Wild Speed: Sky Mission (Furious 7 discussion w/ spoilers)

So I just saw this and wanted to talk about it. What did you think? Where does it rank among them?

I was pretty happy with the way they handled Paul Walker's send off. I went in thinking he would die but they actually really went out of their way to honor him. Pretty sweet. For me, it's my 3rd favorite in the series behind the 1st one and tokyo drift. It's bloated like the last one but feels more focused and the Dubai sky jump was sick. One thing that was really disappointing was how little The Rock was used. Maybe he is getting too expensive? Also, the fight against Statham seems like it will really kick off in the next movie. The head to head ramming was funny but he would come in and out of the plot, which was weird. Needed more Kurt Russell...I thought he was gonna turn but didn't happen.

I was really happy with it. The ending was exactly what needed to happen. The combination of Vin Diesel's message for Paul as a voice over while they were racing and showing clips of him from the earlier movies was great. Made me shed some man tears, and it felt even more appropriate when the theater audience gave a round of applause for him as Dom and Brian drove apart down separate roads. I'm not usually one for clapping during a movie, but if there was ever a time to clap then this is it.

As for the rest of the movie, I was a little disappointed that The Rock wasn't in it more as well since he's quickly become one of my favorites. The parts that had him were phenomenal however. From flexing out of his cast to driving an ambulance into an attack drone and hauling it's gatling gun down the streets. He was amazing in all the right ways.

I had hoped for the lead character of Tokyo Drift to be involved with the crew more after Han's death, but when I saw him and how much older he looked than the teenager that he is supposed to be it was pretty clear that they wouldn't be able to get away with having him in more than just a scene or two. It was a nice thought that they wrapped up the drift race between Dom and him even if we didn't get to see it.

The story itself was pretty good. Dubai was great and my friends and I will be quoting the "Cars don't fly!" line forever. Speaking of quotable lines, I love how they brought the Corona back in the most unexpected way. I wasn't too sold on Shaw sadly. He just kind of popped in inevitably during every mission without an explanation or any substantial dialogue really, and then had a fight scene at the end. He was just kind of there. He was definitely built up to be this super skilled assassin, so it makes sense I guess. But his younger brother from the last movie felt more menacing and felt like a more fleshed out villain than him. For being the big bad brother that he is supposed to be, I felt like they could have done more with him. But, he killed my favorite character in the series, so I'm probably a little biased against him. I'm actually hoping that the brothers will be able to team up in a future movie assuming that the younger Shaw can make it out of that hospital bed we saw him in.

Overall I think I'd have to rank 6 and 3 above it in my own personal opinion, but 7 is definitely my third favorite now with 5 following shortly after.

I fucking loved it. LOVED it. Jesus Christ, what a phenomenal piece of entertainment this is. It ain't perfect, and I'm inclined to say that Fast Five is still the most well-made of the series...but holy shit, Furious 7 is no joke. The second best of the series at the very least. The action was almost non-stop. The set-pieces were incredible, particularly the finale and the scene in the mountains. The movie was just full of over-the-top ridiculousness, like Vin Diesel lifting up a car while Paul Walker worked under it and The Rock surviving a several-story fall onto a car, or The Rock flexing off his arm cast, or The Rock handling a drone's minigun. I wish he was in the film more.

I also wish that Statham's character was a bit more fleshed out, but he was certainly a badass. His fights were awesome. I really just enjoyed seeing him as a villain for once. Kurt Russel was great, as well. His role was much bigger than I had imagined since he was barely featured in the trailers.

The ending was absolutely perfect and a very heart-felt and beautiful tribute to Paul. The scene at the beach didn't feel like the characters in the film, it felt like Paul Walker's friends honestly and earnestly saying goodbye. The last shot of Vin and Paul driving down separate roads was very moving in a way I didn't expect from a movie like this. I fucking hate when there is applause after a movie in the theater, but I think this is the one film that definitely earned it. Truly felt like the end of a 15 year journey.

Not really in a place to write a giant opinion piece, but some short thoughts.

I thought it was quite entertaining (extremely ridiculous, mostly in a good way). I'm not sure I'd put it over 5 or 3 as my favorites, perhaps equal to 6. Was very disappointed, but not surprised, by Sean's (Lucas Black's) extremely short presence. I couldn't be more glad for Tony Jaa's return to movies, the man is amazing. The ending was actually quite touching, not quite perfect, but considering the circumstances, they've done a great job respecting Paul Walker's memory. Vin Diesel's monologue was fitting for both the character and the actor speaking as himself.

Overall, I left satisfied. No fucking clue what they can and will do next.

The only question I had at the end was where do they go from here?

@supermonkey122: @strife777: I as well. I was in the mindset that with now the timelines between Tokyo Drift and the main cast of the FF series crossing over they would then team up the two crews Persona Q style. Unfortunately this wasn't the case, but heck you never know if CSI: Cyber and NCIS: New Orleans don't quite pan out we might see Bow Wow and Lucas Black back in the mix as part of the permanent crew in the next installment. Along with that holy shit when I saw Lucas Black appear that guy's character is suppose to still be in high school, that guy clearly doesn't look like a high schooler anymore.

