If you want to say that the entire Fast & Furious series is too ridiculous and all over the place to be considered great cinema in the traditional sense, then that’s fair. That’s okay. The following ranking is going to be more positive about the series than some would argue the series deserves, though that’s because it’s easy to get fond of these movies over time, not despite their goofy qualities, but because of them. The number of movies in this series has reached double digits, and it’s been around for almost a quarter of a century at this point. The earlier films are old enough to be endearing (owing to nostalgia) on top of being entertaining, and some of the later films (admittedly, not all of them) are so over-the-top and extravagant, as action movies, that they’re sort of wonderful.
Fast & Furious is basically a big-budget and long-running soap opera complete with the usual soap opera stuff (wild twists, broad themes, characters who don’t stay dead, etc.) and also lots of action, including lots of racing in the earlier films and, well, pretty much everything else, action-wise, in the later films. The movies that represent the series at its best might not be Oscar contenders or anything, but they are still great as over-the-top action/crime/thriller/adventure movies. When the cast/family is gelling, the action is varied, the stakes are raised, and the cars are fast, this series is a damn good time. The following titles are probably the best, though if you click with any of these, it’s safe to say that you’re probably best off watching the whole series.
5
‘The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift’ (2006)
Starring: Lucas Black, Nathalie Kelley, Sung Kang
You have to be in a certain frame of mind, or feel a particular kind of nostalgia, to fully get on board with The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, the third in the series overall… but the sixth if you watch them in chronological order. Kind of. Um, yeah, this one is messy at times, and feels a little out of step with the series, considering how Vin Diesel only has a cameo in this one, and none of the other previously-introduced characters are here, but it’s more important going forward. Tokyo Drift was the first movie with Han (Sung Kang), after all, and a few other characters introduced here to make appearances later on in the series. In that sense, it works a little better in hindsight, but there’s also an argument to be made that its differences from the other movies in the series help it shine.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is visually bold, tonally melodramatic, and undeniably stylish, substance be damned.
As the title suggests, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift takes place in Tokyo, marking the first time the Fast & Furious series went international. And it does mostly stay in Tokyo, which sets it apart a little from the later Fast & Furious films that are a bit more globe-trotting in nature (multiple locations per movie, in other words). It’s about street racing, getting in and out of trouble with the yakuza, and some other things that don’t always feel super important. What is important in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is the style, and the overall energy, for lack of a better word. It’s visually bold, tonally melodramatic, and undeniably stylish, substance be damned. It’s fun, and the action, when it hits, is really well-executed, meaning it makes sense why this film’s director, Justin Lin, was brought back to helm so many other Fast & Furious movies (specifically, films #4, #5, #6, and #9).
4
‘Fast & Furious 6’ (2013)
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson
Sandwiched between what might well be the two best movies in the series, Fast & Furious 6 has some flaws, like any Fast & Furious film, but it’s also one of the most entertaining entries in the series. It’s got bombastic action that is at a level nearing breaking point, but not quite there. Even those who are quite kind on the series will probably acknowledge some Fast & Furious movies may have gone too far in a few places, and that’s subjective, so maybe some feel Fast & Furious 6 was the one that overdid things. After all, this one does admittedly have the infamous never-ending runway that the climactic action sequence is based around, which has a plane taking an absurd amount of time to actually take off.
But the action itself is still strong, and there’s something enjoyable about embracing how drawn-out, silly, and big it all is. The story has one previously “deceased” character coming back, and it’s handled a little better than later not-quite-deaths in the series. In fact, there are considerable stakes to Fast & Furious 6 and some genuine losses, though they were undone a little later on. Oh, well. At least the way this one tied into the aforementioned Tokyo Drift was cool, and the way the end of this film also teased a showdown in film #7 was undeniably effective. Fast & Furious 6 also has the word “family” spoken more than the average Fast & Furious movie, and that’s gotta count for something.
3
‘The Fast and the Furious’ (2001)
Starring: Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez
Basically a remake of Point Break (but Point Break’s great, so is that really a problem?), The Fast and the Furious was the one that started at all, even if it started a long-running series potentially by accident. As hard as it is to watch the movie without thinking about the sequels, there’s little here to indicate where the future films would go, but that can add to the experience, and isn’t automatically detrimental. It did come out this century, like all Fast & Furious movies, but The Fast and the Furious (2001) does feel like it came from another era, and that’s sort of endearing and undoubtedly nostalgic. The humble beginnings of it all are rather admirable.
But yeah, the plot is very much Point Break, with an undercover cop (Paul Walker) beginning to feel a kinship with Dom and his crew, even if they’re the people he’s supposed to take down. The ending leaves things open for sequels, to some extent, albeit without insisting or even suggesting what those sequels could do. That did ensure the first few follow-ups were a bit all-over-the-place. 2 Fast 2 Furious is too divisive to be considered an undisputed classic, but it ups the ante and suggested more silliness would be good for the series (it ended up being right), and then Tokyo Drift, as mentioned before, wasn’t super connected to the other films, at least at first. But there are core characters and ideas introduced here, in the first movie, that are obviously important in later ones, and you have to admire what did ultimately grow out of the seemingly modest seeds planted here, all the way back in 2001.
2
‘Furious 7’ (2015)
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson
With a particularly impressive cast and the biggest emotional highs in the series to date, Furious 7 probably sits quite high in most personal rankings of the Fast & Furious series. This one had to deal with Paul Walker’s untimely death, which meant bidding Brian farewell within the context of the film’s story, and the film, in a broader sense, having to tribute Walker and what he’d brought to the series over the years. Paul Walker was still featured in some scenes in the film, though others had to use body doubles and some honestly rather impressive visual effects to give the impression that Walker had filmed all the scenes Brian appears in.
Even without real-life events necessitating certain story beats, Furious 7 is pretty heightened and impactful on an emotional front, dealing with the aftermath of events from Fast & Furious 6 and Tokyo Drift, all in a way that could’ve been a good endpoint for the series. In hindsight, Furious 7 is the best place to finish, since the series without Brian isn’t quite the same, and the other emotional things that are touched upon here are undone/rewritten in subsequent films. With the ending focused on bidding Brian farewell, it also feels conclusive, and there aren’t any cliffhangers because that would distract from the emotional impact of what really matters here. There’s fun to be had with some films after Furious 7, but there were highs reached here that probably won’t ever be equaled in any future Fast & Furious movies.
1
‘Fast Five’ (2011)
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster
The fourth Fast & Furious movie helped establish where the series could start heading, and it laid out some important groundwork that paid off immensely with Fast Five. Some might prefer the style of Tokyo Drift, or have the most admiration for the first movie kicking everything off, but Fast Five feels like the most perfect the series has ever been, and probably ever will be. The cliffhanger from the previous movie is addressed almost straight away, and ensures Fast Five hits the ground running… or driving. And then it never really slows down, morphing into an impressive and consistently entertaining heist movie.
Fast Five is also where all the characters really come together for the first time (from the previous four movies; all of them) and the family begins to feel like a real, you know, family. It’s got more than one strong antagonist, too, and probably the best action sequences in the entire series to date. It builds superbly on the movies that came before (even the less-than-great ones), and also sets up ways to keep the extravagance going, with Fast & Furious 6, as mentioned before, getting even more bombastic. But for riding the line between the Fast & Furious of old and the newer/sillier ones, Fast Five feels like the perfect middle ground, and it’s honestly not a stretch to call it one of the best action movies of the 2010s.
