Fast & Furious 7…

I know. I'm just lamenting it as a sign of the time, as I have for the past 5-6 years.

 

Over saturation. I like a few of these popcorn flicks.But no Fellini or Bergman's in the making in his century. Different world, different values.

 

valid points of course, but it just doesn't bother me like it does you.

 

I was a foreign/indie/classic movie snob for about a decade until I realized all but a tiny, tiny fraction of movies are simply entertaining distraction - whatever the guise or pretense. The reason I like the Fast and Furious franchise is in large part because it has no pretense. It advertises loudly and clearly that it is big dumb fun. This is a movie you see with your friends after a 10-hour, soul-draining day while downing a beer. This is a movie you take your kid to and get the idiotic DBOX seats just to see the grin on his face. I get that it's not for everyone, but it's not more rote than any "serious" WWII/dysfunctional relationship/true crime Oscar bait. Only thing we're missing this year is a Rainman/Forrest Gump/My Left Foot/Still Alice nomination featuring someone pretending to have a disability.

I get my drama and mysteries from the current golden age of TV we're undeniably in right now. I not missing out on anything just because Fast and Furious movies are made.

 

But I still think it's possible to make a big, sprawling action film that's not stupid. The Bourne movies, the Mission:Impossible movies, the Bond films... all of these are a little stupid to a point (and often heavily depend on cliches and coincidence), but not to the point that logic goes out the window. The two sets of big action movies I really hate are the Fast & Furious movies and the Transformers movies. There's just no logic and nothing but paper-thin characters. It's just lame.

I often point to the Disney/Marvel movies as further examples where most of the time -- particularly with Iron Man and Avengers -- they manage to pull off telling a real story that makes sense, they have characters you can empathize with, and still have no shortage on action. But this can fail spectacularly when done badly; Fantastic Four is a good example. That one is just jaw-droppingly awful.

The stunt in Fast & Furious 5 with dragging the safe down the street is so audacious and silly, I laughed for about 15 solid minutes. It's just so bad. There's so many cliches and bad plot problems and things that make no sense... it's hard to know where to even start.

 

These movies are all beyond stupid. The main difference is that they try to airbrush how dumb they are. You could take the top 20 all-time grossing movies and they wouldn't collectively be as smart as a single good book.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/

Fast and Furious, Transformers and Jurassic World know how to make big stupid fun. Clearly they are not made for you. There are many popular movies I don't care for, but I don't try to turn my dislike for them into broad criticisms of the movie industry.

 

if they earn they will always go for it! I do agree on the later reboot.

 

Hold on there, smokey. I think you're making a bit of a straw man argument here. Let's take a closer look at that list:



Avatar is not a stupid movie (though it's got some silly predictable stereotypes in it); ditto with Titanic. Force Awakens is not what I'd call a stupid movie. Avengers is a fairly decent, complicated film (to me, at least), faithful to the comic books and believable as a comic book can be. All the Harry Potter films are very entertaining and well-done for the most part -- not the equal of the novels, but still pretty good for a highly-condensed version. Frozen is just a cartoon, but it makes sense within the boundaries of fantasy; ditto with Minions and Toy Story. Iron Man is extremely good -- to me -- and kind of laid out the ground work for what a Marvel movie needed to be.

All the Lord of the Rings movies are lavish epic spectacles, and for me they're close enough to the books that I don't quibble too much; the work fine for that "epic fantasy" thing. Skyfall is a Bond film -- no more, no less -- and works within the expected logic, story, and characters in the James Bond universe; I think it's far from stupid. I think the Dark Knight movies have some weak moments here and there, and I think they're too long, but they're the opposite of a stupid movie: they have complicated plots, a lot of unexpected twists, more character shadings than I would have expected, and some genuine emotion here and there.

I liked the first Jurassic Park movie very much, and again, I don't think it falls into the "unbelievable, silly, stupid" plot abyss of anything in the world of Transformers, Armageddon, or the really lame action pictures of today. Jurassic World kinda left me cold. I liked the first Pirates movie but thought the rest of them took a good idea to overload, with incomprehensible plots and ideas thrown out the window. And I liked the first Iron Man film and was a little disappointed with the subsequent sequels, but they weren't awful. And none of them descended into stupid territory.

What's my total score? I'd say of these 20 films, only 7 are what I would call "stupid and nonsensical." The rest work fine to me as mass-market action pictures. I think it's possible to make science fiction, fantasy, horror, animation, and/or action films that make you believe the story, that get the audience to invest in the characters emotionally, that tell a tale with a beginning, middle, and end, and don't veer so far off the scale that it knocks you out of the movie.

 

These are all (except for Jurassic Park) big dumb CGI-fests, as it has been for the past decade and a half. Collectively, they don't compare to a single work by Shakespeare or James Joyce. Hell, even handicapping for summer popcorn movies, these are largely derivative of the original Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, Back to the Future and Alien - none of which are on the list. Much as I love them, almost none of even those movies compare to the depth or innovation of Metropolis, Dr Strangelove, The Godfather or To Kill a Mockingbird. At best, the top 20 grossing movies are third-tier flicks. And that's fine. They are entertaining spectacles, and to lament they don't have a little more artistic merit is kind of like asking for a more classy hooker.

