All language subtitles for Icons.Unearthed.S03E04.A.Heist.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: At the turn
of the century,

a new wave of franchises
were taking theaters by storm.

Studios were offering everything

from gritty reboots
to adaptations of novels.

Gryffindor!

NARRATOR: From comic books
to even theme park rides.

But out there, among the hobbits
and old telepathic men

was a franchise that was
not like the others.

Really?

NARRATOR: With no
pre-existing legacy
or built-in fan base,

The Fast and the Furious
had become
an accidental franchise.

Accidentally pulling away
from the competition with
staggering box office figures.

For four movies and counting,
The Fast series had stumbled
its way from page to screen.

From LA to Miami to Tokyo,

drifting conceptually
and literally.

There's a lot of drifting.

But asThe Fast and the Furious
geared up for yet another film,

the series was free to write
its own future.

Bigger stories.

Bigger and bigger.

-Bigger and bigger.
-Bigger and bigger.

[SIREN WAILING]

Bigger stunts.

Bigger stars.

By bringing everyone back,
all the characters back.

Bigger plot twists.

Oh, shit, we're screwed.

Bigger budgets
and bigger problems.

It was in that top tier
of as much as anyone
was willing to spend on a film.

This is big boy stuff.

Those stunt drivers, you know,
they really risk their lives
doing this stuff.

This is the story ofFast Five.

A movie that would drift further
from reality than ever.

And where it lands will make
or break the franchise.

How much story can you build
down there in the street?

I said... I'm not saying
you couldn't, but, you know,
they took it up a few notches.

Three, two, one.

[ECHOES] Go!

[CAPTIVATING MUSIC PLAYING]

NARRATOR: With four films
under its belt,
the Fast & Furious franchise

had been built
on a simple premise.

Fast cars, fast driving.

And realistic stunts.

[CAR HONKING]

NARRATOR: But as each
successive film raised the bar
for heart-stopping action,

it was obvious that...

These people are now capable
of some pretty
incredible things.

NARRATOR: And are basically
on their way to...

Becoming borderline superheroes.

NARRATOR: The stunt
fueled fourth installment
of the franchise had proved

that audiences
loved the thrill ride,
earning $360 million worldwide,

signaling to Universal that...

Well, you know,
there's going to be another one.

NARRATOR: And second of all,
you could forget
the old mandate of...

This is real stuff.
Real, real, real, real, real.

NARRATOR: And hello to the
new mandate of...

Bigger and bigger and bigger.

NARRATOR: Not only in the size
of the stunts,

but in the number of movies.

We're not just looking at this
as a, as a movie-by-movie basis.

NARRATOR: Meaning not only
would there be a fifth movie,
but a sixth one as well.

Like, we're looking
at the bigger plan
and the grand scheme of things.

NARRATOR: And, most importantly,
the franchise would be led

by the talent
that got them there.

Vin's been leading
this franchise
for multiple movies.

Chris Morgan
is on his third movie,
you know, writing.

DEREK: Justin Lin's on his
third movie directing.

NARRATOR: So along with producer
Neal Moritz...

DEREK: Now you have
kind of a whole brain trust
with their own ideas to be used

or considered,
instead of just one person

at the top,
making all the calls.

NARRATOR: So, all
the ingredients were in place
to make Fast Five

the biggest and baddest
Fast And Furious movie to date.

But to do that, Justin Lin
was going to have to figure out
how to one-up his last film.

We've decided to make
a heist movie, really.

We're talking about
breaking into a police station.

NARRATOR: The film picks up
where 4 had left off,

with Brian and Mia rescuing Dom
from a life in prison.

But despite every eye
in the country looking for them

where Toretto and O'Connor
are now is anyone's guess.

NARRATOR: From there, they go on
the lam in Brazil, where they
need to score...

One last job.

NARRATOR: ...to set
themselves up for life.

-That's right.
-NARRATOR: But the drama
quickly escalates

when they become entangled
with a local drug kingpin.

You know whose house this is?

But unlike previous films,
one key scene
was notably absent.

I remember reading the script
when it comes to that point

where Dom and Brian
have to go off
to get cars for the team.

Let's go get some cars.

I'm like, okay, this is going
to be the big race sequence

that all the other
Fastmovies had.

Car for car.

NARRATOR: And where
previous films
would have shown the race,

writer Chris Morgan elected
a more economical choice.

Looking to one of the greatest
heist movies of all time
for inspiration.

They could surrender to us,
but I wouldn't count on that.

Chris Morgan talked about
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid being his inspiration

in crafting the story.

NARRATOR: And Chris really
drew inspiration from two scenes
in particular.

The legendary
train heist sequence,
but with cars

as well as the infamous
cliff getaway jump,

also updated to feature cars.

Because they're basically...

Borderline superheroes.

NARRATOR: But the real
showstopper would be
the 20-minute climax

featuring a five ton bank vault
being pulled through the streets
of Rio.

It's completely over the top.

