The Outcast of the Fast and Furious Franchise is Actually the Best One
Fast and Furious 10 a.k.a Fast X has been available in Cinema's for about a week and I have heard mixed reviews but I no too send them because I am a big sucker for the fast and furious franchise and I can't wait to watch it for myself. I usually have a ritual of re-watching all the Fast and Furious movies just before a new one comes out, so it flows well in my head and also because I just love the movies so damn much. I can say I am an expert on the topic of the Fast and Furious franchise and I have come today with an unpopular opinion that the best fast and furious movie is actually the one people consider to be the black sheep of the family.
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| The Goat of FF |
Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift premiered on June 4, 2006 and it came as a shock to everyone because the whole cast was missing. Prior to the Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift, there was The Fast and the Furious followed by 2 Fast 2 Furious and these were hits. So, the World was expecting something like 3 Fast 3 Furious but instead they got Tokyo Drift and somehow everyone was missing, by this I mean Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson and Michelle Rodriguez at the very least. To put things into perspective, FF Tokyo Drift made about $157.8 million which is an outrageous sum of money but it is the least amount of money ever made by the Franchise since inception.
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| The Best? |
Anyhoo, I am not here to tell you why FF Tokyo Drift was a flop, instead I am here to convince you that FF Tokyo Drift is probably the best Fast and Furious movie of the franchise.
1. It has the most realistic and relatable storyline
To a teenager watching FF Tokyo Drift for the first time, I wished so bad that my life would play out just like that, lol. A brief summary of the movie goes thus; A high school student named Sean Boswell races his fathers car after school and on a faithful day, the race doesn't go smoothly as it ends in a crash. The police get involved and this particular student is shipped to Japan to meet his father who is a U.S. Navy officer stationed in Tokyo so as to evade the law. On getting to Tokyo he realizes the car scene there is even wilder because unlike in the U.S where it is all about straight line speed, there is something called drifting in Japan which is way more fun and requires more skill.
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| Did I tell you his best friend was Bow Wow? |
On getting to Japan, he makes new friends and he is introduced to drifting. He practices and gets better before racing the so called Drift King and eventually wins him, becoming the new Drift King after quite a lot of hassle. Lest I forget, he ended up dating the hottest girl at his high school. Tell me this is not the perfect come up story for any Teenager? The story line is probably the most feasible of all in the franchise and it appealed so much to me. I still wish this was my life though (Note: This is a very abridged summary of the movie, do yourself a favor and watch the movie)
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| Left: My Best Friend; Middle: Teenage Ebun; Right: Secondary School Crush |
2. The cars were not just aesthetically pleasing, they also showcased Japanese car culture
At this point, it is common knowledge that the best drift cars come from Japan. If you don't agree, then you are most definitely living under a rock like Patrick. FF Tokyo Drift gave honor to whom it was due by showcasing the beautiful car culture of Japan, I believe they ate and left no crumbs in this aspect. Toyota Supra's, Nissan Z's, Mitsubishi Evo's and other legendary Japanese vehicles were properly showcased in this particular movie. The most awesome car in the movie being Han's modified Mazda RX-7 that was customized and painted in orange and black.
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| Some of the cars in FF Tokyo Drift |
Amidst all the Cars in Tokyo Drift, there was an odd ball. This happened to be Bow Wow's car, a Hulk inspired Volkswagen Touran. The car looked absolutely silly but it caught my attention. Coincidentally, my Dad purchased this car a few years later and I was so in love with it. Too bad it had transmission issues and we had to let it go. Remember the episode about a German car showing my Dad shege, it was this one. I rode this car with so much pride, because in my mind, I am driving a car from the Fast and Furious movie.
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| Of course my Dad's was plain in ash color |
3. The stunts in Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift were real
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| Doing donuts around a car, something I could do |
Unlike the Fast and Furious movies before and even after Tokyo Drift, non had very realistic scenes. All the drifting in the movie was performed by professional drivers. This means that all I need to do is to take a trip to Japan, learn professional drifting and I could equally perform all the stunts in the movie. Amazing right?
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| Legendary Scene |
One scene that stays in my head rent free is the one pictured above, in which they approach a crowd and the crowd splits, thereby creating a path for the racers to drift through in the middle of Tokyo. I actually read that this scene was illegally shot, but they knew what they were doing, so they had a fall out guy who stood in place for the director and slept over night in a cell. A few scenes were done in Japan but in totality, most of it was done in California due to the strict filming laws in Japan.
4. Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift produced the best car racing song ever
Finally, FF Tokyo Drift had an amazing soundtrack, compared to other Fast and Furious movies it might not have been up there but one song in particular was all over the internet and even until last year, it was very popular on Tiktok and generally used for many car content. This song is called Tokyo Drift by the Teriyaki Boyz. This jam is an everlasting hit to me and I will so jam to it when I buy my R34 GT-R.
There are a million other reasons why I think Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift was the best, but I will leave you with just these four. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, so please air yours in the comment section. Thank you for reading and always remember to Turbo that engine!
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