Fast and Furious Movies Ranked

Fast and Furious Movies Ranked

The Fast and Furious franchise is one of my favorite movie franchises of all time. This past weekend the 10th movie in the franchise, F9, dropped in theaters. In today’s blog post I’m going to be ranking all 10 Fast and Furious movies. Remember, I reviewed the movies leading up to the release of F9, so if you want my extended thoughts on these movies. Go check those reviews out, and let’s get started talking about cars!

10. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift: This movie has just always fallen flat for me, and I’ve never cared about this movie. For me the biggest issue with this movie is the fact that it feels like separate movies. One movie is about a high school kid trying to start over with his life after he gets in trouble in the USA, and moves in with his father in Tokyo, then gets wrapped up in street racing. But they introduce a plot line about a Tokyo mob, and the two feel a lonely imbalance. Also, none of the characters here are really likable or connectable. This is a weak performance by Lucas Black, who just doesn’t give off the vibe of a high schooler at all. He also doesn’t look like a high schooler. It is nice to see Han in this movie, he’s a fun character and he was the best part about this movie. Also, the street racing aspect of this movie doesn’t really work, they are boring and forgettable. So we are in a Fast and Furious movie with a bad story, characters, and forgettable car racing. It is a bit interesting that it is chronological. It is out of order, but honestly not a good movie. 

9. Fast and Furious: To be honest, this movie is tied with the movie above. This is probably the better mad movie, but the other one is probably more entertaining. But this is also the movie that I’m most split on. I like that it feels like a nice return to form for the franchise. Where Brian and Dom are back together, and it feels more like classic Fast and Furious. And the stuff that I enjoy from Fast and Furious. I think the ideas of the movie are also pretty good, where Brian returns to the FBI, Dom getting revenge, and both of those plot lines coming together. But I think the script here could have used some work, and there was a writers strike that happened when they were writing this movie. But with the death at the beginning, it’s important to the story but they don’t let it sink in at all. So it seemed like the movie could have used about 10-15 minutes of plot, and it could have helped. Also, one of the best things about this franchise is the bromance between Dom and Brian, and when they are enemies for about 65% of the movie, it sucks some of the joy out of it. 

8. 2 Fast 2 Furious: Now, this is a movie that has no shortage of entertainment. It’s a movie that is never boring, there is plenty of humor and fun and dynamic car action to keep you entertained in this movie. The introduction of the Roman character is great, and he’s just a fun and loud mouth character that steals every scene that he is in. But I think the actual plot of this movie is a bit underwhelming. Right off the bat, I find the set-up for this movie with Brain going undercover feels similar to the plot of the original movie. And I wish they came up with a better set-up for this movie. The way the plots unfold are very different though. The villain of the movie, I don’t think really. The actor and the characterization for the character didn't work, and it felt generic the way it all played out. Also, Eva Mendes’ character in the movie feels odd and didn’t fit in the mix of everything going on. Finally, I think the style and the soundtrack for this movie really hurt the movie, and it feels very dated. 

NOTE: As we go into the top 7, I would go positive on all of them. But besides Tokyo Drift, I have a lot of fun with these movies. So number 8 and 9 have a number of issues, but still have fun with them. But I would recommend the top 7. 

7. The Fast and the Furious: On re-watch, I forgot how good this movie was. This movie was a very solid quick off to the franchise. They established a great set of characters with Brian and Dom, and it starts their relationship that is a major piece through-out this franchise. This was the movie that made Vin Diesel this a-list movie star for the past 20 years. The car action in this movie is very dynamic and fun, and you feel like you are in the cars with these characters. Since this movie is 20 years old, all of the car action had to be practical. And I think it adds something to action when you know that the action was actually doing this, and no CGI was involved. Now, where this one does get knocked back is the villains aren’t very good. They felt like they wanted to add a villain into the movie, but didn’t come up with a good one. He could be removed from the movie, and the plot wouldn’t have changed. Like 2 Fast 2 Furious, I don’t think the style really worked. But in general, if this movie is in the middle of the list then this is a great franchise. 

6. Fast and Furious 6: This one has always been the weakest of Fast and Furious 5-8, but still being a very good and fun movie. A movie that builds upon the stupidity from Fast Five. It has some great action inside of it, and it’s some of the largest scale action in any Fast and Furious movie. The tank chase towards the end is great, and the finale on the runway is great. It’s also just a lot of fun to see the group come together, Roman and Hobbs get some funny moments. Dwayne Johnson is just as sarcastic as he’s every been, and gets some dumb one liners that still work. But I think the movie has some issues that hold it back. First, the middle act here drags a little bit. The movie starts strong and it ends strong. But what happens in the middle act is just forgettable to me. And I don’t know if having a team as the villains was a good idea, because it means that the side villains are underdeveloped. And the twist with Gina Carano’s character doesn’t really work. But still, this is an entertaining movie that is still very good, just not a top contender for number 1 in my opinion. Even though this movie is at number 6, this is still a B+ movie for me, so I still really like this movie and think it’s great. 

5. Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw: Now Fast and Furious 5-8 are all pretty dumb movies, but this might be dumber then either of those four movies. Every action scene, every line that is said between Hobbs and Shaw is pretty ridiculous, but that’s the fun of the movie. The finale of the movie has The Rock holding onto a truck and a chain that is attached to a helicopter, it’s dumb but it’s fun to see. You also have to talk about the chemistry and dynamic between Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, where for 2 hours straight they just throw insults at one another and it’s hilarious to see these two actors doing this sort of thing. Vanessa Kirby is a great edition who gets in on the action and even says some one liners that really work. Idris Elba is a very good villain inside of the franchise, and where they end his character could set up a really interesting way to go for a sequel. So in general, this is a very entertaining edition to the franchise that works on almost every level. But I think the movie doesn’t really feel like Fast and Furious and it holds the movie back. But still, I really like this movie and it is one of the better movies of the franchise. 

4. The Fate of the Furious: This is actually the first Fast and Furious movie that I’ve ever seen in the theater, and I’ve always really dug this movie. Which seems to be a bit of an unpopular opinion, because it seems to be the most divisive movie on this list. It has plenty of the big action that you want from this franchise, the finale with the submarine is just so much fun. But the big stand-out of this movie is Jason Statham’s action scene in the plane, and it’s one of the best action sequences of the entire franchise. The dynamic between Hobbs and Shaw is on point in this movie and they get some really funny moments just the two of them. And Charlize Theron is a great edition to this franchise as Cipher, and curious to see where they go with her character in F9. But, I think the tone of this movie is a bit unbalanced where it has dumb action moments with a really dark scene in the middle of the movie. But in general, I still really like this movie. It’s a movie that is a whole lot of fun, and I think I have nostalgia for the fact that this is the first movie in the franchise that I saw in the franchise. 

3. Fast Five: A movie that is one of the stupidest movies I have ever seen, but also one of the most fun movies I have ever seen. The concept of having a heist film with fast cars inside of this franchise, is ridiculous and it’s awesome. The third act of this movie is Dom and Brian pulling a safe through the streets of Rio, while they are driving in sports cars. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but that’s just the fun of it. The addition of The Rock is great, and it makes everything better. Where he just says these lines, that are stupid as can be. But with how smooth and cool Johnson is, he can pull them off so well. It’s also just a super funny movie that just works, all of the humor lands. Roman and Tej get some absolutely funny moments when they first reunite, and the ensemble for this movie is just a lot of fun. And it’s a movie that gave this franchise an extra dose of energy, so easily this is one of the high points in the franchise. 

2. F9: I know this movie isn’t beloved on the internet, but I had an absolute blast watching this movie. I was never bored while watching this movie, there was always an action sequence, a joke, or something happening on screen to keep me entertained in this movie. By the end of the year, this might be the most fun movie of the year. But the biggest positive about this movie is that it delivers on what the trailers promised. I went into this movie wanting a big dumb action movie with crazy action and stunts. And I got plenty of that in this movie. It also finds a new way to explore family, and it’s the most time that we’ve spent learning about Dom’s backstory, so it gave some nice character development for the Dom character. It’s also a movie that is very self-aware, Roman makes jokes about what the audience is thinking while we watch this movie. So I had an absolute blast watching this movie, I was never bored while watching this movie. And this movie really does set up ways to go Fast and Furious 10. 

1. Furious 7: This has always been a movie that I absolutely love, and think it’s the most well rounded of The Fast and Furious movies. Where it has the big action that you enjoy from this franchise, but also some really great character moments that are emotional. I mean this movie does a fantastic job of closing out Brian’s story with the unfortunate passing of Paul Walker. And every time I watch it, I get misty eyed because with the song that is played and the way the scene plays out it’s one of the best scenes of the franchise. Some of the best action in this movie is in this franchise where it’s shot very well. The stand-out being the chase in the forest where Dom and friends rescue Ramsey from Djimon Hounsou’s character. And it’s always fun to see Jason Statham in these types of movies, he can be fun and just great with the action. Kurt Russell is a great edition as this fun mysterious character. And Russell brings his swagger that he brings to roles. So put all of it together, this is my favorite of The Fast and Furious movies. 

There you have it, my ranking of the 10 Fast and Furious movies. How would you rank the Fast and Furious movies? Thanks for reading!