Blu-ray Movie Reviews

"The Fast And The Furious Trilogy" includes "The Fast And The Furious", "2 Fast 2 Furious" and "The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift" with a digital copy of each film.

Rob Cohen’s original The Fast and the Furious was delayed several times before becoming a goldmine for Universal and a trend setter for the popular underground racing craze that has since swept the country. The popularity spawned a sequel that turned out to be a rather cheesy popcorn movie mess but the series left on a surprising high note with the third installment, Tokyo Drift, which may have captured the racing craze better than the first two films. Universal delivers the series to Blu-ray just in time for the fourth film to hit the theaters, Fast and Furious which reteams the original cast members in some crazy racing action. Picking up this Blu-ray boxset gets you credit toward your ticket but make sure you keep the wrapping since that is your code!!

All of the films are delivered with solid video transfers and the differences between them are pretty slight. The first film is a tad softer than the follow ups, but even it has stood up well with nice fine detail and depth. Contrast suffers a bit from raised black levels but the image still has a very nice film-like look. The second film is a bit brighter and has a punchier look with slightly improved detail and depth. There is plenty of eye candy with bright colors and plenty of neon. The third film is equally eye catching with the best contrast of the bunch and plenty of rich detail and color. The Tokyo underworld delivers some fetching eye candy and the transfer has plenty of demo worthy material. All in all this is a great looking boxset all the way through.

All of the soundtracks are presented in DTS-HD Master Audio and having owned the original HD DVD releases, I can tell you these have been juiced up a bit. The bottom end has definitely been amped up with deep, deep bass extension that really lends to the underlying growl of the American Muscle cars on display. Surround use is aggressive and there are plenty of directional effects that really pull you in to the action onscreen. I was impressed with the infrasonic response and my chair was shaken more times than I care to remember. All of the films deliver impressive sound designs and the soundtracks never seem to let up in either the hard rock or hip hop flavors. All are sonic thrill rides.

Each film is delivered with a digital copy for your portable device. Universal also includes the full Bonus View and BD-Live experience with each one. You get full tech specs for all three films and each delivers the goods on the cars used throughout the films. Each also features a picture-in-picture commentary with behind the scenes footage and interviews with the cast and crew. There is also trivia, GPS and car swap features scattered throughout. All of the films feature audio commentaries with the directors and inside looks at the production and stunts used throughout. The first film also features a video maker that allows you to custom make your own collogue of scenes with backing soundtrack for sharing via BD-Live. All three films also give you a sneak peek at the upcoming fourth film. All in all a very complete supplemental package for the collector and fan alike.

These films have always been great popcorn fun and if you can excuse the second one there is a lot of fun to be had. Universal delivers in the A/V presentation and gives you PLENTY of great extras including a look at the new film due in theaters early next month. How could I not recommend these!!