Which Fast and Furious movie should I start with?

I've decided I need to see Fast & Furious 7, but I don't want to go in cold. I also don't know that I want risk burnout by watching the previous 6 movies in such short order.

So...are Five and Six enough of a primer for what's likely to be in 7, or should I find some sort of speed run / cliffs notes / wikipedia entry on the whole thing?

Its impossible to burn out on F&F so watch all 6 in a row.

Watch em all dude. The second one is the most skippable if you really want to cut it short, but I wouldn't suggest skipping any of the others. I watched them all in 2 days and by the end of it I was fuckin stoked to see the next one.

Don't bother watching 2 fast in it's entirety, just watch this.

If you've decided you need to see Furious 7 you'd better start at the beginning and marathon that shit!

ALL OF THEM IN A ROW MARATHON THAT SHIT DAWG I DID IT YOU CAN TOO

It's been a while since I've seen the first one, but I feel like that one may be kind of a relic of its time and be a little offputting to someone just watching it right now, especially if you aren't into cars that much. I think that 5 and 6 are good for just coming in and looking for fun, good action movies to get acquainted to the characters with. 2 and Tokyo Drift are silly fun I think, but Tokyo Drift looks like it may be playing a bigger part in 7 so it might be worth watching if it strikes a chord. It might just be me, but I found the fourth to be the most skippable of them.

Just start with the first one and go from there. It's a big, interconnected story, so you just kind of need to see the whole thing. Just know that Tokyo Drift takes place after F&F6, though it is okay to watch F&F3 after F&F2. They actually are really rewatchable films, and not easy to burn out on. I think you'll be fine if you watch them all in pretty short succession.

All of them. I think the progression from dumb to exceptionally dumb is part of the series's charm.

Start with the first, but realize that it might seem a little dated. You can skip 2 if you want, it's not that important and the part that is important gets reviewed later on. The third, Tokyo Drift, is the best in my opinion, but it doesn't fall into the timeline until between 6 and the upcoming 7. Definitely don't watch 6 before 3 though. There's an ending sequence just before the credits that shows one of the big moments of 3. It's better to see it happen in 3 before you see it happen in 6 if that makes sense.

You should watch them all but you can honestly start with 4 since that resembles what the series is now.

Just skip them all, throw your clothes in the mud and then go do laundry, I think that's about the same experience.

Watch an abridged video of 1,2 and 4.

3,5,6 in full.

All of them in a row because it is just a weird journey.

Or maybe better yet you should just watch the first one and the most recent and try to figure out how it ended up like that

Buy all your favourite movie snacks, order a pizza (or two) and make a day of it! Watch 'em all!

I love crappy action movies and 2 is very crappy so I recommend it. Or you could skip 2 and then cleanse your palate with Torque (which is so bad it's fantastic) somewhere along the line.

First then second then tokyo drift and then be done with it

1, 2, 4, 5, Tokyo Drift, then 6.

The only Fast and Furious movie I've watched is Tokyo Drift, I got it on DVD a long-ass time ago and I've lost count of how many times I've watched it. It's hilarious. Not to mention that the Fast and Furious movies actually haven't caught up to it yet.

So my advice would be to watch Tokyo Drift and then watch the rest as a sort of prequel.

Marathon the whole series if you can but the two you need to see before the new one are Tokyo drift and fast 6

this. everyday of your life.

Isn't Tokyo Drift, like, the worst one?

Gone In Sixty Seconds.

If you only want to have a decent idea what is going on, you can probably get away with 5 and 6. If you want to be thoroughly entertained, start from the beginning. All of the first three have some amazing moments, starting with Paul Walker being called "sandwich crazy" in the very first scene of the series. Number 2 is without a doubt my favourite, but I am far in the minority. The 4th is definitely my least favourite: it has less bombast, unintentional hilarity, intentional hilarity, and just overall fun than the others.

I know everyone is saying watch them all but honestly, you can just watch 5 and 6 and be fine.

I started with 1, then I skipped everything until I heard about 6, so I started watching 5, then 6, and then out of curiosity went to 3 and 4.

You actually won't miss anything if you start watching from 5, 4 was ok, but 5 is when greatness happens.

Agreed, though they are all fun to varying degrees. I think the first holds up shockingly well -- there are dated elements for sure, but it is a well-crafted action movie. I watched them all for the first time last year and had a ton of fun.

Start with the first one.

But Tokyo Drift is SO GOOD.

@456nto: If he wants to watch them in order of events that I would say the opposite. If you watch Tokyo Drift first then you learn a major spoiler about one of the characters that shows up in three of the other movies. Obviously it doesn't really matter since Tokyo Drift was the third movie released so a fair amount of people, or at least me, watched them as they came out and knew that spoiler the entire time.

