Los Bandaleros is The Fast and the Furious film you probably never saw
Most people don't know that Vin Diesel started his career as a director, and a pretty decent one too. Following the runaway success of The Fast and the Furious (2001) he's been squarely pigeonholed as an action star, so it's kind of fitting that The Fast and the Furious franchise marked his return to the director's chair after more than a decade.
And, unlike the other The Fast and the Furious short film, Turbo Charged Prelude to 2 Fast 2 Furious, which was pretty much just a glorified music video probably culled from the opening credits of 2 Fast 2 Furious in the interest of shortening the runtime, Los Bandaleros is actually worth searching out.
And, unlike the other The Fast and the Furious short film, Turbo Charged Prelude to 2 Fast 2 Furious, which was pretty much just a glorified music video probably culled from the opening credits of 2 Fast 2 Furious in the interest of shortening the runtime, Los Bandaleros is actually worth searching out.
At over 20 minutes, it's also much longer than that other short and, surprisingly, there are no car chases in Los Bandaleros. Instead it focuses on a day-in-the-life of Dominic Toretto, living in exile in the Dominican Republic. It reintroduces Han and Letty, and sets up the heist that will open Fast & Furious.
This is a wonderful little short with a lot of heart. It's mostly in Dominican Spanish with English subtitles, and beautifully shot whether it be scenes in a Dominican prison, the barrios, the Salsa clubs, the open road, or the beautiful Dominican beaches. And under all that is a humanist message - the film revolves around how the very real gas shortage that was occurring at the time was impacting the poor people of the Dominican Republic.
This short film makes us miss Vin Diesel the director, and begs the question, why hasn't he never been tapped to direct one of the full length F&F films?
Thankfully, for those who might have missed it, Los Bandoleros can be found on many free streaming sites online (just Google it).
This is a wonderful little short with a lot of heart. It's mostly in Dominican Spanish with English subtitles, and beautifully shot whether it be scenes in a Dominican prison, the barrios, the Salsa clubs, the open road, or the beautiful Dominican beaches. And under all that is a humanist message - the film revolves around how the very real gas shortage that was occurring at the time was impacting the poor people of the Dominican Republic.
This short film makes us miss Vin Diesel the director, and begs the question, why hasn't he never been tapped to direct one of the full length F&F films?
Thankfully, for those who might have missed it, Los Bandoleros can be found on many free streaming sites online (just Google it).
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