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''Fast Five'' (also known as ''Fast & Furious 5'' or ''Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist'') is a 2011 American
action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...
directed by
Justin Lin Justin Lin (, born October 11, 1971) is a Taiwanese-American film director. His films have grossed US$2.3 billion worldwide as of March 2017. He is best known for his directorial work on '' Better Luck Tomorrow'' (2002), the '' Fast & Furious'' ...
and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to ''
Fast & Furious ''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, ...
'' (2009) and the fifth installment in the ''
Fast & Furious ''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, ...
'' franchise. It stars
Vin Diesel Mark Sinclair (born July 18, 1967), known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor. One of the world's highest-grossing actors, he is best known for playing Dominic Toretto in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Diesel began auditio ...
,
Paul Walker Paul William Walker IV (September 12, 1973 – November 30, 2013) was an American actor. He was known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Walker began his career as a child actor in the 1980s, gaining recogniti ...
,
Jordana Brewster Jordana Brewster (born April 26, 1980) is a Panamanian-American actress. Best known for her role as Mia Toretto in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise, she made her acting debut in an episode of ''All My Children'' in 1995 and next took on the recu ...
,
Tyrese Gibson Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American actor and singer. He released his self-titled debut album in 1998, which featured the single " Sweet Lady", peaking at number twelve on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His second ...
, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Matt Schulze, Sung Kang, Tego Calderón,
Don Omar William Omar Landrón Rivera (born February 10, 1978), better known by his stage name Don Omar, is a Puerto Rican reggaeton singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. On September 1, 2017, he announced that he would retire after a ...
,
Gal Gadot Gal Gadot-Varsano ( he, גל גדות ; born 30 April 1985) is an Israeli actress and model. At age 18, she was crowned Miss Israel 2004. She then served in the Israel Defense Forces for two years as a combat fitness instructor, whereafter she ...
,
Joaquim de Almeida Joaquim António Portugal Baptista de Almeida (born 15 March 1957) is a Portuguese actor. Almeida began his acting career in theatre during the 1980s, he started his film career appearing on the 1982 action film '' The Soldier'', and later ach ...
, and
Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the develop ...
. In the film, Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and
Brian O'Conner Brian O'Conner is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists of the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. He is portrayed by Paul Walker and first appeared on film, alongside the other protagonist Dominic Toretto, in ''The Fast and the ...
(Walker) recruit a team to steal $100 million from a corrupt businessman while being pursued for arrest by U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson). While developing ''Fast Five'',
Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
deliberately departed from the
street racing Street racing is typically an unsanctioned and illegal form of auto racing that occurs on a public road. Racing in the streets is considered an ancient hazard, as horse racing occurred on streets for centuries, and street racing in automobiles ...
theme prevalent in previous films in the series, to transform the franchise into a heist action series involving cars. By doing so, they hoped to attract wider audiences that might otherwise be put off by a heavy emphasis on cars and car culture. ''Fast Five'' is considered the transitional film in the series, featuring only one car race and giving more attention to action set pieces such as brawls, gun fights, and the central heist. The production mounted a comprehensive marketing campaign, with the film being advertised through social media, virtual games, cinema chains, automobile manufacturers, and at
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...
races. Lin, Diesel, and Walker's returns were finalized in February 2010, and principal photography began that July and lasted until that October, with filming locations including
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
,
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
, and
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
.
Brian Tyler Brian Theodore Tyler (born May 8, 1972) is an American composer, conductor, arranger, and record producer, best known for his film, television, and video game scores. In his 24-year career, Tyler has scored '' Transformers: Prime'', ''Eagle E ...
, the composer of the previous two installments, returned to compose the score. The film is notable for primarily featuring practical stuntwork as opposed to computer-generated placements seen in other entries in the franchise. ''Fast Five'' premiered at the Cinépolis Lagoon in Rio de Janeiro on April 15, 2011, and was theatrically released worldwide on April 29, by
Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
. The film received generally positive reviews, with praise for Lin's direction, the action sequences, and the performances of the cast. ''Fast Five'' grossed $626 million worldwide, becoming the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2011, the then-highest-grossing film in the franchise, and set records related to Universal's highest-grossing opening weekend in several international markets. A sequel, ''
Fast & Furious 6 ''Fast & Furious 6'' (titled on-screen as ''Furious 6'') is a 2013 American action film directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to '' Fast Five'' (2011) and is the sixth installment in the ''Fast & Furious'' franc ...
'', was released in the United States on May 24, 2013.


