Can we please retire Fast and Furious from HDTGM?

[balmersmack 3]

Can the HDTGM team please refrain from any further episodes on the Fast and Furious movies? These are the most mind-numbingly boring episodes in the series. A podcast that is ostensibly about laughing at terrible movies instead becomes a collective blow job for the most high-budget, mainstream Hollywood trash. OMG stunts! OMG explosions! I’m sure there are other podcasts out there for this kind of nerdgasm.

 

I get that you might need a break from bad movies every once in a while, but if that’s the case why not pick something genuinely bizarre and outside the mainstream, like Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans? Any movie that might prompt something more interesting (maybe even funny?) from you guys than "OMG so awesome!"

 

Stephen

 

P.S. Love you guys. Just hate these episodes.

[WS_Evans 5]

No.

[balmersmack 3]

But I said please.

[firsttimecallerlongtimelistenr 3590]

the most mind-numbingly boring episodes

 

something more interesting (maybe even funny?) from you guys

strong words

 

i love these eps so here's to parts 9 and 10 .... and the spin off. i wouldn't even mind if they went back and did tokyo drift just to hear another discussion on the timelines of these movies

[joel_rosenbaum 1269]

So, what you're saying is... more Sharknado?

[firsttimecallerlongtimelistenr 3590]

i was actually wondering about sharknado the other day. i hadn't heard anything so i thought maybe it was done but we can all rest easy cause it's back in august titled "Sharknado 5... Earth 0"

 

i'm saying now that i'm not going to watch it but i know i will. the last one was terrible though.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

These are fan favorite episodes, so I don't see them going anywhere anytime soon.

[faye-raye 109]

I agree with you Balmersmack, I don't particularly enjoy the Fast episodes, the gang seem to enjoy them too much and aren't as critical

[EllenM2.0 412]

No.

[NathanGordon 1096]

I saw it in the theater and while it was a good time, I enjoyed it less than the last three installments of the franchise. The Rock & Statham scenes were far and away the liveliest, and I think their future movie will be a lot of fun. Each successive FF film has managed to top itself but this one didn't do it for me.

 

I feel the same way about HTDGM's coverage; I enjoyed the last ep, but there's a sameness to the effusive praise and an overlooking of bad writing (Jason sort of called out the fridging of Dom's baby mama) that left me feeling dispassionate.

[Peter Destructo 70]

Looks like my longstanding policy of skipping those episodes has been justified.

 

Still, the gang loves doing them, the fans love them, so I don't think they're gonna stop. Whereas they definitely stopped enjoying the Sharknado movies, which I also skipped.

[Dr_Revelator 17]

I agree. Listening to this last episode and the gang gushing on how much they loved it, there was really no question of how those movies get made.... its called "lowest common denominator" and it makes millions and millions of dollars.

[EternalSammich 167]

I've never watched a Fast and the Furious film, sometimes I'll listen to the podcasts. I listened to this one. I do think it's true that they are a bit dull with the constant gushing. They genuinely like these films. I will say, however, that if they like it and fans overall like it, I don't see a reason to stop making them.

 

I appreciated June's fear of self-driving cars in this episode at least.

[Cameron H. 23786]

I've never watched a Fast and the Furious film, sometimes I'll listen to the podcasts. I listened to this one. I do think it's true that they are a bit dull with the constant gushing. They genuinely like these films. I will say, however, that if they like it and fans overall like it, I don't see a reason to stop making them.

 

I appreciated June's fear of self-driving cars in this episode at least.

 

I agree with this 100%.

 

The way I see it, they do ~26 full episodes every year. At their quickest, FF movies come out every two years (not even as fast as Sharknado movies). I think, out of ~52 episodes, if they want to talk about one movie that they actually do like, then why not? It's their podcast, their fans like them, and the more Adam Scott, the better.

 

I would also like to add, I do feel like these movies fit the (rhetorical) question of How Did This Get Made? Yes, they made a lot of money, but how? Or better yet, why? For all intents and purposes, these movies are ridiculous, live action cartoons with people attaching grenades to helicopters from car windows as they soar through the air. That's preposterous! If any other movie tried to pull that kind of shit, it would be laughed right out of the theater. But somehow, intelligent people (like our hosts and their fans), can watch a bunch of meatheads drive muscles cars on the Arctic Ice while being chased by a submarine and suspend their disbelief long enough to think, "Sure. I buy that."

 

So, if you really need to know how these movies fit the criteria of the show, that's it. It's finding the ludicrousness of what's going on (e.g. Statham fighting with a baby carrier) and trying to identify the X Factor that makes it work in these movies, but not in others. For these episodes, try not to think of the question as "How Did This Get Made," but rather "How Did They Get Away With This (And Why Does it [Apparently] Work)?"