Fast & Furious 7 - Lucas Black returns to franchise

[Captain Craig]

Re: Fast & Furious 7 - Lucas Black retuns to franchise

I'll be curious to see Lucas Black return as he's essentially the Jar Jar Binks of this franchise. It's fun to knock on him apparently.
I own the first 4 films and enjoy them. They really are more or less remakes of Italian Job and Oceans 11 now than simple heist films by "local" thugs, which is how the first few are really framed. So it'll be interesting to see what template they use next for the upcoming Fast 7.

 

[sojourner]

Re: Fast & Furious 7 - Lucas Black retuns to franchise

Oooh, great idea if this goes to 11 movies

Ocean's 11 gets Fast and Furious.

The ultimate team up!

 

[FreezeC77]

I get that Tokyo Drift takes place after Fast and Furious 6 chronologically, but that makes me wonder. Exactly what year is it in the F&F universe? Tokyo Drift has 2006/2007 cars in it. So does that mean the last few movies all featured car models that were built prior to that year? Or is Tokyo Drift supposed to be regarded as having taken place in 2013/2014 and just used older cars?

 

[Relayer1]

I get that Tokyo Drift takes place after Fast and Furious 6 chronologically, but that makes me wonder. Exactly what year is it in the F&F universe? Tokyo Drift has 2006/2007 cars in it. So does that mean the last few movies all featured car models that were built prior to that year? Or is Tokyo Drift supposed to be regarded as having taken place in 2013/2014 and just used older cars?

I can't tell one car from another (down to utter lack of interest) but I did notice everyone had flip phones in Tokyo Drift.

 

[Gaith]

I get that Tokyo Drift takes place after Fast and Furious 6 chronologically, but that makes me wonder. Exactly what year is it in the F&F universe? Tokyo Drift has 2006/2007 cars in it. So does that mean the last few movies all featured car models that were built prior to that year? Or is Tokyo Drift supposed to be regarded as having taken place in 2013/2014 and just used older cars?

You realize this is the same franchise in which an American Diplomatic Security Service agent pulls a gun on a high-ranking Spanish military officer on his own base and doesn't get jailed or even fired, yes? Let's not overthink things, here.

 

[Dream]

I get that Tokyo Drift takes place after Fast and Furious 6 chronologically, but that makes me wonder. Exactly what year is it in the F&F universe? Tokyo Drift has 2006/2007 cars in it. So does that mean the last few movies all featured car models that were built prior to that year? Or is Tokyo Drift supposed to be regarded as having taken place in 2013/2014 and just used older cars?

The Fast and Furious series obviously takes place in an ALTERNATE universe. That is the only explanation for why so many action scenes ignore the laws of physics and gravity!

 

[Captain Craig]

When you watch the first Fast film take a good look at the computers they are designing the cars engine specs on. The tech/gear head loads a 5" "floppy" disc into the computer. Granted it is 2001 but it just shows how long the series has been around in real time vs what is the "movie length of time".

 

[FPAlpha]

When you watch the first Fast film take a good look at the computers they are designing the cars engine specs on. The tech/gear head loads a 5" "floppy" disc into the computer. Granted it is 2001 but it just shows how long the series has been around in real time vs what is the "movie length of time".

It's a 3,5 inch disk

*runs away before being stoned for wiseassery*



Yeah.. i'd not look too closely at internal consistency or chronology in the movies. As long as the core aspects are there and done well i couldn't care less about tech dates and wether or not they fit into the timeline or that older movies in the franchise don't fit with newer ones for some technical details.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Then there's also the issue of how much Lucas now looks than he did in TD but I tend to go along with FPAlpha's attitude about details.

 

[Gaith]

Over at Slate a while back, Matthew Yglesias provided the valuable service of examing the series' moral and philosophical implications. Though it plays with the trope of the ludicrously academic examination of low culture, I say entirely unironically that's it's a great read:

The Fast, the Furious, and the Long-Term Erosion of American Social and Economic Institutions

Like any reasonable person, I watch the Fast and the Furious film franchise primarily for its insights into moral philosophy and political economy. At a fundamental level, the franchise is about what Harvard philosopher Christine Korsgaard identifies in The Sources of Normativity as the "intractable conflicts" that arise from our conflicting practical identities. As moral actors we are, first and foremost, human and subject to impersonal moral obligations. But in this neo-Kantian, human-centered framework we face the unavoidable reality that as humans we are each beautiful unique snowflakes with our own particular lives and particular obligations to particular people. To simply ignore our concrete obligations to one another in the face of abstract obligations to humanity would, itself, be inhuman.

[...]

