The 17 Most Insane Stunts From "Fast & Furious" Movies, in GIFs

All the flipping, jumping, and crashing you could want.

Not Available Lead
Image via Complex Original
Not Available Lead

Audiences love a great car chase. For the past 12 years, the success of the Fast and Furious franchise has served as living proof. While the automotive stunts featured throughout the series range from semi-plausible to outright ridiculous, the films are works of fiction—if viewers can buy into a grown-ass man crawling up the sides of Manhattan buildings after being bitten by a radioactive spider or Tyler Perry dressing in drag as Madea, why not relish a few overly-spectacular car stunts? Moviegoers need only to succumb to sweet suspension of disbelief.

Before diving into detail on the automotive action sequences from the F&F franchise, a bit of disclosure: I did do some technical consulting on the last film, Fast 5. Although my contribution was small, the experience was eye-opening. It’s hard to make a film, let alone a sequel. People keep watching a series because they want to see more of what they saw before, but presented in a way that’s completely new and different. That can be tricky. Think original Star Wars trilogy and the horrible, horrible prequels.

When it comes to action sequences, there’s an unwritten rule where the next movie has to out-stunt what was in the last. It’s like an arms race with no end game. Except in the Fast and Furious films, the only losers are the destroyed picture cars. And on occasion, the laws of physics.

Related: The Complete History of Every Important Car in the "Fast & Furious" Franchise

Related: The 15 Hottest Women From the "Fast & Furious" Movies

Getting Tanked

Not Available Interstitial

Getting Tanked

A military tank is without a doubt the ultimate of vehicles. So it was only a matter of time before one would make an appearance in an F&F film. Spoiler alert, it finally does so in the sixth film. And as one might imagine, the tank goes to town pulverizing vehicles on a public highway. Too bad the tank wasn't rigged with nitrous.

Watch the Full Video


Safe Crackers

Not Available Interstitial

Safe Crackers

While the last two stunts were over-the-top in an atrocious sort of way, the safe scene at the end of the fifth film was absolutely magnificent. Two Dodge Chargers, each driven by Dom and Brian, steal a massive safe by yanking it from the police station. Connected by separate cables, the two Dodges proceed to create utter havoc in the city of Rio de Janeiro, destroying everything in its path.

Watch the Full Video


Catching the Ferry

Not Available Interstitial

Catching the Ferry

If the previous stunt from the second film wasn't steeped in enough ridiculousness, there's always the climactic stunt. Here's the setup: The bad guys are getting away on a yacht with Eva Mendes' character in tow. While most heroes would attempt to find a boat to give chase, Brian and Roman (played by Tyrese Gibson) hop into a Yenko Camaro SYC instead. The male protagonists race alongside the waterfront and jump the Chevy, landing smack dab center on top of the boat.

Watch the Full Video


Bridging the Gap

Not Available Interstitial

Bridging the Gap

In order to spice up the four-car race, Ludacris' character Tej radios Jimmy to retract a drawbridge. What a pal. Brian sees this as an opportunity to use nitrous as a propellant to help his 3,300-plus lb. R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R fly over the rival Toyota Supra from behind, clinching the race. Ridiculous. Most lowered vehicles with wheels struggle to get over a speed bump, let alone a retracted freaking bridge.

Watch the Full Video


Flip the Script

Not Available Interstitial

Flip the Script

The "flip car" is pretty much the evil Batmobile of the film. Featuring an open-wheel design, the ultra-low slung vehicle is equipped with a front nose that doubles as a ramp. Meaning in a head-on confrontation, (spoiler alert) the opposing vehicle is launched up into the air for optimal destruction.

Watch the Full Video


Han's Swan Song

Not Available Interstitial

Han's Swan Song

Han comes to aid of Sean and Neela who are trying to escape D.K.'s evil clutches. In doing so, Han's RX-7 is hit from the side by a seemingly random vehicle and explodes into flames. Is this the end of Han? May-haps. Spoiler alert: this scene is revisited in the sixth film.

Watch the Full Video


Leap of Faith

Not Available Interstitial

Leap of Faith

When the train heist goes bad, Dom and Brian are forced to make their getaway in a Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport. The pair narrowly avoids a bridge and exploding train, only to fly off a cliff. To avoid going down with their Chevy, they both manage to jump off the car and land safely in the river.

