 Get ready for "five times the action, excitement and fun" (Shawn Edwards, FOX-TV) as Vin Diesel and Paul Walker lead a reunion of all-stars from every chapter of the explosive franchise built on speed. This Extended Version of Fast Five delivers even more explosive action than seen in theaters. Fugitive Dom Toretto (Diesel) partners with former cop Brian O'Conner (Walker) on the opposite side of the law in exotic Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There they are hunted by a high-powered U.S. strike force led by its toughest Fed (Dwayne Johnson) and an army of corrupt cops working for a ruthless drug kingpin. To gain their freedom and win this ultimate high-stakes race, they must pull off one last job, an insane heist worth $100 million. Storyline: Former cop Brian O'Conner partners with ex-con Dom Toretto on the opposite side of the law. Since Brian and Mia Toretto broke Dom out of custody, they've blown across many borders to elude authorities. Now backed into a corner in Rio de Janeiro, they must pull one last job in order to gain their freedom. As they assemble their elite team of top racers, the unlikely allies know their only shot of getting out for good means confronting the corrupt businessman who wants them dead. But he's not the only one on their tail. Hard-nosed federal agent Luke Hobbs never misses his target. When he is assigned to track down Dom and Brian, he and his strike team launch an all-out assault to capture them. But as his men tear through Brazil, Hobbs learns he can't separate the good guys from the bad. Now, he must rely on his instincts to corner his prey... before someone else runs them down first. Written by Universal Pictures Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Kenneth Brown on September 27, 2011 -- The prevailing sentiment seems to be "Fast Five is the best in the series!" And I can't say I really disagree. Still, I wasn't exactly smitten with the previous entries in the Fast and the Furious franchise, guilty pleasures as they were, so I'm not about to guarantee fans of the earlier outings will be so quick to toss Fast Five on top of the five-film pileup; especially since it drifts so far from the street racing scene that dominated the first four. It's bigger, badder and ballsier, no doubt, and faster and more furious to boot. It certainly offers action junkies everything they could want and then some: full-throttle car chases, spectacular high-speed heists, drool-worthy roadsters and racers, and more axle-snapping action, more wheel-whipping gunplay, more chassis-crushing 'splosions, and more death-defying leaps and crashes than ever before. More, more, more, more. It even throws in an F-bombing Dwayne Johnson for hard-hitting measure. Ultimately, Fast Five may not be the greatest flick on the block, but it is a whole lotta fun, and when it comes to The Fast and the Furious franchise, fun goes a long way. Fast Five picks up, literally, right where Fast & Furious left off. Dom (Vin Diesel) is on his way to prison when his partner, former undercover detective Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker), and his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) stage a daring (albeit highly unlikely) prison-bus break. On the run from the police, the FBI and the media, the three hightail it across the border and head even further south, all the way to Rio de Janeiro. There, they decide to lay down, lay low and avoid any unwanted attention. Nah, I'm just kidding. They do what any international fugitives would do: rob a train, double cross a local crime lord named Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) and his right-hand man Zizi (Michael Irby), put themselves on the radar of a ludicrously musclebound U.S. Diplomatic Security Service agent (Dwayne Johnson), and set out to steal untold millions from Reyes. That's right, it's One Last Heist for Dom and Brian. Not that anyone should be foolish enough to think this is the last we'll see of the led-foot duo; not after Fast Five revved up $600 million at the worldwide box office. (Be sure to sit through the first chunk of end credits for a nice little surprise.) Director Justin Lin (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and Fast & Furious) walks a fine line between over-the-top, roids-popping action, dazzling on-road and off-road stunts, and snarky ensemble-heist comedy. And, for the most part, he pulls off a fearless, sure-handed balancing act. The resulting