Plot

As Dominic Toretto is being transported to Lompoc Prison by bus, his sister Mia Toretto and friend
Brian O'Conner Brian O'Conner is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists of the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. He is portrayed by Paul Walker and first appeared on film, alongside the other protagonist Dominic Toretto, in ''The Fast and the ...
lead an assault on the bus and free Dom. While the authorities search for them, the trio escapes to
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
. Awaiting Dom's arrival, Mia and Brian join their friend Vince and other participants on a job to steal three cars from a train. Brian and Mia learn that agents from the DEA are also on the train and that the cars are seized property. When Dom arrives with his accomplices, he realizes that their leader Zizi is only interested in stealing the
Ford GT40 The Ford GT40 is a high-performance endurance racing car commissioned by the Ford Motor Company. It grew out of the "Ford GT" (for Grand Touring) project, an effort to compete in European long-distance sports car races, against Ferrari, which ...
. Dom has Mia steal the car herself before he and Brian fight Zizi and his henchmen, during which Zizi kills the DEA Agents. Brian and Dom are captured and brought to crime lord Hernan Reyes, the owner of the cars and Zizi's boss. Reyes orders the pair interrogated to discover the car's location, but they escape to their safehouse. Dom, Brian, and Mia are framed as the murderers of the DEA Agents, and the U.S. government sends a team of Diplomatic Security Service Agents, led by DSS Agent Luke Hobbs and assisted by local officer Elena Neves, to Rio to arrest them. While Brian, Dom, and Mia examine the car to discover its importance, Vince arrives and is caught removing a computer chip from it. He admits he was planning to sell the chip to Reyes on his own, and Dom forces him to leave. Brian investigates the chip and discovers it contains financial details of Reyes' criminal empire, including the locations of in cash. Hobbs and his team arrive at Dom's safehouse, but find it under assault by Reyes' men searching for the chip. Brian, Dom and Mia escape after a chase across the
favela Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of working-class neighborhoods in Brazil. The term was first used in the Providência neighborhood in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was built by soldiers who had ...
s. Dom suggests they split up and leave Rio, but Mia announces she is pregnant with Brian's child. Dom agrees to stick together, suggesting they steal Reyes' money to start a new life. They organize a team to perform the heist: Han, Roman, Tej, Gisele, Leo, and Santos. To centralize the cash, Dom's team attacks one of the locations and burns the money in front of Reyes' staff. Afraid of further attacks, Reyes consolidates the remaining money in an evidence vault inside a police station. Dom's team does surveillance, buys equipment, and acquires Reyes' handprint. After their fastest cars prove to be too slow for security cameras, they steal four 2010
Dodge Charger The Dodge Charger is a model of automobile marketed by Dodge in various forms over seven generations since 1966. The first Charger was a show car in 1964. A 1965 Charger II concept car resembled the 1966 production version. The Charger has ...
police cars to blend in. Vince rejoins Dom's team after saving Mia from Reyes' men. Hobbs' team eventually finds and arrests Dom, Mia, Brian, and Vince. While transporting them for
extradition Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdi ...
to the United States in a Gurkha LAPV, the convoy is attacked by Reyes' men. Dom, Brian, Mia, and Vince help Hobbs and Elena escape the ambush, but the rest of Hobbs' men and Vince are killed. Wanting to avenge their murdered team, Hobbs and Elena agree to help with the heist. The gang breaks into the police station with the LAPV and uses two of the Chargers to tear the vault holding Reyes' money from the building, dragging it through the city. Han and Roman arrive to disrupt police vehicles on their trail. Advancing on the bridge after an extensive chase, Dom has Brian continue without him while he turns around, smashing the police and Reyes' vehicles with the vault. Reyes is badly injured by Dom's assault, and Brian returns and kills Zizi. Hobbs arrives and executes Reyes in retribution for his team. Though Hobbs refuses to let Dom and Brian go free, he gives them a 24-hour head start to escape on the condition they leave the vault as it is. When Dom and Brian depart, however, Hobbs finds the vault empty, as Dom's crew switched it via a trash truck before they reached the bridge. After splitting the cash and giving Vince's family his cut, Dom's team go their separate ways. On a tropical beach, Brian challenges Dom to a final, no-stakes race to prove who is the better driver. In Washington, D.C., Hobbs is given a file by Monica Fuentes concerning the hijack of a military convoy in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
, where he discovers a recent photo of Dom's former girlfriend Letty, who had been presumed dead.


