Michelle Rodriguez recently announced that Fast X – the upcoming 10th installment in the mainline Fast & Furious series (and the 11th overall) – is just a few weeks away from wrapping production. In the meantime, the franchise has plenty of previous films that can be enjoyed again and again.
From the original classic The Fast and the Furious to the pandemic-era hit F9, The Fast Saga has treated fans to plenty of action-packed gems over the years. Some of those movies, like Fast Five, warrant more revisits than others, like 2 Fast 2 Furious.
Fast & Furious (2009)
The fourth installment in the saga, Fast & Furious, revamped the franchise after Tokyo Drift felt like more of a spin-off. It’s more of a direct sequel (although it’s technically a prequel), bringing back the central dynamic of Dom and Brian.
Fast & Furious is let down by mediocre action scenes that don’t go above and beyond like the explosive set-pieces that would make the saga’s subsequent installments so popular.
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
Brian went off on an adventure of his own in the second movie, 2 Fast 2 Furious. Paul Walker shared palpable chemistry with Tyrese Gibson in his debut as Roman Pearce, but his bromance with Dom was sorely missed in the first Fast & Furious sequel.
John Singleton’s goofy, lighthearted approach to 2 Fast 2 Furious set the tone for the rest of the sequels. But the uninspired script is just a jumble of tired action movie clichés.
F9 (2021)
The most recent entry in the series, F9, is sadly one of its weakest. The franchise finally went to space in its ninth outing, and it might have finally gotten too big and ridiculous for its own good. Sequences like a giant slingshot shooting cars across a jungle ravine are too far-fetched to be truly enjoyable.
Han’s return from the dead didn’t live up to the hype and F9 is dragged down by an overlong runtime pushing two-and-a-half hours. Action movies work best when they’re brisk and breezy. F9 is neither brisk nor breezy.
The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
The third movie (and the one that messed up the story timeline for years) is a standalone installment. Tokyo Drift is the last Fast & Furious film that was just about street racing. It’s not a particularly well-made movie, but it’s still a lot of fun.
Thankfully, Tokyo Drift has more than enough vehicular action – including a gripping downhill race sequence – to make up for the lack of Toretto.
Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
Fast Five was a difficult act to follow. Fast & Furious 6 isn’t quite as masterfully crafted as its predecessor, but it’s even bigger in scale. Fast Five was largely confined to one city, but the sixth movie is a globetrotting adventure in the vein of the James Bond franchise.
There’s a fun middle-act jaunt to London and the movie culminates in a thrilling climactic sequence set across the longest airport runway on Earth (calculated to be about 26 miles long).
The Fate Of The Furious (2017)
The creatively titled eighth installment in the franchise, The Fate of the Furious, puts an intriguing twist on the formula: Dom reluctantly turns his back on his family to work for a cyberterrorist.
The script surprisingly makes this unconventional premise work. Cipher’s unrealistic movie hacking paves the way for some outside-the-box action scenes, like taking control of every car in New York City.
Hobbs & Shaw (2019)
The franchise’s first spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw, is essentially a Fast & Furious “buddy cop” movie (or a “buddy mercenary” movie). Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham anchor the movie with hilarious on-screen chemistry.
Stuntman-turned-director David Leitch, one of the most acclaimed action filmmakers working today, brings riveting direction to the proceedings to back it up, with dedicated stunt work and dizzying camera movements.
The Fast And The Furious (2001)
The movie that started it all still holds up as one of the series’ finest entries. The Fast and the Furious is a thinly veiled rip-off of Point Break with surfing switched out for illegal street racing.
But the derivative storytelling is redeemed by Vin Diesel and Paul Walker’s impeccable chemistry as a street racer and the undercover agent sent to take him down. Much like Keanu Reeves’ palpable dynamic with Patrick Swayze in Point Break, The Fast and the Furious works because the bromance rings true.
Furious 7 (2015)
The producers had to completely retool Furious 7 in the middle of production after the untimely passing of franchise star Paul Walker. The movie ended up being turned into the ultimate tribute to the late actor. It’s impossible not to tear up in the film’s heartbreaking final moments when Brian races Dom one last time to the sounds of Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again.”
On top of the emotional resonance of Walker’s send-off, director James Wan’s eye-popping camerawork keeps Furious 7’s action scenes engaging. When Dwayne Johnson tackles a bad guy, the camera goes down with them.
Fast Five (2011)
The film that turned The Fast Saga from a middling action movie franchise into a must-see blockbuster extravaganza, Fast Five, is one of the greatest action movies of the 21st century so far. Fast Five opens with Brian and Mia springing Dom from a prison bus and it only gets more exhilarating from there.
The crew goes to Rio de Janeiro to pull off a daring heist. This movie is filled with visceral action scenes that never get old, from an intense police shootout to a foot chase across the rooftops of a favela. There’s breathtaking practical stunt work in the finale with cars dragging a secure vault through the streets of Rio.