Fast & Furious is a blockbuster franchise, yet its titles could’ve sent a better message about what the movies were about. The saga spreads over 11 movies, a spin-off, two short films, and a television series, with more to come in the future. Although it has a combined gross of over $7 billion globally, the Fast & Furious franchise doesn’t follow any consistent structure or format for its titles. The titling of every Fast & Furious movie has become so nonsensical and confusing that the franchise has become the source of various jokes pertaining to franchise titling.
After The Fast and the Furious, the franchise incorporated numbers for the sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious, added a subtitle for the third installment The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and then went basic with Fast & Furious for the fourth entry. Almost all subsequent installments have included numbers, but they’ve done so by spelling them out, including the numerical form, and even adding in Roman numerals, all while dropping “Fast” or “Furious” (or both) from the titles. Albeit confusing to follow at times, the Fast & Furious movie titles could have followed a more traditional and cohesive approach as the franchise grew.
The Fast And The Furious’ Title Was A Good Decision
Released in 2001 as a standalone
The first film, based on the article “Racer X” by Ken Li, has a great title that sets up the franchise. It sets the scene, and the “fast” clearly states its focus on car races and car culture. It made literal sense even when taking a look at its main characters, Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto and Paul Walker’s Brian O’Connor. It could be argued that Dom proved he was “fast,” which made Brian “furious.” However, the title wasn’t the first option, as the film had many possible titles. The Fast and the Furious has a 69-year-old story tied to its name, which was the title of a 1954 movie.
2 Fast 2 Furious’ Title Should Be Fast & Furious: Miami Reunion
2 Fast 2 Furious was no longer set in Los Angeles
In 2003, Fast & Furious returned with its first sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious. Vin Diesel didn’t reprise his role in the second installment because he didn’t think the film needed a sequel. The studio disagreed and brought back Walker’s Brian O’Connor, introducing Tyrese Gibson’s Roman Pierce and more characters as they took a case in Miami, Florida. The original title, 2 Fast 2 Furious, played with the idea that it was the second part of the saga, but it would’ve been clearer to simply name it Fast & Furious: Miami Reunion, playing to the film’s main location and the reunion between Brian and Roman.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Should Be Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift
The first option was too long
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
The third movie in the franchise moves to a different continent, and its action takes place in Tokyo. The film dropped the original cast, introducing some of its future characters. The original title, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, reflects that, and it’s one of the most accurate titles of the franchise, highlighting the idea that it was a spinoff. However, keeping the definite article made it too visually complex. Instead, it should’ve gone for the option Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift, which kept the basic premise while making its title cleaner and easier.
Fast & Furious’ Title Should Be: Fast & Furious: High-Speed Revenge
The most confusing title of the franchise
In 2009, three years after the release of Tokyo Drift, the original team reunited. The original title, Fast & Furious, is pure chaos, as it is just a cleaner version of the first movie’s name and the exact shorthand for the franchise at large. Dropping the two definite articles from the first film and turning its “and” into the “&” symbol are not bold ideas for the title and do little to convey what the movie is actually about. For a better format, its title should’ve been Fast & Furious: High-Speed Revenge, since Dom does everything in his power to make the person who killed Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) pay.
Fast Five Should’ve Been Fast & Furious: The First Heist
The film acknowledged order again, but it was no longer furious
For the fifth film, released in 2011, the Fast Five title continued to show inconsistencies compared to its previous films. While the audience could’ve expected them to continue the Fast & Furious format somehow, the Fast saga surprised again, acknowledging its order in the franchise with the title Fast Five. Given that Universal Pictures decided to depart from the car racing theme from the previous films, Fast Five is a transition film into a heist action series. The best way to convey that would’ve been if it had been titled Fast & Furious: The First Heist.
Fast & Furious 6 Should’ve Been Fast & Furious: Faster In Europe
The Fast saga switches continents
The sixth film confused things further with the title Fast & Furious 6. Director Justin Lin wanted it to be a companion title for Fast Five, and finally make some sense of them. His version even made it in the film, but the studio wanted it to be Fast & Furious 6 for marketing purposes, continuing the inconsistencies further. The best title for the sixth film in the Fast saga would’ve been Fast & Furious: Faster in Europe, as the crew switches to yet another continent for a new case, and it features scenes in Spain, the UK, and Russia.
Furious 7 continues the weird title format. The ampersand is gone again, and figures make a comeback, continuing like Fast & Furious 6, but dropping the “Fast” in favor of the “Furious.” It doesn’t have any consistency with the previous three titles. The best option would’ve been Fast & Furious: One Last Ride. The film makes several references to that throughout the movie, and it’s all because Paul Walker passed away during Furious 7‘s development. The movie acknowledges that by retiring Walker’s character, Brian O’Conner, and giving him “one last ride” with the original crew.
