The INSIDER Summary:Ahead of the release of "The Fate of the Furious," INSIDER rewatched the entire "Fast and the Furious" franchise.Despite the fourth film reuniting Dominic Toretto and Brian O'Conner, it's the worst of the series.The best of the series is "Fast Five," which unites cast members from previous films for a giant "Ocean's 11"-like heist."The Fate of the Furious" is in theaters Friday. We're big fans of the series, which follows Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his close-knit racing family.To get ready for the film's release,INSIDER binge-watched the entire franchise ahead of our "Fate of the Furious" screening Tuesday evening and decided to rank the films from worst to best.It's tough to get through some of the franchise's early films. You're reminded there's a reason they nearly went straight-to-video after the third film in the franchise.While most are quick to dismiss the third installment, "Tokyo Drift" for ditching the main cast, it'sbetterthan you remember, especially when you watch the films in their correct order.Keep reading to see our ranking of the films, including "Fate."8. "Fast & Furious" (2009)"Fast & Furious" may have reset the entire franchise before it nearly went straight to video, but it's theworst-reviewed of the franchise and it's not too difficult to see why.The fourth film shows Dom at one of his lowest points. The movie has little to do with family as itbecomes a huge revenge film for him when he hears his wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) has been "killed"(in great soap-opera fashion, she returns from the dead two films later). Themost ridiculous scene of the movie may be when Dom goes to the crash site where Letty supposedly died and amazingly candecipher and see exactly how she was killed. Dom may bea car mechanic, but he's definitely not Batman.The story itself is downright silly,offering two of the franchise's worst villains of the series: a Mexican drug lord, Bragga, and his henchman, Fenix, who both believe the easiest way to get drugs across the border is witha team of racers through secret underground tunnels. You better bet that Dom, who tracks down Letty's killer to one of Bragga's men, and Brian wind up on this same team.Other than reuniting Brian and Dom on screen as the ultimate racing bros, the film has two good scenes. The first is when Dom, Letty, Han, and several others are robbing a fuel truck at the film's start.The second iswhen Dom describes Letty to Gisele (Gal Gadot) after he believes she's dead.Honestly, the best thing the fourth film doesis set up the next few films in the series.7. "2 Fast 2 Furious" (2003)While Paul Walker returned as the film's lead, the sequel suffered without the return of Dieselin an otherwise convoluted film revolving aroundBrian O'Conner going undercover to bring down a drug lord in Miami.A super uncomfortable scene where a rat nearly chews through a detective's stomach is downright awful.The best parts of "2 Fast" were the introduction of wise-crackingex-con Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris) to the series.If you're going to watch any parts of this film, check out the final 20 minutes. Highlights includeTyrese ejecting a man out of a moving vehicle and Brian driving off of a pieronto a yacht. There's also a really cool garage fake-out scene when cops try and chase Brian and Roman down, only to be left befuddled when hundreds of cars come spilling out.6. "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" (2006)Look, there's no denying "Tokyo Drift" is definitely the outlier of the franchise. It has no returning castsave that fun cameo from Dom at the film's endand Lucas Black's southern drawl as Sean Boswell isn't great. Bow Wow is also randomly in the film and goes by the name Twinkie.However, while most may toss "Tokyo Drift" at the bottom of the list for deviating from the franchise, you're rewarded if you watch the film series in the correct order. If you view it from Han's perspective after "Fast & Furious 6" or as a followup to director Justin Lin's film "Better Luck Tomorrow,"it's eerie how much of it seamlessly fits into the franchise. Han mentions he moved to Tokyo to get away from something in his past. He also makes a reference to his exorbitant wealth, which he receivedin "Fast 5." You're almost convinced the movie takes place after six if itweren't for somany dated flip phones and laptops.Plus, let's not forget that "Tokyo Drift" has something that latter films really don't: quality racing. 5, 6, and 7have forgone a lot of the racing for high-thrill heist sequences, but "Tokyo Drift" has racing at the heart of the movie with flashy and fancydrifting down a mountain and through the streets of Tokyo.Thoughit was a clunker with critics for many of the cast's uninspiredwooden performances and it's not a necessity to watch to understand the series' saga, it's one audiences enjoy much moreover "2 Fast." Perhaps the strangest bit of the film isthat Han'shanging out with a bunch of high schoolers.See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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