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"THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS" (2001) (Paul Walker, Vin Diesel) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Mild Moderate Extreme Heavy Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Moderate None Mild *None Heavy Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy Minor Minor Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Action/Adventure: An undercover cop infiltrates the world of urban street racing to catch those responsible for recent truck hijackings, but finds himself drawn to a street legend and his beautiful sister. PLOT: Brian (PAUL WALKER) is an L.A. cop who's been sent undercover to investigate a string of tractor-trailer hijackings. The suspects are believed to be any number of young people who spend their days working in the garages, fine-tuning their high performance racing cars that they take to the streets at night for some urban drag racing. The leader of one such group is Dominic Toretto (VIN DIESEL), a muscle-bound, charismatic fellow whose crew consists of Jesse (CHAD LINBERG), Leon (JOHNNY STRONG), Vincent (MATT SCHULZE) and Letty (MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ). The dominant force in the illegal racing - despite the efforts of rival gang leader Johnny Tran (RICK YUNE) - Dom draws the attention of Brian who believes if he can impress him, he'll be accepted as one of the gang and possibly become privy to inside information. While he does just that, his boss, Sgt. Tanner (TED LEVINE), and FBI Agent Bilkins (THOM BARRY) want Brian to get faster results before the victimized truck drivers begin taking matters into their own hands. As Brian becomes progressively immersed in the gang and the urban drag racing culture - all while becoming involved with Dom's sister, Mia (JORDANA BREWSTER) - he faces the prospect of getting too close to his subjects and losing perspective of the task at hand. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're into racing movies or are fans of anyone in the cast, they just might, although this one seems targeted primarily at male teens. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For violence, sexual content and language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: PAUL WALKER plays a cop who goes undercover as an urban drag racer to infiltrate a gang of possible suspects. While doing so, he races cars down city streets at high speeds, uses some profanity, and soon becomes so involved with the gang and the leader's sister that his judgment begins to become clouded. VIN DIESEL plays the charismatic leader of one drag racing gang who also participates in urban drag racing, uses some profanity and is involved in criminal activity. JORDANA BREWSTER plays his independent sister who becomes involved with Brian and uses some profanity. MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ plays Dominic's girlfriend who seems to be in a perpetually surly mood and has no problem decking any man who gives her lip. RICK YUNE plays the leader of a rival gang who also participates in urban drag racing and is responsible for killing someone and threatening others. CHAD LINBERG plays one of Dom's crewmembers who has Attention Deficit Disorder, uses some profanity and smokes once. MATT SCHULZE plays another crewmember who has a bad attitude toward Brian for most of the film and uses profanity. JA RULE plays another urban drag racer who briefly uses strong profanity. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this action/adventure film that's been rated PG-13. Violence is listed as extreme due to several people being shot and wounded or killed, others attempting to kill or threaten others with machine guns or other weapons (resulting in various instances of property damage) and several scenes where fighting, other physical contact or vehicular accidents occur. Some of those scenes have bloody results and they and others may be tense or unsettling to some viewers. Various characters involved in all of that and other behavior have varying degrees of bad attitudes (some of them criminal and/or murderous in intent) and some of the behavior (particularly the urban drag racing) may be enticing for some kids to imitate. Profanity consists of at least 1 use of the "f" word, while various other expletives and colorful phrases are used. Some non-explicit, sexually related dialogue occurs while a woman places a male driver's hand on her bare breast, promising it and more to him if he wins his race. A sexual encounter takes place off camera (we see the young couple in bed afterwards) and some other fooling around occurs, while various women are seen partially undressed or in scanty attire (one lowers her pants to show off her thong underwear and mostly bare behind). Meanwhile, a few characters drink and/or smoke. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone in your home who's interested in seeing it, we suggest that you more closely examine our detailed content listings for more specific examples of what's present and occurs in it. