Last night I trekked up to the garage space of Hot Rod to take a look at some cars. No, it wasn’t a peek at some of the oh-so-wonderful Roadkill projects, but rather a chance to eyeball three of the cars used in the latest installment of the Fast and Furious franchise; Furious 7. After a bit of food and car eyeballing, it was a short walk to a nearby theater to take in a slightly advanced screening of the film, which opens today.
If you’re a fan of ridiculous over-the-top (like… way over) action movies and all-things automotive (you’re here, right?), then you need to go see this movie.
If you think you’re better than this movie, I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong.

Let’s start this right off the bat by talking about the cars. They’re wicked. If I may use my old Boston-accent for a moment, they’re in fact wicked fucking awesome. There’s an old Charger that’s running on a lifted chassis with off-road tires and a suspension setup with loads of travel. There’s also an older Camaro running the same gear as well. A full-armored Wrangler gets plenty of screen time while also eating a lot of bullets.
There’s that absolutely killer old Charger that has made its way into a number of the films, complete with its out-of-the-hood blower and glorious noise. An Aston Martin, Maserati, and Jaguar R-Type Coupe serve baddie duty, although the Aston gets a bit more screen time than the rest.
The cars are all tied to the people driving them, and they all fit well. They can also be used to fit the scenes, which is evident when the crew travels to Dubai and arrive in supercars (and a, ahem, 2015 Dodge Charger… because I guess Toretto needs to stick with his muscle cars?)
Speaking of the scenes, this is where you’re either going to love this movie or hate it… and if you hate it, then you hate fun. The crashes are larger, the action is bigger, and the stunts have veered into full-on video-game territory. Still, there’s a large number of practical effects taking place, including the one where they actually throw a few cars out of a transport plane.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDQlnJOJqoY[/youtube]
It’s a fun ride right up until the end… when you realize both you, Toretto, and Vin Diesel are saying good-bye to Brian Spilner and Paul Walker. The last few minutes of the movie are dedicated to Paul, and I won’t spoil the visuals, but it’s a punch right in the Feels section of your emotions.
I didn’t know Paul Walker personally, but I did get to speak to him for 30 or 40 minutes a few years ago. We were both sitting on a rock on top of Pikes Peak, as he had just driven the pace car to start the race. It was clear right from the start that this was a man who genuinely loved driving anything with wheels.
We chatted about his various cars, and how he used to live in Huntington Beach (where I reside) but left it for Santa Barbara and was getting his ass kicked on the hills by 60 year olds while out cycling. He was competitive, but he was also a friendly dude with a warm smile. Our talk wasn’t that long in the grand scheme of things, but it left an impression on me, and I thought about it when leaving the theater.
There’s definitely going to be more with this franchise… but it won’t be the same with out the buster.