Toward the end of my college days, I harbored a not-so-secret crush. She and I carried on a mild flirtation, dancing around the possibility of more, but it wasn’t until she found out I’d never seen The Fast and the Furious that she gave me an opening.
“What?!” she exclaimed. “It’s my favorite movie!” So we made plans to watch it at her dorm the next day. Even if I didn’t like it, I reasoned, the experience would constitute a worthy reversal of the trope about men forcing testosterone-soaked action movies on their girlfriends. I’ll spare you the details of what happened that afternoon, but it may come as no surprise that I gave the film an enthusiastic five-star review.
In the 25 years since the launch of the franchise, F&F has massively capitalized on such runaway infatuations. The big, bald, sleeveless blockbusters serve as monuments to America’s demented car culture, product placement (Corona, anyone?), and the ambiguously defined bonds of “family”—pronounced “fambly.” With their high-octane set pieces that ignore all known physics, leavened by subpar acting and threadbare storylines, the films invite us to submit to some reptilian part of our brain that cares only for power and speed.
Which is why the series was ideal inspiration for Universal Studios Hollywood’s new foray into cutting-edge outdoor roller coasters. On Wednesday, the long-anticipated Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift opened to the public, offering parkgoers the chance to hop into replicas of the movies’ muscle cars—including Dom Toretto’s 1970 Dodge Charger R/T—that spin and soar along more than 4,000 feet of track at speeds of up to 72 miles per hour. (A different version of the ride is slated to debut at Universal’s Florida park next year.)
The day before, select media and content creators had the chance to experience the attraction without the inconvenience of waiting in line, and I’m pleased to report that it didn’t disappoint: I rode it three times in a row and could have gone back for more. Its four launch sections and three corkscrew inversions made for a whip-fast adrenaline rush, augmented by revving motor noise from seat-mounted speakers. In Dom’s lead car, you can even detect the braking resistance as you slide into a drift. I hollered with glee throughout each circuit, making sure to occasionally shout “TOLUCA LAKE,” the name of the affluent neighborhood next door; residents have been very upset about all the screaming.
If you want to feel like you’re a Fast & Furious character within the safer confines of a precisely engineered thrill machine, you can hardly ask for anything better. And despite its innovative design, the overall aesthetic of the ride and its environs demonstrates a welcome nostalgia for the more grounded origins of these movies, when the crew was hijacking trucks full of DVD players instead of launching Pontiacs into space. On your way through the queueing path, you’ll pass garage workbenches littered with tools and LA-style street murals that pay homage to racing culture.
Those welcome simple touches might make you wonder if we’ll ever actually see the conclusion of the increasingly bloated and absurd F&F saga in the perpetually delayed 11th film, Fast Forever. Between the ongoing rewrites and budgetary obstacles, it has yet to even enter production. (The previous film, Fast X, was released in 2023.) Rather than being too big to fail, it’s as though the challenge of topping each successive spectacle has made the Furious brand too unwieldy to push forward.
Could it be that, in the absence of a finale, the F&F rides will cap off the series? In their invitation for Tuesday’s press preview event, Universal noted that Vin Diesel himself would be on hand during a ceremony to help executives cut the ribbon (or, as it happened, a fake plastic chain). But the man synonymous with the franchise was nowhere to be found when the time came to declare the ride officially open. The closest we got was a gaggle of fans in costume as Toretto, complete with bald caps.
When I checked out Diesel’s Instagram account for clues as to what he was up to, I found that he had just posted set photos of himself as Kaulder, his character from The Last Witch Hunter, a 2015 dark fantasy film. Lionsgate confirmed last year that a sequel is in the works, and it appears that Diesel was stoking anticipation with this sneak peek. When this guy isn’t acknowledging a major milestone for the burnt-rubber films that made him a household name, you have to wonder if there’s much gas left in the tank.
Not everything lasts—certainly not college flings that start with stunt-driver flicks. That the Fast & Furious series has earned billions of dollars and spanned a quarter century based on an equally thin premise is a testament to how far this juvenile spirit can take you. Maybe bringing it to life with a really fun roller coaster is the best way to let it roar off into the sunset. When you climb aboard, take a look around at your fellow passengers. You’re the family now.
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