It’s been almost 22 years since Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) ordered the crappy tuna on white, stocked up on NOS at The Racer’s Edge, and lived a quarter mile at a time on the streets of Los Angeles. Since then, the Family has blown up Russian submarines, dragged giant vaults all over Rio with their cars, chased giant bombs through Rome, and even been to actual space.
The Fast saga is now 10 adrenaline-fuelled films, one spinoff, and over $6.2 billion earnings into its mighty, mighty franchise, with a slew of formidable villains, memorable allies, and hundreds of wrecked, highly expensive vehicles in its wake.
So, all roads lead to this: the ultimate ranking of Fast and Furious films from least-best to absolute-best (they’re all winners in the end). Once you’re done, here’s how to watch every single film.
10. Fast and Furious (2009)
We had to start somewhere, and the fourth installment of the Fast saga never had me. It never had its car.
Written by Chris Morgan, the film is the second Fast directorial run for Justin Lin after the third film, Tokyo Drift. Fast and Furious handbrake turns back to the full original cast — but it’s not a great time for any of them. Fuelled by Brian Tyler’s angsty guitar score, the film feels weighed down by its own seriousness this time around, with everyone reeling from grief and blame (mainly at Brian). Brian and Dom are awkwardly reunited while attempting to infiltrate the powerful Mexican cartel of villain Arturo Braga (John Ortz) after the murder of one of our favourites.
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Michelle Rodriguez’s iconic Letty Ortiz plays a much bigger role in the story than ever before, though spends the majority of the film in the rear mirror after supposedly being murdered. Dom’s on a quest for revenge with his suddenly CSI-level forensics. Meanwhile, Brian has rejoined the FBI, back to chasing criminals across downtown Los Angeles and pissing off his boring unit enemy, Stasiak (Shea Whigham). The Brian we left in 2 Fast 2 Furious giggling over a belt full of stolen cash with Roman Pierce (Tyrese Gibson) is a Serious Cop again. The film’s new characters are strong too, including Gisele (Gal Gadot) who is working for Braga, and dynamic duo Tego Leo and Rico Santos (Tego Calderon and Don Omar).
Stunt-wise though, Fast and Furious doesn’t disappoint, from the film’s opening hijacking sequence in the Dominican Republic ending with Dom and Letty narrowly scooching underneath a burning gas tanker, to a chaotic street race through the unclosed streets of LA. But nothing in this film is as impressive as the various dashes across the U.S./Mexico border through a claustrophobic tunnel at high speed, all intensified by cinematographer Amir Mokri, fresh from Bad Boys II, and swift edits from action movie veteran Christian Wagner and future Tarantino go-to Fred Raskin.
Plus, Fast and Furious also gives us our first ever “ride or die” from Letty to Dom.
9. The Fate of the Furious (2017)
Excluding Tokyo Drift, The Fate of the Furious is the first Fast movie released without Paul Walker, following the actor’s tragic death during the making of Furious 7. Diesel and Rodriguez lead the team, with Roman, Tej Parker (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), and Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) reunited to take on Charlize Theron’s unblinking cyber terrorist Cipher, one of the more memorable of the series: “People are scared of the hacker group Anonymous, but Anonymous are scared of her.”
But the Family are up for their hardest task yet, as Dom is forced to fight with Cipher under threat. “Dominic Toretto just went rogue,” Hobbs declares. However, Jason Statham near steals the entire show, returning as the dastardly Deckard Shaw, along with a curveball addition to the franchise: his mum, Madeline Shaw, played by Dame Helen Mirren. Bravado levels are sky high in this film, with Hobbs and “tea and crumpets eatin criminal sumbitch” Shaw laying down one-liners as furiously as their roundhouse kicks.
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Fuelled by CGI and pure grunt, the action sequences in The Fate of the Furious are both ridiculous and spectacular, from Dom’s street race through Havana in a shitbox car on fire, to Cipher’s night of the living self-driving cars in New York, to Johnson and Statham in full melee mode during the film’s outstanding prison break sequence. And all of that before Hobbs steers a torpedo with his bare hands and Dom blows up a submarine with a heat-seeking missile and a NOS-fuelled jump.
