The eighth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise, Fate of the Furious, hits theaters April 14. Naturally, we watched every film to determine which movie was the fastest and furious-est of them all. We took notes on the car flips, the quips and the man tears spilled over Corona beers, ranking everything.
Some people may think these movies are all the same, but each one is unique with a diverse array of muscles and motors. The series that began as a somewhat realistic look at illegal street racing evolved into something akin to a superhero franchise. In case you haven’t seen them, here’s what happens in each one:
The Fast and the Furious (2001): A crew of elite street racers is infiltrated by an undercover cop
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003): An undercover cop and friend use knowledge of elite street racing crews to bring down a drug lord
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006): A crew of elite street racers in Tokyo initiates an American teenager
Fast & Furious (2009): A crew of elite street racers (and an FBI agent) avenge the murder of one of their own
Fast Five (2011): A crew of elite street racers pulls one last job to buy its freedom
Fast & Furious 6 (2013): A crew of elite street racers pulls one last job to save one of its own
Furious 7 (2015): A crew of elite street racers pulls one last job to avenge the murder of one of its own
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Best Stunts
From the most ridiculous inside-the-engine CGI to that time they actually wrecked 300 cars in one scene.
7. 2 Fast 2 Furious
Driving a car onto a yacht sounds like a stunt from Miami Vice, but the first sequel went there.
6. The Fast and the Furious
Sure, in later movies the crew would have just blown up this semi, and absolutely nobody would have been wearing a helmet as they jump from car to car. But the first Fast opened up the audience’s eyes to what planned recklessness could do—including driving under trucks.
5. Fast & Furious
Fans complained about the CGI in this film, especially this scene of Dom (Vin Diesel) driving under a fiery tanker. However, the stunt did give audiences their first glimpse at director Justin Lin’s ambition when it came to action. That ambition paid out in his fifth and sixth entries.
4. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
This movie introduced drifting, a technique that was used throughout the rest of the series. Tokyo Drift was the last time fans got real high-stakes driving without bells and whistles like explosions and fireworks.
3. Fast Five
After Fast & Furious, Lin was determined to make Fast Five look as real as possible. The car that crashed into the train? They really did that. The two guys jumping off a cliff Butch Cassidy-style? That was real too, though stunt doubles were used. The safe the gang drags through Rio? Real, albeit lighter than your average giant safe.
2. Furious 7
They really did drop 5 cars from a plane at 12,000 feet, and yet that stunt is upstaged by a CGI moment: Dom and Brian (Paul Walker) crash through two skyscrapers with a car. Still, the skyscraper scene was one of those rare moments when everyone in the theater yells, “Oh my God!” twice.
1. Fast & Furious 6
A testament to Lin’s new commitment to reality: A real tank crushed real cars, and the film crew built a fake airplane to film the final, epic moment on the runway. (Yes, the runway would have had to have been 29.3 miles long for this scene to work in real life, but stop nitpicking!)
Fastest to Furious-ness
How long do you have to wait until things get fast?
7. Furious 7
5:47 min.
6. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
5:45 min.
5. 2 Fast 2 Furious
4:01 min.
4. The Fast and the Furious
1:46 min.
3. Fast & Furious
1:36 min.
2. Fast Five
1:19 min.
1. Fast & Furious 6
0:00 min.
Number of Cars Harmed While Making This Picture
The Fast & Furious franchise totaled hundreds of real cars in production.
7. The Fast and the Furious
78 cars
6. 2 Fast 2 Furious
130 cars
5. Fast & Furious
190 cars
4. Furious 7
230 cars
3. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
249 cars
2. Fast Five
260 cars
1. Fast & Furious 6
400 cars (est.)
Sources: The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, IGN
Best Cameo
Sometimes cameos can push the plot forward or establish new characters (Eva Mendes, Vin Diesel, Jason Statham), and sometimes they’re just cameos (Iggy Azalea).
7. Fast & Furious
This movie was too preoccupied with reuniting Vin Diesel and Paul Walker to bother with a cameo.
6. 2 Fast 2 Furious
Fashion model Devon Aoki plays a street racer.
5. The Fast and the Furious
Ja Rule appeared in the first movie and wrote its theme song.
4. Furious 7
The biggest movie to date was filled with cameos: Romeo Santos hosts Brian’s family at his house, while Iggy Azalea and Ronda Rousey’s small roles place the movie firmly in 2015.
3. Fast & Furious 6
While it was tragic to watch Han’s death (again), what better villain to kill him than one played by Jason Statham? His cameo set up his bigger role in the next film. (If you thought you recognized the girl who said, “Ready, set, go” in London that’s because Rita Ora had a cameo too.)
2. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Vin Diesel reportedly traded a cameo at the very end of Tokyo Drift for the rights to the Riddick franchise, payment of sorts. Though Dom sauntering onscreen to call Han “family” might have seemed like a throwaway line at the time, it sets up an important and somewhat complicated timeline for the future films.
1. Fast Five
Eva Mendes reprises her role from 2 Fast 2 Furious in a mid-credits scene to reveal—spoiler alert—that Letty’s alive! “Do you believe in ghosts?”
Most Speeches About Family
The franchise is really about how renegades construct a family for themselves. And if you’ve paid attention to any of Vin Diesel’s speeches in the Fast franchise you know that he especially is all about family.
7. 2 Fast 2 Furious
0 speeches (maybe because Vin Diesel isn’t in this movie?)
