 78 minutes.[103] The score spent four weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking as high as number 60 and reaching number 24 on the digital albums chart and number 5 on the soundtrack-only chart.[103]
In February 2010, Diesel confirmed that production of Fast Five was commencing and also announced that a sixth installment was being planned.[104] In January 2011, producer Neal H. Moritz said more:[105]
In Vin and my mind we already know what the sixth movie is, we’ve already been talking about it. Vin and I have had numerous conversations about what that might be. And we’re starting to get serious about it right now. We just finished [Fast Five] like 4 or 5 weeks ago and we just needed a break, and now we’re gonna start focusing on that.
In April 2011 it was confirmed that Chris Morgan had already begun work on a script for a potential sixth film at the behest of Universal Studios.[106] It was also confirmed that Universal intended to transform the series from street-racing action into a series of heist films with car chases in the vein of The Italian Job (1969) and The French Connection (1971), with Fast Five as the transitional movie.[106] Universal chairman Adam Fogelson said:[106]
The question putting Fast Five and Fast Six together for us was: Can we take it out of being a pure car culture movie and into being a true action franchise in the spirit of those great heist films made 10 or 15 years ago?
Fogelson said that the racing aspect had put a "ceiling" on the number of people willing to see films in the series, and that, by turning it into a series where car driving ability is just one aspect of the film, he hoped to increase the series' audience.[106] On Johnson's character, Fogelson added "[Johnson] also wants to appear in and be integral to the action in Fast Six."[106]
On June 24, 2011, Universal Pictures announced that the anticipated sequel is scheduled for release on May 24, 2013.[107] Moritz and Diesel are to return as producers and Lin returns to direct.[107] In an interview with Box Office, Lin revealed that he had, after discussions with Diesel, storyboarded, pre-vised and cut a twelve-minute finale for Fast Six before filming was completed on Fast Five. Lin said he shot the footage as he was unsure at the time if there would be a sequel or if he would be able to direct it, but he wanted to have input on how any sequel would end.[108] On October 21, 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported that Universal was considering filming two sequels — Fast Six and Fast Seven — back to back with a single story running through both films; both written by Morgan and directed by Lin.[109] On December 20, 2011, Diesel confirmed that Fast Six would be split into two parts, with writing for the two films occurring simultaneously. On the decision, Diesel said:[110]
We have to pay off this story, we have to service all of these character relationships, and when we started mapping all that out it just went beyond 110 pages...The studio said, 'You can't fit all that story in one damn movie!'[110]
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