There are many things that make a movie what it is. It all starts with a story (according to what every How-To book on screenwriting tells us), there is the director and his crew, there are the actors, who bust their asses to bring a vision to life. Then comes the wonderful world of post-production. What is one result of that? The music. Soundtracks enhance the movie going experience. They can make us cry, they can pump us up, they can make us remember the 80’s. Whether it be a musical band or a composer, soundtracks help our favorite movies stay etched in our mind forever.
The Fast and the Furious franchise has been an interesting beast for over a decade now. The first film hit the scene in 2001 and many of the fans of the films have loved every single one because they have allowed themselves to turn off their brains and appreciate the fun these films have to offer. For the first three films, one of the things that have stood out are the familiar and sometimes new songs that varied from rap to rock that capture the lifestyle these characters live. Recently the franchise has evolved into a balls to the wall action filled opus in which an all out action filled score can finally be incorporated, can’t wait to get more of that with this newest film. Until then, here’s to appreciating a blast from the past:
1. LOS BANDOLEROS – DON OMAR & TEGO CALDERON (FAST & FURIOUS/FAST & FURIOUS 6)
When Don Omar’s Los Bandeleros slowly faded in before the big reveal of Vin Diesel’s cameo in Tokyo Drift, the track made you feel like something special was about to happen. The slow pan around the “Hammer” with this track blaring through the speakers to reveal Dom, I still vividly remember the loud cheers from the audience when I saw the flick on the big screen. In Vin’s short film prelude to Fast & Furious, which was given the same name as this song, we are shown to how Dominic Toretto hooks up with three members of his gang leading into Fast & Furious (Don Omar & Tego Calderon the two rappers responsible for the song). They returned for Fast Five and showed some chops for providing a bit of comic relief, they played well off of each other. Definitely the track I most love vibing to.
2. FURIOUS – JA RULE & VITA (THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS)
The first Fast & Furious came out when Ja Rule was at the peak of his popularity, and at the time I was still enjoying the hell out his music. I suppose I have to choose the track that name drops the title of the film left and right, this song hits during the end credits and I let the joint play through every single time…something about the way Ja Rule flowed with his lyrics back then that pumped you right up. Ja contributed two other tracks to the film titled “Race Against Time” and “Life Ain’t A Game”, the latter of which I am a big fan of. What I loved about the first films soundtrack is it effortlessly fused the very best of what Hip Hop and Rock had to offer at the time, the flick had something for everybody to appreciate.
3. ACT A FOOL – LUDACRIS (2 FAST 2 FURIOUS)
Apparently Ludacris is 2 fast and 2 furious for ya’ll…yeah…ya’ll. Ludacris provided a song called “Act A Fool” for the first sequel and it was featured in the showing off of the tinker toys of the racing sub culture that the first two films were swimming in. The second film was more exclusively Hip Hop and it had some great songs including “Pump It Up” by Joe Budden and “Oye” by Pitbull, the track by Pitbull definitely nailed the Miami vibe the flick had going. Ludacris was a great supporting character in 2 Fast 2 Furious, and returned to the franchise with Fast Five in which he became great comic relief and awesome character traits that make his presence absolutely necessary. Now after you read this article, I fully expect you to join Ludacris in acting a fool.
4. BAWITABA – KID ROCK (FAST & FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT)
I have heard some mixed reactions for Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift throughout the years, for various reasons I was a bigger fan of this film than 2 Fast 2 Furious. One being Han, two being Vin Diesel’s cameo at the end with Los Bandoleros complimenting the scene, three being the race in the beginning with some Kid Rock’s “Bawitaba” blaring through the speakers. The quality of the rest of the film is certainly up for debate, but that introduction was a pretty sweet set up. A beautifully shot car crash while Kid Rock’s breakthrough track was at its most hard hitting was in my opinion one of the best scenes of the series, it definitely pumped me up. I just had to include this track based on my former tendency to listen to Kid Rock all day, and to capture the variety of the tracks featured in this franchises soundtracks throughout the years. This song isn’t featured on the soundtrack, but it doesn’t change the fact that it was present in one of the saving grace scenes of the third film.
5. FAST FIVE ORIGINAL SCORE – BRIAN TYLER (FAST FIVE)
Fast Five made the move from a franchise primarily about street racing to the huge action franchise it has become with the two recent films, Brian Tyler was the chosen composer to compliment that vibe nicely. Tyler has been collaborating with Justin Lin since Tokyo Drift on the original score front (being replaced for Fast & Furious 6 by Lucas Vidal) and he really got a lot to play off of for Fast Five. The stakes were high in Fast Five, and when I hear a score like Bryan Tyler’s for this film with action sequences like this film has…I know this franchise wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. One of my favorite Tyler tracks for the film was “Han Drifting”, I didn’t detest Tokyo Drift as much as others did thanks to Han as a character, I just loved his too-cool-for-school demeanor in the third film.