ANALYSIS:

Dominic Torretto (Vin Diesel), his sister Mia (Jordanna Brewster), and Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) are on the run together after breaking Dom out of a prison bus.   They end up in Rio De Janeiro where they help with a car heist from a train.   Stealing the cars go wrong when Mia takes a car and the car theft crew try to kill Dom and Brian.    Dom, Mia, and Brian find their lives in danger once again as they find out that the most powerful criminal Reyes wants a chip in the car that Mia drove away in.  The chip gives locations to all of the places where Reyes has his drug money stashed.   Dom and Brian call in a crew of old friends (from the previous FAST AND FURIOUS films) to help steal all of the $100 million in drug money that Reyes has.   Complicating matters is Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), a holier-than-thou federal agent who hunts down federal fugitives who escaped US custody, brought in (with his crew) to apprehend Dom and Brian.

FAST FIVE switches gears in the way the story is told.  the last film was Grindhouse-style while this film is a pure heist film.   The FAST AND FURIOUS films have been about family, betrayal, and lots of fast cars at the core of each film.   They use Rio to the advantage of the film along with bringing back old characters from various films (including one from the horrible second film in the FAST AND FURIOUS series).   They shift away from car racing a bit and save it for the heist in the climax which reminds me of an amped up version of the heist chase scene in the original version of THE ITALIAN JOB (not to be confused with the horrible remake).    They even use Gal Gadot's real experience in the Israeli military as part of her sexy character.   Then you have the smackdown scene between the Rock and vin Diesel (it's like watching a human version of Godzilla Vs. King Kong).  I really loved seeing FAST FIVE turn the series into a heist film mode because this is the most fun film of the FAST AND FURIOUS series.

Don't forget to catch the extra scene during the credits which shows the only way they can set up for FAST SIX.   FAST FIVE improves on the last film while FAST SIX sets up something that will turn one of the character's world upside down.

The DVD and Blu-ray includes two versions of the film: the PG-13 theatrical cut and an extended edition.  I don't see any real differences between the two versions and one minute longer doesn't make an extended cut.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Two deleted scenes include one left out for time while the other scene with Hobbs I wish they left in.   The gag reel is slightly amusing.  the feature commentary with Director Justin Lin reveals he doens't know if he will be doing Fast Six yet.

Featurettes:

DOM'S JOURNEY- Vin Diesel and the crew talk about the journey of Dom through three FAST AND THE FURIOUS films.

BRIAN O'CONNOR: FROM FED TO CON-  Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, the director, and producers talk about Brian's journey as a character and how Brian fits in as a criminal and that Brian and Dom are like brothers.

ENTER FEDERAL AGENT HOBBS- actor Dwayne Johnson talks about his character and the fight his character has with Dom Toretto.

The following featurettes are exclusive to the Blu-ray disc:

THE BIG TRAIN HEIST- see the tricks and work that go into creating the train heist for the film

REUNITING THE TEAM- a look at the various characters who are in FATS FIVE.

A NEW SET OF WHEELS-  a featurette on the various cars and Hobbs vehile that were used in the film.

INSIDE THE VAULT CHASE- the various things that go into creating teh vault chase including having a truck inside the vault prop to control how it swings around on the streets of Puerto Rico and the other two vault props they use for two parts of the chase.

ON SET WITH DIRECTOR JUSTIN LIN-   Justin Lin shows how he wants to film a car driving inside the abandoned factory while one of his team warns againnst damaging the car while Lin wnats to show the power of the Porsche driving around in a tight space.

DOM VS. HOBBS- behind-the-scenes of filming the fight between teh two characters.

TYRESE TV-  Tyrese takes a cameraman around as he has fun between the takes as he takes viewers around the set and has fun with his fellow actors.

Also included in this combo is the digital copy of teh film, a DVD copy of the film, and the Blu-ray has interactive links to exclusive BD content via an internet connection.

The Best Buy edition also comes in an exclsuive steelbook case.

FINAL ANALYSIS:  FAST FIVE is the best of the FAST AND FURIOUS films.   The behind-the-scenes extras are the most interesting extras on the set as it shows the amount of prep and safety they have to go through to film the atcion scenes and stunts.

this review is (c)10-9-2011 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com