The Eight Best Fast and Furious Action Sequences

Our top eight favorite Fast and Furious action sequences chronicle the evolution of the franchise

Since 2001, we’ve followed the trajectory of Dom’s (Vin Diesel) family go from street racing criminals to globe-trotting car heist enthusiasts. Their lives forever changing in 2001’s The Fast and the Furious when Brian (Paul Walker) entered the street racing scene to challenge the best and most dangerous thrusting an unconventional family who once ran from the law to being who the law turned to when their unique set of skills were needed. Along the way we’ve been introduced to a bevy of awesome players like Tyrese, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Gal Gadot, Luke Evans and Jason Statham.

And it’s no surprise that eighth installment of the car chase cinematic juggernaut is getting a little more Furiosa.

The Fate of the Furious picks up on Dom and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) honeymooning while Brian and Mia  (Jordana Brewster) have retired from the game. The crew attempts to find some semblance of a normal life after being exonerated, but that doesn’t last long when Dom abruptly defects from the family. His betrayal, which is tied to the suspicious appearance of Cipher (Charlize Theron), challenges his team in unimaginable ways to work against him and an anarchist cell bent on DOMination.

In the meantime, here’s a look at our favorite happier, more united times with our countdown of the best Fast and Furious action sequences!

8. The First Drag Race – The Fast & The Furious (2001)

We gotta go back to where it all began. Dom and Brian’s first street race against each other resulting in the first strokes of where the series would ultimately go. Who can forget Dom’s Dodge Charger hitting a truck, flipping over Brian’s car and getting out of it without a scratch? And in the tradition of films like the original Point Break, it gave us the start of one of the most riveting and complicated friendships in cinema.

7. We’ll Always Have London – Furious 6 (2013)

Letty came back from the dead and shot Dom after a high octane chase through the streets of London which made us lose our collective cool. Earlier in the sequence, Shaw evades the team even with the help of Hobbs (Johnson) jumping from truck to truck and Brian crashing in a tunnel. But it’s the reveal that she’s it’s really her alive (having seen the image in Hobb’s file) and kicking butt for the other side that throws our team into disarray.

6. The Family Goes Sky-Diving! – Furious 7 (2015)

Pretty self-explanatory. The family is chilling on the cargo section of a huge plane, they drop one by one and have to comfort Roman (Tyrese) to get him to do the jump with them. But of course Tej (Ludacris) pushes him out and they all are parachuted onto a road to ambush the bad guys. So many cars were actually destroyed in the making of this scene as real cars were actually launched out of a plane, but a good portion of them made it out mostly (no actors were in them, of course).

5. Runway Pressure – Furious 6 (2013)

This chase not only took place on a 26-mile long runway (in the film’s universe at least) but clocks in at 13 minutes! This lengthy sequence has gone down as one of the most under pressure in the series. When the family chases after Shaw who has Mia and “the component,” the race goes from cars vs. cars to cars vs. big ass plane. The team doesn’t hold back and they pull off an incredible upset against the plane with enough Nos-powered harpoons that brings down the bird in the nick of time, but sadly they lose one of their own (Gal Gadot) in a fiery explosion. It’s okay though — she’s Wonder Woman now.

4. Underground Border Crossing – Fast and Furious (2009)

Dom and Brian, along with a kidnapped Braga (John Ortiz), are on the run from the enemy’s men and are led into the smuggling tunnels beneath the U.S. and Mexico. Tight tunnel turns, muscle cars and our heroes risking it all in some tight spaces made for some great edge-of-your-seat action. The desert scape totally threw it back to Mad Max too before Fury Road.

3. Bringing Out The Tanks – Furious 6 (2013)

This is the moment the films really pushed the limits of disbelief and came out selling audiences on the franchise’s particular brand of incredible action. The highway chase is filled with destruction as the family is still hot on Shaw’s tail. The ruthlessness of the big bad raises the film’s death count in moments in all the mayhem. Best part? The crazy is-this-really-happening-right-now mid-air rescue. Dom plus jump plus Letty flying in his general direction over pile ups equals miraculous save. I’ll take it.

2. Rio’s Eleven – Fast Five (2011)

The family pulls a heist! And by heist we mean a several tons-heavy vault pulled by two Chargers. The ridiculous and ludicrous climax totally raised the bar for the series to commit to it’s glossy camp action. Brian and Dom steal a vault and drag it through the streets of Rio leading to Dom using it to come in like a wrecking ball to improvise.

1. Cars Don’t Fly! – Furious 7 (2015)

Dom drives a $3.4 million Lykan Hypersport out of a building into another building into another building to evade big brother Shaw (Jason Statham). The linear trajectory of the main shot is gorgeous as they Lykan crashes through each building moving dynamically while Brian shouts “Cars don’t fly!” It’s a great send off to an era we will never forget in this incredible set piece to remember these two characters as the family that they became.

What are some of your favorite sequences from the films? Add them in the comments below!