Brian O'Conner, an undercover LAPD officer, infiltrates the high-octane world of Los Angeles street racing to investigate a crew of hijackers stealing expensive electronic equipment. As he gets closer to the prime suspect, the charismatic Dominic Toretto, Brian finds his loyalty tested when he falls for Toretto's sister and becomes captivated by the adrenaline-fueled lifestyle he was sent to destroy.
Information |
|
|---|---|
Language |
English |
Country |
United States |
Premiere date |
June 22, 2001 |
Running time |
106 minutes |
Genre |
Action Crime Thriller |
Budget |
$38,000,000 |
Box Office |
$207,283,925 |
Crew |
|
Directed by |
Rob Cohen |
Produced by |
Neal H. Moritz |
Written by |
Gary Scott Thompson |
Music by |
BT |
Cinematography |
Ericson Core |
Edited by |
Peter Honess |
Production Co. |
Original Film |
Distributed by |
Universal Pictures |
Official Trailer
The Plot
The Highway Heist
The film opens at a bustling dockyard where a shipping container is loaded onto the trailer of a semi-truck. As the truck departs, a dock worker makes a suspicious phone call to an anonymous party, providing details on how to identify the transport. After sunset, the truck travels down a lonely highway when three identical black Honda Civic Coupes, illuminated by green neon underglow, approach rapidly from behind. Executing a precision maneuver, they surround the truck in an aggressive formation: one in front, one on the right, and the third on the left.
The sunroof of the lead Civic opens, and a hijacker wearing a motocross helmet emerges, armed with a modified crossbow rigged with a grappling wire. He fires through the truck's windshield, removing the glass pane, and then fires a second shot into the passenger seat to secure a line. Leaping from the speeding car to the semi, the hijacker enters the cab. The truck driver attempts to fight back with a baseball bat, but the hijacker fires a tranquilizer dart into the driver's arm, subduing him and seizing control of the massive vehicle.
The New Guy in Town
The following day, Brian O'Conner is in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium performing a high-speed test run in his Mitsubishi Eclipse. He pushes the car to a maximum speed of 140mph in a quarter-mile test but nearly loses control, spinning out. Frustrated by the vehicle's instability, he departs the stadium. He later drives his work truck, a Ford F-150 SVT Lightning, to Toretto's Market & Cafe. He sits at the counter and orders his daily regular from Mia Toretto: a tuna sandwich on white bread, no crust.
While Brian eats and flirts with Mia, he notices her brother, Dominic Toretto, sitting in the back office. The peaceful lunch is interrupted when Dominic's team of street racers—Vince, Leon, Jesse, and Letty—arrives. Vince, who harbors a crush on Mia, is aggravated by Brian's consistent presence and instigates a fight. Dominic is forced to intervene, breaking up the scuffle. He warns Brian not to come around the store again and reprimands Vince for his lack of discipline.
The Racer's Edge
Brian returns to his job at a local performance parts store, The Racer's Edge, where he also rents a room in the back. He tells his boss, Harry, that he needs a Nitrous Oxide system for his Eclipse installed by that night. After sunset, a large group of street racers gathers in a back alley. Brian arrives and is approached by Hector, a local racing legend, and another racer named Edwin. Dominic and his team arrive shortly after, and the festivities begin. Dominic organizes a single race for the evening with a $2,000 buy-in.
Brian admits he does not have the cash to buy in but offers the pink slip to his Mitsubishi Eclipse instead. After Jesse, the team's mechanic, inspects Brian's car, the other participants agree to let him race. The alley clears out as the convoy moves to the streets.
A Quarter Mile at a Time
The racers arrive at a four-lane road where Dominic, Brian, Edwin, and a fourth driver line up side-by-side for a quarter-mile winner-take-all event. Leon monitors the police scanner for LAPD activity. With the coast clear, Hector initiates the race. Brian suffers a rough start but eventually catches up with the pack. Halfway through, he engages his nitrous system, passing everyone except Dominic. Near the finish line, Brian triggers a second burst of nitrous. The pressure causes the floorboard of his passenger side to fall out, but he momentarily pulls ahead.
