Nobody in the production team of The Fast and the Furious expected it to be successful enough to warrant a second film — let alone the stacks of sequels that have come in the time since. But, nevertheless, the second movie in the franchise hit cinemas all over the world in 2003. Critics hated it, and fans ate it up.
As time has past, a cult of nostalgia has grown for the first three movies in the franchise. They were all true car flicks, with all sorts of tuner-scene vehicles making star appearances. But, beyond the crashes and races on screen, there was a dedicated team behind the scenes making as many of the on-screen stunts happen in real life.
Among them was a man by the name of Craig Lieberman, Technical Advisor and supplier of a couple of the most famous cars in the franchise (including the orange Toyota Supra from the first flick).
Lieberman has a YouTube channel in which he dives into the behind-the-scenes of what went on behind some of the more interesting calls (like how Jesse's Volkswagen Jetta had no brake calipers for its drag-racing cameo late in the first film). The whole channel is well worth a thorough investigation, especially if you're one of the millions who had a love for cars inspired by these films.
In the clip above, Lieberman looks at the infamous Honda S2000 stunt jump from the first race of the first movie — a scene that combined effects and a genuine vehicle jump. We get a look at the remote control S2000 that they used for the jump, as well as an insight into where that car came from and whether it survived.
Most interesting of all, however, is that the whole process was ... fairly sketchy. The RC Honda was tested in the parking lot out the back between tow-trucks and caravans, and during the jump itself the RC controllers crashed their chase vehicle. In different circumstances, they could well have ended up at the bottom of the body of water underneath ...
It was a different time for health and safety, but it resulted in some of the best car race and chases in movie history.