For anyone who has a younger or older brother, it's highly likely an obsession with the "Fast & Furious" series emerged at some point growing up. The world-famous series has amassed 10 films (plus a spinoff movie) over 22 years, but it has never grabbed my attention beyond the trailers I watched at the movie theater. Therefore, I have a distinctly interesting perspective to rank the titles of each movie in the franchise based on how likely each one would make me want to watch it.
10. "F9" (2021)
To put it plainly, this is a boring title. It's just a letter and a number and does nothing to make me want to watch this film.
9. "Furious 7" (2015)
This movie should have been named "The Fast and the Furious 7" to make it more intriguing. This film also pays respects to the late Paul Walker, and the suggested title would have been a nice callback to Walker's first on-screen appearance as Brian O'Conner during his last moments as the actor's most well-known character. From an outsider's perspective, more effort should have gone into crafting a title that would have better honored Walker.
8. "Fast & Furious" (2009)
This one is not terrible, but removing "the" from the title takes away from the series' "oomph." Plus, anyone getting into the series for the first time might be thrown off trying to differentiate it from the first film.
7. "Fast & Furious 6" (2013)
Similar to the former title, this one doesn't have much of a kick. The existence of a number in the title helps slightly, though.
6. "Fast Five" (2011)
"Fast & Furious 6" and "Fast Five" should be considered a tie in their rankings. Both give little other than letting the audience know which movie in the series they're watching. This one is slightly higher because it's more fun to say than "Fast & Furious 6."
5. "Fast X" (2023)
The latest installment of the film franchise, "Fast X," makes it into the top half of these rankings because it's just clever enough without being too much. It's the 10th movie in the series, and the Roman numeral works better than throwing a standard numeral into the title and calling it a day. Plus, I've involuntarily seen the trailer for this film enough times to know Brie Larson is in it, which, for me, warrants bonus points.
4. "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" (2006)
"Tokyo Drift" is in the number four spot because it's a simple but effective title. It has the dramatic effect of starting with "The" and promises iconic characters in a new location. By reading it, the audience immediately knows to expect Vin Diesel to drive fast cars in Tokyo.
3. "The Fate of the Furious" (2017)
Once again, this title follows the effective method of simplicity, but its mystery is what places this one in third. With little to no background knowledge, I can assume the main characters in the trailer are considered to be "the Furious," and something dramatic is happening in this film that will determine their future. I'm sold.
2. "The Fast and the Furious" (2001)
There is not much to say about this title because it's a classic. It just worked and was a great way to grab the target audience's attention for this film before it debuted and became one of the most well-known movie franchises. It's simple and effective.
1. "2 Fast 2 Furious" (2003)
The series sequel gets the number one ranking because it's the perfect amount of cheesy. Replacing "too" with "2" is very early-2000s, but it works. It also has a comedic flair that makes me want to watch the film and learn why the characters are, pun intended, too fast and too furious.
Opinion Editor