NARRATOR: Suddenly, a crew
known for shooting down
and dirty street racing

were tasked with making
a Bond level action movie.

As the first read-through,
you know, you read all this,

like, "How are we
going to do this?

"This is crazy. It's an absolute
mountain of action."

[MEN YELLING]

You'd be, like, how is this even
going to work?

NARRATOR: With a budget
of over $120 million,

Universal was determined
to make it work.

Universal, the studio,
obviously felt this was going
to work no matter what,

and they were willing to push
all their chips into the table
that this was the franchise

that was going to sustain them
as a studio.

NARRATOR: Which was 30% more
thanFast 4

and nearly triple the budget
ofFast 1.

This was in that top tier
of as much as anyone
was willing to spend on a film.

NARRATOR: So to hedge
their bets, the brain trust
decided to make it

a star studded event
and bring back as many
fan favorites as possible.

It was the Avengers
before there was an Avengers.

You want Giselle from Fast 4 ...

We're bringing in Gisele
from Fast 4.

You want Han from Fast 3...

Wait a minute. He's dead.
He died in 3.

But what if three
wasn't actually three?

The way it was handled
in the fourth movie was

the tanker sequence takes place
before Tokyo Drift.

The rest of the movie
takes place after.

Now, we would learn
when Fast 5happened,

that, oh no, the rest
of the movie also took place
before Tokyo Drift.

NARRATOR: Meaning in
this timeline,Tokyo Drift
hasn't happened yet...

Well, you're here now.

NARRATOR: And Han
is still alive.

He's back
but he hasn't died yet.

NARRATOR: The decision to bring
back Han was the first of many
surprise returns, including...

Matt Schulze's Vince character
from the first one.

Look who showed up.

Bring in Ludacris'
Tej's character
from 2 Fast 2 Furious.

All right, all right,
fire them up.

NARRATOR: But if you're
wondering what a bunch
of bank robbers

need a mechanic for,

well, the brain trust came up
with a solution.

Quite the evolution
for that character
from when we first met him.

Class 3 electronic lock with
a surefire Griffin retumbler
and a biometric palm scanner.

And he must have sold the garage
and started taking, you know,
classes at ITT Tech.

I had a life before you knew me,
O'Connor. Let's just leave it
at that, all right?

NARRATOR: But one fan favorite
was having a hard time
coming back.

Tyrese has talked about
how it was a fight
to get back.

It's one thing to bring in,
you know, oh, let's get
Ludacris back.

Let's get Sung Kang back.
Let's get Gal back.

They were all supporting
in their movies, right?

Where Tyrese, he was
essentially co-lead of 2 Fast.

It's like singing in a group
with someone that replaced you.

It's like a little uncomfortable
of a thought.

DEREK: So, if you're Vin
you're like, well, I'm back now.

Are you going to walk in
thinking like you should be
a co-lead of Fast Five?

If you know what I know
about Vin, he's every bit
of an alpha.

He is the star
of The Fast and the Furious.

NARRATOR: Thankfully, Tyrese
had a friend in his corner.

Tyrese really credits Paul
for continuing to push
to bring him back.

And at Paul's insistence,
producers were able
to announce...

We're bringing Tyrese
and Roman back.

Man, Tyrese. I want to welcome
all of y'all to the set
of The Fast and the Furious 5.

And Tyrese said pretty quickly,
once he got around Vin
and they kind of...

they clearly vibed and got on
the same page.

It was my first time
ever working with Vin.

Heard about you.

Everything about what
I brought to the table

has nothing to do
with the real estate
of Vin Diesel.

NARRATOR: With all these
fan favorites back,

it was proving to be one hell
of a family reunion.

Salud, mi familia.

ALL: Salud!

NARRATOR: Including
two newcomers.

-NARRATOR: One on screen...
-Officer Neves.

played by Elsa Pataky,
and one off.

The story also includes
the fact that Mia announces
to Brian and Dom that she's...

Pregnant.

And it just really drives home
the idea of family's
been important before,

but family is now going to be
the calling card
of this franchise

and of these characters.

NARRATOR: But they weren't done
world-building there.

Now that Brian and Dom
are on the team, they needed
a new antagonist.

NARRATOR: Up until this point,
the Fast films relied
on the old archetype

of a tightly wound lawman
with a penchant for complaining
and using only last names.

...kid's giving me attitude?

It doesn't speak very well
for police-FBI
relations, Tanner.

NARRATOR: But Chris Morgan wrote
a new law enforcement character.

One that could go mano a mano
with Dom.

This Hobbs character
is coming down to hunt
Dom and Brian

and the rest of these guys.

So it's like, you know,
we have a little bit of
a fugitive element to this.

What I want out of each
and every one of you
is a hard target search.

NARRATOR: And since it was
inspired by him, the role was...

Offered to Tommy Lee Jones.

NARRATOR: But before the part
was cast, Vin Diesel took it
upon himself

to do a little market research.

He put out, I believe it was
like a call, like, who would you
want to see in a Fastmovie?

