The new Furious 7 movie pays a strong tribute to Paul Walker, who sadly passed away half-way through filming.
Photo By: Whitten Bumbalough, Photo Manager

By: Paige Fry, Editor-In-Chief, and Killian Johnson, Business Manager

As millions of fans awaited the release of Furious 7, an unexpected and unfortunate event happened: Paul Walker, one of the main actors in the Furious movies, died in a car crash during the movie’s production. The original release date for this movie was in the summer of 2014, but the tragic loss of Walker happened before half the movie was finished, pushing production back by an entire year.

Junior Mariantonia Munoz says, Furious 7 “was the greatest movie in the world. I cried and I’m not embarrassed at all. It honored [Walker] in a good way. I don’t think the movies will be the same without [Walker, the movies will be], good but not as good.”

Producers spent millions to develop the final scenes of this action film. They used Walker’s brothers to get close up shots and morphed them with digital footage of Walker from previous movies to produce the final scene, which is an emotional tribute to Paul Walker.

This is not the first instance where an actor has died in the middle of production. Recently, Philip Seymour Hoffman, who played Plutarch Heavensbee in The Hunger Games, died of an accidental drug overdose at the end of the production. In the Harry Potter movies, Richard Harris, the original actor for Dumbledore, died of Hodgkin’s disease two weeks before the U.S. premiere of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second Harry Potter film. Harris was replaced by Michael Gambon in order to finish the last six movies.

“The ending [to Furious 7] was the best part. The Paul Walker tribute was emotional and really touched my heart. You couldn’t really tell if Paul was there or not with the CGI effects, so it was pretty good,” says senior Isaiah Wilson.

Furious 7 overall has made over $800 million worldwide and is on the way to being the first billion dollar movie this year. The movie is also in the top box office in 67 countries. A lot of the movie’s success is due to it being Walker’s final movie, but the film can hold its own in action and drama.

Senior Brandon Chin says, “I went to the movie theater twice! The animations were really good with Walker’s brothers, you couldn’t really tell the difference [between Walker and his brothers.] Furious 7 beat my expectations. My favorite part was when The Rock rock-bottomed Jason Statham. Lykan Hypersport was the most incredible car used in any Fast and Furious movie. This was most definitely the best movie yet.”

Fans of Furious 7 may now wonder what Walker’s brothers are currently up to after the release of their beloved brother’s last film. Walker’s brothers, Cody and Caleb, are whom to thank for making Furious 7 possible. The Hollywood Reporter has recently revealed that Cody has been talking to agencies and working with Paul’s manager, Matt Luber. Cody has recently signed on to Paradigm Talent Agency, the very same place where his brother, Paul, started his acting career. Paul will continue to be missed by his fans and live on through his work in these movies.