The first trailer for Fast and Furious 7 featured a sequence in which Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and some other members of the Fast Family drove their cars out of a plane, mid-air. This new clip expands on this set piece, giving us over two minutes worth what seems to be a typically chucklesome sequence. It's a shame to watch this on an iPhone, really, so do it the honour of finding the biggest screen you can. I just put it up on my TV, where it looked pretty good. Ridiculous, but deliberately so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vR43terJak In 1976, they would have done that entirely for real, with real cars on real parachutes. Or, rather more likely, the stunt team would have shaken their heads and walked away. The Fast and Furious team might "cheat" a lot, but only because they're trying to deliver the practically unfilmable. Credit to them for pushing the envelope so much that it explodes at least. But some of that dialogue was of a "You Don't Need To Be Mad To Work Here, But It Helps" calibre, particularly "This time it ain't just about being fast" and "You know we're crazy, right?" Of course, this series has never been about finely tuned bon mots, and if you were trying to do Oscar Wilde, you wouldn't fill your movie with this cast, or cover it in computer-facilitated explosions. I was most amused by the quick clips from a crowbar fight at the end there. I expect the only weapons I'd be more entertained to see Vin Diesel and Jason Statham duel with are a) knuckledusters b) chainsaws and c) custard pies. If you're reading this, Chris Morgan, you can have those ideas for free. We're within a month of Fast and Furious 7 now, in all of its overblown glory. I simply can't wait to find out quite what situation made the team feel like a spot of car-achuting might actually be a good idea.
Brendon Connelly has been a film writer since the early 90s, with time on the staff of Orbit Magazine, Slashfilm, Bleeding Cool, Den of Geek and many more. He's a long time teacher of film studies and practical filmmaking classes, and has directed music videos, commercials, short films and more. His favourite film is Terry Gilliam's Brazil, his favourite food is pancakes or crepes, and he tries to live his life by the teachings of Kermit the Frog.