And someone commented, The Rock.

And that was really where,
you know, the gears
started going.

So make sure you got
your funderwear on.

The Rock, obviously, was a very
famous person this point,
but he wasn't...

-a movie star. Like he had led
some movies...
-[GRUNTS]

DEREK: But he hadn't really
found that level of success yet.

NARRATOR: Basically, The Rock
was making movies

but hadn't quite yet quit
his kitchen day job.

Can you smell
what The Rock is cooking?

DEREK: Hard to even know who
benefited more from The Rock
being cast in this movie.

The Fast & Furiousor The Rock
himself? Because it just had

that big an impact on his career
and then also the franchise.

NARRATOR: Meanwhile,
writer Chris Morgan
took advantage of his casting

to write an epic fight scene,

which had many in the crew
guessing who would actually
win in a fight.

It's not a fair fight.

I don't know that Vin Diesel
can beat up The Rock.

But Dominic Toretto
can beat up Hobbs.

NARRATOR: With fans eagerly
anticipating the showdown,
rumors began to swirl.

They were both possibly maybe
supposedly rumored

to be contractually not allowed
to lose that fight.

NARRATOR: But fans would have
to wait till the premier
to find out

So, automatically, like,
the excitement level
is building.

NARRATOR: The Fast
and the Furious films
weren't just a hit in America.

Thanks to a diverse cast
and the international appeal
of cars,

The Fast and the Furious
was on its way to becoming
a global franchise.

So, for Fast Five
the brain trust decided...

They're gonna to go to Brazil.

NARRATOR: Well,
that's partially true.

Because in fact, filming began
in the summer of 2010

in four separate locations
at once.

The first unit in Atlanta,
filming interiors with
the main cast.

A second unit
shooting stunts in Puerto Rico.

A third unit in Arizona
filming the train heist,

all of which were doubling
for this place.

Brazil, which also had
a film unit scouting locations
by this guy.

My name is Fernando Serzedelo
and I was the Brazil
line producer.

NARRATOR: Shooting
internationally, it's customary
to hire a producer

that can fix any uniquely
local problems,

of which Fernando had plenty.

For starters...

NARRATOR: And when the main cast
arrived, the crew was able
to shoot a few key scenes

in iconic locations.

From the Santos-Dumont building
in the heart of Rio,

to the architectural marvel
of this building, which is
a mouthful for even the locals

who simply call it...

NARRATOR: But aside from
shooting some of Rio's most
iconic buildings,

he also chose to shoot in...

NARRATOR: But producers
weren't too worried.

After all, locals were ecstatic
about seeing one actor
in particular.

Brazil had no shortage
of Vin Diesel fans.

NARRATOR: And in a twist,
Vin Diesel was a fan of
one of his fans. This guy.

NARRATOR: Vin Diesel was a huge
MMA fan and Minotauro
was a legend.

[FERNANDO SPEAKING]

NARRATOR: And the two
really hit it off.

But there was one
little problem.

The favelas aren't the kind
of place you want to stay in

longer than you have to.
And these two...

NARRATOR: And while Minotauro
and Vin were laughing it up,
Fernando was growing nervous.

NARRATOR: But finally,
the chief of police waded in.

NARRATOR: And with that,
the two men said their goodbyes
and so did the production.

NARRATOR: That's right.
These stand-ins for favelas are
actually San Juan, Puerto Rico.

JACK: Puerto Rico was at a time
where we could get
a major thoroughfare

shut down completely.

Whereas in Rio, you can only
shut down small sections
at a time.

NARRATOR: To truly sell
the illusion,

Fernando helped
the art department
fill two shipping containers

with everything from signs
to phone books to send
to Puerto Rico.

NARRATOR: All of it to make
moments like this chase scene

appear like it was happening
in the favelas of Brazil.

NARRATOR: Meanwhile,
the second unit
was hard at work,

preppingThe Fast and Furious'
most ambitious scene
to date.

Whoever thought about
pulling that vault
out of a bank was genius.

NARRATOR: The concept
was simple.

A traditional heist chase.

But instead of the bag of loot,
the getaway car was towing

an actual vault
through the city.

While the concept looked
spectacular on the page,

the crew had
a very different reaction.

I was imagining it
from reading the script,

and I was like, I have no idea
if this is going to work.

NARRATOR: It'd be a lot easier
to use CGI, but Justin wanted
to shoot it with a real vault.

I remember reading the sequence
and thinking he's out of
his F'ing mind.

Are you crazy?

This is insane.

This is never going to work.

This is how we're going
to do it.

NARRATOR: Luckily, they hired
a guy whose very job
was to figure it out.

My name is Spiro Razatos.

I am the second unit director.

NARRATOR: Which was a fancy way
of saying...

The action director.
I get to do the fun stuff.

NARRATOR: That's the fun stuff,
all right.

When there's a movie like Fast,
there's too much action
for the director to shoot.

So the second unit director,
they go out
and they shoot the action.

