The Fast and the Furious (2001) began as a juiced-up race film. Paul Walker (Into the Blue) and Vin Diesel (Bloodshot) star as a rookie cop and racer gone thief. By film nine, the team has built a space car (you read that right).
Here are 10 moments that had Fast and Furious franchise viewers scratching their heads in disbelief.
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) Boat Jump
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) is one of two films in the franchise without Diesel’s character, Dominic Toretto. The movie features regular lead Brian O’Conner (Walker) and reformed car thief Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) taking on an Argentinian drug lord, Carter Verone (Cole Hauser). Brian and Roman defy gravity in a final chase scene by driving a blue Chevrolet Camaro off a dock, into the air, and onto Verone’s moving boat. If the Oscars had a Best Stunt Award in 2003, this could have been nominated.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)Â Parking Garage Drift
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) takes the franchise to Japan. It follows newcomer Lucas Black (Legion) as high school senior, Sean Boswell. The film offers plenty of action, some less believable than the rest. In a face-off between Sean and Drift King, Takashi (Brian Tee), the pair drift vehicles up a circular parking garage. It might be possible, but it’s less plausible that high schoolers could tackle this stunt. The film grossed less than any other in the franchise, but it was still no box office flop.
Fast & Furious (2009)Â Tunnel Escape
Fast & Furious (2009) gives the franchise a mix between a reboot and a glow-up. Dom and Brian are reunited. Dom has been hijacking oil tankers in the Dominican Republic, and Brian is an FBI agent. The two team up after Dom’s girlfriend, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), is killed by Mexican drug lord Arturo Braga (John Ortiz). While avenging Letty, the two heroes are forced through a narrow underground tunnel at high speeds. There’s barely enough room for one vehicle, let alone the team that enters. As the tunnel collapses, the two make it out alive (of course).
Fast Five (2011) Cliff Dive
Fast Five (2011) starts with a prison break and ends with the news that Letty is alive. During thrills galore, Dom and Brian run into trouble stealing cars from a moving train. Brian drives a truck into the side of the train to save Dom. As Brian dangles from the truck, they approach a bridge. In true franchise style, Dom jumps into a silver Corvette, drives it off the train, and keeps the perfect pace so Brian can jump in. The two then drive nose-first off the side of a cliff, leaping from the car into the water below.
Fast & Furious 6 (2013) Mid-Air Tank Catch
It’s hard to believe this movie is 10 years old. In Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Letty is alive and working for a team of mercenaries. Amidst the action, Dom and the team intercept the mercenaries trying to hijack a military convoy. In yet another gravity-defying feat, Letty is thrown from a tank into the air between two bridges. Dom holds the wheel of his car steady whilst simultaneously climbing out the window. He leaps into the expanse between the bridges, grabs Letty in mid-air, and catapults them both to safety.
Furious 7 (2015) Skyscraper Leap
In Furious 7 (2015), the team leaves cliffs and bridges behind to tackle a skyscraper jump. This film also experiences a little time travel, as it is set directly after The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), despite being made nine years later. The team travels to the Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi to steal a computer program called God’s Eye. Dom is forced to drive a red Lykan HyperSport from one tower to the next, roughly 50 floors up. That’s a stunt even Jackie Chan wouldn’t try in real life.
Furious 7 (2015)Â Driving off a Plane
Another death-defying feat of the seventh F&F installment features the team driving cars off an airborne plane. The cargo plane delivers the crew to Azerbaijan near the Caucasus Mountains to rescue Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), the God’s Eye creator. Ramsey was taken by Nigerian terrorists. Fortunately, the team gets the drop on them, literally, by parachuting cars out of the plane. It’s no surprise the franchise has seen several video game adaptations.
The Fate of the Furious (2017) Fighting a Nuclear Sub
Forget the high jumps and gravity-defying acts. In The Fate of the Furious (2018), the team fights a nuclear submarine. Dom has gone rogue after cyber outlaw, Cipher (Charlize Theron) takes Dom’s ex-girlfriend and (gasp!) son captive. In the showdown, the team races over solid ice, chased by tanks and weaponized vehicles. Dom sacrifices himself to lure a missile after his trademark Dodge Charger. The team saves him by creating a vehicle barrier on the ice.
The Fate of the Furious (2017) Zombie Car Hacking
It’s all gone digital in The Fate of the Furious (2018) when Cipher hacks cars across New York City. The futuristic ploy sees cars zombified into life via auto drive. Cipher controls the vehicles in an attempt to retrieve nuclear codes from the Russian Minister of Defense. It looks like something out of the classic science fiction film Gattaca (1997)Â rather than an F&F film. Cars smash and crash around the city until Dom’s team puts an end to the madness.
F9 (2021) Space Cars
No list of wild F&F franchise antics could go without a mention of the F9 (2021) space car. The ninth installment involves a weapons hacking tool called Project Aries. In a turn of events, Sean Boswell and the Tokyo Drift crew are back, and they’ve been working on a rocket car. Tej (Ludacris) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) go into orbit in a Pontiac Fiero to destroy a satellite and save mankind before Project Aries takes hold; maybe they can give some pointers to the new Star Trek movies on Paramount+.
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