Cast

*
Vin Diesel Mark Sinclair (born July 18, 1967), known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor. One of the world's highest-grossing actors, he is best known for playing Dominic Toretto in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Diesel began auditio ...
as Dominic Toretto:
A professional criminal, street racer, and fugitive. Diesel was reportedly paid $15 million to star in and produce the film. *
Paul Walker Paul William Walker IV (September 12, 1973 – November 30, 2013) was an American actor. He was known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Walker began his career as a child actor in the 1980s, gaining recogniti ...
as
Brian O'Conner Brian O'Conner is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists of the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. He is portrayed by Paul Walker and first appeared on film, alongside the other protagonist Dominic Toretto, in ''The Fast and the ...
:
A former FBI agent turned criminal. He is in a relationship with Mia Toretto. Walker did many of his own stunts for the film, training with
parkour Parkour () is an athletic training discipline or sport in which practitioners (called ''traceurs'') attempt to get from point A to point B in the fastest and most efficient way possible, without assisting equipment and often while performing ...
professional Paul Darnell to improve his movement. *
Jordana Brewster Jordana Brewster (born April 26, 1980) is a Panamanian-American actress. Best known for her role as Mia Toretto in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise, she made her acting debut in an episode of ''All My Children'' in 1995 and next took on the recu ...
as
Mia Toretto ''Fast & Furious (also known as The Fast and the Furious)'' is an American action film series centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The following is a list of character ...
:
Dominic's sister and Brian's girlfriend. She is revealed to be pregnant in this film, and she and Brian welcome their first child in the next film. *
Tyrese Gibson Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American actor and singer. He released his self-titled debut album in 1998, which featured the single " Sweet Lady", peaking at number twelve on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His second ...
as
Roman Pearce ''Fast & Furious (also known as The Fast and the Furious)'' is an American action film series centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The following is a list of character ...
:
Brian's childhood friend. Gibson's involvement was reported on June 30, 2010. Gibson was committed to '' Transformers: Dark of the Moon'' at the time he signed on to ''Fast Five'', so he flew between Puerto Rico and Atlanta to accommodate both films. * Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as
Tej Parker ''Fast & Furious (also known as The Fast and the Furious)'' is an American action film series centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, Heist films, heists, Spy films, spies, and family. The following ...
:
Brian's and Roman's friend from Miami. Ludacris announced his involvement in the film on July 12, 2010, when he stated he had arrived in Puerto Rico to begin filming. * Matt Schulze as Vince:
Dominic's childhood friend. Schulze had appeared in the first film, and it was reported on July 16, 2010, that he would be returning. He has a grudge against Brian for the events that happened in the first film, but they become friends after he saves Mia from Reyes' men. * Sung Kang as
Han Lue Han Lue is a fictional character in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise, portrayed by Sung Kang, who, like the character himself, is of Korean descent. The character appears for the first time in the film ''Better Luck Tomorrow'', later appearing i ...
:
A street racer who was Dominic's business partner in the Dominican Republic. *
Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the develop ...
as
Luke Hobbs ''Fast & Furious (also known as The Fast and the Furious)'' is an American action film series centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The following is a list of character ...
:
A Diplomatic Security Service agent. According to producer Vin Diesel, the role of Hobbs was originally developed with
Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film '' T ...
in mind. However, when reading feedback on his
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...
page, Diesel noted a fan stating a desire to see Diesel and Johnson in a film together. Diesel and Lin then redesigned the role for Johnson. Johnson wanted to work with Universal Studios, citing their support for him during his transition from wrestling to acting. He described the role as a former bounty hunter turned US Marshal and as "the government's version of the best bounty hunter on the planet". He undertook an extensive daily workout regime to enlarge his physique, wanting his character to appear as a "hunter" and to be formidable enough to present a credible threat to the protagonists. *
Gal Gadot Gal Gadot-Varsano ( he, גל גדות ; born 30 April 1985) is an Israeli actress and model. At age 18, she was crowned Miss Israel 2004. She then served in the Israel Defense Forces for two years as a combat fitness instructor, whereafter she ...
as Gisele Yashar:
A former
Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...
agent. Although Gadot had prior experience handling motorbikes, she was required to learn how to ride the larger, more powerful
Ducati Streetfighter The Ducati Streetfighter is a streetfighter motorcycle produced by Ducati. The Streetfighter was designed by Damien Basset of the Ducati design team. Ducati sold the Streetfighter in three variations – the Streetfighter 1099 cc from 2009 ...
for the film. *
Joaquim de Almeida Joaquim António Portugal Baptista de Almeida (born 15 March 1957) is a Portuguese actor. Almeida began his acting career in theatre during the 1980s, he started his film career appearing on the 1982 action film '' The Soldier'', and later ach ...
as Hernan Reyes:
A ruthless drug lord posing as a legitimate businessman. It was reported on July 16, 2010, that Almeida would play Reyes. Having previously played several antagonists, he hesitated to take this role, but accepted it after speaking with Lin and hearing his take on the character. * Elsa Pataky as Elena Neves:
A Rio police officer who works with Hobbs' team and becomes Dominic's love interest. It was reported on July 16, 2010, that Pataky would take this role. She underwent several days of tactical training with a police/military technical advisor and was required to learn how to handle her gun in a variety of situations to portray Elena believably. The central cast is rounded out by Puerto Rican singers Tego Calderón and
Don Omar William Omar Landrón Rivera (born February 10, 1978), better known by his stage name Don Omar, is a Puerto Rican reggaeton singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. On September 1, 2017, he announced that he would retire after a ...
as Leo and Santos respectively, members of the heist team.
Michael Irby Michael Clinton Irby (born November 16, 1972) is an American actor known for portraying Sergeant First Class Charles Grey in the CBS series ''The Unit'' (2006–2009), and more recently, for his work as Obispo 'Bishop' Losa in ''Mayans M.C.'' ( ...
plays Reyes' right-hand man Zizi. Alimi Ballard,
Fernando Chien Fernando Chien (born October 6, 1974), sometimes credited as Funan Chien, is a Taiwanese actor and stunt performer. He is known for his roles in the film ''Fast Five'' and TNT's action show '' The Last Ship''. Biography Fernando Chien was bo ...
,
Yorgo Constantine Yorgo Constantine Yfantopoulos is an American-Greek actor who began his career in 1991 with the television movie '' Murder 101''. Following that he had several roles in both film and television, such as in ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1998), '' Phon ...
, and Geoff Meedy portray Hobbs' team members Fusco, Wilkes, Chato, and Macroy.
Michelle Rodriguez Mayte Michelle Rodriguez (born July 12, 1978) is an American actress. Rodriguez began her career in 2000, playing a troubled boxer in the independent sports drama film ''Girlfight'' (2000), where she won the Independent Spirit Award and Go ...
appears in photographs as Letty Ortiz, Dominic's girlfriend who is presumed dead following the events of ''
Fast & Furious ''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, ...
''.
Eva Mendes Eva de la Caridad Méndez (, ; born March 5, 1974), known professionally as Eva Mendes, is an American actress, model and fashion designer. Her acting career began in the late 1990s, with a series of roles in films such as '' Children of the Cor ...
appears in an uncredited cameo as Agent Monica Fuentes, reprising her role from ''
2 Fast 2 Furious ''2 Fast 2 Furious'' is a 2003 action film directed by John Singleton from a screenplay by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, from a story by Brandt, Haas, and Gary Scott Thompson. It is the sequel to ''The Fast and the Furious'' (2001), and is ...
''.


Production


Development

By February 3, 2010, it was confirmed that a fifth film, referred to as ''Fast Five'', was going into production in the ''Fast and Furious'' series, and that a sixth film was being planned. It was also confirmed that Diesel, Walker, writer Chris Morgan and producer Neal H. Moritz would all return to their roles for the new installment. Moritz said that, following the success of ''Fast & Furious'' (2009), which had reunited Diesel, Walker, Rodriguez and Brewster from the original film, the production wanted to bring them back again for the next one. Diesel felt that the story between the characters portrayed by himself and Walker should continue, envisioning it as three chapters, of which ''Fast Five'' would be the last. Diesel also wanted to bring back a variety of characters that had been in previous films without interacting, put them together and "have a lot of fun". The production had originally intended to film on location in Rio de Janeiro. However, the Puerto Rican government offered tax incentives totaling nearly $11 million, influencing the decision to film there, using
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
to represent Rio de Janeiro. Universal intended to transform the series from street-racing action into a series of heist films with car chases in the vein of ''
The Italian Job ''The Italian Job'' is a 1969 British comedy caper film, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley, directed by Peter Collinson, and starring Michael Caine. The film's plot centres around Cockney criminal Charlie Croker, r ...
'' (1969) and '' The French Connection'' (1971), with ''Fast Five'' as the transitional movie. In April 2011, Universal chairman Adam Fogelson said:
The question putting ''Fast Five'' and '' Fast Six'' together for us was: Can we take it out of being a pure car culture movie and into being a true action franchise in the spirit of those great heist films made 10 or 15 years ago?
Fogelson said that the racing aspect had put a "ceiling" on the number of people willing to see films in the series, and that, by turning it into a series where car driving ability is just one aspect of the film, he hoped to increase the series' audience.


