Fast & Furious

The fast cars and daring heists franchise fishtailed all over the place with in-name-only sequels until the original cast (outlaw racer Vin Diesel, maverick cop Paul Walker, partner-in crime girlfriend Michelle Rodriguez and good girl Jordana Brewster) finally reunited for this high-energy, low-brain-wattage fourth film. After a high speed heist of a moving tanker truck, it downshifts into a pulp fantasy in muscle cars and revenge movie clichés with a big budget and lots of digital effects. For all the overproduction of the speed scenes, some of them are pretty impressive, if really, really stupid; I swear that the race through the mine shaft was lifted right out of a "Speed Racer" cartoon.

The single-disc DVD features commentary by director Justin Lin, and a gag reel. The special edition DVD and the Blu-ray versions have the reunion featurette "Getting the Gang Back Together" and numerous featurettes on the cars and the stunts, plus an exclusive short film by Diesel called "Los Bandoleros." It's a prologue to the film by way of a mood piece, setting up the signature big-rig heist as a Robin Hood rebel action while lolling through the culture and music of the Dominican Republic. Exclusive to the Blu-ray edition are a pair of U-Control modes. Lin and Walker break into the film in the Take Control mode to discuss scenes in detail, sort of like tutorials with video illustrations, but only gearheads and car nuts will find "Virtual Car Garage and Tech Specs" of any interest.