The Fast & Furious franchise has given audiences many iconic moments spanning 23 years of action and counting, but one moment from 2011's Fast Five remains the Fast Saga's most important scene. The fifth installment took the main cast of characters across the world to Rio de Janeiro, as the series escalated way beyond just street racing. The move away from car culture was a deliberate move by Universal Studios to take the franchise to the next level, and Fast Five served as the turning point for one of the biggest global media sagas.

To keep the roots of the series attached, the studio reunited an all-star cast from the previous movies, and introduced some prominent new characters to shape Hobbs & Shaw sequel, the federal agent that rides the tail of Vin Diesel's Dom Toretto and Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner. Fast Five stands as one of the highest rated movies in the franchise, next to Furious 7, the last of the movies that starred Paul Walker. The most popular scene in the fifth movie combined the past and present into one staple team.

Fast Five’s Assembling The Team Montage Is One Of The Saga’s Greatest Moments

Fast Five Was A Major Success That Redefined The Franchise

With a plan to take down Rio's drug lord, Hernan Reyes, and steal his money to secure a better future, Dom and Brian decide to assemble a team to carry out the heist. This leads to a 5-minute montage that kicks off the new era and introduces fans of the Fast Saga to the definitive crew that would all become family. This team consisted of Dom, Brian, Han, Roman, Tej, Gisele, Leo, and Santos. These ing forces cemented a new legacy in the series, and created one of the greatest, most memorable, and ultimately one of the most important moments of the whole story.

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Not only did Fast Five redefine the franchise, but it was a massive success among critics and audiences, as it is widely recognized as one of the best and most popular Fast & Furious movies. It grossed $626 million in the worldwide box office, making the movie the most profitable of the franchise up to that point, though later entries skyrocketed in theatrical success and reeled in billions. Fast Five stands at 78% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with an 83% audience score, and the team-up scene is still highly-praised and memorialized.

Fast Five Brought All Corners Of The Fast & Furious Franchise Together

Universal Studios Changed The Fate Of The Saga In A Big Way

Fast Five Cast

Fast Five is regarded as the most important movie in the Fast Saga, as it was the transitional entry that saved the Fast & Furious franchise, and doomed it in just as many ways. To flip the series upside down and draw in dramatic action and stunt-loving audiences, Universal demanded that Fast Five merge the street racing elements into a bigger heist thriller spectacle. Vin Diesel returned as Dom Toretto to keep the original legacy alive alongside former cast mates Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Matt Schulze, and Sung Kang.

The fifth movie used this cast of familiar faces and huge new additions to push forward into a blockbuster future.

Gal Gadot returned as Gisele Yashar, reprising her role from the previous movie, Fast & Furious. Fast Five also brought in Dwayne Johnson to save the franchise, which would lead to a Hobbs and Shaw spin-off alongside Jason Statham, and heavy drama between The Rock and Vin Diesel. The fifth movie used this cast of familiar faces and huge new additions to push forward into a blockbuster future. The story moved further from the original concepts in later movies, meaning that this was the big merger that brought everything together and changed the fate of the series.

Fast Five’s Team Became The Foundation Of The Fast & Furious Franchise

The Team-Up Scene Introduced A Major Family In Modern Media

Hobbs chases Dom across Rio in Fast Five.

The superhero-style assembly montage that made Fast Five the Avengers movie of the franchise, was not a one-time deal, as that group of characters stuck as prominent parts of the franchise's future and the staple family of the Fast Saga. Dom, Luke Hobbs, Mia Toretto, Han, Tej, Roman, and Gisele all continued to lead the series next to Paul Walker, until the actor's unfortunate ing a couple of years later. As this group continued to hit the big screens, the movies gained larger profits and widespread attention.

Fast & Furious Movies

Release Year

Rotten Tomatoes Score

The Fast and the Furious

2001

54%

2 Fast 2 Furious

2003

37%

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

2006

37%

Fast & Furious

2009

28%

Fast Five

2011

78%

Fast & Furious 6

2013

71%

Furious 7

2015

81%

The Fate of the Furious

2017

67%

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

2019

67%

F9 The Fast Saga

2021

59%

Fast X

2023

56%

Many people believe that Fast Five damaged the future of the franchise, and that Universal failed to continue the quality that it promised. Fast X tried to copy the movie's success, but failed for a lot of reasons and became the most disappointing film in the franchise. Whether Fast Five's impact was good or bad, the way it introduced the saga's main family and changed the game in five minutes has to be appreciated.

Fast Five Poster

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Fast Five
Release Date
April 29, 2011
Runtime
130 Minutes
Director
Justin Lin

WHERE TO WATCH

The fifth installment in the Fast & Furious franchise, Fast Five continues the Fast Saga in a high-octane thrill ride. When Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O'Conner's (Paul Walker) gang become international fugitives, they are hunted by Luke Hobbs, an agent of the DSS. They also fall foul of a Brazillian drug lord, deciding to perform a heigh-stakes heist in order to steal $100 million from him.

Franchise(s)
Fast and Furious