1. Fast Five (2011)

The Fast & Furious franchise peaked with Fast Five, which set the tone for the films in the future as it expanded its “family” and started jet-setting across the world. We not only get the original family — Dominic ‘Dom’ Toretto (Vin Diesel), Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker), Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) and Vince (Matt Schulze) — but also Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), Tej Parker (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges) and Han Seoul-Oh (Sung Kang) from the other films. 

The one addition that tipped the scales? Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as cop Luke Hobbs! His touch of humour has become a signature of the franchise. Fast Five is the Ocean’s Eleven of the series, ramped up by high-intensity car chases, physics-defying stunts and improbable heists. 

Best moment: There are so many! But the train heist and that safe-dragging car chase through the streets of Rio de Janeiro have to be the winners. 

2. Furious 7 (2015)

The team is back in the United States and getting on with their lives, but the big bad brother of a villain they put behind bars in the preceding film is there for revenge. And Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw is the best villain we’ve had in the series. From a wild heist where they go sky-diving in cars to jumping from one skyscraper into another, also in a car, it is one insane ride. And while nobody expected to cry at a Fast & Furious movie ever, this one made fans grab the tissues as the team bid a heartfelt farewell to Paul Walker who was killed in a car crash during the shoot. 

Best moment: Has to be the cars jumping out of the plane sequence. I mean where are they going to jump out of next? Space shuttle? 

3. Fast and Furious 8 (2017)

The latest instalment in the series scores because of two people — Jason Statham, who has switched camps and is now working with the good side, erm, Dom side, erm... let’s just say those-against-the-villain side, and Dwayne Johnson. There is a buddy movie waiting to happen between these two. They time their insult-trading comedy perfectly. Someone was paying attention to Statham’s role in Spy and put his straight-faced comedy chops to great use. That baby rescue scene... gold! Oh, the other reason this one is up here? Helen Mirren’s howlarious two-minute cameo.

The Dom and Letty (played by Michelle Rodriguez) romance is just NOT WORKING though, and we fans would like the pair do what they do best — drive cars and do insane action. Charlize Theron is a passably chilling villain who utters very poorly written dialogues. 

Best moment: The Mad Max: Fury Road-on-ice car/submarine chase in Russia. But the cars on autodrive falling off buildings bit was not too shabby either.

4. The Fast and The Furious (2001)

Yes, it was Point Break on wheels with Paul Walker’s Brian playing an undercover cop who infiltrates a group of thrill-seeking outlaws led by Vin Diesel’s Dom. But the high-adrenaline car races and the insane chases gave Need for Speef-addicted minds a real thrill. 

Best moment: The last race between Dom and Brian where they cross in front of a train, clearing it by a whisker.

5. Fast & Furious (2009)

After the third film, the illegal street racing plot was becoming stale. So the fourth film brings back the original family  — Dom, Letty, Brian, Mia — but unfortunately that is all that the film had going for it. Pitting Brian and Dom against each other once again  just did not cut it.

Best moment: The scene where Dom and his team try to steal oil from a moving tanker. 

6. Fast & Furious 6 (2013)

The unnecessary melodrama of the film kills it. The whole Letty-not-dead-but-suffering-from-amnesia-and-working-for-the-bad-guys plot is just too ludicrous, and that is saying something when it comes to the Fast and Furious franchise. Of course she has a change of heart and it all has to do with Dom leaping from a bridge to save her. *EyeRoll*

Best moment: Dom and team being chased by the tank.

7. 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

The second film in the franchise loses Vin Diesel and focuses on Brian, who has moved home to Florida. The good thing? His bromance with childhood friend Roman Pearce. The bad thing? Everything else. The villain was the singularly most unimpressive bad guy which made all the stakes seem lame. 

Best moment: The car scramble that Brian and Roman use to disguise their cars from the cops.

8. The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

The third film in the franchise (it is actually somewhere between the sixth and the seventh in the Fast & Furious timeline... yep, don’t ask!) is one of the most divisive films of the franchise with some who put it right at the top, and some right at the bottom. 

For us, it hits rock bottom for multiple reasons. First, it is completely removed from the Fast & Furious world, except for that last cameo. Second, the protagonist, Sean Boswell, is the most uninteresting character, something that actor Lucas Black’s bad acting (and he definitely doesn’t look 17!) doesn’t make any easier to accept. And they end up killing the only interesting character in the whole film, Han. The film has its moments though, especially during the races. 

Best moment: The mountain drift race in which Sean beats Takashi.

Chandreyee Chatterjee
Which Fast and Furious movie is your No. 1? Tell t2@abp.in