Action comes fast in Need for Speed, but director Scott Waugh injects drama as well

WHEN NEWS of the making of Need for Speed first got out, the comparisons to The Fast and the Furious were almost instantaneous. That is no surprise, as it featured illegal street racing, a band of wise-cracking, good-hearted lads who know their cars and are eternally loyal to one another, plenty of speedy action, beautiful women and broken hearts.

But mention those comparisons to stuntman-turned-director Scott Waugh, and he immediately shuts it down. "I wasn't even looking at The Fast and the Furious", he declares. "This is a homage to 1960s and 1970s car culture."

The car culture genre is a storied one, albeit one neglected in a landscape heavy on computer-generated special effects. As his reference points, Waugh went back to action thriller Vanishing Point (1971) and Hal Needham's Smokey and the Bandit, a 1977 action comedy starring Burt Reynolds and Sally Field.

"I asked myself, 'Why did those movies work, and what do we still remember about them?' It's because they are real and it's all motor noise and not a music video," Waugh says.

Need for Speed is based on a popular video game - not exactly a pedigreed start to a film. But there is little real connection between the film and the game. Starring Aaron Paul - from the dark hit TV series Breaking Bad, which ended last year - the film revolves around themes of revenge and redemption, but is surprisingly good-natured at its core.

There might be plenty of racing, and some serious damage inflicted on a great many cars, but it still possesses heft and substance.