How ‘Fast Five’ Pulled Off Its Incredible Vault Chase for Real

That right there was the exact moment that that jump

started the Fast and Furious franchise after it was thought to have stalled out completely

A moment so ridiculous, so unbelievably silly, but executed just right that it took this outrageous scenario

and rewired with the eventual new era of this now 20 year long franchise would become

Say what you will about Fast films after 5, but there is a reason that Fast 5 is regarded

as a fan favorite out of all of them. You see, that vault scene we just looked at a few seconds ago

That was real. That actually happened. Two cars dragging a 9,000 pound vault

to the streets of Rio de Janeiro, smashing it to real constructed buildings, ramming it

into real police cars, all initially done practically, giving audiences the perfect blend

of suspending their disbelief while simultaneously providing and a visual evidence that this was happening

It raised the tensions and the stakes in that moment of the film by showing you something like this, that it's somehow possible

Ups, that attachment that you, the audience, have in investing in these characters

by putting them in seemingly real danger. Or, as Jack Gill, one of Fast Five's stunt coordinators, perfectly summed up

If we keep it real, it makes them feel like something that they could be involved in

And I think that's what really makes the difference with, you know, any kind of action series

is to put the audience in the seat with you, and then they feel like they're a part of it

and that's what makes it exciting and entertaining. The film's still having a connection with reality at that perfect line

This is a jump-the-building moment. Yes, I meant to say building, not shark

Compare that scene in the fifth film, and then this scene in the seventh film, wherein a car is jumped between two of the most famous towers in Abu Dhabi

a feat that you know inherently is impossible to do, and you get a different emotion. There was a lot of fantastic stunt work putting that scene together

to make it look like it happened. The only difference is that the full sequence that edited together

didn't actually happen as shown in the film. So how did Fast Five construct a heist scenario so ludicrous that on paper

sounds impossible, but was pulled off not just for effectiveness in the film

but in reaction as well, without making it mostly CGI like future Fast and Furious films would

Let's break it down. Fast Five spends its runtime building up a rather perfect flow of momentum and high action culminating in a bank vault heist that would require some of the most exact timing for a stunt crew ever The roughly 10 minute long sequence starts with Dom and Brian ripping a whole 9 pound bank

vault out of a police station with two twin chargers. Once free and outside of the police garage

the brakes aren't pumped on the planned action as the first turn out of the garage tosses the momentum of

again, a real 9,000 pound vault. Flying past cars behind them, rolling over

several concrete barriers while a camera moves along a dolly low to the ground, almost being destroyed by the vault

rolling right on top of it. The fact that this was the only time they took a guess as to where the camera may not get hit

since they would have no clue where the force of the rolling vault would crush it, is pretty remarkable

But I digress. The main intermediary chunk of the sequence follows as the cars drag the vault to the streets

right through bus stops, cars, buildings, you name it, things that in real life would affect the movement of a vault

or these vehicles. For each of these setups along the way, they went and built real structures

with the intent of having them destroyed. That means that one little mess up could cost the production thousands, if not millions

to set it all up and rebuild it again. There was very little margin for error

Luckily, before the film even starts shooting, the stunt coordinators, like Jack Gilfram earlier, began planning and practicing the exact dimensions

of where everything needs to be upwards of three to four months before filming. So when it comes time to turn on the camera

and perform these stunts on the actual set, they know to an incredible degree exactly

what their margin of error is. Now, unforeseen mess ups do happen from time to time. For example, here's this motorcycle stunt

where the rider had special back tires to launch off of when the car he is supposed to crash into hits him

as to make sure he doesn't land incorrectly and get anybody to crash. But he misses the timing with his footing

which resulted in them hitting their knees on the bike's handlebars, throwing them head first onto one car

and flipping shoulder first into the windshield of another, thus breaking the stunt actor's shoulders

He was only off from his planned jump by one millisecond. That's how precise and how down to the wire

these stunts come in order for them to be performed properly. The car choreography alone for this Fast Five scene

was planned with maneuvers hard enough for a regular car and an experienced driver to pull off

but now additionally adding the 4 and 1 half ton vault to it. Well, you can see where that might create problems

Like right here with the reverse 180 move where Brian is behind the vault driving in reverse

pushing the vault after escaping the cops on one street with Dom still towing the vault in the front

