S3 EP.13: Hapa hates Letty – A Review of The Fast Franchise pt.4

The guys (Kareem, Ken, and Pat) are joined by guests Kasey (@kaseydrolow) to continue their review of Fast and Furious and Fast Five. Tangents include throwing dirt on Letty’s name, 3rd person foreshadowing, ripping off Another 48 Hours, and more.



Show Notes

Los Bandoleros (transl.The Outlaws) is a 2009 American direct-to-video short film written and directed by Vin Diesel. It is the second short film in the Fast & Furious franchise and serves as the prequel to Fast & Furious (2009). It stars Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Sung Kang, Tego Calderón, and Don Omar. In the film, runaway fugitive Dominic Toretto (Diesel) sets up the hijacking of a fuel tanker in the Dominican Republic.


Development for Los Bandoleros began following the announcement of Fast & Furious, and serves as a narrative bridge following the events of The Fast and the Furious (2001) and 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003). Los Bandoleros was released in the United States on July 28, 2009, as part of the Blu-ray and Special Edition home releases of Fast & Furious.[1]

Development[edit]
After positive reception from audiences to Vin Diesel’s cameo in Tokyo Drift, Universal was confident in effectively rebooting the series with its original stars.[9] The film was announced in July 2007, with Diesel, Paul Walker, and several other cast members of the original film reprising their roles.

Filming[edit]
Filming began in 2008. The movie cars were built in Southern California’s San Fernando Valley. Around 240 cars were built for the film.[8] However, the replica vehicles do not match the specifications they were supposed to represent. For example, the replica version of F-Bomb, a 1973 Chevrolet Camaro built by Tom Nelson of NRE and David Freiburger of Hot Rod magazine, included a 300 hp crate V8 engine with a 3-speed automatic transmission, whereas the actual car included a twin-turbo 1,500 hp engine and a 5-speed transmission.[10]

The original Dodge Charger 426 Hemi R/T that was used in the original movie was a 1970, but the car in this movie was a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T 426 Hemi with a slightly modified front grill and rear tail lights to appear as a 1970 car; the original 1970 Dodge Charger was in pieces, being totally disassembled for restoration.
The original red 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS seen in the end credits of the first Fast & Furious movie, also makes an appearance but is later highly modified for a street race.

The most radical vehicles built for the film were the Chevy trucks constructed for the fuel heist. Powered by 502ci GM big block motors, the ’67 had a giant ladder-bar suspension with airbags using a massive 10-ton semi rear axle with the biggest and widest truck tires they could find. The ’88 Chevy Crew Cab was built with twin full-floating GM 1-ton axles equipped with Detroit Lockers and a transfer case directing power to both axles and capable of four-wheel burnouts.[11]
Another vehicle built for the film was the blue Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 owned by an uncredited owner which brought a 241-mile per hour top speed at the Bayshore Route Highway in Japan. It was a hard car to build by the production so they made clones by acquiring Nissan Skyline 25GT’s and made them look like the original car. The Skyline that was also used at the desert was actually a dune buggy using a Skyline R34’s shell.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_%26_Furious_(2009_film)

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B+ and wrote, “Fast & Furious is still no Point Break. But it’s perfectly aware of its limited dramatic mission … it offers an attractive getaway route from self-importance, snark, and chatty comedies about male bonding.”[27] Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Kirk Honeycutt called it “the first true sequel of the bunch. By reuniting the two male stars from the original and … continuing the story from the first film, this new film should re-ignite the franchise.”[28] Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times considered it a “strange piece of nostalgia, where, without apology, fast cars still rule and fuel is burned with abandon.”[29] Roger Ebert, who had given positive reviews to the previous films, considered the story, dialogue, and acting to all be perfunctory: “I admire the craft involved, but the movie leaves me profoundly indifferent. After three earlier movies in the series, which have been transmuted into video games, why do we need a fourth one? Oh. I just answered my own question.”[30]

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_%26_Furious_(2009_film)


EP.119 – Don't Trust Billionaires – A Review of James Gunn's Superman pt.3 Tangential Giants Podcast

The Tangential Giants return for their third strike at reviewing the three-quarter mark of James Gunn’s Superman, and somehow, the chaos only gets more refined with age. Kareem, Ken, Pat, and guest Tim settle in to talk about the movie, but as always, tangents emerge like uninvited cousins who still somehow run the show.This time, the crew dives into how the fictional citizens of Metropolis and the very real citizens of the United States share a troubling weakness for any rich guy with a shiny suit and a PR team. From there, they spiral into a celebration of Guy Gardner’s comedic menace as Green Lantern, because apparently the universe needed a man who is equal parts hero and walking HR violation.Naturally, the group also questions the logistics of a pocket universe prison. Is it science, magic, or just James Gunn saying, " Trust me and hoping no one asks follow-up questions? The Giants ask them anyway. And that is only scratching the surface of the detours they take while trying to talk about Superman’s journey.If you enjoy passionate nonsense, comic book philosophy, and four grown adults trying to make sense of a movie that refuses to stay on the rails, this episode is your comfort food. Settle in and enjoy another round of heroic chaos.#tangentialgiants #superman #jamesgunn #dcu #dcuniverse #supermanmovie #dccomics #comicbookmovies #nerdpodcast #superherotalk #moviebreakdown #GuyGardner #greenlantern #metropolis #PocketUniverse #popculturepodcast #dcfans #supermananalysis #moviediscussions
  1. EP.119 – Don't Trust Billionaires – A Review of James Gunn's Superman pt.3
  2. Shawarma vs Falafel vs Vaccines – A Review of James Gunn's Superman pt.2
  3. Super Woke or Super Broke – A Review of James Gunn's Superman pt.1
  4. EP.116 – When Winking Makes you Blind – Brainstorming Ideas for Comic-Con pt.2
  5. CAPES, CHOAS, AND COLLECTIBLES – Reviwing content for our 2025 Comic-Con panel


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