10 best stunts from the "Fast And Furious" movies
|
Believe it or not, it has been over 15 years since a little movie called "The Fast And The Furious" made its debut in 2001.
Who could have thought a movie that deals with street racing headlined by then-little-known actors like Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster would end up becoming a surprise hit?
Since then, the 2001 movie has spawned a total of seven sequels (and still counting) including the upcoming "Fast And Furious 8" (Or alternate title: "The Fate of the Furious") this April.
Apart from the ever-growing cast of recurring actors and franchise newcomers, the "Fast And Furious" series is also reputable for its "go-big-or-go-home" stunts that grow progressively insane in each instalment!
Now, with the highly-anticipated release of "Fast And Furious 8" is nearing its release date, let's take a look back at the series' most spectacular stunts ever staged so far!
Which one is your favourite stunt?
1. The Dom vs. Brian race in "The Fast And The Furious" (2001)
Let's face it, the first "Fast And Furious" movie was considered a minor cinematic ride if compared with the subsequent "bigger-and-bolder" car action and other insane stunts featured in the later half of the series. But at the same time, the 2001 movie also helped set the tone of how the races and all the vehicular stunts would look like in the future. As for "The Fast And The Furious", the best scene ultimately goes to the final moment where Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) engage in a high-speed race between Dom's souped-up 1970 Dodge Charger and Brian's 1995 Toyota Supra MkIV [JZA80]. The scene includes a dramatic close call where both of the race cars narrowly miss the oncoming train and also a spectacular mid-air flip when Dom's car collides with a truck and gets overturned before it crashes and rolls onto the road. Although it may look like a typical car stunt, but that particular scene remains an impressively staged stunt nonetheless.
2. The car-meets-boat jump in "2 Fast 2 Furious" (2003)
Although Vin Diesel declined to return for the second time around in this flashy sequel, director John Singleton manages to ramp up some well-staged street racing sequences. But it was the scene where Brian and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) accelerates the 1969 blue-and-white Chevrolet Camaro Yenko and charges towards the bad guy, Carter Verone's (Cole Hauser) boat in one amazing mid-air jump that rivals a James Bond-inspired action set-piece.
3. The drifting scene at the multi-storey parking garage in "The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift" (2006)
No Paul Walker, no Vin Diesel (except for his surprise cameo)... no problem. Director Justin Lin, who made his debut in the franchise with the third "Fast And Furious" movie, helps revitalise the series' otherwise standard street-racing scenario seen in the first two instalments by introducing the art of drifting. There are plenty of noteworthy car stunts in "The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift", but the best stunt goes to the scene involving Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) and DK (Brian Tee) engaging in a drifting scene in a multi-storey parking garage.
4. The opening rescue-and-exploding-tanker scene in "Fast & Furious" (2009)
In this fourth instalment of the "Fast And Furious" series, director Justin Lin begins his movie with a bang. Here, the pre-credits opening scene sees Dominic Toretto trying to rescue his longtime girlfriend-in-crime, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) during a heist that goes awry. After Letty successfully leaps over from the back of the oil-tanker truck and onto the hood of Dom's car, the following scene ends with a rousing moment when one of the oil tankers snaps and gets engulfed into flames while rolling down the road. With no alternative way to escape, Dom has no choice but to speed towards the barreling oil tanker and manages to drive pass under it with minimum damage. Yes, that stunt was unbelievably over-the-top, but it was also so expertly choreographed and fluidly edited that the subsequent action scene in "Fast & Furious" pales in comparison with this memorable opening set-piece.
5. The prison bus crash in "Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist" (2011)
Otherwise known as "Fast Five" in the U.S., "Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist" offers some of the best and most spectacular vehicular stunts ever seen in the series. First up is the opening rescue scene where three cars, led by Brian and his girlfriend Mia (Jordana Brewster) stage a daring rescue attempt to free Dom from the prison bus. They successfully distract the bus driver with their nifty driving manoeuvres and end up causing the bus to flip over several times along the highway. The particular scene is one of the best prison bus crashes ever choreographed in Hollywood action cinema.
6. The train heist and the car jump in "Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist" (2011)
Following the opening rescue scene in "Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist", the movie just gets better with an ambitious heist to steal three high-end sports cars from a moving train. In this elaborate scene, Brian is seen crashing a truck through one of the train compartments. As the burning truck drags alongside the moving train with Brian clinging by the truck's windshield panel, Dom quickly jumps into action and drives the car off the train to catch up with him. When the train is about to approach a bridge, Brian finally braves himself to leap over and lands safely at the back of Dom's car. The scene grows increasingly tense when the burning truck hits the bridge and barrels towards the car. With the canyon closing in, Dom zooms his car forward and flies over the truck mid-air. From here, we get to see both of them make a spectacular jump as the car is plunging into the river below. Best of all, Justin Lin and cinematographer Stephen F. Windon captured part of the car-jump moment from the hood's point-of-view to give the scene a heightened scene of vertigo.
7. The safe-driving scene in "Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist" (2011)
Justin Lin surely knows how to save the best for the last during the climactic heist scene in "Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist". After Dom and Brian successfully pull off a daring bank heist that sees them attaching the safe to the back of their cars with steel wires, the chase is on as they tear through half the city block of Rio de Janeiro. It was by far the best car chase ever staged in any "Fast And Furious" film.
8. The tank chase scene in "Fast & Furious 6" (2013)
So, how do you top the memorable safe-driving chase scene in "Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist"? Well, Justin Lin chose to ramp up the action by featuring a tank in "Fast & Furious 6". Here, we get to see the tank do some heavy damage to several vehicles in its wake. During the elaborate sequence, there is a spectacular moment where Brian saves Roman and another (leave-your-brain-at-the-door) scene where Dom leaps across a bridge from a moving car to catch Letty in mid-air! Of course, both of them land safely and (miraculously) onto one of the cars at the other side of the bridge.
9. The car-skydiving jump and the mountainside chase scene in "Fast & Furious 7" (2015)
If you remember the last scene in "Terminal Velocity" (1994) where Charlie Sheen reverses a red convertible off the plane and free-falls mid-air, you'll know what to expect during the car-skydiving jump in "Fast & Furious 7". Here, five parachute-equipped vehicles carried out the similar stunt by reversing out of the C-130 cargo plane to skydive! After the vehicles land safely onto the ground, the action continues with a chase scene along the winding road of the Azerbaijan mountainside. The scene ends with Brian running atop a bus falling off the cliff and jumping to his safety in a nick of time.
10. The building car jump in "Fast & Furious 7" (2015).
In this particular scene, director James Wan topped both the car-skydiving jump and Brian's last-minute leap from the falling bus with this insanely-choreographed car chase set in the interior of one of Abu Dhabi's skyscrapers. Here, Dom is speeding the red Lykan Hypersport across the three different buildings in a series of high-speed jumps in mid-air.
"Fast And Furious 8" opens in cinemas nationwide on 13 April 2017.