NARRATOR: Spiro was
a natural choice
for second unit director

as filming stunts
had been a lifelong passion.

Ever since he saw
one impressive film.

[MAN GROANS]

Three and a half times.

NARRATOR: Clearly, the film
made an impact.

And that day forward...

I kept going around saying,
I'm Shaft.

Damn right.

-NARRATOR: Wait. What?
-You know that was it.

I thought I was Shaft,
and I kept practicing,
doing things that Shaft would do

and jumping off of roofs,
chasing bad guys.

NARRATOR: And that's when
Spiro knew what he wanted
to be when he grew up.

SPIRO: And so,
I started doing stunts.

NARRATOR: Working on everything
fromMidnight Run
toBack to the Future.

And then started second unit
directing at a young age,
I was very lucky.

NARRATOR: And by the time
the brain trust
atFast 5 called,

Spiro had directed the action
in over 50 films.

And what I love about Justin Lin
is he goes,

of all the people I interviewed,
you get the camera

closer to the action
than anybody else I know.

NARRATOR: With Justin's
approval, Spiro was signed on

as second unit director,
but it wouldn't be all on him.

He'd also have a little help,
from this guy.

Spiro and I have been together
for 40 years,

and we kind of have the same
team with us the whole time.

NARRATOR: No matter which side
of the camera you were on,

The Fast and the Furious
was about family.

You trust the person
next to you,

you know exactly
what they're gonna do.

And when I design the action,
I know what each and every
person can do the best.

NARRATOR: If their team
had a rival,

it was the visual effects group.

Because if they couldn't
pull off a stunt,

it'd be taken away from them
and given to a digital artist.

When we were doing the safe,
I remember we first started
testing it.

And the test didn't go well.

Producer came up to us
and goes, "You know what?

"We're just gonna do
it visual effects."

And I said no. And he goes, "No.
We're gonna do it. And I said,
"Nope, we're not.

Give me one more shot at it."

NARRATOR: Fearing that their big
stunt would be given to
the visual effects team,

second unit director
Spiro Razatos
pleaded with producers.

Give me one more shot at it.
Let us try one more test.

Let us do it. I'm telling you.

NARRATOR: But producers
wouldn't listen.

You have to do something now.

NARRATOR: That is
until director
Justin Lin stepped in.

And Justin said,
"Nope. Let him do it."

And we did.
And the next test worked great.

And after that, everything
started to just gel together,

We're going to crash the vault

through that bus
stop behind you over there.

NARRATOR: Having pulled the safe
from the wall, the heroes
traverse the city of Rio,

destroying everything
in their way.

But what seemed like wanton
destruction was actually

a meticulously
choreographed ballet.

In any other big action movie,
the director says,
"Okay, what's spectacular?

"Send the vault
through the bank.

"People love it. They'll clap,
you know. Great."

Not Justin. He says,
"Why does it go
through the bank?"

I'm like, "Okay, I never really
thought about it, but let's talk
about it," you know?

NARRATOR: And so they devised
a reason.

Cops making the spikes,

NARRATOR: Which not only gave
the police more character,
but also...

SPIRO: He created more tension.

He created a reason and a story.

NARRATOR: Together, the two
planned for everything.

We wanted to be able
to have major destruction.

We wanted to also to be able
to control it.

NARRATOR: But you just
can't steer a 9000 pound vault.

This is never going to work.

NARRATOR: Unless there was a way
to steer a 9000 pound vault.

We designed a pickup truck
and think of a pickup truck,

and you saw the back
of the pickup truck off.

So then we put that
inside the vault.

So we made a steerable vault.

NARRATOR: Now, the only problem
with the vault on wheels was
someone had to drive it.

And Puerto Rico wasn't exactly
known for their sweater weather.

His name is Henry Kingi.
One of the greatest drivers
of all time.

To this day, he still complains
to me about how hot
it got in there.

Henry can't stay
in this vault
at this kind of temperature.

So we got dry ice.

And we put dry ice all over
the inside of the dash
and all over the floorboards.

NARRATOR: Which kind of worked
until they discovered...

Dry ice sucks oxygen out.

-NARRATOR: Meaning...
-He couldn't breathe.

NARRATOR: But Jack had come
too far to give the scene away
to the digital effects team.

He had one last Hail Mary.

We had to put him
in a NASCAR racing helmet

that was enclosed with a tube
coming out of the top

going to the outside air
of, you know, the vault.

So now we got to a point
where we could cool him off
and he could breathe.

NARRATOR: As good as CGI can be,
there's no substitute
for the real thing.

Which was only possible
because they were filming
in Puerto Rico.

They pretty much gave us
what we wanted

in their, in their main street,
with buildings,

helicopters coming down, vault,
destroying cars that are parked,
going on the sidewalk.

It's just the carnage.

We had closed a bridge
for a few weeks, and that was,
that was a big deal.

You know, Brazil,
they wouldn't let us do
any of that.