Unfortunately, the film’s narrative drags a little and takes some screeching turns that leave the audience with whiplash at best, deep cringe at worst. Yes, I’m talking about the dreaded soap opera secret baby twist.
8. 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
Released just two years after the smash hit original film, 2 Fast 2 Furious is somewhat of a polarising instalment in the series. But as someone who paid $40 whole Australian dollars for this DVD from HMV on release, then watched it over and over, I’ll always love this film. The comedic alternative to the original with everyone barking into their Nokia flip phones, the sequel is often overlooked for some of the bigger budget, stunt-laden epics of the later years. But friends, this film is a riot.
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Directed by Joe Singleton, with a screenplay by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, 2 Fast 2 Furious sets the formula for the early films in stone, repeating techniques from the first film (though upping the stakes to a $3,500 street race buy-in and literally raising a bridge in the first race). With music video-style cinematography by Matthew F. Leonetti and rapid editing by Bruce Cannon and Dallas Puett, the film tries to mirror the same driver cam, close ups, gear shift zooms, and starting lineup pan as the original, with a lot of Joe Budden on the soundtrack.
2 Fast 2 Furious takes the seriousness of the original and dials up the comedy. As perpetual pain in the ass Roman Pierce, Gibson brings much needed humour to the series. Donning various impeccably crisp t-shirts, Walker bounces off this energy, as his gleeful, hooting reactions to stunts are a delight — plus, Walker delivers the infamous “stare and drive” sequence with all the dumb bravado it deserves.
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Gibson isn’t the only new face who’ll stick around for the series; Bridges makes his compelling screen debut as Tej Parker, “the man to know in Miami.” There’s also fan favourites like Devon Aoki, who brushes off rampant sexism in the street racing world as the kickass Suki with her all-women crew. Eva Longoria keeps the operation going as Monica Fuentes, working for pretty one-note forgettable bad guy and drug cartel importer/exporter Carter Verone.
But honestly, the best thing about 2 Fast 2 Furious is the driving. Still in the “car film” phase of the franchise, the driving here is so good it literally bonds the protagonists and the villains: “You’re supposed to be a stone-faced killer, you’re over there grabbing your seat belt,” Roman says to henchman Roberto (Roberto Sanchez). Brian and Roman pull extreme stunts in traffic just to flip the bird to each other. Chaotic street racing scenes build to Blues Brothers-worthy cop chases and one of the best switcheroos in the franchise. No submarines here, the most extreme stunt in this film involves driving a muscle car onto a luxury yacht, but it’s absolutely glorious.
7. Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
Following the perfect heist action that is Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6 plays its best card by bringing back an absolute audience favourite. On behalf of the fans and the franchise, thank fuck.
Directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan, the film begins with the extremely welcome news that Letty is, in fact, not dead as we thought in Fast and Furious. Using the classic soap opera move of “character with amnesia,” Rodriguez gets to triumphantly drive back into the fold.
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Enjoying Reyes’ thieved millions, Mia (Jordana Brewster), Gisele, Dom, Roman, Tej, Han, and Brian are all individually living the good life until the team gets an offer they can’t refuse: working with Interpol to get Letty out from the clutches of decent new villain, Owen Shaw (Luke Evans). Armed with a big tech bomb, Shaw is the main target of DSS agent Hobbs and his new 2IC Riley (Gina Carano). This means a bigger budget and slick government-seized gear for the Family, and Fast & Furious 6 marks the first time the team has gone up against an enemy more powerful than a local drug lord.
Mainly set in London, the film involves some serious driving and action sequences, with higher tech than we’ve seen in the series. (As Roman says, “So now we got cars flying in the air? On some 007-type shit? This is not what we do!”) From a hectic chase through the streets of London to the epic final highway sequence involving a tank, the film heaves with smart stuntwork and CGI action. Plus, the film remembers how effective hand-to-hand combat scene are, from Brian’s intense prison confrontation with Fast and Furious villain Braga to Letty’s hectic Tube fight with Riley.
