All 11 ‘Fast and Furious’ Movies, Ranked by How Many Times “Family” Is Said (2025)

If you watch a movie in the series, you're likely to find a decent number of reoccurring elements. Things began with a focus on street racing, and though it pivoted to being more about heists and espionage as it went along, cars have remained a focus throughout. There isn't as much racing in later films, but there are plenty of action sequences that heavily use all sorts of vehicles in their place.

On top of the wheel-heavy action, you’re also going to see a good deal of hammy melodrama, and similarly iconic, at this stage, is how much the series talks about family. And given these movies are not subtle (they really don’t have to be), the whole family theme gets pointed out pretty explicitly through dialogue, often – though not always – by Dom Torreto (Vin Diesel). Across 10 movies and one spin-off, the word has been said almost 100 times, but which film in the series contains the most “family”?

11 '2 Fast 2 Furious' (2003)

"Family" count: 0

While 2 Fast 2 Furious lacks Vin Diesel and, perhaps not coincidentally, any utterances of the word “family,” it does have “bro” and “bruh” show up constantly in dialogue, so it should be recognized for that. The main characters here call each other that all the time, and though not literal brothers, the word does have that connection to family, so it’s better than nothing.

Elsewhere, 2 Fast 2 Furious is also well-known for being intensely homoerotic, and kind of campy in a way that feels reminiscent, at times, of some of the later films. Diesel-heads and those who prefer the melodrama found in the more “family” focused movies might well find this all a bit disappointing, but anyone wanting a very 2000s and endearingly corny action movie, 2 Fast 2 Furious might well satisfy.

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2 Fast 2 Furious

PG-13

Action

Crime

Thriller

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Release Date

June 5, 2003

Director

John Singleton

Cast

Paul Walker , Tyrese Gibson , Eva Mendes , Cole Hauser , Ludacris , Thom Barry

Runtime

108 Minutes

10 'The Fast and the Furious' (2001)

"Family" count: 2

The Fast and the Furious started the series off in a fairly modest way, leading to there being a frequent joke lamenting how the first film simply revolved around stealing DVD players (which does get explicitly referenced as quaint in a later film). Also, there’s a bit more than just stealing DVD players here, because The Fast and the Furious is also kind of a do-over of Point Break, but with more of a focus on cars.

Similarly modest here, at least compared to some later films, is the fact that “family” is only heard a couple of times within The Fast and the Furious. Key members of the eventual surrogate family that is Dom’s crew are introduced here, of course, but it would be a few more years/movies before they felt like a proper unit… plus, a few more characters needed to enter the picture first.

9 'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift' (2006)

"Family" count: 2

Like 2 Fast 2 Furious, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift felt pretty far removed from the original movie in the series, showing even further that the whole saga, in its early days, was pretty all over the place. As the title implies, Tokyo Drift largely takes place in said Japanese city, and works as something that’s both about car racing and the yakuza.

It features some rather old-looking teenagers and sees Vin Diesel show up briefly near the film’s conclusion, with certain events surrounding Han, who’s introduced here, being important/referenced in later films. Going by release date, it makes sense that there isn't as much talk about “family” here, but going by chronological order, this film stands out for mentioning “family” less than the sixth and seventh movies, which Tokyo Drift takes place between.

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The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

PG-13

Action

Crime

Thriller

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Release Date

June 16, 2006

Director

Justin Lin

Cast

Lucas Black , Damien Marzette , Trula M. Marcus , Zachery Ty Bryan , Brandon Brendel , Daniel Booko

Runtime

104 minutes

8 'Fast & Furious' (2009)

"Family" count: 2

Right before the “family” dialogue starts to really take off, there’s another film in the series that only features the word being spoken twice: . To its credit, within the franchise, this is where there is some sense of escalation in terms of action and bombast. Car racing is still significant, but the action sequences are a little crazier, and it at least feels like there’s more of them here.

Also, the main characters of the first movie are brought back together, and though a member of the family (temporarily) dies, this is where Dom and Brian (Paul Walker) put aside their differences and become full-on team members. Fittingly, the film ends on a bold note with the team going all-out with a risky plan to rescue Dom before he’s bussed off to prison, and if that doesn’t scream family unity, what does?

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Fast & Furious

PG-13

Action

Crime

Drama

Thriller

Where to Watch

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Release Date

April 2, 2009

Director

Justin Lin

Cast

Vin Diesel , Paul Walker , Michelle Rodriguez , Jordana Brewster , John Ortiz

Runtime

107 Minutes

7 'Fast Five' (2011)

"Family" count: 5

Here’s where things start getting pretty damn great within the Fast & Furious series, and also where there’s a little more “family.” It feels fitting that Fast Five has the word being said five times, and though that makes it the fifth-least family-heavy film in the saga, it’s still an improvement. Plus, it’s hard to notice or complain about such a thing lacking when everything else delivers so immensely.

Basically, Fast Five is a genuinely great heist movie, with some excellent action that pushes things perfectly far without any truly absurd shark-jumping in sight. It is ridiculous, but it’s arguably just the right kind of ridiculous, and the surrogate family here feels more fully formed than ever, owing to just how many main and supporting characters are brought together in this one. In hindsight, it feels like everything that came before was really just building up to this.

