For two decades, the Fast and the Furious series has been offering high-octane thrills and over-the-top action with a helping of family and loyalty on the side. And with eleven entries in the film franchise (an average of one every two-and-a-half years), you know the series has legs (or, in this case, wheels).
In honor of the series’ 25th anniversary, we ranked every Fast and the Furious movie from worst to best. Keep reading to see how each film stacked up, and which one had pole position.
Fast & Furious (2009)
Director: Justin Lin
Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1hr 47m
Rotten Tomatoes: 28% Critics, 67% Audience
2009’s Fast & Furious sees Dom and Brian’s feud get put on hold as they unite to take down a common enemy. Released after Tokyo Drift but set before the events of that movie, Fast & Furious had a great tagline: “New Model. Original Parts.” However, even with some originality and new direction, this one still falls flat in comparison to other movies in the series.
From Vin Diesel smashing a car window with his elbow to an iguana getting saved while a car’s on fire, there are certainly some memorable moments spread out across Fast & Furious. But other than action, it’s lacking some of the originality and depth of character that other entries offer.
The Fate of the Furious (2017)
Director: F. Gary Gray
Cast: Vin Diesel, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Charlize Theron
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2hr 16m
Rotten Tomatoes: 67% Critics, 72% Audience
In The Fate of the Furious, things seem to have settled down for Dom and his crew. That is, until a mysterious woman named Cipher (Charlize Theron) forces Dom to betray them all. All of this sets up some of the most outrageous action setpieces in the series’ history, featuring cars, fights, and even tanks.
With all the familiar faces fans love from the Fast & Furious franchise, there’s lots to like about the eighth movie in the series. But as fun as Dom’s heel turn is, there are some moments where the story drags, a surprising critique of such an otherwise action-packed film.
Fast X (2023)
Director: Louis Leterrier
Cast: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Momoa
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2hr 21m
Rotten Tomatoes: 56% Critics, 84% Audience
Your enjoyment of Fast X will likely be directly related to your enjoyment of Jason Momoa’s over-the-top performance as Dante. That’s because the deadly revenge plot at the heart of this sequel’s story takes a backseat to action sequences that verge on the ridiculous.
At one point in the movie, one character tells another: “If it violates the laws of God and gravity, [Dom and his crew] did it twice.” Fast X doubles down on that sentiment and then some, going completely off the rails in the best way possible.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
Director: Justin Lin
Cast: Lucas Black, Nathalie Kelley, Sung Kang
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1hr 50m
Rotten Tomatoes: 38% Critics, 69% Audience
Tokyo Drift may take place in a new city, but in the Fast & Furious movies, all streets are made for racing. In this movie, Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) moves to Japan to live with his military father to avoid jail time, and finds new racing rivals in the process.
By introducing drifting to the equation, there’s plenty of novelty to the street races that earlier entries don’t have, and Tokyo Drift has some of the most visceral racing sequences in the whole series. While it was viewed as lesser-than when first released, Tokyo Drift’s focus on the basics, taken as part of the whole franchise, sets it apart.
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
Director: John Singleton
Cast: Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1hr 48m
Rotten Tomatoes: 37% Critics, 50% Audience
The second entry in the Fast & Furious series doesn’t just have one of the best sequel titles ever; it has the goods to back it up. Taking the series into new territory two years after the original hit theaters, 2 Fast 2 Furious sees Brian (Paul Walker) teaming up with the FBI to take down a Miami drug dealer.
While Vin Diesel’s “Dom” is notably absent from this one, we do get treated to Ludacris’s performance as race organizer Tej Parker, a role initially offered to Ja Rule. And with cars like the Nissan Skyline GT-R and Mitsubishi Lancer still looking as badass as ever, the races are worth the rewatch, too
F9: The Fast Saga (2021)
Director: Justin Lin
Cast: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2hr 25m
Rotten Tomatoes: 59% Critics, 82% Audience
For many, F9 is the one that jumped the shark, with Tej and Roman blasting off to space in a 1984 Pontiac Fiero. Preposterous? Most definitely. But in the context it was released, F9 was exactly what we needed, and that’s what made its gravity-defying action all the better.
Following the 2020 pandemic, 2021 was a banner year for releasing blockbuster movies, and the ninth film in the Fast & Furious saga roared out of the gates, signaling that bigger was most definitely better. Especially after lockdown, everything about this movie just hit right. In the infamous words of Nicole Kidman in her AMC ad, “We come to this place…for cars in space.”
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)
Director: David Leitch
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2hr 18m
Rotten Tomatoes: 67% Critics, 88% Audience
In this spin-off, the whole family might not make an appearance, but Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham show that they have plenty of chemistry to make up for the rest of the crew’s absence as they go toe-to-toe with Idris Elba’s cyborg super soldier, “Brixton Lore.”
What makes Hobbs & Shaw such a fun departure is that it leans into the comedy as well as certain superhero conventions, including an appearance by Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds. It’s a rip-roaring good time.
Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
Director: Justin Lin
Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2hr 10m
Rotten Tomatoes: 71% Critics, 84% Audience
Fast & Furious 6 gives Dom (Vin Diesel) and his crew a chance at full pardons if they can help Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) take care of a team of mercenaries. This iteration shows that there’s still plenty of runway for the franchise after six films, with action scenes featuring cars, trucks, motorcycles, planes, and, yes, tanks.
All of it is fine-tuned to run smoothly, making it a perfect encapsulation of everything that makes these blockbusters good ol’ fashioned fun. As a continuation of the events in Fast Five, but with a few tricks and twists up its sleeves, it’s a high point in the franchise’s storytelling.
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
Director: Rob Cohen
Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1hr 46m
Rotten Tomatoes: 55% Critics, 74% Audience
Revisiting The Fast and the Furious 25 years later, it’s no wonder it has become such a phenomenon. Sure, it’s an action movie with shiny cars and fast-paced racing, but it’s worn its themes of loyalty, family, and redemption on its sleeve since day one.
In case you forget, The Fast and the Furious sees street racing superstar Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) take a newcomer (Paul Walker) under his wing, only to discover he’s an undercover cop. Bursting with fast cuts and slick cars, the film that launched the franchise is just as good more than two decades later.
Fast Five (2011)
Director: Justin Lin
Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2hr 10m
Rotten Tomatoes: 77% Critics, 83% Audience
It’s telling that by the fifth entry in the series, even critics were hype to what made the Fast & Furious movies so great, as this is one of the few Fast sequels listed as Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. And it’s no wonder why, either. In Fast Five, the action is gloriously over-the-top, the pacing is perfectly-tuned, and the storytelling keeps upping the ante.
From its humble beginnings as a film about street racers, Fast Five shows that vehicular action knows no bounds. It’s worth watching the movie for the train heist alone.
Furious 7 (2015)
Director: James Wan
Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2hr 11m
Rotten Tomatoes: 81% Critics, 82% Audience
Throughout this list, action has been a major factor in the rankings each film received. But Furious 7 shows that character development and even dramatic tension are things the Fast & Furious movies can tackle when in the right hands. Enter director James Wan (M3gan, The Conjuring). It turns out the horror filmmaker is the perfect guy to take the series in exciting new territory, while still honoring everything that makes the Fast movies so much fun.
Wan’s take on this revenge-fueled plot is as exciting for its dramatic heft as it is for its thrill ride sequences. And as exciting as the skydiving cars are, it’s the beautiful send-off for Paul Walker that makes you realize just how much you’ve grown to love this crew of daredevils.
