We still can’t get over the ridiculous car stunts The Fast and the Furious franchise continues to dish out to the audience. The first installment of the series started out as a celebration of the fast car culture, pitting import cars against domestic beasts like Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) Dodge Charger R/T. From very humble (and we use that term loosely) beginnings in the streets of Los Angeles to flying from building to building in Dubai, Furious 7 has gotten us scratching an itch we’ve had for a while. Naturally, we had to share with you the top stunts from all seven films.
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
Based in a new century, this movie had high school juniors and seniors taking the streets of California with reckless abandon. With a fair warning of “drive responsibly,” from the film-makers, the real streets of LA were never the same. There’s plenty of explosions and hand-to-hand combat in all seven films, but most of the outrageous stunts involved cars. Obviously. The most exciting scene would be the drag race of near death in broad daylight between Dom and Brian O’Conner (the late Paul Walker).
Brian, in his 1995 Toyota Supra Turbo, goes head-to-head with Dom’s Dodge Charger R/T as both came inches away from crashing into a moving train. Soon after, Dom takes one of the nastiest wipeouts, being side swiped by a truck. This is what set the tone. Keep in mind, the stunts get better and better only because of the advancement of resources so this was just an appetiser.
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
A not so great sequel to the original, it had the case of the sophomore curse. No Vin Diesel this time, but there was a proper introduction of Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris). We were also treated to the stunning Eve Mendes, which leads us to the best stunt in the film. Both Brian and Roman are in a classic, Lemans Blue 1969 Chevrolet-Yenko Camaro, and while Roman nearly pees his pants, Brian punches the acceleration to top speed. With the assistance of a ramp, the Camaro launches into the air, over the water, and onto the top deck of an expensive yacht. Unfortunately, the valet was nowhere to be seen.
The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
From LA to Florida, and now the franchise went off road into foreign territory, without their main stars. Besides starring a not so convincing lead in Lucas Black, the film was more about introducing the rest of the world to drifting. Whether the film did bad or terrible was not the major concern, the franchise remains as trendsetters. The Japanese world has the highest concentrated drifters around, or at least that’s what the film-makers were trying to portray. However, Japan was one of the earliest birthplaces of drifting - techniques that were developed in the 1970s. Near the end of the film, the race down the mountain had some of the best drifting displays recorded on film.
Fast & Furious (2009)
Dom and Brian made their comeback, this time working for the FBI. The most insane stunt in this film has to be Dom and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) against an exploding oil tanker. While Letty attempts to complete the mission and hop off the tanker onto Dom’s 1984 Buick Grand National, it becomes a race for life and death through the mountains. The fun and thrills don’t end there as Dom has found himself between a rock and a hard place. So what do you do if that rock is on fire (in this case a tumbling tanker) and is hurling down to flatten you? Kick the pedal to the floor and zoom right under it, and hope it doesn’t decapitate you.
Fast Five (2011)
“This is Brasssiiilll!” The crew went down south this time with the addition of Dwanye “The Rock” Johnson as their pursuer. Brian and Dom are pulling out an entire locked and secure safe through the streets of Rio de Janeiro. Oh, and using it as a weapon to brush the cops aside as well. This was the crew’s most chaotic stunt and caused the most public damage. In some ways, the scene was just about tearing the streets apart for the hell of it. The next town hall meeting won’t go down too well. Imagine the cost of destruction Dom and Brian created.
Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
The best action scene in this film was a first in cinematic history. The gang ends up going up against an operational tank on the highway. A tank! Everything about this particular scene was a jaw dropping, thrilling ride. The catch of Roman, from car to car, was just the beginning, as the crew continued their pursuit of the unstoppable tank. The highway splits into two as a bridge, Letty gets propelled into the air and Dom jumps across from one road to the other to catch Letty in mid-air. Realistically, you’d have to time this jump and catch perfectly. And the chances of you failing and falling to your death is 99.9%. Consider yourself witnessing a miracle if you successfully catch a person in the air at high-speed trajectory.
Furious 7 (2015)
Where do we begin? Frankly, this is the best film in the franchise. It also has the most insane stunts. The only problem is how will the film-makers outdo themselves in the next sequel, if there is one. The top two scenes that stand out the most have to be the skydiving cars and Dom driving that over-the-top and overly expensive supercar from one building to another. Twice. What leaves us speechless is that even though some of these stunts seem unbelievable, they are somewhat not impossible or completely outrageous. They leave us with a glimmer of hope that, “Yes, this can be done. It’s totally insane, but I can see it happening.”
Let’s face it, these have to be out of the box stunts that will have you at the edge of your seats. The Fast and Furious franchise is all about action and thrill. They never pretend to be something they aren’t. No Oscars? No problem. This crew is about high numbers at the box office, and they do it quite well.
