The Fast and the Furious franchise has been going for twenty-two years now, and these ten wild moments prove it is just as ridiculous as ever.
10 WILD MOMENTS THAT PROVE FAST & FURIOUS IS THE MOST RIDICULOUS FRANCHISE GOING
Twenty-two years. It’s been twenty-two wild years since The Fast and the Furious came screeching into our lives, and from relatively humble beginnings as a serviceable Point Break knock-off, the series has swiftly grown to become one of the world’s most profitable franchises.
Having morphed into something approaching a superhero/spy movie hybrid over the years, the Fast franchise is barely recognisable from its drag racing origins, and while there have been moments along the way where the wheels have almost come off, somehow, some way, the series has motored on.
While it’s hard to put a finger on the precise reason for Fast & Furious’ success, its steadfast commitment to being the craziest franchise in the game sure has something to do with it. Of course, there are plenty of high-octane, action-heavy blockbuster franchises out there, yet few can touch this one for pure cinematic insanity.
With an unquenchable desire to continuously one-up itself, the Fast franchise has made physics-defying ridiculousness its trademark, routinely performing the kind of wild action sequences that few others can touch.
From skyscraper jumps to zombie car attacks and every ridiculous thing in between, to mark the release of the tenth Fast & Furious instalment – Fast X – here are ten wild moments when this franchise pushed common sense, physics, and its stunt teams to the absolute limit, all for our viewing pleasure.
The Quarter Mile (The Fast and the Furious)
With all the chaos and physics-bothering absurdity that has surrounded this franchise, it’s easy to forget just how simply it all started.
With just two cars, a quarter mile of road, and one level crossing, this drag race between Vin Diesel’s Dom and the late Paul Walker’s Brian from the first film is a simple-but-effective few minutes of adrenaline-spiking, high-risk action that proves that, for all the crazy things this series has done, some of its most impactful are its most basic.
The Boat Jump (2 Fast 2 Furious)
While the first film had its moments, this physics-ignoring car-to-boat jump from its sequel was perhaps the first real indicator as to where things were heading.
As with many of the earlier entries in the Fast series, the stunt – which sees Brian and Tyrese Gibson’s Roman drive a Chevy Camaro off a ramp, over a large body of water, before crash-landing into a bad guy’s super yacht – is a relatively simple one, yet, even in a franchise as ludicrous as this, sometimes the simplest things are the most effective.
The Crowd Drift (Tokyo Drift)
As a film, it’s fair to say Tokyo Drift is far from perfect, however, it does contain moments of action that rank among the Fast franchise’s most impressive.
Not least is this goosebump-inducing chase scene in which Lucas Black’s Sean “drifts” through a packed Shibuya crossing in downtown Tokyo. It’s a truly jaw-dropping sequence and one that even lead to a crew member’s arrest as director Justin Lin was forced to shoot it guerrilla-style without a licence.
The Cliff Jump (Fast Five)
This one is all about a perfectly balanced blend of build-up and payoff.
Taken in isolation, two dudes driving off a cliff and into a river would be a rather so-so action sequence, however, frontload it with a high-risk, nerve-wracking train sequence and sprinkle in some inventive sound design and you have yourself a thing of Fast beauty.
The Vault Drag (Fast Five)
What could be more dangerous than a high-speed car chase through a busy city? How about one with a huge bank vault dragged behind it?
As Brian and Dom zip through downtown Rio with a ton of vault causing havoc and property damage aplenty in their wake, the thrill and jeopardy are palpable. It’s a brutal, bulldozing, and beautifully crafted chase that’s one of this franchise’s most exhilarating.
The Highway Catch (Fast & Furious 6)
The moment Dominic Toretto became a full-blown superhero and the moment the Fast franchise relinquished its grip on reality altogether.
Sure, there had been plenty of crazy moments before, yet this was something else entirely. As Dom defies the laws of physics to jump from a speeding car to catch Letty in mid-air across a huge freeway gap before landing on a car windscreen without a scratch to show for it is the moment you knew we were about to enter an entirely new Fast & Furious era.
The Air Drop (Furious 7)
No messing around with this one really. Four muscle cars, each containing a member of the “family”, are dropped out of a moving plane thousands of feet in the air. It’s as simple – and as crazy – as that.
The true beauty of this one is that these were very real cars being dumped out of a very real plane. Say what you want about the implausible nature of the Fast franchise, however, its commitment to keeping stunts real and its action authentic can’t be knocked.
The Double Skyscraper Jump (Furious 7)
By the time the seventh instalment in the franchise arrived, the Fast family’s loose grasp on reality had been well and truly surrendered, and with this one ridiculous stunt, there was no turning back.
Launching one of the world’s most expensive cars from a high-rise building would be nutty enough as it is, but to then land it head-first into another, and then another just makes no sense…at all. And yet, as this multimillion-dollar Lykan smashes its way between three obscenely tall Abu Dhabi skyscrapers, it’s hard to argue that this is anything but one of the most absurdly impressive sequences of the entire series.
The Zombie Car Attack (The Fate of the Furious)
Arguably the outright dumbest sequence of any Fast movie, yet undeniably one of its most enjoyable.
When Charlize Theron’s villainous Cipher orders her computer nerd minions to hack into every car in New York in a bid to take out Dom and the gang, chaos (and hilarity) ensue, as a city’s worth of cars are forced into auto-drive, causing a tsunami of zombie vehicular destruction/nonsense as they go.
The Space Car (F9)
By this ninth instalment, it really did feel like there was no more road left for the Fast family to travel. So, like any long-running franchise low on options, where else could they possibly go but space? What started out as a bit of a joke swiftly became reality when the team went and built an actual rocket car and blasted it into actual outer space.
That is quite literally a high bar to set for yourself, so if the Fast & Furious franchise is to go out in the suitably epic manner it deserves, they better have something pretty huge up their sleeve for Fast X.
NEXT: Fast X Cars Explained By Car Coordinator Dennis McCarthy
About Fast X
Over many missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto and his family have outsmarted and outdriven every foe in their path. Now, they must confront the most lethal opponent they’ve ever faced. Fueled by revenge, a terrifying threat emerges from the shadows of the past to shatter Dom’s world and destroy everything — and everyone — he loves.
Fast X races into theaters on May 19th!
