‘Fast 5‘ (2011) was the film that really got me (rather belatedly!) into the franchise and ‘Fast & Furious 6‘ (2013) was a strong follow up albeit one very far removed from its street racing origins! This sixth instalment is set in the Canary Islands, Moscow, London, Los Angeles and Lusitania (Spain) but in reality it was mostly filmed in Glasgow and London. 

After just four minutes it’s Russia on screen as US Diplomatic Security Service Agents Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and his new partner Riley Hicks (Gina Carano) check out the destruction of a Russian military convoy. The wreckage of all this is not really Moscow but Lambeth Bridge (below) at Millbank on the River Thames in London.

The Interpol Headquarters in Moscow is shown on five minutes but this is also London. It’s the Art Deco building (below) known as Senate House; the administrative centre of the University of London which was constructed over five years from 1932 onwards. It’s located just north of the British Museum on Malet Street in Bloomsbury and is perhaps most famous (movie-wise!) for portraying the Gotham City courthouse in both ‘Batman Begins‘ (2005) and ‘The Dark Knight‘ (2008).

London is finally itself after that and on 15 minutes the crew are all reunited at Cannon Street Underground Station. Well technically Dom, Brian, Roman, Tej, Han and Gisele meet up on a vacant floor in the architectural wonder (below) that is above the Tube station. They decide to help Hobbs take down a skilled mercenary organisation led by Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) in return for amnesty of their crimes by the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS).

The raid on Shaw’s fake hideout is Admirals Way and Marsh Wall at Heron Quays (below) in east London. Shaw naturally escapes (on 22 minutes) in a custom-built car whilst leaving a trail of explosive destruction behind him.

Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), who we presumed was dead after the fourth film, is actually alive and part of villain Shaw’s team as she has suffered from amnesia. Having shot at her husband Dom, she races off back to Shaw’s real hideout (below) which at that time was Empress Coaches on Corbridge Crescent, alongside the canal just five minutes walk north of Cambridge Heath Station on the Overground. The area was under construction when I visited in January 2020. The time-codes for its appearance are 32, 50 and 78 minutes.

One of the movie’s funnier scenes takes place on 36 minutes at 1 Old Billingsgate Walk (below) as Hobbs and Tej attend a fancy motor auction on the side of the Thames with Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast in the background. Why they were actually there, I can’t remember but minor details like that are not so important in these films!

On 43 minutes the action moves just round the corner from Shaw’s lair. It looks like a vibrant market place on film (below) but in reality it’s just a small area of nothingness on Hare Row (off Cambridge Heath Road) with a few cars parked there. Dom and Brian go here to track down an arms-dealing pawn shop.

A cameo by Rita Ora sees the singer wave the flag to start a street race on 66 minutes in the courtyard of the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (below) on King Charles Street which actually runs parallel to the Prime Minister’s house on Downing Street. 

The race goes along Whitehall in Westminster (below) on 68 minutes which is most commonly seen in James Bond movies such as ‘Skyfall‘ (2012) and ‘Spectre‘ (2015). Some of the London streets in this sequence were actually shot up in Liverpool.

The end credits feature a scene on 122 minutes that initially stems from the third film ‘The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift‘ (2006) with a bit of Jason Statham added in there to set up the sequel.

For other London filming locations click on the links below:

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