6. The Fast and the Furious
1 speech
4. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and Fast & Furious (tied)
2 speeches
3. Fast Five
4 speeches
2. Furious 7
5 speeches
1. Fast & Furious 6
6 speeches
Most Bitchin' Wheels
An extremely scientific ranking of the best cars in every movie.
7. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Ford Mustang
6. Fast & Furious 6
Nissan GT-R
5. Fast & Furious
Acura NSX
4. Furious 7
Lykan Hypersport
3. Fast Five
Ford GT40
2. 2 Fast 2 Furious
Nissan Skyline
1. The Fast and the Furious
Dodge Charger
Most Ridiculously Implausible Moment
7. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
So many questions: Why are the streets so empty? How could Han tell there were women in that car from a block away? Whose number did they give him? And isn’t that really bad for his tires?
6. The Fast and the Furious
Brian and Dom race past a train, and then Dom flips his car. Considering that in an earlier film a similar accident actually resulted in serious injury, Dom would have certainly died in this scene.
5. 2 Fast 2 Furious
Roman’s (Tyrese Gibson) car comes equipped with an “ejecto seato” straight out of a bad James Bond movie.
4. Fast Five
We’re fairly certain you cannot control where a giant safe might go when you make a hairpin turn.
3. Fast & Furious
Brian holds the bad guy’s foot so he can’t run away while Dom crashes into him. In real life, this is a great way to lose an arm.
2. Furious 7
How did Letty even know Brian was climbing up that bus or when to turn her car? And wouldn’t Brian be screaming, “Did you see that?!?!” for the rest of the movie? (The Rock Hulk-ing his cast off just with his muscles is a close runner-up.)
1. Fast & Furious 6
Dom catches Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) in mid-air going at least 60 mph, and yet they still land on a car like it’s a bouncy house. It looks like makeup didn’t even bother to paint fake scratches and bruises on the actors.
Best Quip
Leave it to the Fast family to make light of a deadly situation.
7. Fast & Furious
Gisele (Gal Gadot) to Dom: “Are you one of those boys who prefers cars to women?”
6. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Neela (Nathalie Kelley): “Boys. All they care about is who’s got the biggest engine.”
5. Fast Five
Chato: “Good news or bad news?”
Agent Hobbs (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson): “You know I like my dessert first.”
4. The Fast and the Furious
Agent Bilkins (Thom Barry) to Brian: “You want time? Buy the magazine!”
3. 2 Fast 2 Furious
Roman to Brian: “Don’t even think about taking the convertible. It might loosen your mousse.”
2. Furious 7
Letty: “Did you bring the cavalry?”
Agent Hobbs: “Woman, I am the cavalry.”
1. Fast & Furious 6
Tej (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges) to the rest of the crew: “Plan B? We need a plan C, D, E. We need more alphabets!”
Best Song
True fans will say the Furious 7 theme song wins for emotional resonance—and chart dominance. But how do the rest of these Furious tracks stack up?
7. Fast & Furious
“Blanco” by Pitbull featuring Pharrell
6. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
“Tokyo Drift” by Teriyaki Boys
5. The Fast and the Furious
4. Fast & Furious 6
“We Own It” by Wiz Khalifa, 2 Chainz
3. 2 Fast 2 Furious
2. Fast Five
“How We Roll” by Don Omar featuring Busta Rhymes, J-Doe and Reek da Villain
1. Furious 7
Manliest Tears
This action franchise knows how to pump the breaks for an emotional moment.
7. Fast & Furious
Brian admits to Mia why he let Dom go in the first film.
6. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Sean’s father says he’s proud of Sean for not making the same mistakes he did.
5. Fast Five
Brian tells Dom he’s anxious about being an absent father after he finds out Mia’s pregnant.
4. 2 Fast 2 Furious
Brian and Roman reminisce about growing up poor, playing football in the dirt and who’s to blame for their lives going south.
3. Fast & Furious 6
Brian tears up when he finds out how his decision to put Letty undercover led to her accident and memory loss.
2. The Fast and the Furious
Dom admits his fear of losing control after his father’s death: “I watched my dad burn to death.”
1. Furious 7
The final, wrenching goodbye between Dom and Brian.
The Fastest and Furious-est of Them All
7. 2 Fast 2 Furious
This movie doesn’t have enough Diesel.
6. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Tokyo Drift is an outlier, too far removed from the franchise’s beloved cast.
5. Fast & Furious
Despite its confusing title, subbing an ampersand for “and,” the movie profitably returned to the series’ roots.
4. Fast & Furious 6
Bringing back Letty from the dead was an impressive twist.
3. The Fast and the Furious
The movie that started it all.
1. Fast Five and Furious 7 (tied)
Fast Five is the first film to bring the characters from all the other movies together and create a true “family.” (It’s also the first one with a “fresh” Rotten Tomatoes score. The Rock was a brilliant addition to the cast. His over-the-top fight scene with Diesel (along with the ludicrous stunts) indicated that the series had developed a much-needed sense of humor about itself.
But for sheer emotional tour de force, no movie in the franchise measures up to Furious 7. Walker died during the making of the film, and the end is a deeply moving tribute to the actor. On screen, the stunts are bigger than ever. Though there’s too little of the Rock in this movie, Statham more than makes up for it as a villain just as determined to avenge his family as Diesel. When it comes to box office, Furious 7 raked in $1.5 billion worldwide.