Writing

Lin wanted to explore the elements of "freedom and family" in the film and collaborated with Morgan towards that ideal, both having worked together on previous installments of the franchise. Morgan worked with Diesel to produce a story arc that would further explore and develop Diesel's character. An idea involving heisting a large safe had been conceived by Morgan during the production of ''Fast & Furious'', but that film's premise did not work with how Morgan envisioned it. He later incorporated it into ''Fast Five''.


Filming

On a budget of $125 million, the shooting of ''Fast Five'' was scheduled for July and August 2010. Shooting had started by July 14, 2010. Three film units worked simultaneously. The main cast were required to travel to Rio at the behest of Lin, who felt it important to understand the area and its culture to give the film a good sense of place. Diesel agreed that it was important to shoot key scenes in Brazil, commenting "we were able to shoot where other productions might not be able to shoot because our franchise has such good street cred." The Rio film unit captured aerial shots of the city including
Sugarloaf Mountain Sugarloaf Mountain ( pt, Pão de Açúcar, ) is a peak situated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the mouth of Guanabara Bay on a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. Rising above the harbor, the peak is named for its resemblance to ...
,
Fort Copacabana Fort Copacabana ( pt, Forte de Copacabana, ) is a military base at the south end of the beach that defines the district of Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro. The base is open to the public and contains the ''Museu Histórico do Exército'' (Army Historic ...
, Ipanema Beach, the Dona Marta lookout point and the Christ the Redeemer statue.
Establishing shot An establishing shot in filmmaking and television production sets up, or establishes, the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long or extreme-long shot at the beginning of ...
s of the heist team members were taken as each arrived in Rio. Gibson was filmed arriving in character at Galeão International Airport but, when it became publicly known that a scene was being shot at the airport, the cast and crew were mobbed. A similar situation occurred while Ludacris was shooting a scene in which his character buys a car to drive around the city. A scene where the completed heist team walk down a beach was filmed in Copacabana. The rooftop chase across
favela Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of working-class neighborhoods in Brazil. The term was first used in the Providência neighborhood in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was built by soldiers who had ...
s was filmed in Puerto Rico, where the production could have more control over the area. The main and second filming units began filming in and around the capital,
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
. The island's mixture of tropical greenery and wide streets allowed the production to re-create the densely populated favelas of Rio while completing the larger action and external scenes without incident. Production designer Peter Wenham had the task of transforming Puerto Rico and Atlanta into the previously scouted Rio locations in four weeks, as the production deemed Rio unsuitable for filming many of the larger scenes. Wenham had to reinforce buildings to support the heavy camera equipment, and to alter the colors of more than 30 buildings in the city to make them suitable for filming. His team needed to alter the buildings and strew debris to make the area look disheveled and appear as a Rio favela. Wenham remarked that, though the development was difficult, in part due to the heat, it was "a walk in the park" compared with filming in the Rio favelas themselves. Wenham aimed to maintain a monochromatic color scheme for the film, with muted blacks and grays, including his choice of colors for the cars used. He only chose to add a multitude of colors in the favela set. The Teodoro Moscosco bridge connecting San Juan to neighboring Isla Verde was used to film the final showdown between Dom and Reyes, while a U.S. Navy base pier 60 miles outside San Juan stood in for the bridge for scenes involving the vault smashing cars. Action scenes were also filmed in the
Hato Rey Hato Rey is a former barrio located in the northwest part of the dissolved municipality of Río Piedras. It now stretches over three barrios, of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico: Urban landscape Its name means "king's cattle farm" (' ...
and
Río Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for " river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, ...
districts of San Juan. A foot pursuit in which Diesel, Brewster and Walker are chased across favela rooftops by Johnson and his team was filmed over the course of a week in the small hillside town of
Naranjito, Puerto Rico Naranjito (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the central region of the island, south of Toa Alta; north of Barranquitas and Comerío; east of Corozal; and west of Bayamón. Naranjito is spread over 7 barrios and Naranj ...
. The scene was considered difficult to shoot, as pathways were slippery from moist tropical heat and the scene involved actors and stunt doubles running while avoiding dogs, chickens and other stray animals loose in the area. To capture the scene, a 420-foot cable-camera rig was used to allow for a fast moving, birds-eye view of the action, and cameras on cranes were set up on rooftops and in alleyways. Walker and Brewster made multiple takes of the conclusion of the scene, requiring them to jump nearly 30 feet from a building onto a waiting safety mat. In total the production employed 236 technicians, 13,145 extras, and generated 16,824 room nights at hotels, contributing $27 million to the Puerto Rican community. Filming moved to
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...
, for the final phase. Wenham and his team transformed a defunct train yard into an abandoned auto plant used by the protagonists as their headquarters. Redesigning the train yard took place over several months. It was required to allow enough space for stunt drivers to drive into the building, and it had to include an integrated lighting system. The design team removed walls, hauled out old railway cars, suspended rusted car parts and auto-plant car rails, and constructed smaller buildings within the main building to transform the site. With twenty-five pages of script to shoot in a limited time, cinematographer Stephen Windon and his team spent three weeks setting up a series of high-powered, motorized lights in the rafters of the building, that could be controlled remotely to allow lighting to be altered quickly while fully illuminating the set. An exterior scene involving Diesel and Walker attending a car party, involving several high-performance cars, was filmed near the
Georgia Dome The Georgia Dome was a domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of the Georgia World Congress Center ...
. The train heist scene was filmed in
Rice, California Rice, formerly named Blythe Junction, is a former town in the Rice Valley and the southern tip of the Mojave Desert, and within unincorporated area, unincorporated San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County, southern California. A ...
over three weeks. A brawl scene between Johnson's and Diesel's characters was considered difficult to choreograph. The characters were written to be equally formidable, so the fight was punctuated with moments of character development, as Moritz felt this made the fight more exciting. The scene required several weeks of rehearsal and more than a week of filming by the actors and their stunt doubles, who incurred several minor injuries.