Fast and Furious is an unapologetic spectacle. I know it is a deep-fried Twinkie, and its sequels are deep-fried Twinkies covered in chocolate sauce followed by a shot of rum. I hope they put rockets on a Monster truck and drive across molten lava (without CGI) for FF8!

Doesn't mean that's all I like. Like I've said before, I was a foreign/indie/classic movie snob for over a decade, and my bluray/DVD/LD shelf reflects that. I just don't read too much into movies I don't like. I tend not to say Avatar and all the LotR/Hobbit movies are boring, pretentious and over-indulgent, and I certainly don't think they are indicitive of anything wrong with the movie industry simply because I don't like them. (I reserve that for Adam Sandler and Damon Lindelof.)

Fast and Furious is just one example of the overall trend of the most successful movies of the past 15 years. At the same time, we're seeing the best long form television series' perhaps ever coming out, and the back catalog of classics on bluray, DVD and streaming are the most accessible and affordable ever. It is literally the best time to be a consumer of media, regardless of anyone's particular tastes and sensibilities, so when people complain about how dumb FF and Transformers movies are, I think they're missing the big picture.

 

I disagree on Avatar it is a terrible pretentious political crap-fest...

 

pure non stop adrenaline entertainment! love the franchise...

 

Eh, I'd say more critics disagree with you than agree. An 83 on Rotten Tomatoes is actually pretty high, particularly for a big action picture. Compare that to 19 for Transformers 3.

 

just my opinion my friend...that's fine .

 

start by checking reality at the ticket window and enjoy the thrill ride...fantasy can be much fun if you don't look for the facts...if we do that how can we enjoy the movie when we are constantly trying to prove it wrong?

 

I can handle fantasy just fine. I just can't handle it when it's done badly to the point where it snaps me out of the movie. Fantasy is one of those very tenuous things that has to be handled just right, or else you insult the audience's attention. I've already listed many, many fine fantasy films that tell their stories very well. Harry Potter is a prime example (book and films) where they maintain a fairly rigid grasp on the rules that govern the characters and situations to the point that you never question what's going on. It all makes sense within that universe. Fast & Furious is just a piece of crap masquerading as an action film. I'll say this: director James Wan did a helluva job on the last couple of Fast & Furious movies in terms of making beautiful pictures. But it's kind of a Hostess Twinkie kind of movie: nice on the outside, empty and rotten on the inside.

 

unless you enjoy the filling then it's all tasty!

 

I'll laugh the day the cars in Fast & Furios start talking

seriously, I don't know what the problem is. Call me crazy, but I can enjoy Max Ophüls' style and the absurd car chases on the Fast & Furious films, these flicks work great on the big screen but are enjoyable on a medium sized home TV set too.

Looking at the Top 20 chart posted by Vidiot, I'd say the weakest one overall is "Minions". Then, the Transformers ones, who actually looked great as seen on a giant theatrical screen, even if I have no desire to see them again in my lifetime. Awesome tech achievements though.

As 80s junkie noted, there's nothing like "Metropolis" (actually one of my fave films ever)... but that's not the point, those top 20 are films designed (not using this word randomly) to appeal to the masses and sell the largest amount of tickets. Sometimes you can do it with the help of a clever screenplay (eg: the Nolan's Batman ones, Toy Story 3) or turning loooooooooooong books into loong movies (LOTR, Harry Potter), showing off (Transformers) or showing off incorporating something that resonates with people.. and this is the case of F&F: epic cars+ family; who doesn't love their families or a Ford Mustang (not necessarily in this order )? These films are not just about a gang of fast car drivers, the second main theme is camaraderie, friendship, loyalty and "family". Yes, The Godfather dealt with bonding and family on an entirely and much better different level, but bever underestimate the power of simple things. I'm not that picky; on the right day, give me Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky and I'm happy. Another day, let me see Fast 5 on the biggest screen I can find and with the best sound, and I'm happy.

...and of course the first "Fast and Furious" was just "Point Break" with cars and without the surf stuff, but that's another story for another day

 

He only directed their biggest hit "7" Wan otherwise.

 

I thought he did the one before as well. Oh, well. He's finishing up the new Star Trek now; I have no doubt it'll be action packed, but I only hope it won't be too stupid.

 

I agree with you. Very cliched film too.

I am a big Fast and the Furious fan because they are big dumb action films with a little bit of humor thrown in.

 

F&F preference,
5
6&7 about equal
1-4 booty/gear stick.

 

• My 83 Datsun 280z talked.
• I just found an inexpensive Jean Renoir DVD box set that I want to give a spin.
  
• I have never seen Point Break.

 

you should

 

anyone that doesn't get that is missing the point...

 

http://jalopnik.com/fast-8-brings-high-speed-armored-vehicles-to-iceland-to-1761014185

It's not Monster trucks on lava, but I'll take tanks on ice!