Every Fast & Furious Movie, Ranked

It seems like the Fast & Furious is finally coming to an end, maybe. Fast & Furious 11 will be released next year as the second instalment of a seemingly final trilogy, as the curtains begin to close on the adventures of Dom Toretto and family.

The ride has been sometimes exciting, sometimes utterly ridiculous and others utterly rubbish in the 23 years since the original film was released. Naturally, we’ve decided to rank every film in the franchise to date.

Oh, and we’re talking plot points so spoiler alert, obviously. Please seal any complaints in a Corona bottle.

10. Fast X

Not all that shockingly, the most recent entry into the Fast franchise is also quite easily our least favourite. It won’t be the last film, but we probably wouldn’t have been too upset if it had been.

There is a plot in there somewhere, but good luck picking it out among the OTT action sequences even by Fast standards and insistence on shoehorning in ‘shocking’ returns – we’re still unsure how Gal Gadot’s Gisele survives falling from a plane in the sixth film. Oh and speaking of plane survivals, let’s just agree now the crew will somehow make it out of *that* plane crash cliffhanger.

To its credit, Jason Momoa carries the whole film with his eccentric performance as antagonist Dante Reyes. There is a small bit of hope for Fast 11…

9. Fast 9

It’s hard to outright call Fast 9 a better film than Fast X, so maybe less worse is a more apt description.

It does have a few saving graces – the return of Han tugs on our heartstrings and the explanation for his survival of not one, but two deaths, is interesting if ridiculous. The space-bound Fiero is stupid enough to be genuinely quite funny, too.

Again, the plot itself feels weak though and seemingly served entirely as an excuse to get John Cena on screen.

8. Fast & Furious

Honestly, 2009’s Fast & Furious is quite a forgettable 107 minutes of cinema. It signalled a soft reboot of the franchise and would set the tone of the film swinging away from street racing towards elaborate global counter-terrorism but otherwise, there’s not a whole lot to say about it.

Brian O'Conner suddenly working with the FBI again with no explanation was a strange way to kick things off, and oh boy you’ll be shocked by how that one turns out. Oh, and there’s Letty’s tragic death. Only, we all know how that actually went…

7. Fast & Furious 8

Fast & Furious 8 (The Fate of The Furious as you’ll know it in the US, or even better if you’re in Japan, as Wild Speed: Ice Break) was the first film to be without Brian O’Conner following the sad passing of Paul Walker, and it raised questions of how the franchise would look going forward.

The answer was to turn Dom Toretto against his beloved family, but it never quite made sense. Here was a man who had spent the entire franchise (barring his absence from 2 Fast and a brief cameo in Tokyo Drift) preaching their importance only to try and take them all down. It all turns out is because his former love interest Elena is being held hostage, but the whole thing felt tenuous at best.

Still, at least we get to watch a Dodge Charger get turned into a mobile EMP. Naturally.

6. Fast & Furious 6

The sixth film is the first time Toretto and the gang truly go global, leaving the Americas for Europe for the first time. Unfortunately for them, it means a stop in London.

It was also the first truly, truly ridiculous plot for the franchise, signalling the point where the crew switches from criminals to freelance agents.

There are some standout moments, like Jason Statham as Shaw driving the notorious flip car and *that* OTT chase scene with Brian’s wonderful Ford Escort. Again though, the plot largely felt like a vehicle to shoehorn big names and explosions more than anything.

5. Fast & Furious 7

No matter your view on the whole series, Fast 7 always has a small place in our hearts as the last film to star Paul Walker. That closing scene is still a bit of a tear-jerker, especially once you find out that white Supra was one of Walker’s own cars.

Really, the rest of the film doesn’t matter but it does have a few appropriately ridiculous moments. Jumping a Lykan Hypersport between two skyscrapers is still one of the best stunts we’ve seen in cinema no matter how unrealistic it is.

4. Fast Five

Let’s say it now, we might even go as far as to say Fast Five was a good film. Shocking, really, but it’s true.

It had that sweet spot of Vin Diesel and Paul Walker’s on-screen chemistry at its best without everything happening around them being completely out of the realms of realism. If we ignore the scene with two Dodge Chargers towing a gigantic steel safe through Rio Dan Janeiro, anyway.

3. 2 Fast 2 Furious

To us at least, Fast & Furious can be split into two parts – the first three, and then the rest. The stunts may have got more polished, ridiculous and more appealing to those of us who aren’t car nerds, but nothing will beat the original three for us.
2 Fast 2 Furious is probably the weakest of the trio, and crucially lacks Dom Toretto, but it’s still an iconic part of early ‘00s car culture. And one of two reasons (the other being Gran Turismo) that R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R prices have skyrocketed in recent years.

Really, 2 Fast could’ve existed as a standalone from the rest of the series but it does also serve as an origin story for Ludacris’ Tej and Tyrese Gibson as Roman. Oh, and there’s a few rumours floating around that Suki could be returning for Fast 11, and hopefully with her S2000.

2. The Fast and the Furious

It’s contentious that we’ve put the original film as the second-best, but that’s no discredit to The Fast and the Furious.

Long before the series became an explosion celeb-fest, here was a film giving street racing a focus it had never had before. The plot was simple and effective – Dom Toretto’s street racing and crime gang being hunted by an undercover FBI agent, Brian O’Conner. The plot twist of O’Conner defecting is predictable yet satisfying, and nothing in the series beats that final Charger vs Supra drag race. Save perhaps for Race Wars.

1. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

We’ll fight to the death over this if we have to, but Tokyo Drift is and forever will be the best film in the Fast & Furious franchise.

Initially a complete spin-off, with zero returning characters save for Vin Diesel’s late cameo, it shone a light on the Japanese street racing scene. The vibe was immaculate, the cars exceptional and the racing scenes the best of any. Plus, where else would you have seen an RB26-swapped Mustang?

Obviously, its plot would later be leveraged for the return of Han, Sean and Shad but as a standalone piece of content, none in the franchise matches Tokyo Drift. We’re still waiting for the return of the Hulkmobile, though.