Vehicle stunts

The climactic vault heist required four weeks of preparation with every scene and camera angle determined in advance. The filmmakers hired stunt director Spiro Razatos and stunt coordinator Jack Gill to direct the second-unit action filming. The pair initially began research for the stunt by testing the capabilities of the prop vaults and the
Dodge Charger The Dodge Charger is a model of automobile marketed by Dodge in various forms over seven generations since 1966. The first Charger was a show car in 1964. A 1965 Charger II concept car resembled the 1966 production version. The Charger has ...
s driven by Diesel and Walker. Filmed on the streets of Hato Rey, the chaotic scene demanded specific timing that had to be synchronized with the various character interactions also occurring during the scene. Razatos chose to use a series of camera cars including a crane-mounted camera atop a
Porsche Cayenne The Porsche Cayenne is a series of mid-size luxury crossover sport utility vehicles manufactured by the German automaker Porsche since 2002 (Type 9PA or E1), with North American sales beginning in 2003. It is the first V8-engined vehicle built b ...
, which allowed him to film from a variety of angles and heights while the vehicles were in motion, and a
Subaru Impreza The is a compact car that has been manufactured by the Japanese automaker Subaru since 1992. It was introduced as a replacement for the Leone, with the predecessor's EA series engines replaced by the new EJ series. It is now in its sixth gene ...
with a steel cage built around it that allowed for
tracking shot A tracking shot is any Shot (filmmaking), shot where the film camera, camera follows backward, forward or moves alongside the subject being recorded. In cinematography, the term refers to a shot in which the camera is mounted on a camera dolly ...
s. The Subaru's driver Allen Padelford would occasionally accidentally collide with the vault, creating a shower of sparks that inadvertently became useful footage. Padelford also developed a top-mount dual-drive system for the Chargers that allowed a stunt driver to control the vehicle from the roof, while the actor focused on their performance inside the car. Six versions of the 8-foot high vault were built, each with specific uses. One of the vaults was a façade built onto the front of a semi-truck and was used for filming close shots of the vault destroying street cars. Another vault was a reinforced, four-wheel self-drive vehicle that was connected to cables and dragged through the streets of San Juan by the two stunt Dodge Chargers. The vault was driven by stunt driver
Henry Kingi Henry Kingi (born December 2, 1943) is an American stuntman and actor. As a stuntman he has worked in films like ''Fast Five'' (2011). His acting roles include Goody in ''Car Wash'' (1976), Shell in '' Earth Star Voyager'' (1988), the mean Indian ...
, who had to wear a temperature-controlled suit to compensate for the temperatures within that could exceed . A scene where the vault tumbled as the cars rounded a corner was a practical effect, and the result was more violent than the filmmakers had anticipated. Over 200 vehicles were destroyed by the vault during filming. Several stunts had to be cut including a final scene that would have seen the vault hanging over the edge of the
Teodoro Moscoso Bridge The Teodoro Moscoso Bridge is a bridge in Puerto Rico. It works as an extension of PR-17, also known as the Jesus T. Piñero Expressway, connecting this road with the Román Baldorioty de Castro Expressway ( PR-26). It crosses the San José Lag ...
. This stunt was abandoned when it was determined that even the powerful Chargers would not be able to support the vault's weight. The train heist presented several challenges. The filmmakers were required to effectively purchase a length of working railroad for filming and the trains necessary to ride the tracks. Then trucks had to be built that could race the train and meet the needs of the heist itself. Lin also required that the cars being carried on the train be able to jump out of the train at full speed. The scene took precise execution. The filmmakers chose to use cars they could cheaply replicate for the train heist—a 1972
De Tomaso Pantera The De Tomaso Pantera is a mid-engine sports car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer De Tomaso from 1971 to 1992. Italian for "Panther", the Pantera was the automaker's most popular model, with over 7,000 manufactured over its twenty-ye ...
, a 2007
Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a two-door, two-passenger luxury sports car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet since 1953. With eight design generations, noted sequentially from C1 to C8, the Corvette is noted for its performance and distinctiv ...
GS Roadster, and a
Ford GT40 The Ford GT40 is a high-performance endurance racing car commissioned by the Ford Motor Company. It grew out of the "Ford GT" (for Grand Touring) project, an effort to compete in European long-distance sports car races, against Ferrari, which ...
—to avoid the expense of replacing a genuine $2 million Ford GT40.


Music

The film soundtrack was released on iTunes on April 25, 2011, and on CD on May 3, 2011, by
ABKCO Records ABKCO Music & Records, Inc. (Allen & Betty Klein Company) is a major American independent record label, music publisher, and film and video production company. It owns and/or administers the rights to music by Sam Cooke, the Rolling Stones, the ...
. It features many
reggaeton Reggaeton (, ), also known as reggaetón and reguetón (), is a music style that originated in Panama during the late 1980s. It was later popularized in Puerto Rico. It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American hip hop, ...
and rhythmic
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
tracks, including songs by
Don Omar William Omar Landrón Rivera (born February 10, 1978), better known by his stage name Don Omar, is a Puerto Rican reggaeton singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. On September 1, 2017, he announced that he would retire after a ...
,
Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...
and many others, with three pieces from Tyler's original score for the film: "Assembling the Team", "Mad Skills" and "Fast Five Suite". Music guide
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
awarded the album 3 stars out of 5, commenting that "The goal here is to accompany a picture that, as usual, is packed with driving sequences involving flashy cars, beautiful, scantily clad women, and muscled men. That goal is accomplished with this beat-heavy music and the gruff, aggressive Latin rapping." Ludacris collaborated with
Slaughterhouse A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...
and Claret Jai for the soundtrack's lead single, "Furiously Dangerous". The film score was released on May 3, 2011, by
Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...
. The release has 25 tracks and plays for 78 minutes. The score spent four weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200, peaking as high as number 60 and reaching number 24 on the digital albums chart and number 5 on the soundtrack-only chart.


