National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Universal Pictures released The Fast and the Furious in June 2001, directed by Rob Cohen. Built around street racing culture and produced on a modest budget, the film became an unexpected box office phenomenon and launched one of the longest-running franchises in studio history. Shot on location in Los Angeles, it marked a turning point in action cinema's relationship with car culture.

This cell, titled Brian's Car on Fire, captures a practical stunt explosion sequence across three successive frames. A vehicle is visible mid-air or tumbling, engulfed in a fireball, with a wooden structure fragmenting beneath it. The wheel rim emerges clearly through the smoke in the later frames, documenting the progression of a large-scale pyrotechnic effect as it unfolds on 35mm.