The Fast and the Furious : 25th Anniversary Edition - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Fast and the Furious: 25th Anniversary Edition



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


AV NIRVANA is member and reader-supported. When you purchase an item using our links, we might earn an affiliate commission.
​

Movie
Nah man, this isn’t real. The Fast and the Furious didn’t come out 25 years ago. I refuse to believe it. I was 19 years old on my summer break between my Freshman and Sophomore year in college, and that was only about 10 years ago, right? Ugg. My own midlife crisis aside, I find it fascinating just how far the series has come from its humble roots back in 2001. Before it was a near-superhero franchise with Dom and Brian and the rest of the crew collecting acolytes like Pokémon cards and saving the world, they were just punk 20-something-year-olds boosting stereos. And frankly, it was never really EXPECTED to blow up as it did after the 4th film. The first film is a hilariously awesome throwback to early 2000s action movies, complete with plainly obvious stunt men, jokes about hot girls, blowing things up, and so much machismo dripping from the pores that you could smell the PED’s just watching the film. And hey, it did decently enough in theaters, only to get a couple of sequels without Vin Diesel that seemed to kill the franchise in its tracks (even though Tokyo Drift is a great film in its own right, even though it's VERY loosely related to the original except for a cameo by Dom at the end).

But then the 4th film happened, something that no one saw coming. And it magically revitalized the franchise into an 11-film series (the 11th is scheduled to come out and finish the franchise in early 2028) that made BILLIONS at the box office thanks to one simple thing. Giving the fans what they wanted (a novel concept today, I know) and bringing back the entire original cast and amping things up even more. More action, more cars, more guns, more hot women. And the fans ate it up like candy. But looking back at the original couple of movies, it’s almost a shocking juxtaposition of two entirely different genres, yet somehow they all work together.

Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker, may he RIP) is an undercover California cop trying to ingratiate himself into the street racing community to take down a group of racers who are ripping off shipping trucks to the tune of over $6 million. Working with a joint FBI/PD task force, he’s gotten his way into the street racing scene, but still hasn’t figured out WHO is boosting the pricey merchandise. His chance to get in deeper comes when he saves the hide of street racer Dom Toretto from the cops, and now he can get a bird’s-eye view of what’s going on. But the deeper he goes, the messier and more convoluted things get as he falls in love with Dom’s sister, and starts to realize that Dom himself may be more than he’s willing to admit.

What makes The Fast and the Furious work is not just the hot cars, the hotter women (and there’s plenty of both), but the relationship between everyone. I know it’s a joke meme at this point thanks to the franchise beating the message into the ground over 10 films (11 if you include Hobbs vs. Shaw), but it really is all about family. Dom is showcased byO’Connor’ss task force as a raging psychopath with a short fuse, but it’s more complicated than that. Something which makes the cop’s job even harder as they begin to bond. And frankly, the movie is just plain FUN. It doesn’t hide behind pretentious proselytizing, or trying to be anything more than it is. The Fast and the Furious is a fast-paced racing film with a heist sub-plot thrown in for good measure. And don’t forget that it came out in a time when NOS, high-speed chases, and big muscled guys with guns were all the rage. The 80s and 90s were gone, but the early 2000s still had some gas left in the tank (yes, pun intended) for some more of the same, and it became one of the biggest action franchises over the last 25 years. It shouldn’t work, but it somehow does. And most likely because, unlike later films, there was no idea to turn this into sequel after sequel, so things feel natural. Well, as natural as you can be in a film about big muscled guys racing in the streets of California, and doing stuff that would probably have ended within 15 minutes during real life. But I digress.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for violence, sexual content,t and language




4K Video: Video:

Put onto 4K UHD back in 2018 originally, The Fast and the Furious has always sported a great-looking image in 4K. I don’t know whether they have remastered it in any appreciable way, or simply taken the old 2018 master and added Dolby Vision, but the differences are pretty subtle between the two. The film is HEAVILY (and I mean HEAVILY) graded with thick sepia tones contrasting with the bright oversaturated colors of the automobiles. Fine details look great, with a rich layer of grain over the entire image. Said grain never looks unnatural or problematic, but blends seamlessly into the image. Sometimes I noticed some milkiness in the interior shots (such as Dom’s home with the party), but overall this is a crisp and VERY clean image. The Dolby Vision enhancements are subtle, but enough to make me give this a notch up over the 4.5/5 rating I graded the old 2018/2021 disc. Blacks are just a bit deeper, and I noticed that the automobile colors seem to pop JUST a hair more (though my mind might be playing tricks on me in that regard, as they are really close).








