Escalation is the name of the game, when it comes to the beloved, cheesy, sometimes mocked, but (almost) always entertainingFast and Furiousseries. It began right at the start of the 21st century, and ispresumably going to end in 2026, a whole quarter of a century later. At that point, there will be a total of 11 movies in the mainline series, plus one spin-off movie (as of 2024; more may come later).
But to focus on the series as it currently exists, what follows is a rundown of the best action scene from each entry to date. This does mean glossing over some amazing action set pieces, given that the best of these movies tend to have more than one memorable action sequence, but such is life when you’re writing lists a quarter mile at a time.The family would understand such omissions, and that’s the main thing.
11’The Fast and the Furious' (2001)
Racing towards a speeding train
Ah, a throwback to seemingly simpler times.The Fast and the Furiousis so very quaint, when watched today, imbued with the knowledge of the madness to come some installments down the road. It’s the one that now, perhaps infamously, has some of its plot revolve around a very small-scale heist, all the while keeping things modest with the (surprisingly infrequent) action.
The melodrama is there, which is admittedly retained throughout the series, and it’s also a more-than-solid introduction to some important characters going forward, namely Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker). It’s also got someimpressive car-related stunts and race sequences. Nothing on the scale of later films, sure, but the drag race between Dom and Brian thatsees them both racing towards a speeding train – and just clearing the tracks before getting hit– is pretty awesome.
The Fast and the Furious
10'2 Fast 2 Furious' (2003)
Driving a car into a boat
2 Fast 2 FuriousisFast and Furiousat its most underrated, because this one’s genuinely a good deal more fun than some are willing to give it credit for. Diesel’s absent, but Paul Walker returns, and there are a couple of important supporting characters introduced here who go on to feature in numerous subsequent films, including Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris).
The action is bumped up a little in spectacle throughout2 Fast 2 Furious, too, with a stunt near the end thatinvolves a car launching itself through the air to crash into a boat feeling considerably more ridiculous than any single scene found in the first movie. Of course, it was but a small taste of things to come, but that doesn’t take away from it being the arguable high point of the movie overall.
2 Fast 2 Furious
9’The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift' (2006)
The car chase through Tokyo
Some maywonder if they know how people driftin Tokyo, and such people will be happy to know that the third movie in theFast and Furiousseries,The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, answers such a question. It turns out that at least some people there drift a lot, and it just so happens to be the case that drifting – in the universe of this series – can apparently make one go faster.
Action-wise,Tokyo Driftis perhaps a little lacking, and the melodrama revolving around a bunch ofcharacters who look too old to be teenagersis also pretty underwhelming, at times. ButTokyo Drifthas value for being directorJustin Lin’s first (of five)Fast and Furiousmovies, and for having a genuinely amazing car chase throughout the busy streets of Tokyo at one point.It’s a sequence that feels genuinely dangerous, visceral, and energetic, standing as arguably the best action scene in the series that one could argue is somewhat close to grounded.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
8’Fast & Furious' (2009)
The opening truck heist
With a title that’s easy to confuse with the title of the first movie – or confused with the overall series, potentially –Fast & Furiousdoes justify said title by being both a return to the first movie and a mission statement for what the series will be going forward. It’s not total madness yet, but there is a noticeable escalation, and the opening action sequence goes a fair way in establishing that as fast as possible.
There’s a heist here, early on, thatdoes get quite bombastic in a way that would only be exceededmore and more in the sequels to come, for better or worse. If you likeFast and Furiousas crazy as possible, it’s for better, but if you like the series focusing on racing above anything else, it might well be for worse.
Fast & Furious
7’Fast Five' (2011)
The safe heist
Fast Fiveis where the magic happens, and every action set piece is so good that it feels criminal to gloss over all the sequences that at least deserve honorable mentions. There’s a great heist involving a train early on, a genuinely gripping foot chase a little later, and a one-on-one fight scene between Dom and series newcomer Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) that is delightfully bone-crunching and explosive.
