Poster © Universal Pictures. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreAction, Crime & Thriller
RatedPG-13
Runtime1 hr 46 mins
ReleasedJune 22, 2001
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorRob Cohen
StarringPaul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez
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The Fast and the Furious (2001)
| ▶Stream It | ★The Numbers |
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| iIMDb Profile | %Rotten Tomatoes |
| WWikipedia | LLetterboxd |
| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| The Fast and the Furious's Details | |
| Genre | Action, Crime & Thriller |
| Rated | PG-13 |
| Released | 06/18/2001 (Mann Village Theatre); 06/22/2001 (United States) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 1 hr 46 mins |
| Budget | $38M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Based On | "Racer X" by Ken Li |
| Country | United States, Germany |
| Language | English |
| The Fast and the Furious's Interests | |
| General | Street races, nitrous buttons, tuna sandwiches with no crust, backyard barbecues, family. |
| Music | BT, plus a very 2001 soundtrack of hip hop and nu metal. |
| Movies | Point Break (1991). Undercover cop, charismatic crew, surfboards instead of spoilers. |
| Television | Top Gear. The same need for speed, with more British arguing. |
| Heroes | Dom Toretto, who will tell you about family within five minutes of meeting you. |
| The Fast and the Furious's Crew | |
| Director | Rob Cohen |
| Writers | Gary Scott Thompson, Erik Bergquist, David Ayer, Gary Scott Thompson (story) |
| Producers | Neal H. Moritz |
| Cinematography | Ericson Core |
| Music | BT |
| Edited By | Peter Honess |
| Production | Universal Pictures, Neal H. Moritz Productions, Mediastream Film |
| Distributed By | Universal Pictures (United States), United International Pictures (International) |
Somebody keeps hijacking trucks on Los Angeles highways with a crew of souped-up Honda Civics, and the LAPD wants answers. So officer Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) goes undercover in the street racing scene, working at a parts shop and eating a suspicious number of tuna sandwiches at a little market run by Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster). Her brother Dominic (Vin Diesel) is the king of the street races, with a loyal crew that includes his girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez). Brian puts his own car on the line to get noticed. Rob Cohen directs. One hundred seven minutes, a quarter mile at a time.
Anyone who can build a ten-second car. Tuna, no crust, on the house.
Brian O’Conner eats a tuna sandwich basically every day to get close to a girl, and that’s the most convincing police work in the whole movie. He’s supposed to be undercover. He’s about as hidden as a neon Civic. Paul Walker plays him like a golden retriever with a badge, which is honestly charming, and Vin Diesel grumbles every line from somewhere near the floor. The plot is a cop show. The dialogue is a car magazine read out loud. And yet. The races are loud and goofy and sunny, the nitrous shots turn the camera into a warp drive, and the truck heists at night are legit tense. It’s a $38 million B-movie that knows exactly what it is, and it grew into a franchise that eventually sent a car to space. A 5.6 because it’s dumb fun with a straight face, which counts for something, and not a lot more. $40.85 says you rev your engine at a red light this week and feel embarrassed right after.
What works: The street races, the nitrous rush shots and the nighttime truck heists are loud, sunny, goofy fun.
What doesn’t: The plot is a standard cop show with car parts glued on, and most of the dialogue sounds like it was read off a parts catalog.
Who it’s for: Car people, nostalgia hunters and anyone who wants to see where the whole family saga started.
Spoilers
Brian blows his cover to save Vince during a heist gone wrong, and Jesse is killed in a drive-by by Johnny Tran’s crew. After one last race across the train tracks, Brian hands Dom the keys to his own car and lets him drive away.
![photo: Georges Biard [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)],, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michelle_Rodriguez_Cannes_2018_cropped.jpg){kind=link}
| Paul Walker | Brian O'Conner |
| Vin Diesel | Dominic Toretto |
| Michelle Rodriguez | Letty Ortiz |
| Jordana Brewster | Mia Toretto |
| Rick Yune | Johnny Tran |
| Chad Lindberg | Jesse |
| Johnny Strong | Leon |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 5 November 2026 DataBot +160 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $213M → $213.5M; Profit / loss (est.) +$49.5M → +$49.7M; box office chart updated; IMDb users 6.8 / 10 (469,046 votes) → 6.8 / 10 (469,383 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 29 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 6.8 / 10 (468,688 votes) → 6.8 / 10 (469,046 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 22 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 6.8 / 10 (468,500 votes) → 6.8 / 10 (468,688 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 18 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 6.8 / 10 (468,437 votes) → 6.8 / 10 (468,500 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +480 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $213M; Domestic box office $149M; Opening weekend $40.1M; Profit / loss (est.) +$49.5M; Rotten Tomatoes 56%; CinemaScore B+; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 56% (159 reviews); Metacritic 58 / 100; CinemaScore B+; IMDb users 6.8 / 10 (468,437 votes); movie.guru score 5.1.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.