What the Hell Happened to Fast and Furious?

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An exploration into The Fast & Furious franchise, the issues with the first films, until we find the first film that perfectly nailed everything that makes the franchise great.

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[poweroffriendship.]

Fast and Furious is all about street racing, explosive action, and heist, but it wouldn't be special if it isn’t for the Power of Family.

[Xterrorcz]

The fact that the most extreme moment in Fast and Furious 1 was a car exploding and now the movies are more far fetched than phase 1 of the MCU

[Akursedtime]

I got into the campiness of Fast and Furious. The first one. But Fast Five is the reason why so many loved the franchise. It had a pretty good plot, decent pacing and the action was good.
I stopped at Seven because it felt like closure. A touching tribute to Paul and seeing Dom and Brian go their separate ways. It just felt like an actual ending. Personally never felt the need to watch eight, onwards. Though Fast Ten looks interesting because of Jason Mamoa.

[Drifter]

Fast Five was the best ending where everyone drive off into the sunset with the money they stole but Furious 7 is seriously where it should’ve ended because Paul was gone and the ending was perfect for their family message but also because it left no loose ends because we saw how Han died and the aftermath to it.

[richborn]

How the original movie can exist in the same universe as Hobbs and Shaw showed how much the franchise changed over 17 years

[bradley]

After the 20+ years of this franchise, the only question I have is this: Why hasn't Ja Rule's iconic character returned? MONICA!!!"

[vontavius]

In my opinion, the problem with the franchise isn't the films themselves, but the fact that Universal gave Vin Diesel too much control over it. After 2 Fast 2 Furious flopped critically, Universal believed it was because Dom wasn't in it, so they practically begged Vin to show up in Tokyo Drift. They not only gave him the rights to the Riddick franchise in return, they also made him F&F's producer, giving him free rein to do whatever he wanted with the storylines of both franchises, hence why starting with the fourth film, Dom was slowly replacing Brian as the central focus. The films being Vin Diesel ego trips is a common joke in the community, but from what it seems, that actually does seem to be the case.

[vinnyluscombe]

I've only seen Tokyo Drift as I had multiple recommendations for it and I was aware it kind of sits outside of the franchise to a degree, and despite thinking it's really not a very good movie I have a pretty big fondness for it; genuinely one of the most 2000s things I've ever seen and think it serves as a pretty good time capsule.

[Windwalker]

If you watch till 7 you have a solid racing/action franchise that's just great fun at times. After that it felt more like a transformers movie without the transformers

[natemartinez]

You nailed it.

Once the 6th entry was released, you could see the trend toward doubling down on the bigger, louder, and more bombastic aspects. It's such a shame since the 5th entry really knew what it was after the franchise couldn't really figure it out with each previous 4 entries.

[whoozyyy]

F1-2 and Tokyo Drift are the best ones. Fast 5 was the last one that was enjoyable and when it died for the people who loved the original movies.

[mazengwe]

The change was the departure of Brian O'Connor. It's the same reason why most people don't consider Tokyo Drift an Fast n Furious movie.
Think about it. Brian was the main character though all 7 movies. Dom was a secondary character.
RIP Paul Walker

[cookingwitchefzayy]

Sadly we know when it died 😔😔😔 R.I.P Paul Walker 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

[ElvisRose_]

I think the biggest problem Fast and Furious faced is the one that life dealt them and that is the tragic death of Paul Walker. You can dissect the action of all the movies in this franchise, the characters that were added throughout, and the plots that developed but the real anchor of the first seven movies is the relationship between Dom and Brian. After the loss of Paul, the movies lost an essential element that was irreplaceable. It's that simple.

[zrfwlkz]

Idk bro, tokyo Drift was one of the best movies they made. As a car guy, there are many iconic scenes/characters. Including Keiichi Tsuchiya. An icon

[dante]

Honestly, I think the franchise passed away with Paul Walker. The brotherhood between Brian and Dom was the heart & soul of this franchise. Without it, these films just feel empty and soulless. Part 8 had just enough "dumb fun" to be somewhat enjoyable, but 9 and 10 are just dumb without any of the fun... just awful.

[Serevarno]

They have absolutely embraced how silly and ridiculous the movies are, and I love it. Idgaf if the X trilogy ends with them traveling through different franchises to help Frodo and Sam get the ring to Mt. Doom after battling Darth Vader and The Witch King while Jenko and Schmidt from the jump street movies are dancing at the entrance, I'll watch it.

[wstine]

I do believe Fast and Furious (part 4) saved the franchise, but Fast 5 launched it to new heights with its stunts, heists, and The Rock.

[TheMags]

I bet the day when F&F died is when Brian rides to the sunset in F7 (the perfect ending bc the saga woul've ended strong and it was a very touching tribute to Paul, probably the only moment when this franchise "family" concept felt authentic) or when in F9 Tyrese breaks the 4th wall telling how absurd the movie is minutes before crashing a car to a satellite (absolute jumping the shark moment).

[danielgeronimo]

Fast and Furious is like an all you can action buffet, depending on which one you want it can either be bad or just really the worse

If you care about Brian and Dom so much, F&F 1-2, 5, 6, 7 would be the ones to watch.

If you actually like cars, respect the culture, yet having some American branding on foreign soil, Tokyo Drift is for you.

Honestly among all 9 films, I have a whole lot of respect for Tokyo Drift because it is the only installment in the series where one gets to experience actual Car Culture without the underworld getting too much of a clusterfuck to deal with. A solid depiction of 90s Japanese street racing world, and nearly Initial D and Wangan Midnight vibes. Sometimes I wonder if this film should be called Fast and Furious, or maybe it deserves its own line because it's so distinctive from its cousins and siblings. It may even be more Fast and Furious than the next films after it.