Quarter Mile at a Time – The Fast and the Furious
I live my life a quarter–mile at a time. Nothing else matters; not the mortgage; not the store; not my team and their bullshit. For those 10 seconds or less, I’m free.” – Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto
Who would have thought that a little movie called The Fast and the Furious would have turned into the gigantic franchise it is today. The other day I got to thinking about movies and cars and said hey, wouldn’t it be awesome if there was a franchise that combined both of these things together? I then thought I should collaborate with fellow F&F fan Nate and put some appreciation out into the world for these films.
This isn’t going to be an in-depth discussion or a deep dive into the lore, it’s just going to be dudes talking about cars and chicks and cool shit.
FAVORITE CARS
The first component of every F&F movie is the cars, so I think it would be a good idea to rank our 2 favorite cars in the movie.
NATHAN
- 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse R/T
I feel like this car should be on this list no matter what. The car that started it all for the boy Brian O’Connor is in my opinion the nicest car in the whole movie. What stands out to me the most has to be the colors and that sick design on the side, it reminds me of a early 2000 Need For Speed car which i love.
2. 1970 Dodge Charger
Ahh, good old American muscle. I have and will always love a good looking muscle car and Dom’s 1970 Charger is a beauty. Pulled out for the last race between Dom and Brian in the movie, this car had a great story behind it as it was Dom’s fathers car and forever be a classic in the series.
STEVE
- 1993 Mazda RX-7 FD
This red is absolutely killer and I think I like this car so much because I would never in a million years drive a red car because red cars get pulled over more often and stand out on the road. And to make a nice car even sweeter, its got a nitrous system that will knock your socks off. The same nitrous system that Dom uses to toast Brian in their race.
2. 1994 Toyota Supra Mark IV
A spoiler that if you get the car up to speed can probably help you start flying and a very ugly graphic make for one awesome car. To add about fifty or so cool points it’s a convertible! You can have your hair blowing as you run from the cops, or go to the grocery store. This car is so nice it can do both of those things.
FAVORITE CHARACTER
A car is only as good as its driver and this franchise is always introducing new faces, so another thing we are doing is picking our favorite character in each of the films and as the series progresses you can watch our favorites change. Or maybe they stay the same, we shall see.
NATHAN
Brian O’Connor
Brian O’Connor or “Brian Earl Spilner”, the name he went undercover with for most of the movie, has to be my favorite character in this movie. Brian always drove the coolest cars in the movie and had the coolest demeanor the whole movie. He was also a cop and for me growing up that was someone I always wanted to be like.
STEVE
Dominic Toretto
Dom and Brian make up the two halves of this franchise that come together to form a whole. Vin Diesel seems like a really nice guy off camera and to see him start with this movie that nobody really suspected would take off and then have this franchise turn into the blockbuster series it is today is pretty cool. Dom is also the one who said the infamous quarter mile at a time quote, he definitely has a knack for saying/doing cool shit.
FAVORITE SCENES
I also tasked Nathan with finding two standout scenes from the film that best represent it. If we can’t find the scene on YouTube a text description will suffice.
NATHAN
This race has to be one of the best races in the whole series in my opinion. This was a great scene to end the first movie and the beginning of a awesome franchise.
The very first street race to start it all of was a banger. Who knew that this race would lead to the beginning of a awesome friendship between Dom and Brian. My favorite part was in the end of the scene when Brian loses and Dom gives his little speech, he says “Ask any racer, any real racer. It doesn’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile, winning’s winning”.
STEVE
Many people forget but this franchise started as a movie about street racing and the main focus was cars! Imagine that, racing cars and getting into trouble. Now there’s always some wild shit going on and Idris Elba basically has super powers and it has totally jumped the shark. So this is the perfect scene if you are into the cars, the gathering of the racers.
The meeting of two strangers who would later become best of friends and eventually family. This is what started it all, this is why were are here writing this and talking about these films. RIP Paul Walker.
This has been the first installment of “Quarter Mile at a Time”. Stay tuned as every week we take a trip through every movie in the Fast and Furious franchise. Remember when Fast and Furious 9 was supposed to come out like over a year ago? We remember that too.
OUTCAST ISLAND 