THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS Burns Rubber on Bluray!

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray & DVD from director F. Gary Gray and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is the next installment when it comes to understanding THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS.

Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are in Puerto Rico with family and cars. Not there long before Dom has to put his foot to the pedal for the respect of family. Returning to the hotel, he is stopped by a woman named Cipher (Charlize Theron) who isn’t pulling any punches by letting Dom know that he will soon be working for her.

Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) goes from coaching his daughter’s soccer team to a job that gets him a nice stint in the slammer but Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) offers him a deal to stay out of jail. Backed up by Little Nobody (Scott Eastwood) on the deal, Hobbs refuses. Waiting in a cell across from Hobbs is his least favorite person Deckard (Jason Statham) as the two immediately begin to verbally spar.

It takes no time at all before Mr. Nobody gets Hobbs, Deckard, Letty, Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Ludacris) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) in a room to tell them that Dom has gone rogue! They get the intel on Cipher but have no idea what they are up against as the game of cat and mouse begins. Letty doesn’t believe it but the mission is to stop him.

Dom knows he is hurting his woman and friends by working with Cipher but there is something they do not know and he can’t tell them. Every time the gang gets close, Dom has back up from Cipher and her muscle Rhodes (Kristofer Hivju) to elude them once again. That is until they all end up on the Barents Sea in the arctic for a showdown like nothing the gang has experienced before.

All of it to stop an anarchist and discover what made their leader go rogue!

Diesel as Dom returns to the hard and tough role that fans have loved about this franchise. Knowing that taking care of family, whether blood or otherwise, means taking each step carefully. His performance is totally spot on and the scenes with Theron are filled with tension that is amazing to watch from them both.

Diesel recently announced at CinemaCon that there will be a 9^th and 10^th installment of the FAST AND FURIOUS franchise. He told the audience, “We are proud of how we defied expectations with this series of films.” Of course the topic of Paul Walker came up and he said, “It was a hard decision to make the film without Paul but his legacy is in every frame we shoot. He was the concept of brotherhood! When I thought of going into the 8^th chapter, it was Paul that said ‘8 is guaranteed!’

Theron as Cipher is frakken brilliant as this character. She is smart, doesn’t take any guff and isn’t afraid of anyone – including Dom’s gang. In fact, this character seems to find great joy in staying many steps ahead of anyone trying to stop her from getting what she wants. Using Dom is her insurance policy and he is definitely a policy worth having. I love Theron every moment she is on the screen!

Johnson as Hobbs is bigger and bulkier than ever bringing a softer side to his character as a soccer coach. That also brings a big of comedy to his character and it really is quite funny. That being said, when the comedy stops – Hobbs gets to business and as much as he doesn’t want to go after Dom, he will and he will without hesitation.

Statham as Deckard is a mixture of hilarious, bad ass, softy and perfection in his interaction with Johnson’s character. This actor keeps getting better and better in the sense that he can be a tough in some roles that are scary and then amazing comedy as in the film SPY (which still cracks me up every time I see it) and now a mixture of both for THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS.

Rodriguez as Letty is dedicated to her man and there isn’t anyone that’s going to convince her otherwise. Although she helps Hobbs and the gang, she sees it more as saving Dom from something she doesn’t understand and not take him down. Emmanuel as Ramsey is the high tech gal who is working overtime to stay ahead of Cipher.

Gibson as Roman is back looking for the fastest and baddest looking car in the bunch. Ludacris as Tej works well with Emmanuel trying to discover how Cipher manages to do the unthinkable with the technology she has.

Russell as Mr. Nobody is smart and witty and I’d expect nothing less form him. I’m still amazed with the diversity of his characters and the fantastic way he portrays them. Eastwood as Little Nobody doesn’t yet understand how the gang works and soon learns that they have a way of doing things and it’s not always by the book.

I’m giving a shout out to Hivju as Rhodes. He is such a cool bad guy with the ability to give anyone crazy-eye. Then again this shouldn’t be a shock for anyone who is a Game of Thrones fan of his character Tormund Giantsbane.

Other cast include: Luke Evans as Owen, Elsa Pataky as Elena, Patrick St. Esprit as DS Allan and Janmarco Santiago as Fernando.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us all to experience and re-experience in our own home theatres. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

The Bonus Features exclusive to Bluray has The Cuban Spirit as the first major studio motion picture to shoot in Cuba in decades, the country’s effusive spirit permeates the making of the film, In the Family – In THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS family ties are put to the ultimate test and get an inside look at the family divide, Car Culture – It’s time to put yourself in the driver’s seat of the supercharged vehicles showcased in THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS.

Bonus Features on both Bluray and DVD include All About the Stunts – Go behind the scenes to witness how THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS accomplished the most epic stunts in franchise history, Extended Fight Scenes and Feature Commentary with Director F. Gary Gray. Also included is THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS Extended Director’s Cut with never-before-seen extended cut along with the theatrical release.

Want more? Well, I can help out with that as well. THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS will be available on 4K Ultra HD in a combo pack that includes the 4K Ultra HD Bluray, Bluray and Digital HD.

THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS is definitely a high octane ride from start to finish. Fans of the franchise aren’t going to be disappointed with the action, car chases and even an ice breaking submarine. It is fun, humorous, and even cute in a few places provided by the one and only Jason Statham, which just adds more fun to the film.

This is a large cast which keeps the intensity flowing and there isn’t much time to sit back and relax. Trust me when I say I’m leaving tons of details out because this is a film that doesn’t need everything put out there. Instead, it’s a film where everyone gets together and goes to have a good time so let’s not over think it.

This week order a pizza, calls friends and sit in your air conditioned living room and still get hot watching THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS on Bluray and see how much action the Furious can provide!

In the end – the ride isn’t over!