NARRATOR: As the footage started
to come in, it was clear
they had something special.

The dailies started coming in
and I think that was
the beginning

of Spiros being involved
in the film.

I was just like,
"I love this guy."

NARRATOR: Spiro came into
Fast Five hot, instantly making
his mark on the franchise.

Suddenly, these cars,
they weren't just being
run into.

They were conjoining
and mating in obscene ways.

And for a guy who's
into smashing metal

and what that
sounds like on film,
it was a dream come true.

NARRATOR: But even with
two units shooting, a film
of this scale needed more.

So they dispatched...

A third unit...

NARRATOR:
...to the Arizona desert.

...doing the opening
train sequence.

Cars are all on the train
and then they're stealing
all the cars off the train.

Roll camera!

NARRATOR: This time,
it was Arizona's turn
to stand in for Brazil.

To say the scene was
a logistical challenge would be
an understatement.

You have these cars
that kind of come
out of nowhere,

and they're going to ride up
to the train

and then you're going
to offload other cars.

Yeah, okay.
Let's see how they shoot it.

I went out there
and looked at it
and we found a spur line

coming off to the side.

NARRATOR: A spur line
is a smaller secondary track

that takes the train
off the main line,
much like an off-ramp.

MATT: So, there was, like,
10 miles of track left.

Railroad came in and tuned up
the track a little bit for us.

So we were able to just run
back and forth all day long
and have it all to ourselves.

NARRATOR: With the track
in place, production was
full steam ahead.

And I have Spiro Razatos
was going to direct that.

NARRATOR: But there was
just one complication.

I was in another country.

NARRATOR: With Justin in Atlanta
and Spiro in Puerto Rico,

someone else was going to have
to take the reins of this stunt.

They hired Alexander Witt,
who was the second unit
on all the Bond movies.

And he was, you know,
a really elite
second unit director,

just to do that sequence.

NARRATOR: Although the team
was new, they had
Justin's meticulous storyboards.

We went by the storyboards
and then we would, uh...

NARRATOR: Okay,
maybe they weren't
that meticulous.

We'd call them,
"What does Justin
want to do?"

That whole sequence, we were
about three weeks on that.
It was pretty complicated.

There was a lot of stuff.

NARRATOR: But despite
all the preparation,

sometimes things
don't go as planned.

The shot was going to be
the big truck hits on the train
and then comes along

parallel to the train
as it's dragged along.

But instead, it hit on the train
and lodged in there.

[SCREAMING]

NARRATOR: It was
a gross miscalculation.

I think they almost tipped
the train over.

I don't think it was supposed
to happen.

NARRATOR: It was not.

It wasn't supposed to lift
the car off the tracks.

NARRATOR: The damage
was irreversible

and it was looking like
a $25 million dollar mistake.

And they were going,
"Oh, shit. We're screwed."

NARRATOR: As the crew debated
whether to leave the car lodged
in there or take it out...

I said, "Hold it, guys,
don't do anything."

They're saying, "Well, you
better take this thing out."

You know, "What are we going
to do?"

You know, I said,
"Take that film there.

"Send somebody to haul ass
and email it to them
in Atlanta."

NARRATOR: Meanwhile,
production halted

as they anxiously awaited word
from Justin and the producers.

NARRATOR: With the first unit
in Atlanta filming the cast

and the second unit
filming stunts in Puerto Rico,

the third production unit
ofFast Five

was stuck in the Arizona desert
with a major headache.

The $25 million dollar
train stunt had gone wrong
and the crew was panicking.

Meanwhile, production was paused
as they awaited word
from producers in Atlanta.

And the word came back.

"Oh yeah, perfect.
Just continue from there."

So that's what we did.

Uh, super fun scene
to have a car run into a train
while it's moving.

NARRATOR: Once again,
it was the spirit
of improvisation

leaving its mark
on the franchise.

That was one of those
happy accidents.

NARRATOR: But as they wrapped
the three weeks
out in the desert,

Matt couldn't help
but reflect...

That was one of those moments
of true relief.

NARRATOR: Meanwhile, in Atlanta,
one new character was about
to make his introduction felt.

You want to talk about
all-time introductions?

You can go no bigger,
both figuratively and literally,
than bringing in The Rock.

Him getting off that plane
in Brazil, I've never seen
a human sweat more

than The Rock does
in this movie.

We find them, we take them
as a team
and we bring them back.

NARRATOR: But if he was
intimidating on screen,
off screen, he was a sweetheart.

He came in and introduced
himself to everyone.

Come on, feel the dream,
right there.

He knew certain people's
names already.

He took the time to be prepped.

That meant a lot to people.

NARRATOR: The Rock
was the definition
of a game-changer,

both off and on screen.

Then you know,
when he just says...

Stay the fuck out of my way.

...and, like,
that's just, like, okay.

Like we're going, like,
this is what they're doing
with this character.

NARRATOR: But not all his lines
would be super tough.

-Good news? Bad news?
-You know
I like my dessert first.