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE People drink beer at a party where Dominic gets some for Brian and himself. Dominic, Brian and others have beer at a barbeque. BLOOD/GORE We see photos of a man's face after Dominic reportedly took a torque wrench to him before this story began (we see what look like various cuts or stitched up cuts, but after any bleeding has stopped). Johnny Tran has a little bit of blood on his face and lip after being punched and appears to spit out some blood. A man's arm is rather bloody as it's caught in a cable from which he hangs from the side of a truck. We see some blood on Letty's face after she's been in a car accident. An injured man is rather bloody and we later see some of his blood on the front of Dominic's shirt. We see a little bit of blood on a person's shirt after they've been shot. Dominic has some blood on his head after being in a car accident. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Those responsible for assaulting and hijacking tractor-trailers and stealing their cargo of electronics obviously have both types of attitudes. Vincent has both toward Brian for most of the film. Letty, who seems to have a surly attitude for much of the film, walks up to some women around Dominic and says, "I smell skanks." Johnny Tran and his followers have both for being a ruthless and violent gang. Brian breaks a glass window to illegally enter a building. A man is demeaning to Letty by stating that a girl like her shouldn't be racing (she ends up beating him in a drag race). FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" and/or "Blood/Gore" may also be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers (especially a failed truck heist that occurs late in the film). Three cars race up to a semi and begin their hijacking attack on it. The driver of one shoots an arrow/harpoon into part of the windshield and yanks it out. He then climbs into the cab with the driver who repeatedly hits him with a bat/club before the attacker shoots him with something that renders him unconscious. During this, the rig swerves around the road and enters a narrow construction lane that causes one of the cars to zip beneath the truck for a few moments. Spotting Dominic running from the police on foot, Brian picks him up in his car and aggressively drives to avoid the pursuing cruisers. Vincent holds a weapon on Brian when he and Dominic think that Brian might be a cop and they partially interrogate him. As Dominic, Vincent and Brian hide in the garage, they see Johnny Tran and his gang come in and then get rough on another man (they end up pouring motor oil into his mouth to make him talk). Brian and Dominic drag race toward a railroad crossing where an approaching train is going to cross at about the same time they reach that point. GUNS/WEAPONS Crossbow: Used to shoot into a truck cab to yank out part of the windshield. Bat/club: Used by a truck driver to hit an attacker. Handguns/Machine guns/Shotguns: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill people and damage cars (the latter intentionally and accidentally). IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "F*ck you," "(This is) Bullsh*t," "Cut the sh*t," "You are a sh*tty liar," "No sh*t," "Sneaky as sh*t," "Scares the sh*t out of me," "Shut up," "Faggot" (said to a heterosexual), "Hell, yeah," "What the hell /is going on around here/was that all about/is this?" "Nigger" (what a woman calls a black man), "It's going to be a long-assed night," "Crotch rocket" (car), "That sucks," "Kick his ass," "Punk" and "(You) Bastard." All of the street racing and other car stunts (such as driving directly beneath a tractor trailer and Mia driving like crazy down the road) may prove enticing for some teen drivers to imitate. Various women wear tight, midriff-baring tops. Vincent has various tattoos on his arms. Letty walks up to some women around Dominic and says, "I smell skanks. Why don't you back it up before I leave tread marks on your face?" To make a man talk, Johnny Tran pours motor oil into the man's mouth as a means of torture. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A mild amount of ominous/suspenseful music plays in a few scenes. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None that we heard, but various rap songs have lyrics that couldn't be understood, thus offering the possibility of containing objectionable material (one that plays during the closing credits appears to have had certain words silenced during it). PROFANITY At least 1 "f" word, 34 "s" words, 9 hells, 7 asses (1 used with "hole"), 3 craps, 3 damns, 1 S.O.B. (and another incomplete one), 3 uses of "Jesus Christ," 2 of "Swear to God" and 1 use each of "G-damn," "God" and "Oh God" as exclamations. SEX/NUDITY One of the crew mentions something about someone trying to get into Mia's pants. The camera occasionally pans up various women's bodies in their skimpy attire (some wear midriff/cleavage-baring outfits). A woman walks up to a drag racer, takes his hand and puts it on her bare breast (that she's exposed by pulling down her tank-top). We see his hand on her breast (we can only see part of the latter) as she tells him "this is yours" whether he wins or loses and then adds that if he does win, he gets another woman as well. Dominic admits that he made the mistake of sleeping with Johnny Tran's sister. As Mia quickly changes clothes, we see her bare back and what looks like a brief, partial glimpse of the side of her bare breast. We see two women sensuously kissing at a party, while other women dance in scanty attire and Dominic tells a man and woman to "take it upstairs." A cop/federal agent says that he'd "get off" looking at surveillance photos of Mia. As Brian