After turning a quarter and keeping the line, having to now along the side of the vault speed past it in reverse followed by quickly turning the steering wheel to propel the car face forward and shift back into drive and keep pace with Dom once again isn just dangerous It seems and looks on the surface impossible

And that's what comes across on screen. In one earlier part of the chase, cop cars are moving in a way that appears

that they're coming right at the pair. So they each pull off and drive to the side, allowing the bolt's momentum to fly right past them

smashing into the car like a battery ram. That previous example, that margin of error being small

this is another example of something that could have easily gone wrong if off

by just the smallest of variables. But let's look more closely. To create diversions for the cops and to properly look

as they were swinging the vault into a bunch of parked cars, they didn't just need an actual vault

They needed a specially designed three in particular. Of course, we have the real one shown in almost every scene

But especially if it had a semi-truck, would follow Dom and Brian and Kareen into all the cars

at the right time. Again, down to the milliseconds for maximum effect

on screen, all assisted by, again, the vault. Or take the scenes where the vault is shown going past a bus

full of pedestrians, which would be extremely dangerous, in real life, obviously

Or another where the vault was wrapped around a cut up and modified truck. A serious control factor comes into play

so that no one can actually be crushed by this thing. There's even a moment when the vault is thrown through a building

and has to tumble and crash in and out of that building. Now here, this isn't a vault being controlled by a semi truck

like in the example before. That's done by constructing a real building with people inside

and a ram that would push the vault on a track to propel it across the entire inside of the building

while the people inside know their marks, so they aren't crushed to death. But again, not everything goes as planned

Another example of this are the oversights that happen all the time on set

You get there, and you don't realize that you didn't think of certain things

because in rehearsals or in planning, they weren't practical enough for you

to notice until it was right in front of you. Like the fact that the stunt driver in that truck we keep talking about was dealing with temperatures

around 190 degrees. This is causing the driver to pass out in the car

as the heat was unbearable. The first solution was to fill it with dry ice to cool off the interior

But that brought a new problem. The dry ice sucked up all the oxygen, meaning how the driver wasn't just cold, he couldn't breathe

So on top of all that, they now had to add a special tubing system, leading the fresh air outside into the vault so the driver could breathe while driving

Not the first thing that comes to mind. The big finale of the heist ends with a final face-off on the bridge

where now it's just Dom dragging the safe. In an attempt to spin the car around and drive headfirst at his pursuers this 180 move here was planned to the exact measurements with such a small window that there was literally no room for error at all according to the stunt coordinator not even an inch After that as Dom is taking out the cop cars one car gets completely cut in

half by the tethering cable. That car had a real person in it who had to make sure they ducked at

the exact right second or else he would turn out just like the car did. And in the end

when the bolt's momentum rips the charger into the air, they use cranes to pull the car as the

driver jumps out with milliseconds to spare. All of this is insane

Thoroughly planned technical and practical work for a scene that lasts just shy of only 10 minutes

Imagine the work that goes into the entire movie's runtime. Film stunt coordinators were told this wouldn't

be possible to pull off this spank high scene here, but they did it. This was real with real stakes

If anything went wrong, well, those stakes would come to fruition. Aside from a few injuries and some last minute fixes

to unforeseen problems, the crew of Fast Five was able to immerse the audience by not telling you

that this can be done, but by showing you can be done before you even imagine that something like this

is or is not possible. So whether you enjoy the Fast franchise or not, you have to respect the hard work that was put into creating

the realness you see on screen, the authenticity as much as you can call it that

Obviously, these are still stunts. And while these films may not always be my particular cup of tea, as someone who respects

the process of truly making something so powerful, that not only do you believe in the once thought

unbelievable, but also enough to create true immersion, it's hard not to respect that

And it's also hard not to respect the work put into something like this to push a franchise forward in meaningful ways

This franchise that was once dying is now over a billion-dollar franchise

And that might be the most impressive thing of all. I guess the point here is that almost in every movie, reality is only what you make it, right

You, the viewer. If you don't accept the film or show's offer of immersion, if you don't sign that contract metaphorically

if you don't actively engage, it's easy to poke fun at something like Fast and Furious

But if you give in, if you let yourself feel this moment, and the film does its job of not

giving you an opportunity to come out of it, well then it's moments like these that become

the truly magical experiences that every film buff and film fan convinces you exist

No, you don't need to watch every Academy Award nominee to understand the power of film

Sometimes it isn't the writers, it's these guys, the stunt coordinators, that give you those moments that you will never forget