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Fast Five

PG-13

Action

Adventure

Crime

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Release Date

April 29, 2011

Director

Justin Lin

Cast

Vin Diesel , Paul Walker , Dwayne Johnson , Jordana Brewster , Tyrese Gibson , Ludacris , Matt Schulze , Sung Kang , Gal Gadot

Runtime

130 Minutes

6 'F9' (2021)

"Family" count: 7

“Family” is said a respectable seven times throughout F9, but given the movie runs for just over 140 minutes, that does mean you're only getting one “family” every 20 minutes on average. The conflict, though, is all about the ever-popular series theme, given John Cena’s introduced here as Jakob Toretto, Dom’s estranged brother who’s on the opposite side of a conflict to Dom and his surrogate family.

Perhaps that’s why it’s less important to stress “family” here; it’s a given when the family is literal, but explained and talked about more when it’s a symbolic family; a close-knit team of friends who might as well be the real thing. Anyway, as a movie, F9 is also perhaps a bit ridiculous, but it’s also the ninth movie (or 10th if you count that one aforementioned spin-off) in a long-running series that had been kind of ridiculous for a while, so you kind of have to accept that’s what you're in for here.

5 'Furious 7' (2015)

"Family" count: 9

A difficult decision was made here to not count the uses of “family” found in song lyrics, which takes Furious 7 down from 13 utterances of the word to a still solid nine. This should be highlighted, because in the hit song that was inescapable back in 2015, “See You Again,” the lyric “How can we not talk about family when family's all that we got?” is heard twice.

Of course, this song backs what would have to be the most (by far) to date, in which the late Paul Walker – and his character, Brian – are honored before exiting the series. Even without counting lyrics, Furious 7 is pretty prominent about the whole family thing, and it’s part of Brian’s in-universe reason for stepping away from the dangerous life he’s been living: he wants to focus on raising a family of his own.

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Furious 7

PG-13

Crime

Action

Thriller

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Release Date

April 3, 2015

Director

James Wan

Cast

Tyrese Gibson , Jason Statham , Vin Diesel , Paul Walker , Luke Hobbs , Dwayne Johnson , Dominic Toretto

Runtime

2h 20m

4 'Fast & Furious 6' (2013)

"Family" count: 11

Representing another escalation in “family,” features the word 11 times, which is a notable step up from Fast Five, given it was only heard less than half as many times there. As a film, it’s not quite a step up in quality, but it is still quite good overall, and does succeed in being a step up in terms of ridiculousness.

Fast & Furious 6 features the return of Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), helping the family feel a little more whole, all the while bringing back most of the heroes from Fast Five. Additionally, this sixth movie in the series also takes steps to introduce a new family: the Shaws, with Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) being the villain here, and his brother, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), showing up right at the end to vow revenge against Dom’s family for the hospitalization of his brother.

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3 'Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw' (2019)

"Family" count: 15

As the lengthy title suggests, is a spin-off from the mainline series. Instead of Dom and his family, Hobbs & Shaw understandably focuses on Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw and Dwayne Johnson’s Luke Hobbs, all the while having a sense of self-aware comedy that differentiates it from the somewhat more serious (and perhaps more unintentionally funny) other movies.

All that being said, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw does still deliver ridiculous action, and the whole family motif is still more than present and accounted for. Helen Mirren is here as Shaw’s mom (or “mum,” considering they're British), and his sister, Hattie Shaw, (Vanessa Kirby), with numerous members of Hobbs’s family introduced in the final act, too. So, by spin-off standards, it still more than hangs onto that central part of the larger series.

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2 'The Fate of the Furious' (2017)

"Family" count: 16

Maybe the presence of Jason Statham can be counted on for “family” popping up in dialogue, because the six movies in the series he appears (in either a main role or as a cameo) in also happen to be the six with the most uses of “family.” The Fate of the Furious is one of them, and it’s also business as usual for a Fast & Furious sequel, given it finds some new ways to go wild and increasingly explosive action-wise.

The big conflict found in The Fate of the Furious concerns the somewhat ludicrous idea of Dom turning on family, but it ends up being because of blackmail, so he had his reasons, given they related to family in a more literal sense. It’s soapy, it’s melodramatic, it’s gonzo, it’s fun, and it really is – more than just about any other movie in the series – about “family.”

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The Fate of the Furious

PG-13

Where to Watch

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Not available

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Release Date

April 14, 2017

Director

F. Gary Gray

Cast

Vin Diesel , Dwayne Johnson , Jason Statham , Michelle Rodriguez , Tyrese Gibson , Ludacris , Kurt Russell , Charlize Theron

Runtime

136 minutes

Main Genre

Action

1 'Fast X' (2023)

"Family" count: 27

After F9 toned down the “family” dialogue considerably, Fast X went all-in, as if to say, “No, we haven’t forgotten about that essential part of Fast & Furious, don’t worry.” Jason Momoa emerges as a new central villain here, being someone whose father was a previous villain in the series who was taken down in Fast Five, leading to some family-related revenge.

Momoa’s character, Dante Reyes, is surprisingly responsible for this dramatic uptick in the use of the word “family,” because he seemingly can’t shut up about it throughout his roaring rampage of revenge. He’s not a subtle villain (and seems to be having fun in the role), so the doubling down on using the word makes a degree of sense here. Whether the planned final movie in the series can top Fast X’s 27 “family” utterances remains to be seen, but that would sure be something.

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