His character had been
written in such a way
that he has cheesy lines.

-Give me the damn badges.
-Dwayne Johnson
was able to deliver them

in such a way that
you were like, "Oh, my God,
that's so cheesy.

"But okay, I'm in."

-I thought so.
-NARRATOR: Finally, the moment

that everyone was
waiting for was here.

-You're going down, Toretto.
-I'm right here.

That fight, you know,
was shot on stage in Atlanta,
and it went on forever.

And I was like, "Oh, my God."

NARRATOR: It was a spectacle.
And the crew had
a front row seat,

watching these two titans
go blow for blow.

It was so visceral.

NARRATOR: As filming continued,
it became apparent

it was more than just
a choreographed fight scene,

as rumors began to spread
that both men didn't
particularly like each other.

But it was
never really expressed.

It was more of the type of game
that some actors
will play like, "Oh, well,

"if he's going to be late,
then I'm going to be late,"

or "If he's going to do this,
then I'm going to do that."

NARRATOR: It was two Alphas
battling for top billing.

That was Justin's take on

we never got to see
Prime Stallone
versus Prime Schwarzenegger.

But this is kind of as close
as we can come.

NARRATOR: Two megastars
delivered a performance
for the ages.

The way only they could.

[CREW CHEERING]

Say Tommy Lee Jones
was cast in the role of Hobbs.

Like, I can't imagine
we would have gotten a brutal,

you know, battle like we do
in this movie.

Well, I don't know
that he would have been

throwing it down in the same way
that The Rock was.

I feel overmatched.

NARRATOR: But as for
who won the fight,

luckily, writer Chris Morgan
found a nice middle ground.

[SCREAMING]

Vin's kind of on top of The Rock
at the end of that one,

but then ends up kind of
just giving himself up.

NARRATOR: Leaving just enough
doubt for audiences to demand
a rematch.

NARRATOR: Filming had wrapped.
While pencil pushers
hashed out the rematch,

editing onFast Five began,
and with it, no shortage
of new problems.

The myriad of intricate stunts,
a boatload
of improvised dialogue...

You got a line?

NARRATOR: ...and a slew
of brand new characters.

No one knew for sure
if Justin Lin's gamble
would work

until they got into
the editing bay.

I remember we were so excited

when the first day's dailies
came in.

NARRATOR: Fast Five
was over the top

and The Rock gave an over
the top performance.

...here to bring in
two assholes, whose names
hit my desk.

NARRATOR: But was it too much?

After Vince has died
and the team
is in their hideout,

and you've totally forgotten
that The Rock is in the scene.

-And then he says...
-I'll ride with you, Toretto.

That moment, it gave me chills
when I was putting it together,

even, like I remember
feeling at that point.

Now I really know
we got something.

It was an energy
that that guy brought.

We all knew, like, this is going
to work like gangbusters.

NARRATOR: In fact,
the only real problem
was that all the improvisation

had left them
with too many options.

That's just stupid.

You're supposed to pay me
for rewriting on top of paying
me to act in the movie.

You know what I want?

I just want this movie
to be great.

And that shit you got me saying
is corny as hell.

I don't believe it.

I don't think
I would ever say that,
do that, react that way,

respond that way.
So we've got to get rid
of all of that.

NARRATOR: And Justin agreed.

Justin really understood,
like, I've got these guys

who have this great sense
of camaraderie

and a really good sense of humor
like, let me utilize that.

And ultimately,
I tend to work my way
into making things better.

When you're going to give
Martin Luther King his car back?

As soon as you give Rick James
his jacket back.

NARRATOR: But just as things
were starting to click,

Universal threw a wrench
in their plans

and once again moved up
the release date
from July to April

to compete with Marvel's
new movie.

Not only was the post department
knee deep in work, but...

It was like we lost time
as well.

NARRATOR: Once again it was up
toThe Fast and the Furious

to save Universal's
summer slate.

NARRATOR: With Universal
moving up the release date
ofFast Five,

post production had to kick
things into high gear.

Thankfully, they had
a large staff of editors
ready to handle the challenge.

Despite time constraints,
Justin prioritized
collaboration,

arranging screening days,
allowing the editors
an overview of the evolving cut.

GREG: And then,
when you're done watching
the whole movie,

you're having conversations
about that as well,

before you break off again
and work on
your specific sequences.

NARRATOR: And there were
a lot of sequences.

I cut the foot chase
through the favelas.

Chris Wagner did the first pass,
and then I kind of took it over

when he got thrown on
to something else.

Policia.Get on the ground.

The ambush where
Hobbs' team is killed,

or at the street race, which is
particularly challenging

'cause all those cars
are the same.

NARRATOR: The 2011
Dodge Charger to be exact,

thanks to a product placement
deal with Universal.

Not this time, Dom.

In direct opposition
to the chase
in the fourth movie,

where they are
all colorful and different.

We've got four Dodge Chargers
that look exactly the same,

and we have to figure out a way
to make the audience understand
who's in which car.

