The Fast and the Furious franchise is ingrained in automotive culture. You may love the films, or you may loathe them (you may even loathe that you love them), but there’s no denying their impact. The series is Universal’s biggest, grossing over seven billion dollars across all 11 films—it’s the eighth largest film franchise, period.
But getting Fast & Furious made hasn’t been an easy road.
Film Critic Barry Hertz has a new book titled Welcome to the Family. The book bills itself as “The Explosive Story Behind Fast & Furious, the Blockbuster that Supercharged the World.” Hertz takes us on a journey starting with the genesis of the first film, all the way through the production issues and insanity of the full timeline.
A timeline, mind you, that eventually sees a Fiero go to space, a large man redirect a torpedo with his bare hands, and a Dodge Charger escape a massive explosion by driving down the face of a dam. Remember the very first film where a group of no-goodniks were using Honda Civics to rob semi-trucks? The Fast & Furious franchise transcended the bounds of reality and has moved into full-on superhero-grade cinematics.
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Still, even as the series seems to print money, the movies were never a given success. In fact, the entire franchise owes its start to a reporter named Kenneth Li. The then 24-year-old Li covered crime for the New York Daily News. Li wrote a story about car theft, which led him to learn a bit more about the world of underground street racing. From there, Li embedded himself in this world, eventually penning a piece for Vibe titled “Racer X.” Universal secured the rights to adapt that story into a film, and here we are today.
In total, there are 11 films under the F&F banner because yes, we’re counting Hobbs & Shaw. Barry Hertz wanted to better understand the “how” and “who” of it all. Universal declined to participate in the creation of this book, so Hertz found answers to his questions by conducting more than 170 interviews with people involved in the creation of this cinematic universe.
“It was an intense and, pardon the wording, fast process. I started reaching out to interview subjects in January 2024, and the whole thing was off to the printers by late August 2025,” Hertz tells Motor1. “I was able to spend so much of my time immersed in a franchise that I genuinely love, and one that I feel has been unfairly dismissed by so many critics and even audiences. Learning just how the films were made—discovering the million different little things that have to go exactly right for movies of this size to come together—made me appreciate all the remarkable work that much more.”
While we here at Motor1 love insane action films as much as the next person, it’s still a bit surprising that the Chief Film Critic for The Globe and Mail would look to these films to form the basis of a book. “I’ve always considered myself a big-tent moviegoer. I enjoy and appreciate independent and arthouse cinema as much as I do big juicy blockbusters,” Hertz says. “And one studio juggernaut that’s long fascinated me is Fast. As in: How did a relatively tiny street-racing movie turn into such a globe-conquering behemoth?”
‘The evolution of the Fast-verse has everything that a devotee of pop-culture history could want, from heartwarming triumph to shocking tragedy. Oh, and cars—so many of the most beautiful rides ever assembled. While I’m one of the more cautious drivers who you’ll ever meet, the vicarious thrills I get while watching Han drift through Shibuya or Brian rip his Skyline across Miami simply cannot be matched by any other human sensation.’
Hertz explains that the process of writing this book was a labor of love. Since Universal didn’t want to participate, Hertz had to find people who would.
“I was able to talk with about 200 members of the cast and crew, many attributed and on the record, with some interviews conducted for background purposes,” he said.”Highlights include hearing about just how hard director Justin Lin works from members of his inner creative circle, as well as my many long conversations with the filmmakers who were there at the beginning of the journey, including director Rob Cohen, screenwriter David Ayer, and the one-time Universal executives who helped usher the saga into existence.”
Although the films are ridiculous, the actors are equally entertaining at times. After all, the idea to have Dwayne Johnson’s character seemingly forever coated in sweat comes from The Rock himself. Crew members routinely sprayed Hobbs with bottles of water, so his arms were always shiny. A constant glistening takes a dedicated team.
Photo by: Barry Hertz
There’s much more to uncover in the book itself, which is on sale now. Prices range from $15 to $30, depending on where you purchase it and whether you prefer a physical copy or an e-book version.
Back to the films, though, as I had one last question for Barry Hertz. Here’s how he would rank the series, from best film to worst:
- Fast Five
- The Fast and the Furious
- The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
- Furious 7
- Fast 6
- F9
- Fast X
- 2 Fast 2 Furious
- Fast & Furious
- Hobbs & Shaw
- The Fate of the Furious
That’s quite the family…
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