《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(dāng)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(shí)，誰(shuí)也不會(huì)想到它會(huì)成為當(dāng)代最成功的電影之一的開篇之作。然而，這部動(dòng)作片后來(lái)卻成為了一個(gè)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(lái)，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(jì)錄。據(jù)美國(guó)權(quán)威影視雜志《綜藝》報(bào)道，該電影“登陸中國(guó)票房的首個(gè)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(guó)的多項(xiàng)紀(jì)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(lái)最成功的電影類型之一：超級(jí)英雄電影。正如電影評(píng)論網(wǎng)站Screen Rant 所指出的那樣，“速度與激情”是一個(gè)“經(jīng)過偽裝的超級(jí)英雄系列”。就像“復(fù)仇者聯(lián)盟”系列電影那樣，影迷們喜愛壯大的英雄隊(duì)伍：每個(gè)人都有一種特殊能力，而在他們齊心協(xié)力時(shí)，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(jí)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(jìn)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(duì)的) to a social problem or an occasion (場(chǎng)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(duì)中男女主人公的故事，他們來(lái)自美國(guó)各個(gè)主要種族：拉丁裔、非裔以及亞裔。2011年，《波士頓環(huán)球報(bào)》影評(píng)人韋斯利·莫里斯寫道：“在今天的好萊塢中，最進(jìn)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(shí)，而不是一個(gè)社會(huì)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(gè)看過該系列電影的人都會(huì)在大銀幕上看見與自己相似的身影。據(jù)《娛樂周刊》報(bào)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(guó)演員范·迪塞爾在接受《娛樂周刊》采訪時(shí)所說(shuō)的那樣：“國(guó)籍并不重要。作為一名觀眾，人們能意識(shí)到自己是那個(gè)‘大家庭’的一份子。那便是這部系列電影所要表達(dá)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(dāng)然不會(huì)說(shuō)謊。