Marketing

The Facebook game ''
Car Town ''Car Town'' was a social network game developed by Cie Games (now Glu Mobile). It allowed users to collect and modify virtual vehicles. The main objective of the game was to win races and build a collection of vehicles. ''Car Town'' had many li ...
'' by Cie Games and the theater chain Regal Entertainment Group (REG) collaborated with Universal in a cross-media marketing promotion. ''Car Town'' allowed players to view the trailer for the film in an , in-game drive-in theater and race around a virtual Rio de Janeiro. The game also featured missions and locations based on the plot of the film, while allowing players to race against ''Fast Five'' characters and take part in a bank heist. REG offered players of ''Car Town'' the ability to purchase tickets in-game via
Fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating from Portugal and Spain, usually in triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has ...
for films at REG theaters. By buying these tickets in-game, players were given promotional codes which in turn allowed them to unlock a virtual 1970s
Dodge Charger The Dodge Charger is a model of automobile marketed by Dodge in various forms over seven generations since 1966. The first Charger was a show car in 1964. A 1965 Charger II concept car resembled the 1966 production version. The Charger has ...
, used by Diesel's character in the original film. REG promoted the partnership between the film and the game in their theaters across 37 states, online and through social media, while Universal promoted it via their own Facebook, Twitter and YouTube sites. In October 2011, it was claimed that over 200 million races had taken place within the virtual Rio de Janeiro environment in the six months since the campaign's April launch. Automobile manufacturer
Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...
collaborated with Universal in marketing the film, supplying several Dodge Chargers to use in it. The partnership with Dodge included the "Fast Five" Dodge Charger driven by
Robby Gordon Robert Wesley Gordon (born January 2, 1969) is an American auto racing driver. He has raced in NASCAR, CART, the IndyCar Series, the Trans-Am Series, IMSA, IROC and the Dakar Rally. He is active in top-tier off road motorsports such as BITD, N ...
in the
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...
throughout April 2011 – the opening month of ''Fast Five''. Dodge also sponsored the world premiere of the film in Rio de Janeiro.


Release


Theatrical

''Fast Five'' was originally planned to be released on June 10, 2011, before being pushed forward to April 29. The film held its world premiere at the Cinépolis Lagoon theater in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on April 15.


Home media

On August 2, 2011,
USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madi ...
purchased the rights to the United States network premiere of ''Fast Five''. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2011, and in the United States on October 4, 2011, in 2.35:1 aspect ratio with
DTS HD Master Audio DTS-HD Master Audio (DTS-HD MA; known as DTS++ before 2004) is a multi-channel, lossless audio codec developed by DTS as an extension of the lossy DTS Coherent Acoustics codec (DTS CA; usually itself referred to as just DTS). Rather than being ...
5.1 sound. A triple pack was also released containing a Blu-ray, DVD, and digital copy of the film in either Blu-ray or DVD packaging. The Blu-ray versions contains several exclusive additional features, including behind-the-scenes footage, cast and crew interviews, a "virtual car garage" that provides further details on the vehicles used in the production, and music tracks from the film. Both the DVD and the Blu-ray contain a theatrical cut of 130 minutes and extended cut of 132 minutes of the film, director commentary, deleted scenes, a gag reel and features on the three central characters. Commenting on the extended cut, Lin said "this is the version that I prefer." During first week sales in the United States the DVD was the number 1 selling DVD, the number 1 rental DVD, and the number 2 selling Blu-ray disc behind the Blu-ray re-release of ''
The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance ...
''. 57% of the total first week disc sales of ''Fast Five'' were the Blu-ray disc version. To promote the release of the DVD and Blu-ray,
Universal Studios Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...
sponsored the first race of the NASCAR ''
Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...
'', at the
Chicagoland Speedway Chicagoland Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Joliet, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The speedway opened in 2001 and actively hosted NASCAR racing including the NASCAR Cup Series until 2019. Until 2010, the speedway has also hosted the IndyC ...
. The event, renamed as the ''"
Fast Five 225 The Camping World 225 was a NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race that took place at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. History The race debuted in 2009 and marked the first time that the Camping World Truck Series raced at Chicag ...
"'', took place on September 16, 2011, with Gibson and Brewster as
Grand Marshal Grand marshal is a ceremonial, military, or political office of very high rank. The term has its origins with the word "marshal" with the first usage of the term "grand marshal" as a ceremonial title for certain religious orders. The following ...
s; Gibson sang the American national anthem for the event and Brewster acted as honorary starter. The event served as the kickoff for the first weekend of the
Chase for the Sprint Cup The NASCAR playoffs is a championship playoff system used in NASCAR's three national series. The system was founded as 'The Chase for the Championship' on January 21, 2004, and was used exclusively in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2004 to 2015. Si ...
and was won by
Austin Dillon Austin Reed Dillon (born April 27, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver and reality TV show actor. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing. ...
. The deal marked the first time that a
film promotion Film promotion is the practice of promotion specifically in the film industry, and usually occurs in coordination with the process of film distribution. Sometimes called the press junket or film junket, film promotion generally includes press re ...
had been allowed to take over a NASCAR race as a title sponsor. Continuing the partnership with ''Car Town'', the game was used as the exclusive means of pre-ordering the Blu-ray/DVD combo release at
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
, via players clicking on a Walmart-themed truck, which in turn provided the player with ''Fast Five'' branded in-game rewards. ''Fast Five'' was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray on June 11, 2019.


Reception


Box office

''Fast Five'' grossed $209.8 million (33.5%) in the United States and Canada and $416.3 million (66.5%) in other territories for a total of $626.1 million. Worldwide, it is the seventh highest-grossing film of 2011. It achieved a worldwide opening weekend of $109.6 million. The film reached a peak of number 55 on the list of all-time highest-grossing films worldwide in October 2011. It became the highest-grossing film in the Fast & Furious franchise in worldwide grosses (as well as separately in the US and Canada, and outside the US and Canada) but was out-grossed in all three cases by ''Fast & Furious 6''.


