Fast & Furious is one of the highest-grossing and longest-running action franchises of all time. What started out as a simple street racing movie turned into a movie that borrowed a lot from it Point Break it has now morphed into a massive global brand and multimedia franchise that includes spin-offs, animated series and theme park attractions. It’s hard to believe that at one point this franchise seemed like a runaway and early 2000s relic to now be one of Universal Pictures’ most iconic franchises.
The franchise will end with the last two films, the first quick x which will be released on May 19, 2023. Universal Pictures has been promoting the film, with the first trailer premiering at Super Bowl LVII. The studio has also been releasing legacy trailers for each previous installment, making audiences nostalgic for the end of the main series. With that in mind, take a look back at the best car chases and action pieces from the franchise and see why this series has endured for over twenty years.
6 oil tanker – Fast & Furious
while The Fast & Furious: Toyko Drift has its fair share of fans, it was seen as a disappointment at the box office that Universal Studios decided to relaunch the series by reuniting the original cast for Fast & Furious. The franchise was meant to make a big impression, and so the opening action scene of the film informed the audience exactly how big the franchise had grown.
The film opens with Dominic Torretto and his crew hijacking a tanker. It was a massive action scene that showed the franchise was evolving in terms of scale and would set the stage for the franchise to evolve into a full-scale show.
5 The first street race – The fast and the furious
Although the series has evolved into a series of carjackings, The fast and the furious started with simple racing (the first movie was inspired by an article about street racing in New York City), so the first movie puts a lot of emphasis on the sport. The first race between the two main characters of the franchise, Dominic Toretto and Brian O’Conner, is not only a fun action scene but also an important one that establishes the main emotional friendship of the franchise. It all starts here at this moment.
4 Cars falling out of a plane – Furious 7
Expectations for Furious 7 were high, not only because of the good reception of both Fast five i Fast and Furious 6 they were, but because the film had to deal with the tragic death of star Paul Walker, who died during production. The film was reworked to give the character a fitting ending, and audiences flocked to watch the film as it is currently the most successful film in the franchise.
Director James Wan stepped in and brought some of the biggest action to the franchise, most notably dropping cars from a plane with parachutes and landing them on a mountain road to pursue their target in a epic car chase. The action scene looks like it’s straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon and offered audiences the creative spy action that classic Bond films used to provide. The thrown cars would also set the stage for the imaginative and ridiculous action Wan would bring to Aquaman.
3 Mine Chase – F9
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Fast 9 was a highly anticipated film in the franchise, as not only would the fan-favorite character Han return, but the film was delayed for over a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By the time the film was delayed, audiences had already seen several commercials for it, and the film has many great action scenes, but the one that everyone immediately thinks of is the car chase through a field of mines Dom and his team run through a minefield, tricking them into shooting down enemy vehicles.
It’s a great combination of the franchise that mixes classic car chases with traditional combat action but with cars. Ending the scene with Dom hooking his car to a bridge cable to get from one point to another is the over-the-top crazy spectacle that audiences have come to love from the franchise and after a year where it wasn’t clear if the cinemas were. truly never come back, it was a reminder of how magical movies can be.
2 The Tank Chase – Fast and Furious 6
After two big box office entries during the spring season, Fast and Furious 6 they returned the franchise to a summer movie franchise and knew that for the sixth entry in the franchise they needed a big summer show. There are many cool car chases in the film, including a chase to take a plane down the world’s longest runway, but the standout action scene of the film is the mid-action scene in Spain
To up the ante, the heroes are put on the defensive when main villain Owen Shaw takes charge of a tank. Bringing a tank into a car chase immediately raises the stakes, and the characters even comment on the danger it poses to them. While later attempts to increase the action in the franchise may have gotten a little out of hand, the presence of the tank was a shocking moment that took everyone by surprise.
1 The Vault Chase – Fast five
Without a doubt, the standout action scene of the franchise is Vault Chase de Fast five. Fast five was the film that really turned the franchise on its head, shifting the focus from street racing to an international car crime saga, and the lap chase took the action to a whole new level.
The scene involves the team dragging around the streets of Rio de Janeiro causing a great deal of destruction and mayhem. This is when the franchise really shifts to a ridiculous level of action that would redefine the series and remains the highlight of the series.
