《速度與激情》為何屢成票房奇跡？

When The Fast and the Furious (《速度與激情》) appeared in 2001, it seemed unlikely that the movie would be the opening chapter (開篇) of one of the greatest success stories of contemporary (當代的) movies. However, the action movie became a franchise (系列作品) that has made Universal Pictures billions of dollars. The eighth movie in the series, The Fate of the Furious (2017), sped past a global box office record after it came out on April 14. According to Variety, it “drove off with a $190 million (1.3 billion yuan) opening weekend win at the Chinese box office, breaking lots of records in the country.”

2001年《速度與激情》上映時，誰也不會想到它會成為當代最成功的電影之一的開篇之作。然而，這部動作片后來卻成為了一個系列作品，并為環(huán)球影業(yè)賺了數(shù)十億美元。今年4月14日上映以來，該系列的第八部電影 ——《速度與激情8:宿命》(2017)便快速打破了全球票房紀錄。據(jù)美國權威影視雜志《綜藝》報道，該電影“登陸中國票房的首個周末便以1.9億美元(約13億人民幣)的票房大獲全勝，打破了該國的多項紀錄。”

So what is so special about the Fast and Furious series?

所以“速度與激情”系列到底有何特別之處呢?

Above all, the movies are part of the most successful genres (類型) of recent years: superhero films. As movie review site Screen Rant put it, Fast and Furious is a “superhero franchise in disguise (偽裝)”. Like the Avengers movies, fans love the spectacle (壯觀) of teams of heroes, each individual with a special skill, as well as the group dynamic (活力) that develops when they work together.

首先，該系列屬于近年來最成功的電影類型之一：超級英雄電影。正如電影評論網(wǎng)站Screen Rant 所指出的那樣，“速度與激情”是一個“經(jīng)過偽裝的超級英雄系列”。就像“復仇者聯(lián)盟”系列電影那樣，影迷們喜愛壯大的英雄隊伍：每個人都有一種特殊能力，而在他們齊心協(xié)力時，又有著群體的活力。

And although the Fast and Furious heroes are only human, the movies attract the same kind of audiences as Marvel’s superhero stories.

盡管“速度與激情”系列中的英雄都只是人類，但這些電影吸引的觀眾群和漫威超級英雄系列電影的相同。

Yet the main difference that sets the Fast and Furious series apart is the diversity (多元) of its cast (演員). The franchise is about teams of male and female heroes drawn from every major ethnic (種族的) group in the US: Latinos, African-Americans and Asians. In 2011, Boston Globe film critic Wesley Morris wrote: “The most progressive (進步的) force in Hollywood today is the Fast and Furious movies.” He pointed out that the series “features race as a fact of life as opposed (相對的) to a social problem or an occasion (場合) for self-congratulation.”

但“速度與激情”系列和其他電影的主要區(qū)別在于演員的多元。該系列講述了車隊中男女主人公的故事，他們來自美國各個主要種族：拉丁裔、非裔以及亞裔。2011年，《波士頓環(huán)球報》影評人韋斯利·莫里斯寫道：“在今天的好萊塢中，最進步的一股力量就是‘速度與激情’系列電影”。他指出，該系列“將種族視為一種現(xiàn)實，而不是一個社會問題亦或是什么沾沾自喜的理由。”

Its multi-cultural cast is much like its audiences. Everyone who goes to see one of these movies sees someone like themselves on screen. According to Entertainment Weekly, the film franchise is doing a much better job of reflecting (反映) its audience than others in Hollywood.

其多元文化的演員陣容和電影觀眾十分相似。每個看過該系列電影的人都會在大銀幕上看見與自己相似的身影。據(jù)《娛樂周刊》報道，該電影系列在反映觀眾的這一角度上，做得比好萊塢其他任何一部電影都要好。

As US actor Vin Diesel, one of the series’ stars, told Entertainment Weekly: “It doesn’t matter what nationality you are. As a member of the audience, you realize you can be a member of that ‘family’. That’s the beautiful thing about how the franchise has developed.”

就像該系列的明星、美國演員范·迪塞爾在接受《娛樂周刊》采訪時所說的那樣：“國籍并不重要。作為一名觀眾，人們能意識到自己是那個‘大家庭’的一份子。那便是這部系列電影所要表達的美好事物。”

“The message is clear,” wrote Entertainment Weekly. “Multiculturalism sells.” Box office receipts (收據(jù)) certainly don’t lie.

“這已經(jīng)顯而易見，”《娛樂周刊》寫道。“多元文化主義大有銷路。”票房數(shù)據(jù)當然不會說謊。