United States and Canada

According to Box Office Mojo, ''Fast Five'' is one of the most successful sequels of 2011, when taking into account that it is one of few to have outperformed the immediately-preceding installment of its franchise in the US and Canada. ''Fast Five'' opened in the United States on April 29, 2011, in 3,644 theaters, It took $3.8 million in midnight showings, setting new records for the ''Fast & Furious'' series and
Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...
(both records overtaken by ''Fast & Furious 6''). By the end of its opening day, it had accrued a total of $34.4 million (including midnight earnings), setting an April opening-day record, replacing ''
Fast & Furious ''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, ...
'' ($30.5 million), and marking the third largest Friday outside of the summer and holiday period, behind ''
The Hunger Games ''The Hunger Games'' is a series of young adult dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The first three novels are part of a trilogy following teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and the fourth book is a prequel set 6 ...
'' and ''
Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...
''. In total, ''Fast Five'' earned $86.2 million during its opening weekend, an average of $23,655 per theater, with
IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme ...
showings contributing over $8 million. It thus set an opening-weekend record for the ''Fast & Furious'' series, for Universal (both records overtaken by ''Fast & Furious 6''), and for films released in April (the record was surpassed in 2014 by '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier''). It also achieved the third-largest spring opening, behind ''The Hunger Games'' and ''Alice in Wonderland''. The film also set an opening-weekend record among films starring Diesel, Walker, Brewster, Johnson, Moritz and Lin, records overtaken in all cases by ''Fast & Furious 6''. The film opened dropped 62% on its second weekend, earning $32.4 million, and ranking second behind ''Thor''. This result was partially attributed to the reduction in IMAX and large-format screens showing the film (reduced from 244 to 20), since IMAX contributed only $510,000 to the film's second-weekend gross. On June 4, 2011, 37 days after release in the US, the film became the first of 2011 to accrue more than $200 million. The film received a one-week re-release in IMAX theaters on September 30, 2011. The film drew revenues of US$209,837,675 in the US and Canada, $416,300,000 elsewhere, for a worldwide total of $626,137,675. The box office ranking peaked at number 1 for all films of 2011 (, ranked at number 6), number 103 for all-time US films (, ranked number 197), and for all-time worldwide films number 55 (, at number 151).


Other territories

''Fast Five'' was initially released in Australia on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 – nine days before the release date in North America – followed by releases in the UK, South Korea and New Zealand. The earlier start in these countries was timed to coincide with their Easter holidays and avoided competition from forthcoming summer films, although this placed it in direct competition with ''
Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, ...
'' in some countries. By the end of its opening weekend, the film had accrued a total of $23.4 million from these countries. On its second weekend, ''Fast Five'' earned $46.3 million across 3,139 theaters in 14 countries, ranking first at the box office in each of its ten new markets. For the overall weekend, it ranked second behind ''Thor''. In the third weekend of release, ''Fast Five'' topped the box office in a further 44 countries, playing in a total of 6,979 theaters across 58 countries. It ranked first during the weekend with $85.8 million. It set an opening-weekend record in the United Arab Emirates ($1.65 million), holding this record for two weeks before being out-grossed by ''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'' ($2.24 million). Across all markets, the film scored Universal's highest-grossing opening weekend in Russia, Spain, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.


Critical response

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, ''Fast Five'' has an approval rating of with an average rating of based on reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Sleek, loud, and over the top, ''Fast Five'' proudly embraces its brainless action thrills and injects new life into the franchise." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a score of 66 out of 100, based on reviews from 41 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Each film's score can be accessed from the website's search bar.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, praising it as "a skillfully assembled 130 minutes at the movies, with actors capable of doing absurd things with straight faces, and action sequences that toy idly with the laws of physics", while Richard Corliss of ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' considered it "maybe the first great film of the post-human era". ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' said it deftly combined action and humor, stating "The only time you won't be watching the screen is when your eyes have squeezed shut because you're laughing so hard." ''
The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'' appreciated the presence of Johnson and Diesel together, calling it a "cosmic event", and added that director Lin had revitalized the series, saying "the start and finish here, defying every imaginable law of physics, are series highs." ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' also heaped praise on Johnson, saying "How to re-ignite an ageing franchise? Drop ohnsonon it. The best thing, by far, in ''Fast Five'' ... Dwayne Johnson hulks through the movie leaving testosterone trails in his wake." However, ''Empire'' took the view that the film itself was "not, by any normal criteria, a good film", arguing that it was too long, although conceding that the action scenes, in particular the final car chase, made the film "the most entertaining in the series." Anna Smith of '' Time Out London'' also commented that the film was too long and criticized the simplistic characters and dialog, but she called the film "slick" and stated that these criticisms could be overlooked because "it doesn't take itself too seriously." ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' focused on the roles of Johnson and Diesel, lamenting the current lack of 1980s-style "brawny" leading men and of the "manly men" typical of the 1950s and 1960s, and calling their pairing "a welcome injection of tough-guy vigor". ''Variety'' commented that, based on ''Fast Five'', a "sixth entry could be something worth waiting for". ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' called the action scenes "spectacular", praising director Lin by saying his "direction and the sharp editing never confuse or lose momentum", but also found the film too long and criticized the dialog, labeling it "subpar ''
Ocean's Eleven ''Ocean's Eleven'' is a 2001 American heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh from a screenplay by Ted Griffin. The first installment in the ''Ocean's'' film trilogy, it is a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack film of the same name. The ...
''-style banter". On the characters, ''The New Yorker'' considered Walker and Diesel "serviceable", but singled out Johnson for praise for bringing a "hip, comic knowingness to his role ... his enjoyment is infectious and keeps the movie speeding along." ''
Total Film ''Total Film'' is a British film magazine published 13 times a year (published monthly and a summer issue is added every year since issue 91, 2004, which is published between July and August issue) by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched ...
'' welcomed the return of Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson to " njectthe film with much-needed laughs" and felt that Johnson fit into the established cast with ease, though it believed the film itself was "no mould-breaker."
Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'', who disliked the previous movies, gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4, praising the transformation of the series into a heist film ("Damn it, it works"), commenting favorably on scenes between Johnson and Diesel, and judging that "''Fast Five'' will push all your action buttons, and some you haven't thought of." The ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' felt that scenes shared by Diesel and Johnson were the "best moments" and appreciated the humor, but considered the pacing a "strange mix", switching between exposition, comedy scenes and then sudden action. The reviewer echoed other critics' sentiments concerning the running time of the film, but concluded that "the sheer audacity of "Fast Five" is kind of breathtaking in a metal-twisting, death-defying, mission-implausible, B-movie-on-steroids kind of way", labeling it the "best" of the series. Both ''Empire'' and ''Variety'' noted that the final chase scene of ''Fast Five'' contained allusions to ''
Bad Boys II ''Bad Boys II'' is a 2003 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. The sequel to the 1995 film '' Bad Boys'' and the second film in the ''Bad Bo ...
'' (2003): Variety stated that the scene "seems inspired in part by a similarly spectacular scene in ''Bad Boys II''"; ''Empire'' said that it "nearly out-Bad-Boys-2s Bad Boys 2". Not all reviews were positive.
Film4 Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms ...
criticized both the film's long running time and its treatment of female characters, remarking "Some cameo strikingly in buttock form. Others actually have first names". But Film4 praised Johnson's role as DSS agent Luke Hobbs, saying he "provides a more credible anti-antagonist to our anti-heroes than the straight up villains can manage". The ''
Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Puli ...
'' gave a more mixed reaction: it derided the lack of realism as removing any sense of threat to the protagonists, but conceded that "these films may be robustly anti-intellectual and deplorably commercialized, but they are the envy of the rest of the world." Despite giving the film a positive review and praising the action, ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...
'' was critical of its stars, saying "it's clear the budget wasn't used on acting lessons for the cast." '' Time Out New York'' stated that "The ''Fast and the Furious'' movies haven't exactly gotten better as they've gone along" but gave the director a backhanded compliment, saying "Justin Lin, taking his third turn behind the franchise's wheel, is at least a competent hack." Ebert was more complimentary, saying "Justin Lin is emerging as a first-rate director in this second-rate genre" and ''Rolling Stone'' managed "Justin Lin, who misdirected the last two sequels, finds his pace this time, staging dynamite action."