round of testosterone-fueled road rage is much too long -- Michael Bay long if you factor in Fast Five's 132-minute extended cut -- and has more in common with Bad Boys II than other entries in the Fast and the Furious series. But it rarely drags (notice I didn't use the word never) and the influx of fresh blood and a bold new direction keeps things interesting. Johnson is Lin's not-so-secret weapon, tearing through Rio with wild eyes, oversized guns and a squad of heavy hitters ripped out of a movie starring, well, Dwayne Johnson. ("This guy is Old Testament. Blood, bullets, wrath of God... that's his style.") He doesn't have as much screentime as unruly Rock zealots may be hoping for, and his Luke Hobbs has the emotional depth of a bulging bicep, but he's far more threatening an adversary than de Almeida's crime lord. (De Almeida essentially reprises his Desperado role and rides it all the way to the bank.) Rio is Lin's true secret weapon, though, and shifting the series to Brazil prevents the Fast and Furious formula from growing stale. Add to all that a semi-dream team of returning grand theft automobilers -- in addition to Dom, Brian and Mia, we get Matt Schulze's Vince from The Fast and the Furious, Tyrese Gibson's Roman and Ludacris' Tej Parker from 2 Fast 2 Furious, Sung Kang's Han Seoul-Oh from Tokyo Drift and Fast & Furious, and Gal Gadot's Gisele, Tego Calderón's Leo and Don Omar's Santos from Fast & Furious -- and you can start to see why Universal is so eager to keep Lin in the series' driver's seat. Even so, it isn't as smooth a ride as it could be. The film's biggest action beats defy the laws of physics and good sense (let me tell just how a chase with two cars dragging a bank vault would really go), Diesel and Johnson's battles to the constant draw are straight out of the genre playbook, Dom and Brian are near-invincible demigods, aimless subplots clog up the injectors, Brewster is wasted and Gibson is wooden, some of writer Chris Morgan's quips and one-liners are primed for groans rather than laughs, and there are so many warring factions and competing interests that the second act lags and the third act borders on downright silly. None of it spoils the experience per se, at least it won't for those who are able to switch off the critical regions of their brains, but miraculously empty roads, last-minute saves, bulletproof heroes and a complete neglect for "equal and opposite reaction" requires a willingness to roll with anything. If you can do that, chances are you'll have a blast with Fast Five. Fast Five. It's just fun to say. Fast Five. And it's just fun to watch. No need to think, no need to analyze, no need to do anything other than sit back, strap in and enjoy the ride. Luckily, Universal's Blu-ray edition makes it that much easier to Let Go and Let Lin. Its video transfer is outstanding, its DTS-HD Master Audio track rockets toward the finish, and its eight-cylinder extras top off an already excellent release. Fast Five won't win over every franchise fan, but the faithful racers who follow Dom and Brian to Rio won't be sorry they did. [CSW] -3.7- Although the plot was only to get you from one action scene to another, reminiscent of the Transformers, the action though over the top was solid enough to be thoroughly entertaining and it didn't require the audience having to have an overt interest in fast cars. This is the only one of the Fast and Furious (number 5) that I would consider adding to my collection. Besides having Dwayne Johnson (AKA The Rock) and Vin Diesel together in the same movie almost makes it a collector's item in itself. With the great D-Box I will have to seriously have to consider adding to my collection. In the mean time check it out for yourself. [V5.0-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box 10/10. Cast Notes: Vin Diesel (Dominic Toretto), Paul Walker (Brian O'Conner), Jordana Brewster (Mia Toretto), Dwayne Johnson (Luke Hobbs), Tyrese Gibson (Roman Pearce), Ludacris (Tej Parker [as Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges]), Matt Schulze (Vince), Sung Kang (Han Lue), Gal Gadot (Gisele Harabo), Tego Calderon (Tego Leo), Don Omar (Rico Santos), Joaquim de Almeida (Hernan Reyes), Elsa Pataky (Elena Neves), Michael Irby (Zizi), Fernando Chien (Wilkes [as Fernando F. Chien]). IMDb Rating (07/09/14): 7.3/10 from 210,399 users IMDb Rating (10/31/11): 7.4/10 from 77,020 users
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