National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Universal Pictures released The Fast and the Furious in June 2001, directed by Rob Cohen and produced under Neal Moritz's Original Film banner. Drawing from a Vibe magazine article about street racing culture, the film launched one of cinema's most enduring franchises. Shot on 35mm by cinematographer Ericson Core, its practical stunt work and location photography in Los Angeles gave it a tactile energy that distinguished it from the era's increasingly digital action output.

This cell, titled Setting Brian's Car on Fire, captures the tense nighttime confrontation in which Johnny Tran, played by Rick Yune, and Lance Nguyen, played by Reggie Lee, arrive on motorcycles before opening fire. The three frames move from the quiet approach through the dramatic eruption of gunfire and flame, preserving one of the film's most visually striking moments of antagonism in a single encapsulated sequence.