Why I no longer care about the F&F franchise

"marshknute" (marshknute) 04/04/2015 at 17:54 • Filed to: None

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Last night, I watched Furious 7 fully expecting to hate it. And I did hate it. It was an abysmal heaping pile of garbage. In fact, I only saw it out of respect for Paul Walker. Fortunately, the tribute to Walker in the final scene was extremely satisfying, and marks the first time a movie brought me to tears.

But that final scene also made me reflect on how the franchise has evolved from the world of underground street racing to an overblown Michael Bay explosion fest comprised of nothing but stunts.

Before going to the movie theater, I tried watching Fast 6 and gave up halfway through. It was too preposterous and so far removed from car enthusiast culture that I couldn't watch the rest. I miss the character of the early movies, when it was about street racing and about the cars.

Think about it, what was the last F&F movie that actually made you want to race your friends home from the movie theater? The first four did that very well (especially 2F2F and Tokyo Drift).

And of all the movies, which ones had the most iconic cars? Only the first three movies had memorable cars that brought recognition to rare and under appreciated sports cars.

Since those early films the series began introducing custom heist cars or generic supercars. They just planned out a preposterous heist, built a bunch of custom cars designed to complete a single stunt, and then threw the cars away. Unsurprisingly, none of those cars gained a cult following like those from the early movies. They were all too expensive or too stunt-oriented for anyone to ever want to own one of their own. There was also no connection between driver and car. No sense of the car being something that the owner loved and was willing to spend time and money modifying to suit their demands and express their personality.

As soon as this connection—the essence of car enthusiasm—was lost, I stopped caring about the series.

To me, the epitome of the F&F franchise was the opening race from 2 Fast 2 Furious. The prelude chronicles the connection O'Connor had with his R34 Skyline. Similarly, we can see that the other three racers' cars are an extension of their personalities. The race itself glorifies driving ability and captures the adrenaline rush of the underground street racing scene. It also has a stunt that is actually semi-believable; 2/3 of the cars that attempt the bridge jump end up damaged or wrecked, and the jump is just a drawbridge, not a game of leapfrog between three skyscrapers.

It's still the most iconic F&F scene to date, and I'm sad to see that magic lost from the series.

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > marshknute 04/04/2015 at 18:04

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Can you blame them? As we as community consistently prove, its hard to make money off us.

Take a look at the graph. http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchi… . Furious 7 has made almost as much money in the firs weekend as the first one did in total.

area man > marshknute 04/04/2015 at 18:06

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The MK I in Fast 6 was a pretty Jalop choice IMO

bob and john > marshknute 04/04/2015 at 18:09

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you cant really make an out and out street racing clip any more. too much politcal correct ness and OMG MY BABY OS GOING TO GET IDEAS AND BLAH BLAH BLAH

And truth is, F&F kinda MADE street racing and cars a thing in the US.

bob and john > area man 04/04/2015 at 18:11

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>wasnt brown
>wasnt wagon
>wasnt TDI
> wasnt RWD (then again, they also had a maxima in that, so meh)
>WAS stick
>WAS turbo
2/6 aint that great

MultiplaOrgasms > marshknute 04/04/2015 at 18:15

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So you no longer care about F&F because it does not glorify illegal street racing and rice anymore. If only there was a reason for that...

tromoly > bob and john 04/04/2015 at 18:19

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Huh? Escort Mk 1's are RWD. Unless they changed it in the movie?

Opposite Locksmith > marshknute 04/04/2015 at 18:22

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if you didn't care you wouldn't have written this

bob and john > tromoly 04/04/2015 at 18:25

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FUCK I was thinking off the MK3 Jetta in the first one for some dumbass reason *foot in mouth*

area man > bob and john 04/04/2015 at 18:34

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I was gonna say...

yamahog > marshknute 04/04/2015 at 19:04

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I actually felt the opposite... the whole franchise has been a divorced-from-reality, popcorn-munching Michael Bay special from the get-go to me, and then 20 minutes or so of the Paul Walker tribute was soooo overdone and awkward, like I was paying to watch a eulogy of someone I didn't even know and couldn't get emotional about.

PanchoVilleneuve ST > bob and john 04/04/2015 at 19:51

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Or because they did several movies of exactly that already and it got old.

aquila121 > marshknute 04/04/2015 at 20:19

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I'll agree that the franchise is too over-the-top for me in the stunts department, and the cars aren't nearly as memorable. I realize that the F&F movies have always shown an exaggerated version of street racing—what Hollywood thinks modified car culture and street racing is about—and that is not fully in line with reality. But for all of the stupid graphics and neons and off-duty strippers hanging on guys' arms, under all of that rice, there were cars that I wanted to drive: the FD RX-7, S2000, 350Z, hell, an R34 Skyline (include the Supra for power-fiends, too). These are performance icons, and wonderful starting points for modification that the aftermarket has embraced. I'd pick my parts differently, but that's a matter of taste and individual style/preference. Everything since "Fast Five" has been pushing the new Dodge Charger and Challenger on me, and like a commercial for those cars, it bores me. I want to see exciting races and stunts, sure, but keep it in the realm of possibility—I'll pass on Vin Diesel jumping between cars (or skyscrapers with cars). I'm not trying to advocate street racing or its glorification, but doesn't it rub anyone else the wrong way that these last several movies have just been muscle cars with big V8s? If LS motors are under the hood of 90% of the stunt cars, that tells me something has been lost along the way, and I'd say that it's individuality.

Your boy, BJR > yamahog 04/05/2015 at 01:28

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THANK YOU! I personally had more fun seeing this movie than anything else I've done in awhile. Me and my friend went in expecting something closer to an 80s action movie than a documentary about car culture, and as a result it was awesome. My friend described it as "a lethal weapon movie written by the zuckers and directed by Michael bay". We were HOWLING the whole time! Kurt Russell's beer, The Rock suiting up like he's Ahnold in Commando, Vin Diesel and Jason Statham fighting with glorified windsheild wipers? It was great fun! The more you realize how self aware it is, the more fun you have.

Movie was fuckin' ENTERTAINING, is what I'm saying.

Luc - The Acadian Oppo > Opposite Locksmith 04/05/2015 at 11:02

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That's exactly what I was thinking while reading this. It seems we have a F&F fan on our hands that is trying to be cool by dissing it. I haven't see 7 yet(I'm going this afternoon) and yes 6 was a little over the top but in all reality I don't care I'm still a fan and I'll continue to watch these for as long as they make them.

Fuck if you don't like F&F don't go watch it. it doesn't seem that complicated.

Opposite Locksmith > Luc - The Acadian Oppo 04/05/2015 at 11:08

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yep.