Guilty pleasures. We all know of a few movies that fall into that category. And I have to admit that "The Fast and the Furious" is definitely a guilty pleasure for me. This is far from a perfect film, and it's not the kind of movie I usually enjoy. My taste in movies usually leans towards art-house fare, but I found "The Fast and the Furious" to be highly entertaining. Artistically speaking, I don't know if I would even call it a good movie. It's marred by a B-movie sensibility and dialogue that's sometimes unintentionally funny. I'd classify "The Fast and the Furious" as only a popcorn movie, but oh what fun!

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker star in this action film set in the world of urban street racing. The police suspect that street racers are responsible for a series of truck hijackings and assign L.A. cop Brian O'Conner (Walker) to go undercover and infiltrate a gang of street racers headed up by Dominic Toretto (Diesel). Soon Brian finds himself in a subculture where people eat, sleep, and breathe transforming ordinary Japanese cars into high-performance vehicles and drag racing them on the streets.

This is the kind of film where I had to put my sense of reality on hold, but the exciting action sequences and great shots of customized cars and auto parts helped to draw me in. In fact, I think where "The Fast and the Furious" truly succeeds is in presenting a thrillingly cinematic glimpse into car culture. Where it falls short is that this film's story and characters are not at all believable. Yet the characters are fleshed out just enough to make me care what happens to them. However, I suspect that the sheer charisma of actor Vin Diesel added more interest to his character of Dominic Toretto than ever existed merely on the pages of the script itself.

Selected Special Features on the DVD:

• Interactive Eight Camera Angle Stunt Sequence
• Movie Magic Interactive Special Effects
• Visual-Effect Montage
• "Racer X": The "Vibe" Magazine Article Which Was the Movie's Inspiration
• Commentary with Director Rob Cohen
• Deleted Scenes with Optional Director's Commentary
• Final Feature Comparison to Storyboards
• DVD-ROM Features Include an Exclusive Hotlink to Never-Seen-Before Behind-the-Scenes Footage
• Music Videos: Ja Rule's "Furious," Caddillac Tah's "POV City Anthem," and Saliva's "Click Click Boom"
• Theatrical Trailer