Audio:

Originally released with a DTS:X track (which had some issues with old receivers back in the day), this new 25th anniversary edition is given a new Atmos mix. And frankly, I’m not sure there’s any difference at all outside of a re-encode and some very minor level matching. Once level matched,d the two tracks sound nearly identical. And that’s a good thing too, as the DTS:X track was absolutely killer. Ferocious and loud as can be, The Fast and the Furious pulsates with energy from every corner of the room. Roaring engine, shotgun blasts, and the pounding Nu-Metal score add plenty of dimensionality and depth to the room. LFE is deep and chest-pounding (especially when Dom breaks out the infamous charger near the end), and surround activity is off the charts. Overheads are used very viscerally, with score and ambient noises alike making themselves known above us. Frankly, this is a stellar mix, something which the entire franchise has adhered to since the beginning.

.





Extras:

• NEW RIDING A LEGACY: 25 YEARS OF FAST - Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, producer Neal Moritz and Meadow Walker reflect on 25 years of The Fast and The Furious in Cannes.
• DELETED SCENES
-- Brian and Mia Walk to her Car
-- Tanner and Brian in Police House
-- Brian and Jesse Outside Toretto's Garage
-- Trading Driving Stories
-- Hector and Brian at the Racer's Edge
-- Brian and Mia at the Beach
-- Original Edit of the Ferrari Scene (Extended Scene)
-- Extension of Race Wars Fight Scene (Extended Scene)
-- Hot Off The Street
• THE MAKING OF THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS - Delve deeper into the world of THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS with inside info on cast, crew and cars.
• MORE THAN FURIOUS - Alternate ending for THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS
• HOT OFF THE STREET
-- Brian and Mia at Lunch Counter
-- Leon, Jesse and Dom at Toretto's House
-- Toretto House BBQ
-- Toretto's Garage Post Race Raid (Alternate Version)
-- Ferrari and Supra Race
• DOM'S CHARGER - Take a look at the role that Dom's Charger played in FAST 1 and tease its rebirth in FAST 4
• QUARTER MILE AT A TIME - Look at the phenomenon of street racing, from its birth in the 20's into a global phenomenon
• TRICKING OUT A HOT IMPORT CAR - Join Craig Lieberman, technical advisor on THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS, as he tricks out a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution,n addressing the three main areas: speed, style and sound.
• MULTIPLE CAMERA ANGLE - STUNT SEQUENCE
• MOVIE MAGIC INTERACTIVE - SPECIAL EFFECTS
• FEATURETTE ON EDITING FOR THE MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA - See how to edit for graphic content while maintaining the integrity of the scene.
• VISUAL EFFECTS MONTAGE - From hand-drawn and computer storyboarding to green screen effects, this montage gives you a 3360-degreelook at the production of an epic racing scene
• STORYBOARDS-TO-FINAL FEATURE COMPARISON - Choose to view storyboards in real time as the scenes play from "The First Race" and the "Final Crash Stunt" or view separately
• JA RULE "FURIOUS" MUSIC VIDEO
• SPEED NEWS WRAP
• FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTOR ROB COHEN

Final Score: ​

I haven’t seen the original for probably 5 years, when I got the 2021-released 20th anniversary steelbook. And while I fully admit that the film was ridiculous, it still holds a very fond place in my heart for being FUN. Something which modern movies post Game of Thrones have struggled with. There’s everything a young 19-year-old boy would want in a movie going on. Guns, knives, fast cars, and faster women. It’s all there in spades, and I’m still here for it 25 years later. Comparing it against the previous 4K UHD releases (which were based on the same master), things don’t look WILDLY different. This may have a new master, but detail levels remain mainly the same, just with the addition of Dolby Vision, which is moderate to mild at best in terms of an upgrade. The DTS:X track is replaced with the more common Dolby Atmos mix, and both of those sound identical to each other for the most part. We do have one single extra on board, but that’s not a huge deal either. Honestly, whether you get it or not will really depend on if you have the old 4K UHD disc already. They’re so similar that I can’t justify recommending you go out and upgrade your previous disc, but if you don’t have the film, then this is the best version to date. Even if there are only subtle upgrades. Still, a recommended film no matter what version you get.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Rick Yune, Ja Rule
Directed by: Rob Cohen
Written by: Ken Li, Gary Scott Thompson, Erik Bergquist
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), French, Spanish DTS 5.1
Subtitles: English SDS, French, Spanish
Studio: Universal
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 107 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: August 25th, 2026

Recommendation: Recommended