Fast & Furious 6 (2013): Cast, Plot and Ending Explained

Fast & Furious 6 follows Dominic Toretto's crew as they reunite in London to stop mercenary driver Owen Shaw in exchange for full pardons.

Dominic, Brian O'Conner and the rest of the crew are living comfortably abroad after their earlier heist. US agent Luke Hobbs tracks them down and asks for help catching Shaw, a former British special forces officer who leads a team of mercenary drivers. In return, he offers pardons so the crew can finally return home. Hobbs also shows Dominic evidence that Letty Ortiz, his presumed dead love, is alive and working for Shaw. Dominic agrees, and the team reassembles in London.

In Fast & Furious 6, Dominic Toretto's crew hunts Owen Shaw across London and Spain, stops his weapon plot on a runway, and earns the pardons Luke Hobbs promised.

Step one, the deal. Hobbs explains that Shaw's crew is stealing parts for a weapon that can knock out electronics across a whole region. Dominic's team agrees to hunt Shaw in exchange for pardons and a way home.

Step two, London. The crew clashes with Shaw's drivers in a street chase, and Dominic confronts Letty, who has lost her memory and does not know him. The team then sets a trap for Shaw, and he is captured.

Step three, the swap. Shaw's people kidnap Mia Toretto, and Shaw uses her to force an exchange and escape.

Step four, Spain. The team follows Shaw to Spain, where a highway chase unfolds around a tank that wrecks traffic. After a confrontation, Letty is brought back toward Dominic's side, and she starts to remember.

Step five, the runway. The crew tracks Shaw to an airfield, where he is trying to fly out on a huge cargo plane carrying the final piece of the weapon. Dominic and the others tether the plane to their vehicles to stop it from taking off. The plane crashes, Gisele Yashar is lost saving Han Lue, and Dominic gets the chip to Hobbs.

Hobbs keeps his promise and the crew is pardoned. Letty rejoins the family, and they return home to Los Angeles.

Fast & Furious 6 was released in US theaters on May 24, 2013, after a world premiere at the Empire, Leicester Square in London on May 7, 2013 and a UK release on May 17, 2013. The UK release came a week ahead of the US debut, and Australian theaters followed on June 6, 2013, according to Box Office Mojo.

The film was a box office hit: it cost a reported $160 million and grossed $789.3 million worldwide ($238.7 million domestic and $550.6 million international), about 4.9 times its budget. For the series context, see fast and furious box office.

The ending of Fast & Furious 6 closes the Owen Shaw story, pays off the pardon deal and sets up a new threat tied to Shaw's family.

After the battle on the runway, Shaw's plan collapses and Dominic gives Luke Hobbs the stolen chip. Hobbs keeps his word, so the crew gets its pardons and is free to go home. That deal drives the whole film, from Hobbs's pitch in the opening act to the airfield, so the resolution follows plot mechanics rather than a late twist.

How the runway sequence works. Shaw needs the cargo plane to carry the final piece of his weapon out of reach. The crew's answer is practical: Dominic and the others tether the plane to their vehicles so it cannot take off, and the plane crashes. Gisele Yashar is lost saving Han Lue in the same sequence, which is the price the crew pays for the pardons. Production context from a July 2013 Post Magazine interview: Justin Lin said the production built the whole cargo plane, which helped the visual effects extensions match the practical set. In the same interview he said that when a stunt car did not break apart as designed, the team redesigned the shot so shooting could continue within 12 hours.

What changes for the family. The film opens with the crew living abroad after their earlier heist, cut off from home. The ending reverses that exile. Letty Ortiz, who did not know Dominic in London and began to remember in Spain, rejoins the family, and the crew returns to Los Angeles. Back there, Dominic, Letty and the others have dinner together. Opinion: this quiet scene matters more than the stunt work before it, because the film spends its runtime rebuilding the crew and Letty's place in it.

Where it sits in the series. Lin said in July 2013 that this would be his last Fast & Furious film, calling it the end of a chapter, and the pardons and homecoming read as that chapter closing. The mid credits scene, covered in the next section, then introduces the new threat connected to Shaw's family. In release order the story continues in Furious 7, while in chronological order the next film is The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

Yes, Fast & Furious 6 has one mid credits scene, and it sets up the next film.

The scene is set in Tokyo, where Han Lue is caught in a chase and a car strikes him. The driver leaves Letty's cross necklace at the scene, then phones Dominic Toretto to warn him that he is coming.

Two films can claim to come next. In release order, that is Furious 7. In chronological order, it is The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. To see how the saga fits together, read fast and furious movies in order.

Fast & Furious 6 was filmed mainly in the United Kingdom and the Canary Islands, with a final shooting phase in Los Angeles.

• London, England: street chases and city scenes.
• Glasgow, Scotland: night stunt and car chase scenes standing in for London.
• Liverpool, England: Dale Street and the Queensway Tunnel.
• Tenerife and Gran Canaria, Canary Islands: the Spain highway and tank sequence.
• RAF Bentwaters, Suffolk and RAF Bovingdon, Hertfordshire: airfield and plane scenes.
• Shepperton Studios, Surrey: the built Piccadilly Circus set.
• Los Angeles, California: the final shooting phase.

Fast & Furious 6 used a fully built cargo plane for its finale and a replica of Piccadilly Circus at Shepperton Studios.

• Director Justin Lin said in a July 2013 interview that Fast & Furious 6 would be his last Fast & Furious film, calling it the end of a chapter.
• Lin said the production built the whole cargo plane for the Fast & Furious 6 finale, which helped the visual effects extensions match the practical set.
• Lin said that when a stunt car did not break apart as designed during Fast & Furious 6, the team redesigned the shot so shooting could continue within 12 hours.
• The Piccadilly Circus replica was built at Shepperton Studios after permission to film the real location for the explosion sequence was denied.
• Paul Walker was hurt doing stunt work on the London set of Fast & Furious 6 in October 2012, and the production shot around him until he could return.

For car details across the saga, see fast and furious cars.