Don't make it
too easy for me, boys.

NARRATOR: Production's oversight
quickly turned into
post-production's problem.

You know, those problems are not
on the minds of the people
who are writing

or casting the cars sometimes,
but we have to solve them
in sound.

NARRATOR: On a
truncated schedule,

fixing it in post
wasn't an indulgence
the post team could afford.

But sound designer
Peter Brown
had the idea

to give each car
its own unique sound.

You know, Vin's car
had a supercharger.

Paul's car
had higher horsepower.

The other folks had more
standard stock Chargers.

NARRATOR: If that tire squeal
sounded excessive,
you'd be right.

Whenever a character turns
a steering wheel,
there's a tire squeal.

As though any turn
results in a squeal.

But it really does help make
those sequences exciting.

NARRATOR: For a film that relies
so heavily on sound,

when it came time
for the majestic vault,

sound designer Peter Brown
had a hard time finding a cue
that did it justice.

Short of actually getting
the safe and dragging it around,

we tried a ton of stuff.

We used a washing machine.

We got an old stove,
got a refrigerator...
kind of at a loss.

NARRATOR: The situation
was getting dire.

Eventually, Christmas
rolled around and Peter still
hadn't found the right sound.

I went home for Christmas.
I'm from Rochester, New York,

and I always remembered that
the snow ploughs in the morning
had a particular sound.

That provided the big,
resonant sound of a safe
going down the streets.

NARRATOR: It was
a Christmas miracle.
But with so much to do

in such little time,
they needed more hands.

And assistant editor Leigh
got a big promotion.

I was only an additional editor,
and so I was still doing
my assistant editing.

NARRATOR: She was promoted
and kept her old job.

Not bad.
But better than two jobs,

she had the editor's support.

But Chris and Fred and Kelly
were all very supportive
of giving scenes.

NARRATOR: But what scene
would she get to work on?

An action-packed car chase
or perhaps
an explosive fight scene.

I got a lot of the heart,
the emotional scenes
on that one.

Hey, Dom. What do you remember
about your father?

My father...

One of the more bolder
decisions in Five

was the decision
to have Dom and Brian
talk about their fathers.

He used to...

used to have a barbecue
every Sunday after church.

For anybody in the neighborhood.

That moment sticks, like,
you now are connected

both with the story point of
Mia being pregnant,

but you have more of a sense
of Dom and Brian's background,

so that at the end of that
crazy bank sequence...

There's too many of them.
Hey, there's too many of them.
We're not gonna make it.

When Dom cuts Brian loose
and says you're a father now...

-You're a father now, Brian.
-No, I'm not leaving you.
Now, you stick with the plan.

It was always the plan.

That sticks and that lands,

and the movie should be
appreciated for that.

NARRATOR: It would prove to be
a career-making scene for Leigh,

while offering the edit team
some much needed relief.

BRIAN: You can't
keep running, Dom.

NARRATOR: Despite the intensity
of the schedule,

Justin made it a point
to keep spirits high.

There are definitely
some moments where
we've had just a blast.

Having cupcake wars
through visual effects reviews.

Justin decided
we can put cupcakes
on petty cash.

Let's see who has
the best cupcakes in LA.

We started just getting
cupcakes all the time.

It was so outrageous.

At one point, we were like,
"We can't do it anymore.

"There's so many cupcakes."

NARRATOR: With the cupcake wars
behind them,

the team was able to finish
Fast Five in time for Universal
to beat Thor to theaters

and kick off
the summer movie season.

But rather than celebrate,
the team grew anxious
over studio feedback

asFast Five was different
from its predecessors.

Perhaps too different.

There's always a bit
of nervousness
before a preview.

So, yeah, we did
a test screening.

NARRATOR: A test audience of 23
random people were chosen

to see a nearly finished cut
ofFast Five.

A good screening would convince
Universal that the genre change
for the series was worth it.

A bad screening might mean
expensive reshoots to make it
look more like the original.

Everything was hanging
in the balance.

But as the movie kicked off,
the post team realized
there was a problem.

I have a very clear recollection
of the sub channel
in the theater was not working.

So it was screamingly loud.

NARRATOR: But for an action film
that depended
on a visceral experience,

Director Justin Lin wanted it
even louder.

Justin kept turning to me

and saying
[WHISPERS] make it louder.

NARRATOR: Not wanting
to disappoint,
Fred Raskin turned it up.

I was aware that it was loud.

I don't think I was
anywhere near aware
of how loud it actually was.

And it wasn't until
the screening ended
that, like,

our mixer came to me
and was like,

"Do you know how loud
you were playing that?"

NARRATOR: Fearing they had
literally blown it
with the audience,

they nervously awaited feedback
from the post screening Q&A.

Somebody mentions,

"Yeah, there's really
no car races in the movie."

And that's the point where
I'm like, "Uh oh.

"Now we're going
to pay the price."

We violated this sacred trust
with the audience.

Where is the big car race
in Fast & Furious?