Brazilian critics

Brazilian reviewers criticized the use of Rio de Janeiro in the film, claiming it was stereotyped as "dominated by heavily armed drug traffickers, corrupt police, and sexy women". ''
O Globo ''O Globo'' (, ''The Globe'') is a Brazilian newspaper based in Rio de Janeiro. ''O Globo'' is the most prominent print publication in the Grupo Globo media conglomerate. Founded by journalist Irineu Marinho, owner of ''A Noite'', it was ori ...
'' accused the producers of using "aerial shots and quick editing" to "deceive the viewer" into believing that the criminal acts take place in Rio. ''Globo'' also reacted negatively to the use of "foreigners" to represent Brazilians, "speaking Portuguese with laughable accents". ''
Veja Veja may refer to : Places * Veja, a town in Lazio, central Italy; now Vejano comune * Veja, a village in Stănița Commune, Neamț County, Romania * Veja River, Romania * Veja State, a former princely state in present Gujarat, western India Pe ...
'' agreed with ''O Globo'', saying, "The city of Rio and the Rio Film Commission supported the production. But the image that will spread across the world is exactly what the city doesn't want."


Accolades

Tyler's score for ''Fast Five'' earned him an award at the 2011
BMI Film Music Award The BMI Film & TV Awards are accolades presented annually by Broadcast Music, Inc., honoring songwriters, composers, and music publishers in various genres. Based in the United States, the awards include the BMI Christian Awards, BMI Country Awards ...
s. The marketing components of ''Fast Five'' were nominated for three
Golden Trailer Awards The Golden Trailer Awards are an American annual award show for film trailers founded in 1999. The awards also honor the best work in all areas of film and video game marketing, including posters, television advertisements and other media, in ...
, winning one for Best Summer Blockbuster 2011 TV Spot. For the 2011
Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards is an annual awards show that airs on the Fox television network. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, film, sports, television, fashion, social media, and more, voted by viewers living in the United ...
, ''Fast Five'' received five nominations, including Choice Action Movie and Choice Action Movie Actress. Three of the five available nomination slots for Choice Action Movie Actor were taken by actors from ''Fast Five'': Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and Paul Walker. The film ultimately received one Teen Choice Award, for Choice Action Movie. The film received two nominations for the 2011
People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls until ...
for Favorite Action Movie, and Favorite Action Movie Star for Diesel. Diesel was nominated for an
NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...
for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture. The film's sound and music editing was nominated for a Golden Reel Award for Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film by the Motion Picture Sound Editors society. The film also received two
Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...
nominations from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for Best Action/Adventure Film and Best Editing for Kelly Matsumoto, Fred Raskin, and Christian Watner. In December, 2011, Richard Corliss ranked the film number 10 on his list of the Top 10 Best Movies of 2011, saying, "A carnival of roguish heroes and pretty girls, car chases and cliffhangers, ''Fast Five'' is as much a tribute as '' The Artist'' or '' Hugo'' to the cinema's primal thrills." ''Empire'' placed the film number 20 on its list of the Top 20 Films of 2011, while IGN named it the "Best Action Movie" of 2011. ''Fast Five'' was listed as the number 1 most illegally downloaded film of 2011 on BitTorrent with approximately 9.3 million downloads.


Sequel

A sixth film in ''The Fast and The Furious'' series was planned in February 2010 as development on ''Fast Five'' began, and in April 2011, it was confirmed that Morgan had begun work on a script for the potential sixth film. Diesel and Moritz returned as producers for the film and Lin would return to direct. ''Fast & Furious 6'' was released on May 24, 2013.


Notes


References

Documents *


External links

* * * * * {{Authority control 2011 action thriller films 2010s chase films 2010s heist films 2010s road movies American action thriller films American chase films American heist films American road movies American sequel films Fast & Furious films Films about automobiles Films directed by Justin Lin Films produced by Neal H. Moritz Films scored by Brian Tyler Films set in Brazil Films set in Rio de Janeiro (city) Films set in Florida Films set in Germany Films set in Monaco Films set on trains Films shot in Atlanta Films shot in California Films shot in Georgia (U.S. state) Films shot in Puerto Rico Films shot in Rio de Janeiro (city) IMAX films One Race Films films Original Film films Films with screenplays by Chris Morgan Universal Pictures films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films