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But nothing is more jaw-dropping than the film’s final airport sequence, which doesn’t stop for breath within or outside a speeding military plane attempting to take off. We’re talking two versus twos, punch-ups on jeeps hanging in the air, and a car driven through a flaming aircraft nose. This act also sees one of the most devastating losses in the whole franchise.
6. F9 (2021)
Yes, this is the one where they go to space. But it’s not all the team do, with explosive action and family drama aplenty in the ninth installment of the franchise.
As Dom and Letty live off grid and in literal overalls with his surprise son, Little Brian, they’re thrust back into the action thanks to Cipher (Charlize Theron) who’s back for another round of global terrorism.
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By F9 everyone’s roles are pretty set: Dom and Letty take the lead, Ramsey and Tej dominate the tech, Roman’s all bravado, and Mia somehow locates the gang and kicks some ass along the way. With the team in place, including the triumphant return of fan-favourite Han, the film looks to the unresolved past, taking the deepest dive into Dom’s family history yet — particularly the loss of his father Jack on the race track (a storyline unexplored since The Fast and the Furious). Here, F9 adds John Cena for some sibling rivalry as Dom’s long-lost brother Jakob and the film’s villain.
F9‘s action sequences can’t be understated, from outrunning land mines and feeble rope bridges in Montequinto to magnetised vehicle pursuits across Edinburgh, to Tej and Roman becoming literal astronauts and entering orbit, this film takes things to a ridiculous level. It’s a strong reminder of how far these characters have come — we first met Tej and Roman in 2 Fast 2 Furious, one running the Miami underbelly, one under house arrest. Here, they make it to the International Space Station in a rocket car full of snacks.
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It’s also a cameo-packed film, which is a fun element in its own right. There’s a fantastic cameo from the Tokyo Drift crew, and Helen Mirren gets a sweet police pursuit through London, returning as Madeline Shaw. And Cardi B even makes an appearance.
5. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
If you’re a Tokyo Drift fan, you’re probably screaming one word right now: “HAN!”
Released three years after 2 Fast 2 Furious, the film marks the arrival of director Justin Lin and fan-favourite Sung Kang as Han. And while the original cast members like Walker and Rodriguez don’t make an appearance in this one, there’s a cheeky Diesel cameo.
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Instead, Tokyo Drift hinges around high schooler Sean Boswell (Lucas Black), a wise-talkin’ cowboy and street racer with a big problem with authority. Sent to Tokyo after pulverising a rich student bully in a street race to Kid Rock’s “Bawitdaba,” Sean spends much of Tokyo Drift in a “fish out of water” state before finding his comfort zone through new friend Twinkie (Bow Wow) — the underground street racing world.
Honestly, the script is pretty damn terrible — “Boys: all they care about is who’s got the biggest engine” — and the “romantic” storyline between teen Sean and his classmate Neela (Nathalie Kelley) is dull at best, but the driving stuntwork in Tokyo Drift is near unbeatable. As the title suggests, the film is a shrine to drifting, with plenty of learning montages, unfathomably fast garage races, and that Shibuya crossing drift, all leading to the final mountain race with bad guy and Yazuka heir Takashi “Drift King” Kamata (Brian Tee) — one watched by onlookers on their tiny flip phones.
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The real star of Tokyo Drift, though, is Kang, who Lin had worked with on 2002’s Better Luck Tomorrow. Amid Sean’s teen problems, Han shines through as the good guy behind the big bad, while losing himself in hedonism for reasons that become apparent in Fast & Furious 6. Han’s time is cut short, however, showing Sean the ropes before tragically dying in a crash that’ll be explained as a decoy in later films.