answers a phone call at night while in bed, we then see that Mia's there with him (both are mostly under the covers and it's implied they've had sex). After he hangs up, they kiss (sitting upright) and he then lays her down where they continue to kiss and we see her hands caressing his bare back. Letty pulls down Dominic's shirt and he then puts his hands on her clothed butt and lifts her up around his waist. We then see them in a chair with her straddling his lap (clothed). We briefly see various women in very small and revealing bikinis and then see a woman in another scene lowering her shorts to reveal most of her bare butt in her thong underwear as water is showered onto her by others. SMOKING In one scene, Brian asks for a cigarette but his boss won't let him have one, stating that he thought he quit, all while an FBI agent smokes a cigar. Meanwhile, Jesse smokes once, as does a miscellaneous character. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Dominic relates the tale from sometime in the past when he watched his father die in a fiery, racing accident (which isn't seen). TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Such urban drag racing (and generally driving cars anywhere above the speed limit). Brian becoming so involved with the gang that his judgment becomes clouded. Jesse states that he has Attention Deficit Disorder. VIOLENCE Three cars race up to a semi and begin their hijacking attack on it. The driver of one shoots an arrow/harpoon into part of the windshield and yanks it out. He then climbs into the cab with the driver who repeatedly hits him with a bat/club before the attacker shoots him with something that renders him unconscious. Vincent pushes Brian back against a car, causing Brian to punch Vincent who then drives Brian back against a vehicle. The two continue to struggle with Brian eventually being on top of Vincent and punching him until Dominic separates the two of them. A car runs into a police car during a car chase (but no one is apparently hurt). Johnny Tran and another man riddle Brian's empty car with machine gun fire (no one is hurt), causing the car to explode from the nitrous oxide canisters inside it. Dominic knocks a beer from another man's hand. Brian breaks a glass window to illegally enter a building. Vince hits Brian and temporarily knocks him out. After dragging him back to Dominic, Vince holds a shotgun on him and then kicks him. As Dominic, Vincent and Brian hide in the garage, they see Johnny Tran and his gang come in and get rough on another man (they end up pouring motor oil into his mouth to make him talk after violently grabbing him and holding a gun on him). Tran then kicks this man in the gut. Brian pushes a man who makes a disparaging remark about Mia. We see photos of a man's face after Dominic reportedly took a torque wrench to him before this story begins (we see what look like various cuts or stitched up cuts, but after any bleeding has stopped). A cop/federal agent grabs a suspect who's trying to escape and throws him down onto the floor quite hard. We then see someone kick that man and a cop/agent has his knee pressed down hard onto this man's face. Cops/agents then break down the door of another house they're raiding (where a man slaps what's presumably his son for being involved in wrongdoings). After Johnny Tran is disrespectful to Dominic and accuses him of sending the authorities after him, Dominic punches Johnny, knocking him to the ground. He then repeatedly punches him in the face until security guards pull him away. Letty then punches one of Johnny's goons in the face. As the bad guys try to pull off another truck heist, things go wrong when Vincent doesn't make it inside the truck and instead hangs onto the front as the truck driver repeatedly fires at him with a shotgun. As the various other members try to come to the rescue, the truck driver fires a shot that blows out the back glass of Letty's car and then slams on the brakes, sending Vincent crashing into the side of the truck, hanging by his rather bloody arm that's caught in a cable. As the rescue attempt continues, the driver shoots out one of Dominic's tires and then smashes his truck into Letty's car that flips over several times as it runs off the road. The driver also keeps shooting at them, finally hitting Vincent in the leg (not explicitly seen). Brian eventually shows up, stands on his car as Mia drives and leaps over to the truck where he rescues Vincent, but not before the truck driver reloads his shotgun and gets off another shot at him. Brian aims his handgun at Dominic. Some bad guys on motorcycles show up, fire their machine guns and hit a car and its driver, killing him (others duck out of the way of the spray of bullets). Brian shoots at them as they speed away. Brian chases after those men who fire their machine guns back at him, spraying nearby cars with bullets. He then fires several shots at them. Dominic causes one of the bikers to crash and careen down a hill (the rider appears injured), while Brian shoots the other, causing his bike to crash as well (the rider appears dead). Two cars smash through railroad crossing gates as they barely make it over the tracks without being hit by an oncoming train. A car crashes into a truck and flips over several times, somewhat injuring the driver. Reviewed June 14, 2001 / Posted June 22, 2001

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