Fast & Furious 7 - Extended Version - Blu-ray

Film: A year has passed since the dramatic events that brought Dom (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul Walker) and their crew their long-awaited freedom from punishment. Now they are all trying to live something like a normal life. Dom tries to get closer to his estranged Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), while Brian does his best to provide a quiet family life for Mia (Jordana Brewster) and their shared son. Tej (Chris Ludacris Bridges) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson), on the other hand, enjoy their freedom in a very different way. It almost seems like the wild times are finally over for the crew. But then their past catches up with them. Because the cold-blooded Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) goes literally over dead bodies to avenge themselves on those who have sent his brother Owen (Luke Evans) into a coma. Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is at the top of that list. But Dom and his friends aren't safe from Shaw's vendetta either. In order to track down the killer before he finds them, the crew must reunite to grab the prototype of a new kind of surveillance program for the government. Should they succeed, they will be allowed to use that very program to find Shaw. And so it's back behind the wheel for Dom, Brian, Tej, Roman and the others, and around the world with all the horsepower at their disposal - all for the safety of their extended family...

The unexpected death of lead actor Paul Walker, who was killed in a car accident while filming was still in full swing, naturally hangs over Fast & Furious 7 like a heavy cloud of gloom. There probably won't be a fan of the series who feels queasy about some of the scenes in the new film in the hugely successful series. It was a difficult task for the makers to bring the film to a close after Walker's death in a way that honoured his memory, but still offered fans light-hearted entertainment with the usual amount of action and spectacular stunts. And quite incidentally, the last film, the franchise's most successful installment to date, should then be topped in every way.

Under this pressure, there were really only two options left: either Fast & Furious 7 becomes a completely overstuffed, unbalanced mess that wants too much and, precisely for that reason, doesn't really achieve any of it. Or, true to the motto, Now More Than Ever, director James Wan manages to deliver the best installment in the series to date. While that may not be entirely successful dramaturgically, the bottom line is that the film is closer to the second option than the first. In doing so, it clearly benefits from the makers' wise decision not to take things down a notch in terms of action and fun factor after Walker's death out of a misplaced sense of respect. Rather, the actor is given a more than dignified send-off by offering his fans exactly what made him so popular with this series. The fact that he was replaced by his brother and computer tricks in the scenes that were shot after his death, you notice only if you look very closely. So James Wan and his team have succeeded very well in giving Paul Walker the send-off he and also his film character Brian deserved.

But Fast & Furious 7 is really only a big Paul Walker farewell show at the end, when tributes are paid to him with clips from the earlier films and a moving voice-over commentary by Dom aka Vin Diesel. But until then, the film is one thing above all else: a real action grenade. Of course, logic and the laws of gravity take their leave after only a few moments. When Brian has to free himself from a bus that threatens to plunge into a deep abyss or when he and Dom crash through three skyscraper towers in Dubai in an extremely rare car, it's so unrestrainedly overdrawn that there's probably no one who really takes it seriously. And that's just as well. Because the Fast & Furious movies have never been about depth, realism or pretension, just action, fun and lots of horsepower. And in that regard, Part 7 actually managed to kick it up a notch.

This is due in part to the decision to bring in Jason Statham as the villain. The Transporter star is just great as a merciless killer and provides some real wow moments, especially in the fight scenes. But Kurt The Rattlesnake Russell also gets to give it another go at 64. And also Tony Jaa (Ong-bak) enriches the series with his fighting skills immensely. And as befits a true Fast & Furious film, there's plenty of fodder for the eye besides the action: tuned cars, flashing chrome, plump backsides of attractive ladies and naked torsos of muscle-bound gents. Who needs deep dialogue there.

Although some action sequences are cut a bit too frantically and especially in the first third the whole family-is-the-most-important-message is served a bit too much with penetrating pathos, Fast & Furious 7 is still on balance a great action flick with suspense, humor and mighty loud noise. The film gives fans exactly what they want to see. And if you don't expect more than a battle of material spiced up with a little self-mockery, you simply can't avoid buying the DVD or Blu-ray. Absolutely worth seeing!

The Extended Cut: The extended film version is actually a bit of a cheat. The Extended Version is just under 2:30 minutes longer and primarily features minimally extended scenes that you'll probably only notice if you've seen the theatrical version about 20 times. There are no really significant extensions or truly new scenes. Of course, for fans, longer is certainly better. But as a purchase argument the Extended Cut now really does not convince.

Picture + Sound: The slightly alienated color scheme gives the film a specific look. The rich colors support the sometimes very good contrasts, which are also positively noticeable in the numerous dark sequences, such as the final chase through the nighttime L.A.. The sharpness of the image, which is completely free of distortion, is also at a very high level, with the image depth also being convincing. The audio, available as a powerful DTS Digital Surround 5.1 mix, impresses with a good mix of bass-heavy music and thumping sound effects. The dialogue is well matched and doesn't get lost in the action, even in the particularly explosive scenes. Overall, the picture and sound leave a very good impression indeed.

Extras: The bonus offerings begin with four unreleased scenes (approx. 5:59 min.) that also didn't make it into the Extended Cut. Two of these scenes deal with Letty's desperate attempt to find out more about her past, which she can't remember. Moving on, we have Talk About Fast (approx. 31:47 min.). In a video commentary of sorts, the director takes a look at the making of some key scenes. It's not uninteresting, but it's a bit too strained to be cool. While Back to the Beginning (approx. 12:11 min.) deals with the success of the series afterwards, the featurettes Flying Cars (approx. 5:42 min.), Schnapp`s Dir (approx. 7:31 min.), Turmsprünge (approx. 6:53 min.) and the four mini-featurettes of Der Kampf (altogether approx. 11 min.) deal with the elaborate stunts of the film. Finally, there's a look at the cars in the film (approx. 10:42 min.), a visit to the Race Wars event (approx. 6:34 min.), the music video for the #1 hit See You Again (approx. 4:05 min.), and a look at the big Fast & Furious attraction at Universal Studios (approx. 8:15 min.).

Conclusion: Fast & Furious 7 grossed over $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office, making it one of the most successful films of all time. The success is no doubt due in part to the very sad fact that this is the last installment starring the much-too-early deceased Paul Walker. But to make that out as the reason alone wouldn't do the film justice. Because despite some quite terrible dialogues, the flick offers first-class action, cool sayings and a pleasant pinch of self-irony. The film is simply fun and offers not a moment of boredom. The Blu-ray is technically good to very well implemented. The bonus material is good standard and offers especially with regard to the stunts some worth seeing features. For this, there is clearly a in the end: Absolutely recommended!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp