Others have talked about how The Fast and The Furious is basically just Point Break with cars, but back in 2001 when F&F came out, not as many people noticed the similarities. But, with the remake of Point Break in 2015, and the endless spawn of Fast & Furious films that followed the original, eventually people started talking about it more and more. If you’ve seen the two movies, it’s near impossible not to notice how F&F is basically just a complete rip off of Point Break.
So why then are we claiming that F&F is inferior if it’s essentially the same movie? For one thing, Point Break has a lot more humor, and in our book humor makes everything better. It also mixes up the action sequences between surfing, sky-diving, foot chases, and bank robbing, giving more variety than yet another car chase or drag race. And no offense to Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, who admittedly do have some decent chemistry, but we’ll take Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze over those two any day.
This article will gift you with a snazzy rundown of F&F rip-off worthy Point Break similarities below, but we’d be totally rude if we first didn’t point out the two movies do have one big difference — Point Break features a mentor/partner for Johnny Utah (Reeves) in Gary Busey, whereas Fast & Furious features a romantic (and otherwise) partner for Dom (Diesel) in Michelle Rodriguez. These two don’t really have counterparts in the other movies like everyone else does, so there is some originality there.
Now, on to the many ways F&F rips off Point Break — one last note… if you’ve seen The Fast and the Furious and never seen Point Break (the original, mind you, not the remake), what are you even doing with your life? Go SEE POINT BREAK!
THE characters
The Young Undercover
PB: Johnny Utah, played by Keanu Reeves. A young FBI agent fresh out of Quantico who wants to prove himself, Johnny goes undercover with a surfer group to try to find out who is committing a spree of bank robberies. He originally thinks a completely different group is responsible for the robberies, must realize it's the group he's become close to. FF: Brian O'Conner, played by Paul Walker. A young LAPD officer who is part of a joint FBI/LAPD investigation, Brian goes undercover with a car racing group to try to find out who is committing a spree of truck robberies. He originally thinks a completely different group is responsible for the robberies, must realize it's the group he's become close to.
The Friend / Secret Ringleader
PB: Bodhi, played by Patrick Swayze. The leader of a group of surfers who also like to sky dive, Bodhi turns out to be the secret leader of the bank robbers. Bodhi likes Johnny despite being somewhat suspicious of him from the start.
FF: Dominic Toretto, played by Vin Diesel. The leader of a group that repairs and races cars in illegal street races, Dom turns out to be the secret leader of the truck robbers. Dom likes Brian despite being somewhat suspicious of him from the start.
The Mark / Love Interest
PB: Tyler Endicott, played by Lori Petty. Johnny uses Tyler, Bodhi's former paramour, to teach him how to surf in order to get close to the guys, inevitably falls in love with her.
FF: Mia Toretto, played by Jordana Brewster. Brian uses Mia, Dom's younger sister, to get close to the guys, inevitably falls in love with her.
THE Story
The extreme World
PB: Bodhi likes to take things to the extreme, whether it comes to surfing monster waves, pulling the parachute at the last minute while sky diving, and, you know, leading a group that robs banks. Johnny gets pulled into this too, and we find out he keeps surfing even after everything goes down. FF: Dom lives life a quarter mile at a time, repairing cars, doing some illegal street racing, and, you know, running a crime group that steals from trucks. (Honestly, it's not as interesting or as exciting as the surfing and sky-diving.) Still, Brian gets pulled into this too, and if you've seen some of the following movies, we find out he keeps racing cars even after everything goes down.
The Criminal Element
PB: Bodhi and his crew dress up in suits with masks of former presidents and rob banks, but only take the money from the tellers, never going for the vault. Things go wrong on the "final" job resulting in members of the crew dying. FF: Dom and his crew use their souped-up cars to steal electronics from trucks in the dark of night. Things go wrong on the "final" job resulting in members of the crew dying.
The Ending
PB: Bodhi initially gets away because Johnny gets injured and can't follow him, but we soon find out Johnny's been tracking him for months, and finally catches him at the storm of the century he mentioned earlier in the movie. In the end, Johnny lets Bodhi go surf his dream waves and tosses his FBI badge away. FF: Brian and Dom have one last race, with Brian ultimately beating Dom when Dom's car loses control and crashes. But, Brian gives Dom the keys to his car, letting him get away. We find out in the following movie that Brian is no longer in the LAPD.
Can you imagine if Point Break had spawned numerous sequels like The Fast and the Furious? Alas, it never happened, and honestly it’s quite a feat that F&F managed to do such a thing when it wasn’t very well-received. Nonetheless, if you compare the two original films, you’ll find that Point Break is eminently re-watchable, but The Fast & the Furious is middling at best.
Agree or disagree? Let us know in the comments!
- Point Break was almost made in 1986 with Matthew Broderick, Johnny Depp, Val Kilmer, and Charlie Sheen all in talks to play Johnny Utah.
- After The Skulls, Paul Walker said his dream project would be a mash-up of Days of Thunder and Donnie Brasco – filmmakers brought him a Vibe article about undercover street racing in LA and The Fast Saga was born.
- Point Break was originally going to be called Johnny Utah after the title character, but then became Riders on the Storm, which then finally turned into Point Break halfway through filming.
- Timothy Olyphant was considered for the role of Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious, but he declined.
- Prior to filming, Point Break director Kathryn Bigelow was married to James Cameron, and he has stated he helped re-write parts of the script with her prior to filming.
- Point Break was almost made in 1986 with Matthew Broderick, Johnny Depp, Val Kilmer, and Charlie Sheen all in talks to play Johnny Utah.
- After The Skulls, Paul Walker said his dream project would be a mash-up of Days of Thunder and Donnie Brasco – filmmakers brought him a Vibe article about undercover street racing in LA and The Fast Saga was born.
- Point Break was originally going to be called Johnny Utah after the title character, but then became Riders on the Storm, which then finally turned into Point Break halfway through filming.
- Timothy Olyphant was considered for the role of Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious, but he declined.
- Prior to filming, Point Break director Kathryn Bigelow was married to James Cameron, and he has stated he helped re-write parts of the script with her prior to filming.
