The Fast and Furious Six

[Chris]

Anyone seen this yet?

I saw it yesterday and thought it was really fun. I'm not a huge fan of the earlier films - I certainly became more interested in the franchise when they widened the scope beyond street racing. This one has ridiculous stunts and fights galore.

It's one of the worst examples in recent memory of a film's trailer giving far too much away, though. For the first hour, when you hear a line from the trailer, you know that another line from the trailer is coming up. It was quite distracting, in that we've seen too much from individual scenes already. Too many of the big visual moments were also given away, when they should have been saved.

The Rock was great, and if he's back for number 7 then the prospect of him facing the person in the post-credits sequence is pants-wettingly awesome. That reveal got a huge reaction from the audience I saw it with.

[MikeHunt]

10/10 loved it. Fast 5 is the only other one of the series I like.

[Dave]

I saw it this afternoon having watched the previous 5 over the past week to refresh my memory.

I thought it was good, though I preferred 5 based on a first viewing. That said I know a lot of that was due to trying to landmark spot and work out routes in London (some of the geography in the film just doesn't work).

[VHS]

Does Tokyo Drift happen after 4, 5, and 6? :confused:

[Chris]

Yes, Tokyo Drift happens after the new film.

[Dave]

Does Tokyo Drift happen after 4, 5, and 6? :confused:4 and 5 do, as for 6...No really, if you don't want the end of the film spoiled don't click here
There is a sequence in the credits which is from the middle of Tokyo Drift, so the main bit of the film takes place before Drift, but in the credits there is a bit that takes place in the middle of Drift - and then sets up 7.

[Chris Scott]

Yep watched it Friday, enjoyed like a lot. No stopping these films.

[StoneColdWWE316]

Ive seen all of them minus Drift because neither Vin Diesel or Paul Walker was in that one. Ive enjoyed them all and can't wait to see #6.

[MerLuv]

I just forked out three bills to take my entire team to see Fast 6 in DBOX next week. Anyone else seen it in DBOX?

[Tyson]

Ive seen all of them minus Drift because neither Vin Diesel or Paul Walker was in that one. Ive enjoyed them all and can't wait to see #6.

I actually enjoyed Drift, it exceeded my expectations.

[StoneColdWWE316]

Fast 6 is a kick ass ride and everyone in it does a fantastic job. Great action/story along with some good humor. Already can't wait for #7.

[MikeHunt]

The how did this get made podcast for this is out and is brilliant and sums up pretty much exactly how i feel about this flick.

[One Man Gang]

Yep watched it Friday, enjoyed like a lot. No stopping these films.

oof




So I just saw part 6. It was good. But now what? Since Walker is dead, how do they handle this? I can see three options.


Option 1: Write Brian out.

There are two ways to do this. You either have him and Mia go ride into the sunset with their baby or you kill him off.

The former though is essentially ridiculous after the sixth film. That movie established that Brian and Mia will never abandon Dom. Also they pretty much told us that they can't hide from the villain anywhere. The latter would then be the only real way to go here but with a movie (Fast 7) already starting out with Han's funeral, are they just going to follow that up with another? This isn't supposed to be that tragic of a franchise. It was pretty clear that if nothing else, both Dom and Brian would be there in the end. Maybe one would die sacrificing himself for the other, but certainly neither would get an early or mid movie off screen death. Plus how is he going to die? Get shot in the head or die in a car crash? It seems to drain the fun out of the series. Plus it may not even be essential that the story continue...



Option 2: Recast Brian O'Conner

How awkward would it be for the replacement actor? It's not like if Ian McKellan died you'd know they'd have to replace him for the Hobbit. With the Fast & Furious movies it's just making it up as it goes along. Does anyone really want to see Ryan Phillippe play Brian O'Conner? No. It's also not like they can hide the replacement actor like they did in the Crow when Brandon Lee died. Walker didn't wear makeup nor did he hide in the shadows. It sounds like they only really finished about half of his scenes anyways and I doubt original Fast 7 movie wasn't going to end with a cliffhanger. So they probably don't have an ending already filmed that wraps everything up so much as widens the conflict.



Option 3: Cancel the franchise for now.

To a movie producer this isn't an ideal option nor have too many franchises ever had to face this decision. The franchise was really pulling in the money now and frankly it still can. But at what cost? It's not like Richard Harris dying and being replaced because the show must go on to complete the story. Sure the end credits scene in FF6 suggested what the next movie would be about. But that was just one scene. You can cut that scene from future releases and just say it ended with the dinner scene. We don't really need to see the brother for the story to be complete. FF6 essentially tied everything together enough.

I know people will say "Walker would have wanted it to continue" but would he have wanted it to continue in a desperate and unbelievable fashion at the expense of the story? Either they write his character off in a way that goes against everything Walker worked on in 6, or they kill him off, putting a huge down note on the completion of the saga which essentially could be ended with what he did in 6.

I also realize that people like working on these movies and it's a job, but there's always other gigs. The key grip can go be a key grip on another movie. Vin Diesel will work again. The Rock can make the paycheck up by working for Vince.

They can always reboot the franchise with all new characters in several years with a new story arc and cast.





They were scheduled to film more scenes for FF7 this month and then head to Abu Dhabi in January. I don't think they'll be going there as scheduled which means the release date for next summer is probably gone.

I'd probably just cancel the series and reboot after a respectful amount of time. Though I suspect they will try everything in their power to continue filming and just write the character out.




I do applaud the way they going with the franchise though. Their original plans probably would have been kickass.

[Tyson]

If I had to guess, they write Brian O'Connor out. Would it be uncool to have him die in a car crash that we don't see, then have Dom eulogize him (real life connection) saying at least he died doing what he loved?

The movie series is way too profitable to cancel, also I think the cast and crew will use the filming of #7 as a way to grieve for Paul.