Ranking all of the Fast and Furious movies (best to worst)

A few months ago, I watched a Try Guys video of Zach ranking the Fast & Furious films from best to worst. I often think about how Tokyo Drift wasn’t the worst movie in his mind and that has truly haunted me to this day.

Therefore, it only made sense that I spend a few days of my life binge watching hours upon hours of Vin Diesel in the only Fast & Furious order that matters— 1,2,4,5,6,3,7,8.

Now, it should be known that I am a HUGE fan of the Fast & Furious franchise, so it wasn’t really a problem. However, I decided to put all my love for Paul Walker aside (he could do no wrong, rest in peace) and strictly focus on these 3 categories to determine my ranking:

Characters | Was it Fast & Furious (action sequences)? |Does it make sense for the story?

Now let's dive straight in to these definitive rankings!

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1. FAST FIVE (5)

The best movie is by far Fast Five. When it comes to characters, this team was the DREAM TEAM! You get Brian, Dom, Mia, Han, Tej, Gisele, and Roman! This movie is pure Fast & Furious past meets present and I was living for every moment. Hobbs was the least annoying in this film. Letty was missed, but that's okay! Because why? That car chase with the safe is the absolute best car chase sequence this franchise has to offer. Plus, Brian was finally not pretending to be a cop anymore. Therefore, Fast Five is the best and that is all.

Fast Bonus: Was there a street race? YES! They did a street race for new cars, an homage to their roots.

2. The Fast and The Furious (1)

I don’t care what anyone says, the first movie was amazing. I mean, this is why I have been coming back for nearly 20 years! It doesn't get better than the bond between a criminally-inclined undercover cop and a loyal felon with two strikes against him and a big heart. I love the story, I love the people, and I love the races. Enough said.

Fast Bonus: Forget jumping out of a plane, just show me what a 10-second car can do and you have my undivided attention.

3. Fast & Furious (4)

After watching the second film, you realize that Dom (Vin Diesel) really does carry the franchise and I don't truly know how they ever thought it was a good idea to continue on without this man. So, I would just like to insert everything I said about The Fast and the Furious here, because it still applies.

Even though I enjoyed all three minutes of Han in this movie, Letty did "die," so that puts my rank at number 3.

Fast Bonus: Those races through the tunnels though.

4. Fate of the Furious (8)

Now, I really believed that I could not continue this series without Paul Walker as Brian. And the fact that he’s still alive, but can’t be called to help when Dom loses his damn mind, really lowers the bar on the “makes-sense meter.” I also have SEVERAL questions on the timeline between the beginning of 6 to 8 and how old that baby should actually be.

HOWEVER, I stand by my number 4 ranking because Dominic Toretto IS Fast and the Furious. What team? He IS the team! He IS the action and he IS why any of the movies even make sense. I was fully engaged, impressed, entertained and ready to ride this race car to the wheels fall off.

Fast Bonus: That street race in Cuba really captured the heart of this franchise.

5. Fast & Furious 6 (6)

I'm not going to lie, I went back and forth betweet 8 and 6 on their orders. I love Letty, I do. But, do I think her amnesia storyline was bullshit? But of course! It doesn't matter too much because I love Dom and Letty together and I was glad they got to be reunited, but make it make sense!

I believe the concept of them going up against the evil versions of themselves was great. Then working with Hobbs to get Letty back and earn pardons also made a lot of sense. Though all the characters are essentially the same as 5, I still prefer 5 because that safe scene really can't be beaten. Taking down a tank and plane?? Pass. PLUS, they freaking killed Giselle! Number 6 comes in at number 5.

Fast Bonus: Dom and Letty’s street race for love had me in tears and I'm not ashamed.

6. Furious 7 (7)

This one hurts the most. I don’t think I have expressed enough how much I loved and still love Paul Walker. The last “race” with Brian and Dom was great. It was a beautiful tribute at the end of the day, but I don’t think I can ever watch this movie without my heart being in shambles.

Now, in regard to the plot...I have valid reasons on why it's ranked so low. Let's begin by how ABSURD and ridiculous it is that baby Shaw got to live and Giselle had to die. Like excuse me….but he too fell out of Goddamn plane! It would actually make a lot more sense if Big Shaw were to seek vengeance for his death, BUT NO! He's just mad because his brother is a surviving criminal. Next, can we talk about how Dom almost dies driving off a building? Well apparently CPR wasn't enough to revive him but the return of Letty's memories were. Ugh. Bullshit. I'm sad about Paul Walker and nothing makes sense.

Fast Bonus: THERE’S NOT EVEN A STREET RACE! Alexa, play "See You Again."

7. The Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift (3)

FINALLY! The reason I’m even doing these rankings. I wanted to know. We all wanted to know! Is Tokyo Drift the worst Fast & Furious movie?? Turns out, it’s not! But coming in at number 7, it’s pretty damn close.

So after I finished 6, I proceeded to Tokyo Drift as the timeline intends —still upset about Giselle, but happy I get more time with Han. I did my absolute best to keep an open mind while watching the film. I really tried to maintain my focus, watch objectively and stick to my criteria. However, a minute into the movie I'm screaming "TRASSSHHHHHHH."

Plot-wise, shit escalates quickly. I feel even worse about losing Han in this order than the first time I ever watched this movie, especially since I hated everyone else. The true problem I have is that this white boy thinks he can just run all over Japan, doing whatever the hell he wants and then walk straight into the Yakuza's place as Mr. Savior and walk back out alive!

What saves this from being dead last? The best driving I’ve seen out of any other movie and Han.

Fast Bonus: DRIFTING = WHAT A CONCEPT! In no other movie were major life disputes settled with a race lol.

8. 2 Fast 2 Furious (2)

First and foremost, great f*cking title. I love that they kept the race alive in this film; however, that's about where the greatness ends in this movie. I have been trying to figure out for years how Tej's character went from a street race organizer to a tech genius and I am no closer to the answer. I did not mind the introduction of Roman. However, it got VERY cheesy at some points. For instance, I kept threatening to turn off the movie if Brian said "cuz" one more time, but I never did because Paul Walker could honestly do no wrong.

Fast Bonus: The car scramble scene was genius.

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So, there you have it! From best to worst the only right order that there could actually be is 5,1,4,8,6,7,3,2. I will be updating this when Fast & Furious 9 comes out and NO, I will not be including Hobbs and Shaw, because no one asked for that!

Update 8/3/19: So, I saw Hobbs and Shaw and what happened ...I feel asleep. Like actually passed out with 30 minutes left of the movie.They got to Samoa and they next thing I know credits were rolling. It was just TOO long. All of the movies were long but this one felt different, every time I thought it was over it was never over. It should also be noted that I NEVER fall asleep in theaters. With that said, I have no idea how the movie ended, but if I were to rank the movie that no one asked for, I would squeeze it in after 7...ONLY because of Idris Elba.