In a world where the system increasingly seems to be rigged, it's natural to turn to the Dominic Torettos of the world as heroes. Yet Dom, for all his hard work, ingenuity, and undeniable skill doesn't really do anything useful or productive. He's a nice guy who's loyal to his friends and family. He lives by a code. And his outlook is increasingly appealing in an increasingly unequal America. But it's ultimately destructive of the social institutions needed to generate prosperity. And yet at a time when elites long ago stopped caring whether the gains of economic growth would be widely shared, and in recent years seem to have turned their backs on the unemployed altogether, then these are the heroes we'll turn to.
​

 

[FPAlpha]

Of course people are drawn to Robin Hood type characters, people living their dream on the edge of life etc. This isn't something new.

Heck.. people were fans of Walter White in Breaking Bad (myself included) and even though he became more and more guilty and unhinged as the show progressed people still found it in themselves to like him and forgive his actions (not counting that Walter started off as a Meth cook which in itself is pretty much appalling and Dominic Toretto is basically a petty thief to fund his lifestyle).

They are the bad boys who flaunt authority, give them the middle finger and live life "on their terms" which is something many of want to do but we are realistic enough to know that most of us would fail and in extreme cases would end up dead (heck.. driving like those guys in the movies would kill about 95% of regular drivers).

It is a fun movie series full of cool dudes and dudettes, awesome cars, music and stunts with huge logic and plotholes but it's the type of movie where you can turn off your brain (in fact it's mandatory) and enjoy it for 2 hours at a time.

And because of this i love this movie series and strangely enough it gets better movie by movie (my subjective opinion of course).

 

[Relayer1]

With Paul Walker sadly passing away, will F&F7 be the last movie in the franchise ? He has already filmed a chunk of no7 so he will probably be written out as another victim of Jason Statham's villain, but would F&F8 be viable without him ?

 

[Gaith]

​

F&F 6 was one of the biggest movies of the year, and one of Universal's only living franchises. This series will go on, no doubt about it whatsoever.

A part of me kinda hopes the producers give his tragic death the middle finger by simply recasting the role and using as much remaining Walker footage as possible, even if that means jumping from him to another actor from one scene to another. Chris Pine, for example, could slip into the part without much if any trouble. And they could always gradually shift the focus from the character by having O'Conner settle down with Mia and their kid, and not keep on adventuring.

But since they've already brought Lucas Black back into the fold, I have a feeling they'll groom him for an in-unverse replacement, because Diesel needs someone more lighthearted and easygoing to play off of. What with Han already dying, this next movie could end up being retooled into a very grimdark affair indeed.

 

[sojourner]

With Paul Walker sadly passing away, will F&F7 be the last movie in the franchise ? He has already filmed a chunk of no7 so he will probably be written out as another victim of Jason Statham's villain, but would F&F8 be viable without him ?

Based on the title of this thread, I think they have a built in replacement. The question is, will the series do as well without Paul?

 

[bigdaddy]

Aren't 8-9-10 just give aways at this point? Even if 7 or 8 doesn't do as well and lose 50% of the box office of 6 they would still be hits. I think they will have his character go missing until the 8th one when they find out he was killed and then they go seeking revenge.

 

[CorporalClegg]

A part of me kinda hopes the producers give his tragic death the middle finger by simply recasting the role and using as much remaining Walker footage as possible, even if that means jumping from him to another actor from one scene to another. Chris Pine, for example, could slip into the part without much if any trouble. And they could always gradually shift the focus from the character by having O'Conner settle down with Mia and their kid, and not keep on adventuring.

I really like this idea.

 

[Agent Richard07]

^ Recasting is bad enough, but jumping from one actor to another in the same movie? Awful idea.

The series will absolutely go on, but what of the current movie that's still filming? Some accounts say they've shot all of Walker's scenes and others say that they still have stuff to shoot. Will they have to write around his death? Will the bulk of the movie have to be redone? Are they in the clear? Guess we'll know more this week.

 

[Mr Light]

Given that each movie is making more than the last and they're approaching being billion dollar movies... and that they're now an ensemble starring a dozen characters... they will absolutely keep going forward with one less character.

 

[Agent Richard07]

Not every character appears in every movie, so although Walker will be missed, his absence won't be too jarring if they move forward in the right way. Two characters have already died anyway. Walker's will be the third.

 

[Relayer1]

I'd think they would try to use as much of what they have shot as possible. They may even be able to complete the movie pretty much as planned with a little CGI and stand-ins used, but it would be foolish not to use this opportunity to write him out properly rather than 'off screen' between movies.

Going forward, the return if Lucas Black couldn't have been better timed...