However, if you didn't want to watch all the movies I would say definitely watch the first just so you understand the whole ridiculous Brian and Dom dynamic. Also its funny to see how crazy the movies have gotten over time in comparison to the first one. The second one isn't important to understanding the later ones. All it does is introduce two new characters, Roman and Tej, that will show up in the later ones but all you need to know is that he's Brian's childhood friend and Tej is like the crews tech guy. Tokyo Drift also introduces (on screen) an important character to later films but the only part form that movie involving him that you need to see is also shown in an after credits scene of Fast 6. So watch 1 and then at least 6 if you can't do 4, 5, and 6 also.

If you had the time I'd recommend watching all of them just because they are ridiculous movies that also happen to be entertaining. If you cared about order of events and not learning about things early I'd watch The Fast and Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Fast and Furious, Fast Five, Fast and Furious 6 (but do not watch after credits scene), Tokyo Drift, and finally the after credits scene from Fast 6. That would get you completely caught up with the events as they happened within the films.

Start at the beginning

Experience them all form the very beginning in all their glory. Also, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who loves Tokyo Drift. I consider it one of our national treasures.

All of them...Watch them in the right order though:

One, Two, Four, Five, Six until the flash forward to Tokyo, Three and then the rest of Six which is like 30 seconds

This way you follow along with the stupid timeline they set up AND you get to end with Tokyo Drift which may be the best one.

Personally I think watching all 6 is the way to go. If that's not an option I'd say 1 is completely necessary since it introduces you to the main cast. 3 Introduces a new protagonist who is not in any of the others yet will be in 7. 5 introduces the Rock's character so I would watch that. Finally 6 since it is the most recent will certainly be important to the story of 7.

2 introduces Tyrese Gibson's character and Ludacris, but if you had to skip one I guess this would probably be one to consider. Also I think you could go without 4. Maybe I'm forgetting something but I feel like it will likely be the least important to the story of 7.

Seriously though, consider watching them all. Unless you're planning on seeing the 7th on opening day you have a decent amount of time to see them all. If you start tonight you can knock out 2 a weekend and you'll be done by opening day. If you do watch them all just remember that the third one takes place after 6. I would still watch them in the proper order of release. But do keep that in mind.

ALL.OF.THEM in order.

All of them. You have to do it. They're fucking amazing.

1,4,5,6,2,3

Watch them all.

1,5,6 and 4 are fantastic.

2 and 3 are a bit weak in their ways, but 2 does actually still try to operate as a car movie and not as much an action movie so it's worth seeing anyway. 3 is the movie which happens chronologically before 7 so you want to see it last to prep you for 7.

@aquamarin calls out Torque above. It's really awful. I think I'll watch it again tonight.

@flippyandnod: Why do you say to watch 2 Fast 2 Furious so late? it takes place before 4, 5, and 6...

If you want to see if you'll enjoy the franchise either one of the last few in the franchise, which I think are 5 and 6, or try out the first one or the third one.

5 and 6 will catch you up on modern Fast and Furious including how the movies are usually put together now. 1 and 3 can be watched standalone and will give you an idea of some of the crazy, but still "good" places the franchise can go.

Or if you hate yourself, watch 2.

Because it isn't as good as the rest. If you aren't into the tuner scene of the period, then don't even bother watching it at all. I made that more as a priority list. If you only want to watch n movies, then watch the first n on that list. If are going to watch all 6, might as well watch them 1,2,4,5,6,3 which is chronological order.

The ones 4 and higher have universal appeal because they lean more toward action than car geekery.

@flippyandnod: ah, I see. I thought maybe you were coming at it from a "timeline" perspective.

@milkman: I don't think you get the full insanity of what 5 and 6 unless you watch the first movie at least.

Dude just fucking watch Torque. Really, that's all you need.

They're all the worst one. In the best of ways. Except for 2, fuck that one.

They're all pretty good in all honesty, but i find the do differ in tone slightly. For example the original film The Fast and The Furious, does seem a little more serious compared to Fast 6 which has some, albeit visually awesome, crazy action scenes. In terms of plot you would probably need to watch from at least 5 and 6 to get an understanding of who the protagonists are, but Tokyo Drift also ties directly into the new film so id recommend watching that one, although in my opinion it is the weakest of the series.

Watch John Wick instead.

Need for Speed. It is the best one.

Also this.

Watch them all, but you don't need to hit Tokyo Drift until between 5 and 6 (it gets bananas). And 2 is a bit of a mess, so don't worry if you're not really paying attention.

Fast and the Furious is by far the worst now, it just doesn't hold up well. I just watched Tokyo Drift which is still awesome.

Which one is Fast and the Furious? The fourth?