Last week, moviegoers the world over were shocked to learn of the death of Paul Walker, who first starred as Brian O'Conner in The Fast and the Furious twelve years ago. As the undercover cop-turned-criminal superdriver, Walker was the lynchpin of the franchise. “With the passing of Paul, the world has lost a man who spent a great deal of his life in service to others. We share in the deep grief of his family, friends and the countless fans who love him,” Universal Chairwoman Donna Langley said last week. “We keep Paul’s memory alive and honor his legacy through continued support of Reach Out WorldWide, the non-profit he founded to give hope to those who must rebuild after they have experienced natural disasters.”
A portion of all Furious 6 Blu-ray, DVD, and digital sales will be donated to Reach Out Worldwide, which Walker founded after a charitable trip to Haiti in 2010, following the massive earthquakes that devastated the country.
In the sixth installment of this quarter-mile-at-a-time series, director Justin Lin elevates his already-formidable action game to nigh-unprecedented levels.
The story finds the heroes of Fast 5 dispersed all over the world following their successful Rio heist. When Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson, Pain & Gain) comes to Dom (Vin Diesel, Riddick) for assistance in tracking a team of mercenaries whose automotive ferocity eclipses even that of the Fast family, everyone reunites in order to stop the dangerous Shaw (Luke Evans, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug). For Dom and Brian, though, the motive is even more personal, now that they know Dom's lost love Letty (Michelle Rodriguez, Avatar) is, in fact, alive and working for Shaw.
In his four-film tenure that began with The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Lin and screenwriter Chris Morgan refined a surprisingly complex franchise timeline and expanded on the surrogate family/professional crew assembled by Brian and Dom. Furious 6 provides a showcase for many of these characters, including Mia (Jordana Brewster, The Faculty), Roman (Tyrese Gibson, Transformers) Han (Sung Kang, Bullet to the Head), Gisele (Gal Gadot, 2015's Batman vs. Superman), Tej (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, No Strings Attached), and Elena (Elsa Pataky, Snakes on a Plane).
On December 10th, Furious 6 arrives on a Blu-ray that comes fully loaded with both the theatrical version of the film and a special Extended Edition incorporating even more action and humor.
The Blu-ray Combo Pack includes both versions of Furious 6 in stunning 1080p high definition video and DTS-HD surround sound, as well as a DVD copy featuring the theatrical version and even an UltraViolet copy, allowing you to watch the film on a wide range of devices including computers, compatible tablets, smartphones, game consoles, Internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players.
In addition to the Extended Edition, Furious 6 on Blu-ray has a host of exclusive features. "Take Control" mode offers an interactive, behind the scenes adventure, as the likes of Lin, Diesel, Walker, and Brewster pop up throughout the film to host segments detailing the film's creation. A series of extensive featurettes examine aspects of the sequel's action. "The London Chase," for example, shows how Lin and company created a breakneck sequence barreling through one of the most notoriously traffic-laden cities on Earth, while "The FLIP Car" chronicles the construction of the unique vehicle that Shaw pilots in the scene. Walker himself narrates "Gearhead's Delight," a video tour of the phenomenal Fast vehicles.
That's but a taste of the featurettes and goodies you'll only find on the Blu-ray, but the extra DVD also boasts a feature commentary by Lin, deleted scenes, a making-of documentary, and featurettes looking at characters old and new, specific stunts, and the overall franchise so far.