4. Fast X
Two words: Jason Momoa. For the first part of the final chapter of the Fast franchise, the Aquaman star steals the entire show as the theatrical Dante Reyes in Fast X. As the vengeful son of the Brazilian crime lord the crew robbed and killed in Fast Five, Momoa leads this action-packed extravaganza with all the silk scrunchies and unhinged one-liners we can eat.
Dante is hell-bent on destroying anyone involved with his father’s demise, which means Dom’s Family, and particularly his young son Little B (Leo Abelo Perry). As Mashable’s Film Editor Kristy Puchko writes, “Momoa refuses to be forgotten. Where they zig, he zags, creating a foe that is fearsome, but more classic Disney villain than dastardly Dom doppelganger.”
Credit: Universal Studios
With director Louis Leterrier putting every last dollar of its $340 million budget to good use, Fast X‘s stunts are nothing short of spectacular. From Dante’s remote controlled terrorist attack on Rome and Vatican City to an explosive street race in Rio, all the way to the final showdown involving two tankers and a dam, Fast X is an extremely ridiculous and fun ride.
And we haven’t even mentioned all those cameos.
3. Furious 7 (2015)
“Dom, cars don’t fly.” Watching Diesel drive a $3.4 million dollar Lykan HyperSport through not one but two of Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Towers is, genuinely, just one of the major stunts in Furious 7. But folks, it’s fucking beautiful.
From Dom and Ramsey’s Thelma and Louise cliff escape from main terrorist Jakande (Djimon Hounsou) to Brian’s Uncharted-style close call in an armored bus, to Hobbs breaking out of his own cast with a flex, to the frenetic final showdown on “the streets we know best” in downtown Los Angeles, Furious 7 is one hell of a ride.
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We’ve got lavish, Ocean’s 11-style party scenes that end in a fight between Letty and UFC icon Ronda Rousey as royal henchwoman Kara. We’ve got the introduction of Emmanuel as savvy hacker Ramsey (unfortunately also with the beginning of Tej and Roman’s useless battle for her affections).
Furious 7 boasts both one of the best villains in the whole series and the most underused, with Statham smashing into the franchise on a quest for revenge as Deckard Shaw and casually pulling a grenade at the dinner table. He’s working alongside a severely underwritten Djimon Hounsou as Jakande, who barely gets a look-in except for the final batshit sequence in LA.
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Importantly, the film remembers its roots, with several references to the original film — Brian “going old school” by doing Letty’s under-the-truck stunt from The Fast and the Furious, and Brian and Mia reminiscing crappy tuna sandwiches. Furious 7 also marks Walker’s final film, as the actor tragically died during its production, and the film’s final tribute to the actor and send-off of Brian’s character is beautifully done, all scored with Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s heart-puncher “See You Again.” As Dom says, “It’s never goodbye.”
2. Fast Five (2011)
Arguably best heist film in the Fast franchise, Fast Five is a surefire action home run with director Justin Lin back at the helm.
With our heroes hiding out in Rio de Janeiro, Fast Five sees Dom, Brian, and Mia running not only from the FBI but big bad drug lord Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida). The action here reinvents classic action sequences, kicking things off with nothing less than a great train robbery and ending with one of the franchise’s most iconic and destructive chases — the safe-drag scene. Fast Five parkours the franchise back on track after the sombre Fast and Furious, with a fun script, high octane stunts and combat, multiple switcheroos, and satisfying new characters.
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Fast Five boast the unsubtle introduction of DSS’ finest, Luke “put your funderwear on” Hobbs, stealing every single scene with flawless stuntwork and an endless arsenal of one-liners. He’s working alongside patrol officer Elena Neves (Elsa Pataky), who’s motivated by personal revenge and lukewarm chemistry with Dom.
Old favourites return, including original The Fast and Furious family member Vince (Matt Schulze) with every last anti-Brian shoulder chip still firmly wedged, as well as the dream heist team that will define the series going forward: Tej, Gisele, Roman, Han, Tego, and Rico. The plan? An impossible heist! Ten on the same mark! No one else is stupid enough to rob the most powerful man in Rio! With eyes and ears all over, it’s time to gather around blueprints in an abandoned warehouse and roll reconnaissance montages.
