See, I'm on the other side of the ball here. I think now that they're just a bunch of loud action flicks with good looking actors surrounded by excessive amounts of explosions, gunfire, and fight sequences, they're actually fun to watch.
When each of the first three came out I absolutely hated the franchise because I felt it was a piss-poor depiction of automotive enthusiasts. I hated all of the APC/Wings West/TruGlo Hot Import Nights stuff it promoted, I hated that it made anyone who was into sport compacts look like a bunch of strung out raver rejects. It didn't speak true to my experience growing up around proper race & show vehicles and when Tokyo Drift came along... forget about it. I joked with my dad when the movie title was announced that if ever I was going to sell the 240, it would be outside of the theater on opening night for well more than it was worth to some hyped up kid who suddenly had to have a 'drift car.'
Now don't get me wrong, I can watch the movies now through the haze of nostalgia, to when it seemed like every 3rd driveway in Southern CA had a modified import in it. Think back to the hype surrounding the release of the Evo and STi in the states finally, and all the reckless crap me and my friends used to do back in high school around the time the movies were released because they are a mental time machine. But then again, so are my old Incubus albums.
In short, I'm excited to see this one, but it's the first movie in the series that I've ever actually considered seeing in the theaters. If I do, I'm sure it'll be after all the initial hype has gone down during the first couple of weeks of it's release.
