What was once a fairly-grounded tale about a street racing crime family, the Fast and Furious franchise has now turned into one of the biggest and most bombastic franchises of all time. The franchise's success is mostly down to its over-the-top moments; these moments always find a way to leave audiences questioning their reality as well as their sanity, with each installment somehow always finding a way to top all the previously unbelievable moments.
Audiences can criticize it all they want, but these moments are why we keep coming back for more. If there is a moment you have merely dreamt off or imagined, the likely chance is that this franchise has delivered, in more ways than one. You want to see The Rock vs Jason Statham? Done. You want to see a tank go on a murder spree while on a highway doing 70 miles an hour? Done. You want to see Helen Mirren steal a car and drift it all around London before John Cena and Vin Diesel point guns at each other, all before Cardi B comes in and saves the day? Done, done and done. Granted, it's highly unlikely anyone could have ever dreamed of these moments, but if you have, then you are more than in luck. Without further ado, here are the most unbelievable moments from the Fast and Furious franchise.
7 Countless Characters Landing on Cars
This one may be cheating, but up first isn't a single moment, but a series of moments. There is a common Hollywood conception that if you land on a car windshield from any height and at any speed, you will be fine. No scratches, no bruises, no broken bones. However, this obviously isn't true. It wasn't long before Fast and Furious took their shot at this, with Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) catching Letty (Michelle Rodriquez) midair, while traveling at least 70-90 mph before landing on a car windshield and being totally fine. This would without a doubt kill them both on impact. Secondly, in Furious 7, Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Elena (Elsa Pataky) get thrown out of a window from a 10-story building before landing on a car, and Hobbs takes the full brunt of the car, protecting Elena. However, this only results in a broken arm for Hobbs, when in hindsight, this would kill him.
6 Brazil Heist
Fast Five was truly when the franchise took a more blockbuster-esque, action-packed turn, and started leaning into the series' absurdities. An example of this, is the final heist in Brazil, where Brian (Paul Walker) and Dom pull a whole vault through the streets of Brazil, destroying police cars and buildings. In hindsight, to what this series is now, this epic finale is somewhat set in some kind of realism, although only just.
5 The Incredibly Long Runway
The second that Fast and Furious 6 was released, this ridiculously long runway became the stuff of legend. Infamously, this is the longest runway in the history of cinema (estimated by the BBC) at around 18.37 miles (29.6km), which we never thought would ever be an award. Being on a runway, of course, there has to be a plane, and with this being a Fast and Furious movie, of course there has to be cars. Put two and two together, and you have a ridiculous, although adrenaline-fueled, final set piece.
With cars racing the airplane, characters jumping to and from the cars, and even the plane, as well as Dominic Toretto surviving a flaming inferno before his car tumbles and rolls a shocking amount of times, he just walks through the flames with nothing but a scuff on his iconic white t-shirt.
4 Tank Murder Spree
Once again, Fast 6 delivers another mostly practical, unbelievable moment we never thought we would ever see on screen. While a "Tank Murder Spree" isn't all that shocking, it's the fact that the tank is on a highway, while Brian and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) attempt to stop it with their cars.
This isn't all. To stop the tank, the two must grapple their cars to it, forcing the tank to slow down, which obviously doesn't go according to plan, as Roman is forced to jump from his car onto Brian's before he gets crushed by the tank's treads. Similarly, Roman's car manages to grapple onto the tank, which slows the tank down as it is thrown off the bridge and continues to dangle off it. And did we mention that to get this tank, Owen (Luke Evans) and his bad guy ensemble had to drive it out of a moving truck?
3 Flying Cars
While technically these aren't "flying cars" this scene is still no less bonkers. Sure, air dropping a car isn't the most ridiculous idea of all time. However, doing this jump with people in the car and having them land perfectly where they need to be. The fact that the majority of these characters (sans Roman) land perfectly on the ground before acting out a plan to save Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) is totally nuts, but given it's the Fast and Furious franchise, it's just another Sunday.
2 Zombie Cars
By the time Fate of the Furious rolls around, we have been blessed with many ridiculous moments, but this explosive, utterly bonkers, and highly entertaining scene is certainly a contender for the top spot. This moment not only sees some awesome stunts and an epic car chase, but also a swarm of cars remotely controlled by Cipher (Charlize Theron), smashing their way all throughout New York City. But this is all without mentioning the final moment, which sees a rainfall of cars, all landing in a heap of wreckage. We don't need to tell you how ridiculous this moment is, but by golly is it entertaining.
1 Dubai Tower Jump
Where to begin with this scene? First, Dom manages to lift a supposedly 3000-pound Lykan Hypersport, which in itself, is utterly ridiculous. Secondly, Dom drives the "beast" out of its "cage" before being met with Jason Statham with a grenade launcher attached to an assault rifle, ready to assassinate Dom. This then leads to Dom and Brian driving out of the sky-high Dubai tower, crashing into another. But it doesn't stop there, as Dom and Brian don't just jump through one building, but three, all in a sports car with no brakes, forcing them both to jump out of the car at the end, narrowly escaping death.