These scenes are better than some of the best action scenes found in otherFast and Furiousmovies, butwhen it comes toFast Five, the final heist – with a safe being swung around in a matter that’s not very safe, taking out enemy cars left and right – is unbeatable. It’san overall great heist movie for sure, and its climactic action set piece is a big reason for that.
6’Fast & Furious 6' (2013)
The endless runway chase
You might not be able to go up in quality after a movie as well-paced, exhilarating, and fun asFast Five, butFast & Furious 6did show that you could get stupider. WhileFast Fivewasn’t realistic or particularly grounded, it didplay by the rules of most action moviesthat lack sci-fi or fantasy elements.Fast & Furious 6does get considerably more out there andgravity-defying, maybe even wickedly so.
There’s a big sequence involving a tank that’s a highlight, but the wildest scene – and arguably the best, action-wise – involvesa plane seemingly refusing to actually take off, with cars pursuing it all the while, and people inside the plane engaging in hand-to-hand combat. There are explosions, weapons fired, and punches exchanged, all as everything thunders forward on an endless runway. If it’s too much at this point, duck out of the series now, because things only get wilder.
Fast & Furious 6
5’Furious 7' (2015)
Understandably,Furious 7is best remembered for the emotional punch it delivered during its closing scene, with the filmpaying tribute to the late Paul Walkerand bidding his character, Brian, a genuinely moving farewell. Before that point, though,Furious 7does also satisfy as another bombastic action movie, upping things even higher than the already ridiculous sixth movie.
Furious 7has non-stop wildness, including sky-diving cars, vehicular jousting (of sorts), and ludicrously destructive one-on-one fights, but the action probably peaks with a scene that involves driving a car between skyscrapers; three in total, to be precise.It’s death-defying more than perhaps any other sequence that came before, and though stupid, admittedly, it is also pretty spectacular to see, and makes for a striking/memorable image, too.
4’The Fate of the Furious' (2017)
Prison riot/escape
The Fate of the Furiouscontinues indulging in spectacle, with a climactic action scene involving a chase across ice that also features a submarine feeling a little like an attempt to outdo the bombast ofFast & Furious 6’s runway set piece. But the best action found inThe Fate of the Furiousis actually a little more stripped-back… well, stripped-back byFast and Furiousstandards, for what that’s worth.
Before they got a spin-off film, Hobbs and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) get caught up in a prison riot and an escape attempt duringThe Fate of the Furious, and it’sseveral minutes of super satisfying hand-to-hand combat. Statham and Johnson can pull off scenes like this in their sleep, it seems, andseeing them both go to town in such a chaotic environment is a delight to witness, and perhaps the best single scene in the whole movie.
The Fate of the Furious
3’Hobbs & Shaw' (2019)
Hobbs vs. helicopter
Not content with shrugging off rubber bullets and throwing full-grown men around like they weighed nothing in the aforementionedThe Fate of the Furiousscene,Hobbs takes on a helicopter near the end ofHobbs & Shaw, and wins. But you kind of buy it, both because Johnson is intimidatingly large, and because thisFast and Furiousspin-off leans more than ever intoover-the-top – and borderline science fiction – elements.
So, if the climax ofHobbs & Shawwants to have a line of vehicles holding and pulling down a helicopter, with Hobbs – a human being – having the sort of strength to contribute to that happening, then that’s okay. Abandon all common sense, ye who enter intoHobbs & Shaw, and a generally good time at the movies might well be had.
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
2’F9' (2021)
Car chase with magnets
Even thoseokay with the maximalist tendencies foundin priorFast and Furiousmovies might well find things go a little too far inF9. All bets are off here, and even the “logic” that most previous movies seemed to adhere to is hand-waved away, because, yes, this is theFast and Furiousmovie that technically has cars in space. The absolute madmen; they actually went there.
Stunts here also tend to go further beyond the laws of physics than ever before, and death is cheated/retconned in a way that, while kind of fun, is also far-fetched. But at least some of the action satisfies,including the extended and chaotic chase that sees ridiculously high-powered magnets being used to entertaining effect, with vehicles flung around and pulled in all sorts of directions throughout.
