Please continue pre-release discussion here.

Movie:
"Furious 7" (Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, the rest of the Furious cast...)

Release Date:
4/03/15

Rating:
PG-13 (for for prolonged frenetic sequences of violence, action and mayhem, suggestive content and brief strong language throughout.)

Running Time:
137m. (2h. 17m.)

Budget:
$150 million (estimated)

IMDb Synopsis:


IMDb Info and Rating:
9.1 (4,492 votes as of 3/29/15

Rotten Tomatoes:
Fresh:19 Rotten:03 (86% as of 3/29/15)

Metacritic:
65 metascore ('Generally favorable reviews' as of 3/29/15)

Trailer:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://v.traileraddict.com/100212" allowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Poster Art:

Saw this last night. I'm a fan of the series, although there's a few (Tokyo and the fourth installment) which I never saw. Essentially, the outright awesomeness of Fast 5 has me signed up for at least another one or two installments.

The film is bittersweet, knowing that this is Walker's last entry in the series and, for better or worse, it's distracting in the quieter moments. But not because of any bad CGI (I noticed some in one of the final scenes, for a brief second), just the fact that he is gone.

That aside, the film centers around three setpieces where your favorite characters are fighting Jason Statham, who confusingly brings absolutely no menace to the role (neither does Djimon Honsou, so I am blaming the director on this).

But the cartoon villains are not a problem since the entire movie is a cartoon. Cars fly out of airplanes, between buildings, and roll down cliffs. That's ultimately where the fun is and the movie smartly packs most of its time around these three action scenes. (The middle one, set in the UAE, allows every character to do their best work and is my favorite of the three).

I'm not complaining that the movie is a live-action cartoon — it's more of a compliment really. It makes it easier to be emotionally involved in the action scenes, easier to root for the heroes, easier to take in the Important Message (nothing is as important as family).

The other great bonus here is the excellent, excellent fight choreography by Jeff Imada, who does a great job of blending everyone's fighting styles to suit the feel of the story.

So Oscar worthy or what?

This has an 86% now with 37 reviews on rottentomatoes (7 out of 10 average), my favorite review:

'"Furious 7" is the biggest, silliest movie in the "Fast and Furious" franchise, officially transforming the series into "The Avengers" with muscle cars. But what's wrong with big and silly?' - New York Daily News

Ratings: 9.0/10 from 6,693 users @IMDB ... wow!

Yeah, you'd assume with a pre-release rating that high that David Fincher or Christopher Nolan directed it. Or that it was a Middle-Earth adaptation.

You're making me nostalgic for the finely tuned wit and nuanced social comment of SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT, CANNONBALL RUN and all those other Burt Reynolds films.

Weird spam. Given the high critic reviews, it's not surprising the early fan reaction is really high as well though.

How large/small was Lucas Black's role?

Hal Needham won a Goddamned lifetime achievement award from the Academy for those two films alone!

If the next installment is called It's a Fast Fast Fast Furious World I will be the first person to buy tickets.

Where are we in the timeline of the franchise now? I take it this one takes place after Tokyo Drift finally? Or did 6 also?

He signed a 3 picture deal. So he will most likely be upped to a bigger role next time around.

This one takes place after Toyko Drift and 6. The events of 6 take place before Toyko Drift, and then the end credit scene of 6 takes place during Toyko Drift.

Gotcha. So it actually does make sense that

The studio isn't going to let a franchise this big fly without at least one white guy

Yea... and then there was the scene at the end of Toyko Drift with Diesel which would take place after 6. Will have to see where it goes from there...

They should do a prequel trilogy with Dom as a teenager. Have George Lucas as a creative consultant.

They need a replacement asian guy

I hear Jake Lloyd is available.

Just got back from seeing. It's pretty much non stop action once it gets going. There's no way you won't enjoy it if you're a fan of the series. The plot, as it has been said, is pretty paper thin. It just helps move from one action set piece to the next. And that is all the movie is, even more so than the ones before it.

The stuff with Walker, in some spots you could tell it was digital. Especially if you know what had to be shot after his death. But the CG work is still very impressive. Overall though, his character goes from being the 2nd lead to only really used as a prop in the action scenes this time due to the constraints. There is one scene that has some weight, and it's kind of great that were able to get that particular scene in the can before his passing (if it wasn't him, I couldn't tell), which makes it all the more poignant. They handle the end with care.

I look forward to the next one.

And they really need to get on that Hobbs spinoff.

It'll be a huge missed opportunity if they don't use V8 in some fashion. Kinda like not having a bond flick in 2007.

I liked it - I'd put it on a par with 6 but not quite as good as 5. I thought Wan did a decent job but a bit of the editing/geography during action scenes got a bit muddled with some quick mtv style cuts - I think I prefer Justin Lin. The final act is ridiculous and fun as hell, but they overload the cheese towards the end...still, if you like the series, this is a decent entry.,

I liked it as well... goes well with 5 and 6... shit the whole series. Very entertaining and she was a looker even on Games of Throne, but Nathalie is so damn sexy.

For me it was kinda surreal because I kept wondering "is this the CG" paul... not sure how it will do going forward w/o him. He was such a big part of the series.

Watching this at 10:30.

Was Tony Jaa even a big deal in this?