Seeing Brian's move, Dominic engages the hidden nitrous system in his Mazda RX-7. He surges forward, soundly beating Brian as they cross the finish line. As the cars come to a halt, Dominic mocks Brian for his amateur racing style, noting that he was "granny shifting" instead of double-clutching. Suddenly, Leon intercepts a police dispatch; the LAPD is closing in. The group scatters immediately.
Running with the Pack
Dominic stashes his RX-7 in a nearby parking garage and attempts to flee on foot, but an LAPD patrol unit spots him. Dominic runs down an alley with the officer in pursuit until Brian intercepts him in the Eclipse. Brian orders Dominic to get in, and they manage to outrun the police, whisking Dominic to safety. However, during the escape, the pair inadvertently drives into Little Saigon, the territory of Johnny Tran and his cousin Lance Nguyen.
Tran confronts them, asking why Dominic disregarded their truce. Dominic blames the error on Brian, his "new mechanic," claiming he got lost. After Tran and Lance mockingly admire Brian's car, their gang departs, only to immediately return and open fire with submachine guns. The bullets ignite the nitrous tanks, blowing up the Eclipse completely. Brian and Dominic escape on foot and share a taxi back to Dominic's house. As Dom prepares to enter an ongoing after-party, he invites Brian inside.
Undercover Reveal
Inside the party, tensions rise. Vince demands to know why Dominic brought the "buster" into their home. Dominic retorts that the "buster" was the one who kept him out of handcuffs. While Dominic goes upstairs with his girlfriend Letty, Mia rescues Brian from the hostile trio of Vince, Leon, and Jesse. In the kitchen, she points out that Dominic's acceptance of him is unusual.
The following day, Brian is pulled over by an unmarked police car and "arrested." He is taken to a lavish residence, formerly owned by Elizabeth Taylor, which now serves as the base of operations for an LAPD/FBI task force. It is revealed that Brian is actually an undercover police officer. He briefs his superiors, Sergeant Tanner and FBI Special Agent Bilkins. Brian explains he needs more time to gather evidence on the truck hijackers, though Bilkins warns him that patience is running thin.
The Ten Second Car
Brian returns to Dominic's shop with a tow truck dropping off a rusted, totaled Toyota Supra. Dominic and his team laugh at the scrap heap until Brian pops the hood, revealing a pristine 2JZ engine. Realizing the potential, Dominic agrees to let Brian work off his debt from the race by restoring the vehicle. The team sets to work, preparing the Supra for "Race Wars," a massive legal street racing event in the desert.
During the restoration process, Brian and Mia form a closer bond, culminating in a date. Before they go out, Dominic takes Brian to his garage to show him a covered vehicle: a menacing 1970 Dodge Charger R/T. Dominic explains that the car belonged to his father. He recounts a tragic story where a driver named Kenny Linder clipped his father's bumper during a race, sending him into a wall at 120mph and killing him instantly. Dominic beat Linder with a wrench until he couldn't lift his arms, resulting in a lifetime ban from the tracks. He admits he has never driven the Charger because it scares him.
False Leads and New Wheels
While on his date with Mia, Brian receives a covert call from Sgt. Tanner. The hijackers have struck again, and Bilkins has decided to move on Johnny Tran, believing him to be the culprit. Brian agrees to the raid. The next morning, the LAPD and FBI execute a simultaneous warrant on Tran and Lance. However, the electronic equipment found in their garage proves to have been purchased legally. Tran is released, and the task force is back to square one. Bilkins and Tanner now conclude that Dominic Toretto is the true mastermind.
With the investigation narrowing, Brian and Dominic test the newly completed Toyota Supra on the Pacific Coast Highway. They encounter a Ferrari F355 Spyder and challenge it to a race, with the Supra easily smoking the Italian supercar. Over lunch at a roadside crab shack, Brian becomes aggressive, pressing Dominic about his income sources. Dominic hands him a paper with directions to Race Wars and says they will talk later.