Watch the Full Video


Falling Zs

Not Available Interstitial

Falling Zs

In the final race for honor in Tokyo Drift, Sean and his GT-R engine-powered Ford Mustang take on D.K. in his Nissan 350Z. After an epic drift battle down a gorge, D.K. spins out and tumbles off the edge, only to land mere feet from Sean. To avoid crashing, Sean drifts around the falling Z, helping him cross the finish line in style.

Watch the Full Video


Highway Prison Break

Not Available Interstitial

Highway Prison Break

At the end of the fourth film, Dominic Toretto gives himself up to the authorities getting himself arrested. Since Dom being stuck in prison would impede the fifth film's storyline, Brian and Mia stage a highway breakout. The crowning moment? Brian using Dom's Dodge Charger to punt the prisoner transport bus into a destructive, Dom-freeing roll.

Watch the Full Video


Big Rig Ping-Pong

Not Available Interstitial

Big Rig Ping-Pong

Whenever you're forced to race in order to prove your merits as a proficient, criminally inclined driver, catastrophic events are sure to ensue. In this scene, a Ford Mustang with random baddie finds itself ping-ponging between two semi-trailers, eventually getting crushed under the rear wheels of one. Moral? Crime doesn't pay, kids. Or avoid driving between tractor trailers.

Watch the Full Video


Air Dom

Not Available Interstitial

Air Dom

How do Brian, the conflicted cop, and Dom, the electrical-appliance-stealing bandit, settle their beef? With a climactic drag race, naturally. It doesn't end so well for Dom. He gets T-boned by a semi-trailer and flies through the air like Jordan. Not only is it karmic justice for all of his prior semi-trailer hostility, but it's one of the few crashes from the franchise that actually happens on the daily. Mama Toretto should've warned him about looking both ways before crossing.

Watch the Full Video


Exploding Limbo

Not Available Interstitial

Exploding Limbo

Have you noticed the increasing costs at the pump? So has Dom. To combat inflationary fuel prices, Dom and his crew rob a mega tanker carrying gasoline. Things don't go as they planned (starting to see a pattern?) and Dom and Letty find themselves in a Buick Grand National GNX at the wrong end of a rolling tanker that's spewing flames. As the tanker barrels toward them, Dom spins his rear tires in a burn-out. He times his launch perfectly and roars safely beneath and beyond the bouncing tank of death.

Watch the Full Video


Tunneling Under the Border

Not Available Interstitial

Tunneling Under the Border

To smuggle contraband across the U.S./Mexico border, the cartel in the fourth film built an elaborate tunnel system wide enough to accomodate cars. Working with the thugs, Dom and Brian barrel through the cramped dirt passageways, which are one part Death Star trench, and the other part the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland.

Watch the Full Video


Trailer Trolling

Not Available Interstitial

Trailer Trolling

Dom and his crew attempt to heist a semi-truck driven by an armed and angry militant. Things start to go awry and one of the black Honda Civics is forced to perform an evasive, under-the-trailer move. How his oversized spoiler cleared the metal underbelly, no one will ever know.

Watch the Full Video


Golf Range Foursome

Not Available Interstitial

Golf Range Foursome

If there's one thing the F&F franchise loves, it's a four-way race. The fourth film is no exception. The rationale is simple. In one fell swoop, you can pit Brian against Dom, and throw in tertiary fodder cars for guaranteed vehicular mayhem. While there have been plenty of four-ways, this one makes the list because it starts in the parking structure of a multi-story golf range. Weird.

Watch the Full Video


Drifting Shibuya

Not Available Interstitial

Drifting Shibuya

Drifting, or the attempting of, on a municipal street wouldn't be an impressive feat in and of itself. Many a hoonigan has terrorized his local neighborhood. In Tokyo Drift, however, the protagonist Sean Boswell recklessly drifts his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution right through Tokyo's Shibuya Crossing, one of the busiest pedestrian crossings in the world.

Watch the Full Video


When Floorpans Fly

Not Available Interstitial

When Floorpans Fly

The first big race in the original The Fast and the Furious pitted Brian O'Conner in a four-way drag race. Brian squeezes the nitrous on his Mitsubishi Eclipse a bit too soon and Dominic Toretto blows past him in his Mazda RX-7. Adding further shame to Brian's poor timing and inexperience, his floorpan falls off and showers the street with enough sparks to almost hide his hideous fluorescent green paint. Almost.

Watch the Full Video


Latest in Sports