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Fast Five is so good they invented Jason Momoa’s storyline in Fast X from it. Beat that. Oh, wait…
1. The Fast and the Furious (2001)
Ask any racer — any real racer. It don’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning’s winning. And that includes this list. Directed by Rob Cohen with a $38 million budget, the original film, 2001’s The Fast and the Furious, gets the number one spot. Cast your mind back to a perpetually golden-filtered East Los Angeles, where semi-trailers were filled with Panasonic TVs ripe for the Honda Civic hijacking, Limp Bizkit was everywhere, and high-speed quarter-mile races were as extreme as things got.
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There’s a reason this film gets quoted in almost every other Fast movie — writers Ken Li, Gary Scott Thompson, and Erik Bergquist nailed it the first time.
The original cast were green as hell, but put everything they had into their performances. Fresh-faced Walker enters the scene as Brian undercover as Brian Earl Spilner — “sounds like a serial killer name” — demanding NOS from Harry at The Racer’s Edge and regularly ordering a crappy tuna on white, no crust, from his crush Mia at Toretto’s Market and Cafe. Rodriguez has a pretty relaxed start as Letty, alongside the pre-Tej engineer of the bunch Jesse (Chad Lindberg), the Billy Butcher-esque Vince, and that other guy, Leon (Johnny Strong). Some of the film’s best bits come from the chemistry between this young cast, throwing barbs in the garage about Brian’s piece of shit Toyota Supra or mocking Ja Rule’s Edwin.
As possibly the most “car film” of all the Fast movies, there’s ample respect paid to the art of customisation, with laptops, multimedia screens, and video game consoles oozing out of each car. The pristine stunt driving and sharp editing in The Fast and the Furious‘ street racing scenes would define the series from the start. Those car line-up shots in every film? The NOS ignition animations? The driver seat cams and all the trash talk that goes with them? All here.
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Granted, this was a film where women are literally credited in the role of “Hot Chick,” and there’s a few lines that haven’t aged well from the 2000s. Dom refers to Letty as “my trophy,” and Mia cleans and cooks while “the boys” watch movies, but the franchise thankfully addresses (some of) this sexist bullshit in later films.
Narrative-wise, this film beats other Fast films with its simplicity — aside from the FBI, the biggest villain is local motorbike gang leader Johnny Tran (a highly compelling Rick Yune). Far from the ISS and cyber terrorism threats of the later films, it’s a more everyday set-up: sour business deals, Corona-fuelled house parties, backyard barbecues, Race Wars in the desert, power plays within the family, all the way to the iconic final showdown between Brian and Dom. The main drama hinges on Brian keeping his cover intact, and he’s honestly pretty bad at it. But the film itself plays with the audience, waiting 35 minutes to pull the switch that Brian is a cop.
The stakes in this film are lower than they’ll ever be in this franchise, but the performances, scripting, editing, and stuntwork make it feel bigger than launching a rocket car into space. At this point in the series’ street race stakes, it’s a $2,000 buy-in, winner takes all — the crew would take home $11 million each heisting in Fast Five. The biggest “twist” in this film is genuinely truck drivers fighting back hijackers with shotguns. The biggest stunt is the final heist, which goes all kinds of wrong but ends up as one of the all-time car stunt sequences, and there’s not a drop of music.
Sure, the later films would rip apart the block and replace the piston rings, but The Fast and the Furious defined it all.
Honorable mention: Hobbs and Shaw
The first and only spinoff of the Fast saga, Hobbs and Shaw takes the two beefcake adversaries who bonded in The Fate of the Furious, Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), and sends them on a hell of a ride against big bad tech villain Brixton (Idris Elba). Director David Leitch delivers as much furious action as bravado banter between the eponymous leads. And the third lead, Deckard’s sister Hattie (Vanessa Kirby), kicks everyone’s ass.
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Now that you’ve made it this far, you owe me a 10-second car.
