Fast Five - Blu-ray Review

4.9 Stars (out of 5)

Synopsis

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker head up an all-star reunion of the explosive Fast franchise set in sultry Rio de Janeiro. Former cop Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) and his girlfriend Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) bust Mia’s brother Dom (Vin Diesel) out of prison, blasting across South America to elude the authorities. Finding themselves backed into a corner in Brazil, they assemble an elite team of top racers to help pull off the one last job that could mean freedom for them all. But hard-nosed federal agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is hot on their trail, and so is a corrupt and powerful businessman who wants them dead.  When Hobbs and his strike force launch an all-out assault to capture the Torettos and their team, he can’t separate the good guys from the bad. Instead, he must rely on his instincts to corner his prey…before someone else runs them down first. Buy Now $16.99

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Starring:

Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Dwayne Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Matt Schulze, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Elsa Pataky

Director:

Justin Lin

Blu-ray Release Date:

October 4, 2011

Subtitles:

English SDH, French, Spanish

Rating

Overall rating weighted as follows:
Audio 40%, Video 40%, Special Features 20%, Movie - its just our opinion so take it with a grain of salt

Audio 5.0 Stars (out of 5)

Dolby and DTS Demo Discs used as basis for comparison

• Subwoofer - 5.0 Stars
• Dialog - 5.0 Stars
• Surround Effects - 5.0 Stars
• Dynamic Range - 5.0 Stars

English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French: DTS 5.1, Spanish: DTS 5.1

There are alot of vehicles in this movie, and they all sound awesome. The engines have a deep roar that pan the room and fill the space using all speakers. Planes and helicopters, seam to come from behind and fly over your house. Flurries of bullets whiz buy with pinpoint accuracy. Bombs explode with throaty bass that vibrates the house. The musical score pumps on all cylinders with bass and high notes, but it never interferes with dialog or action. This DTS-HD prevention gets my seal of approval.

Video  4.9 Stars (out of 5)

Spears & Munsil Benchmark Blu-ray Edition used as basis for comparison

• Color Accuracy  - 5.0 Stars
• Shadow detail - 5.0 Stars
• Clarity - 4.5 Stars
• Skin tones - 5.0 Stars
• Compression - 5.0 Stars

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC, Resolution: 1080p, Aspect ratio: 2.35:1, Original Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Rio's landscape looks amazing. The clarity of this Blu-ray allows you to see the eclectic hodgepodge of colorful houses on the hillside. Dark colors look great and shadows lose hardly any detail. Clarity is clean enough to put a spotlight on freckles, pores, stubble, and tiny beads of sweat. Colors are natural and film grain is light giving this movie a great look.

Bonus Features 4.5 Stars (out of 5)

• Theatrical and Extended Cuts
• Second Screen Interactive Viewing: Users can use their networked tablet or computer to "control, interact with and explore" Fast Five. Also available via Universal's pocket BLU app (for iPad, Android, PC and Mac) are two additional features: "Take Control," a customizable viewing experience that allows fans to explore behind-the-scenes content and more, and a "Virtual Garage," packed with cars, tech specs and more. (Note: these features are not accessible from the Blu-ray menu itself. A compatible secondary device is required.)
• Audio Commentary with Director Justin Lin
• The Big Train Heist (HD, 8 minutes): Head into the desert with Walker, Diesel and Brewster and learn how Lin and his crew developed, staged and shot the film's opening train heist.
• U-Control Picture-in-Picture Track (HD): The cast and crew share stories about the movie right from your tablet or computer, in synchronization to the scene being played.
• Scene Explorer (HD, 26 minutes): Ever wish you could see how your favorite special effects sequences were created?  Select various progressions of the same scene from storyboards to daily cuts right from your couch and see how they pulled off the incredible action of the film.
• A New Set of Wheels (HD, 10 minutes): "Let's take a ride boys!" Lin intentionally tosses out some of the series' flash and flair to focus on the raw power of the cars used in Fast Five.
• Reuniting the Team (HD, 5 minutes): Diesel and Lin welcome back actors from previous franchise entries.
• Dom's Journey (HD, 5 minutes): Track Vin Diesel’s legendary character from the beginning.
• Brian O'Connor: From Fed to Con (HD, 6 minutes): Follow Paul Walker’s character as he goes from lawman to outlaw.
• Enter Federal Agent Hobbs (HD, 6 minutes): Meet Dom & Brian’s toughest nemesis yet.
• Dom vs. Hobbs (HD, 8 minutes): Watch how the action-packed showdown was shot.
• Tyrese TV (HD, 7 minutes): Go behind the scenes of Fast Five with Tyrese Gibson
• Gag Reel (HD, 4 minutes)
• Inside the Vault Chase (HD, 9 minutes): Learn how they filmed the movie’s most dangerous sequence.
• On Set with Director Justin Lin (HD, 9 minutes): Go behind the scenes of Fast Five with director Justin Lin.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 2 minutes)
• My Scenes Bookmarking
• BD-Live Functionality

Movie - 3.0 Stars (out of 5)

Review

If you like over the top action movies, this movie is for you. It's got gun fights, car chases, fist fights, explosions, heists, and of coarse car races. I wasn't really looking forward to watching this movie. I watched a few of the "Fast" movies, but I never was a fan. After watching this movie, I might watch a few of them because this movie was tons of fun. The movie drags in the middle a little, there are also lots of plot holes, and way too much corny dialog, but the insane action sequences made up for them. The action is so crazy they defy physics and common since, but wow was it cool to watch. The last car chase seemed more like watching a disaster movie because of the destruction.

The Fast and Furious franchise has changed, they're no longer movies about street racing. It's grown up a little bit, and has become a new brand of testosterone filled action films. Dwayne Johnson is the newest addition to the movies, and is a welcome one. Having two of the biggest action stars in one film was fun, it's almost like having Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone in the same flick. I get the feeling we'll see this bald headed duo of muscles in more movies in the future, and I'm looking forward to it.