NARRATOR: After a particularly
loud test screening
ofFast Five,

everything was resting
on the opinion of 23
random audience members.

And at some point somebody
mentions, "Yeah, there's really
no car races."

You say what?

And that's the point
where I'm like, "Uh oh."

NARRATOR: There was no drifting
past the changesFast Five
made to the series.

We've gone from
streetcar racers
to we're a heist movie.

NARRATOR: And the audience
had noticed the difference.

So now the moderator says,
"Okay, how would you rate
the action in this movie?"

NARRATOR: Everything rested
on their answers.

Twenty-two raised their hands
at the highest category.

NARRATOR: It was
a huge sigh of relief.

But what about
the one dissenter?

The sole remaining person
raised their hand
at the next highest category.

NARRATOR: It was
a tremendous win.

And we came out of
that screening, going,

"This is going to be much bigger
than any of the
Fast & Furiousmovies."

NARRATOR: The screening
was so successful,
Universal only had one note.

Is there anything else
you want to do, Justin?

NARRATOR: To which
Justin replied...

I'm down.

That was when they gave him
a bag of cash to do his opening
for the film

that he always wanted to do.
There just wasn't the money
for it.

NARRATOR: At the time,
the opening of the film
had been constructed from shots

from the end of Fast 4.

cross cut with news footage
detailing Dom's escape.

Every eye in the country
looking for them.

Federal and local agencies
have joined forces in the search
for Dominic Toretto,

NARRATOR: But now,
with practically a blank check
from the studio,

Justin Lin decided to take
a victory lap

and naturally added
another stunt.

Even though not everyone
was on board.

Definitely one of those moments
when I was just like, "Really?"

The bus flips over the front
of a car and tumbles,

and nobody's hurt
and Dom gets away?

NARRATOR: Which was
a valid point.

And then you see it in the film,
you're just like,
"Yeah, right on.

"That's exactly how you do it."

NARRATOR: But Universal
wasn't ready
to roll credits just yet.

They're catching onto,
like, the teaser situation

that another studio
had been doing.

I'm here to talk to you
about the Avenger Initiative.

And, you know, like,
we're going to make another one.

We may not know
what it's all going to be about,
but let's plant the seed now.

NARRATOR: And it also provided
the chance to bring back
another familiar face.

We had the fun of bringing
Eva Mendes back

and the whole Letty reveal.

Felt a little disrespectful
to what we'd done
in the fourth movie.

And also kind of exciting.

NARRATOR: With additional
filming complete, the only thing
Fast Five needed to kick off

the summer box office
was a PG-13 rating.

Easy peasy.

That's going to take a while.

Because we had to go back
and make it less violent.

NARRATOR: Including some
big changes.

They said, "No,
there's way too much
automatic weapon fire."

So in the 11th hour, it had
to be all recut to single shots.

NARRATOR: And some real
hair-splitting changes.

There's a scene when The Rock,
like, grabs a guy
in the favela chase.

You see, breaks his neck.

So we had this nice,
disgusting crunch in there.

And they're like, "No, no, no.
That's too much."

Eventually, if you listen to it,
it's just, it sounds like...

[NECK CRICKS]

-It's a cloth woosh.
-That was a big disappointment.

The MPAA had their way
with us there.

NARRATOR: After a series
of chiropractic adjustments

Fast Five got a thumbs up
from the ratings board,

which meant boarding tickets
for the cast, because...

It was a Hollywood premiere.

It just happened
to be in Brazil.

For the fans, Fast Five
live from the red carpet...

NARRATOR: Universal
was making it clear.

The Fast and the Furious
had shed its humble beginnings

and had now arrived
as an international franchise.

It was a huge premiere
and the crowd was so amazing.

We had to roll
Fast And Furiousstyle.

NARRATOR: And the brain trust
had every reason to celebrate.

They had accomplished
the impossible.

Reinventing the franchise
in the fifth film.

I love the movie. It is
definitely my favorite
of the three that I worked on.

I'm definitely very proud
of all of these films.

Yeah, this is where
the heist fun of the franchise
kicks in.

That established the template
for what the franchise
would become.

I'll see you soon.

No, you won't.

NARRATOR: Fast Five not only
managed to kick off
the summer box office,

it pulled in $86 million
on its opening weekend.

Nearly $18 million more than
Thor's debut.

I now take from you your power.

It absolutely blows up
at the box office.

NARRATOR: And over the course
of the year, goes on to make
over $620 million worldwide.

Nearly six times the amount
Universal invested.

A massive, roaring success,

the likes of which
only a Star Wars,
Pirates of the Caribbean,

Harry Potter, movies of that ilk
have ever been able to say.

That's when they really decided,
"Okay, we might have
a franchise here."

[ECHOES] Which is a weird thing
to say after already having
four films.

NARRATOR: Universal had just
one question for the man
who took down Marvel.

What's going to be the next one?

[CAPTIVATING INSTRUMENTAL
MUSIC PLAYING]