As for the main storyline itself very forgetful stuff with some really dumb stuff in-between. Rock flexing the cast off? Toretto stomping Hulk style to destroy half the building? Toretto flying a car through 2 buildings and a helicopter? All dumb but in a very enjoyable way. I also enjoyed some of the callback stuff to the first film like when Paul Walker's character yells out "going old school" when he goes under the big rig and of course the ending. I think for any fans of the FF series just seeing the ending was worth the price of admission.

For where the storyline goes from here? I'm getting eerie feelings that the story is starting to morph into some sort of hybrid between Mission Impossible / Vin Diesel's XXX films. Now if I remember correctly XXX was terrible even the Ice Cube sequel. With the main cast storyline complete I think the franchise should maybe refocus itself a little bit more by maybe focusing on the Tokyo Drift crew with Toretto and the gang acting more in a supporting role. I wouldn't mind a story about how Sean Boswell gotta do the impossible drift to save the world type deal or make a film 10 years later where he has to recapture his glory days as drift king after being away from the game for so long.

@i_stay_puft: Vin Diesel said the 8th film takes place in New York...so I don't think thats too likely

Vin Diesel hinted that Kurt Russell will be in the 8th film.

Which I fucking hope because he was magic.

That Dubai car scene was magic. Ludacris and Tyresse are magic. I want this series to go to fucking space.

@gorillamopena: @supermonkey122: 8th film of Fast and the Furious reveals that it takes place in the same universe as Escape from NY... and LA...

Every scene that The Rock was in was amazing. Especially the entire ambulance/minigun sequence. Man that movie was so dumb, but so good.

@supermonkey122: I imagine Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) will break his brother (Jason Statham) out of prison and they will just on a full scale revenge attack on the crew. I have no idea how they can top the action sequences though. It got so ridiculous that seems like they can't possibly die from anything.

This is my second favorite after Fast Five. It was super dumb but I was entertained. Kurt Russell looked like he was having fun, and Jack Burton Kurt Russell is the best Kurt Russell, suck it Snake. The whole Abu Dhabi sequence with Michelle Rodriguez fighting those female bodyguards then Ronda Rousey then oh hell Vin Diesel and Paul Walker go building hopping was so stupid and wonderful. And that was in the middle, they still had to go back and blow up L.A. Oh it was great. Also, nice heartfelt sendoff for Paul Walker. No more funerals indeed.

Note: I saw this in IMAX-ass IMAX, and they even redid the IMAX countdown titles with the sounds of speedy racecars. IMAX rules.

38 feet of concrete and steel separates Jason Statham and the Shaw brothers' storyline getting wrapped up. I'm pretty sure that's where Furious 8 will go. I just wonder if the series will wrap after that. Vin Diesel is 47, I have my doubts about a Furious 9. I don't know, somebody needs to say at some point that they are too old for this shit.

This series continues to be one of the best action series in existence. Loved every minute of it, and I thought they handled the ending beautifully. My only hope now is that the final movie of the franchise is all of the surviving villains joining together to take out the crew. The Shaws, Braga, DK and his uncle, Carter Verone, heck, even bring in the cousin with the snake skin pants from F&F1. Just go nuts with it.

Middle of the road for me. I still think 5 is the best, and 1 and 6 are better than 7. I felt like they lead with their best action sequences. Rock vs. Statham was better than Vin vs. Statham. The car drop sequence was better than the finale. I did love how they introduced Deckard Shaw though; that stroll through the hospital was badass.

Also, they underutilized a lot of solid talent. The Rock was missing for most of the film, Djimon Hounsou's role was to look scary and then scream at people in a helicopter, and Lucas Black's appearance was comically short. Also, more Kurt Russell please. Don't get me wrong, it's some fun stupid action, but they've done it better in this series already.

I would love to see Carter Verone return just so Roman and him can have a showdown. At some point he would need to pull out a gun/knife and say "Pockets ain't empty."

I'll have to rewatch Fast Five, because I feel like this one was at least as good, if not better. I had a big dumb grin on my face through the whole thing.

I've now seen 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 but I'm thinking of watching some of the movies then seeing 7 again, Is Fast Five where the series basically became GI Joe or is F&F4 like that too?

Edit: I can't count the number of times I shook my head at the sheer ridiculousness of basically the whole movie.

@aquamarin: Fast Five is where they blew the hinges off. You definitely need to watch it.

A lot of people don't really like Fast & Furious (FF4), but I personally think it's actually still a pretty decent movie. It's sort of in the middle ground where they had tonally started to shift towards what's in 5-7 but they didn't really have the budget so they stuck with doing primarily the sort of race scenes in 1-3.

The Rock couldn't be in much since he had scheduling conflicts with I believe Hercules at the time of filming. Originally he wasn't going to be in Furious 7 at all but found some time in between. Anyways, great movie, made me go back and watch 1 - 5 over the past 48 hours.