Race Wars
At Race Wars, the atmosphere is electric. Brian arrives to find Jesse preparing to race Johnny Tran for pink slips. Jesse, overconfident in his Volkswagen Jetta, ignores warnings that he is outmatched by Tran's Honda S2000. During the race, Jesse hits his nitrous too early. Tran waits, engages his own nitrous at the perfect moment, and surges past Jesse to win. Panicked, Jesse flees the desert with his car rather than handing it over.
Tran drives to Dominic's camp and demands his car. When Dominic dismisses him, Tran reveals he knows about the police raid and accuses Dominic of being a snitch. Enraged, Dominic punches Tran, knocking him to the ground and beating him severely until security pulls him off.
The Job Goes Wrong
That night, Brian spots Dominic and the team preparing to leave. He realizes they are going for another heist. Desperate, Brian reveals his true identity as a cop to Mia and convinces her to help him find the team before they get themselves killed. They speed off in the Supra, and Brian calls in a trace on Dominic's cell phone.
On the highway, Dominic's crew—driving the three black Civics—targets a semi-truck. However, the driver is prepared. When Vince leaps onto the truck, the driver opens fire with a shotgun. Vince is hit and becomes tangled in the grappling wire, slamming against the side of the truck. Letty's car rolls over, and the driver disables Dominic's Civic. Brian and Mia arrive just in time. Brian pulls off a daring rescue, jumping onto the moving truck to unhook Vince while the driver reloads. Dominic watches in shock as Brian calls for a medivac helicopter, identifying himself as a police officer to save Vince's life. Betrayed but prioritizing Vince, Dominic leaves with the rest of the team as the helicopter arrives.
Retribution
Brian returns to Los Angeles to confront Dominic at his house. Dominic is in the driveway, armed with a shotgun, preparing to hunt down Jesse. Brian orders him to drop the weapon. Just then, Jesse pulls up, terrified and apologizing for his actions at Race Wars. Moments later, the sound of dirt bikes fills the air. Johnny Tran and Lance ride by, opening fire with submachine guns. Jesse is killed instantly in the drive-by shooting.
Dominic jumps into his father's Dodge Charger, and Brian follows in the Supra to pursue the bikers. During the high-speed chase, Dominic swerves the Charger, knocking Lance off the road and down a steep incline, incapacitating him. Brian chases Tran to an overpass. As Tran rides toward him, Brian drifts the Supra and fires his weapon, hitting Tran and sending him crashing into the curb, killing him.
The Final Race
Brian spots Dominic waiting at a red light at the top of a hill. He pulls up alongside him. Dominic looks over and says, "I used to drag here back in high school. That railroad crossing up there is exactly a quarter-mile away from here." The light turns green. Dominic stomps on the gas, the raw torque of the Charger causing it to perform a massive wheelie off the line. Brian fights to keep up, eventually engaging his nitrous to close the gap.
They race neck-and-neck toward a railroad crossing with a train rapidly approaching. Neither driver lifts off the throttle. They launch across the tracks, narrowly missing the speeding train by inches. The race seems to end in a draw, but as Dominic looks ahead, a semi-truck pulls out from a side street. The Charger smashes into the truck's front end, launching into the air and barrel-rolling over Brian's Supra before crashing violently and flipping multiple times.
Freedom
Brian slams on his brakes and runs to the wreckage. Dominic crawls out of the destroyed Charger, battered but alive, noting that this wasn't what he had in mind. Sirens wail in the distance as the police approach. Brian looks at Dominic, then at his own car. He hands Dominic the keys to the Toyota Supra, telling him, "I owe you a ten-second car." Dominic nods, takes the keys, and flees the scene just as the police arrive, leaving Brian to face the consequences.
After the credits, a scene shows Dominic driving a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS through Baja, Mexico. He voices a familiar philosophy: "I live my life a quarter mile at a time. For those ten seconds or less, I'm free." He then drives off into the sunset.
Top Cast
- Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner
- Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto
- Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz
- Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto
- Rick Yune as Johnny Tran
- Chad Lindberg as Jesse
- Johnny Strong as Leon
- Matt Schulze as Vince
- Ted Levine as Sgt. Tanner
- Thom Barry as Agent Bilkins
