The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

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The Fast and The Furious Tokyo Drift
Poster for the film
Directed by	Justin Lin
Produced by	Neal H. Moritz
Written by	Chris Morgan
Starring	Lucas Black Bow Wow Sung Kang Brian Tee Nathalie Kelley Sonny Chiba Zachary Ty Bryan
Music by	Brian Tyler
Cinematography	Jan Kiesser Stephen F. Windon
Editing by	Dallas Puett Fred Raskin
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	June 16, 2006
Running time	105 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English Japanese
Budget	US$ 85 Million
Gross revenue	$158,468,292
Preceded by	2 Fast 2 Furious
Followed by	Fast & Furious

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (Wild Speed X3 Tokyo Drift in Japan) is a 2006 film directed by Justin Lin and the third installment of The Fast and the Furious film series. The film features an all-new cast and a different setting (Tokyo, Japan) from the previous two films. The movie was shot in Tokyo and in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, the latter often covered with props and lights to create the illusion of the Tokyo style.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Reactions 3.1 Box office performance 3.2 Critical reaction 3.3 Cameos 3.4 Technical 4 Soundtrack 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Plot

Sean Boswell (Lucas Black), a young man with a talent for auto mechanics, has led a life of getting into trouble. His single mother has had to relocate to different cities with him every time his problems at school or with the local authorities escalate enough. One day, he gets into a street race against the school quarterback. Both end up at the police station, injured. The incident almost lands Sean in jail, and his mother, deciding not to deal with moving again, sends him to Tokyo to live with his father, stationed in Japan as a U.S. Naval officer. At his private school, Sean meets Twinkie (Bow Wow), a fellow American, who hustles pre-owned goods to their Japanese classmates. Twinkie introduces Sean to the world of drift racing. They later became good friends throughout the film.

Sean soon runs into Takashi (Brian Tee), also known as DK (short for Drift King), and his close friend Han (Sung Kang), who was born and raised in America. Sean is seen by Takashi talking to Neela (Nathalie Kelley), Takashi's girlfriend, and when Takashi tells him to back down, Sean challenges him to a race using Han's car. Takashi wins, and Han's car, a Nissan S15 Silvia, is ruined, so Han tells Sean that he must work for him to repay the car. Sean soon learns that Han is involved in a business partnership with Takashi.

Han becomes Sean's friend, and takes him under his wing after his father kicks him out, teaching him how to drift, and providing him with some financial support. Sean slowly builds a reputation in the drift scene, and befriends Neela, who is also Sean's classmate. She reveals that she, like Sean, was also considered an "outsider" once, not being native to Japan. She explains that she and Takashi grew up together after her mother died. However, after seeing Sean with Neela and learning of their time spent together, Takashi beats Sean up and warns him to stay away from Neela. Angry after seeing Sean's bruises, Neela angrily leaves Takashi, to be with Sean.

Takashi's uncle, Kamata, a high ranking Yakuza (portrayed by Sonny Chiba), told him that there is a discrepancy in the books, and that Han must be cheating them out of money. Takashi confronts Han and his group with this discrepancy, and Han, Sean, and Neela flee before Takashi deals with the money laundering. A car chase ensues through the Tokyo streets, with Takashi chasing Han, and Morimoto chasing Sean. Morimoto tries to wreck Sean, but collides with another car, presumably killing himself. Takashi sees Morimoto's car in a massive car pile up, and catches up to Sean, he tries to wreck Sean; however, he is unsuccessful after Han slows him down. Takashi shoots at Han throughout the chase. Han drives across a junction and is hit by a Mercedes S Class, causing his car to flip over. Han's car starts to leak gasoline from the crash, and Han is unable to move due to injuries. As Sean and Neela finally catch up to Han, the gasoline leaked from the car reaches a nearby fire, triggering an explosion and killing Han. Sean and Neela go back to Sean's father's house, and Takashi comes to take Neela and kill Sean, but Sean's father threatens Takashi with his own gun. Neela voluntarily goes away with Takashi.

Sean, at Twinkie's suggestion, attempts to make amends by appealing to Takashi's uncle, returning the money Han stole and offering to challenge Takashi an "honor race", a duel where whoever loses is run out of town. The race is on a touge (mountain pass) that Takashi has the advantage on, since he's supposedly the only one to ever make it down to the bottom in one piece. Sean, Twinkie, and Han's crew borrow Sean's father's car, a 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback, and work on it. Since all the other cars were taken by the police, Sean and his team use the engine from the S15 Silvia Sean had ruined.

After a long race battle, Sean wins the race while Takashi survives a last-minute crash. Takashi's loss causes him to suffer a humiliating defeat at the hands of Sean, whom Takashi still considers an "outsider". Takashi's uncle tells Sean he is free to go, and Takashi presumably leaves Tokyo. Neela gets back with Sean.

Later, Sean is the new Drift King and is hanging out in the underground parking lot from earlier in the film with his girlfriend Neela. Twinkie comes up to Sean, saying someone wants to challenge him, which Sean accepts only after finding out the challenger knew Han. The mystery car driver who pulls up is none other than Dominic Toretto (portrayed by Vin Diesel, from the first The Fast and the Furious movie). Toretto and Sean hold a brief conversation, with Toretto saying that Han once rode with him. Neela counts off the race, the cars take off, and the movie ends without disclosing the race results.

[edit] Cast

• Lucas Black as Sean Boswell, a young man interested in street racing. His latest race against the school quarterback leaves his mother no choice but to send him to Tokyo to live with his father. Once there, he meets another American, Twinkie, who introduces him to the world of drift racing. After being confronted by Takashi, or DK (Drift King) for talking to his girlfriend Neela, DK's partner Han Lue gives Sean a car to race him. Sean wrecks the car, but through working to pay Han back, learns how to drift race and steadily rises in the racing scene. Sean becomes friends with both Neela and Han, and Takashi confronts him, warning him to stay away from Neela, but this causes her to stay with Sean instead. After a dangerous chase in which Han is killed, he must race Takashi one final time to settle their score, and wins, becoming the new Drift King.
• Bow Wow as Twinkie, Sean's first friend he meets in Tokyo, he sells pre-owned goods and introduces Sean to drift racing. After Morimoto, Takashi's close friend, beats him up after he breaks the iPod Twinkie sold him, Sean comes to his defense, giving Morimoto a new one. Twinkie is also a mechanic, though not a street racer, and one of Han's crew who constantly helps Sean out, going so far as to give him money to take to Kamata, so he'll come out alive. At the end of the film, he announces a racer who knew Han wants to race him, implying that they are still friends.
• Sung Kang as Han Lue, DK's former business partner and friend, he gives Sean a car to race Takashi, which Sean wrecks. As compensation, Sean works for him and Han in turn teaches him to drift and gives him a car to drive in Tokyo. Han believes that what kind of person someone is can be defined by the people he surrounds himself with, not his car or skills. After Takashi learns from his uncle that Han has been stealing money, he and Morimoto try to chase him and Sean, culminating in Han's car flipping over, leaking gasoline and causing the car to explode, killing him.
• Brian Tee as Takashi/Drift King, Sean's enemy; also known as DK. Takashi first races Sean after he speaks to Neela, his girlfriend, and is scornful of Han for teaching him to race. Later, after he learns that Neela and Sean have been spending time together, Takashi beats him up, warning him to stay away from Neela; this causes her to leave him to be with Sean. Takashi later learns from his uncle Kamata that Han has been stealing from them, and angrily confronts him. In a dangerous car chase, he shoots at Han's car constantly, eventually causing it to flip over and explode, killing Han. To settle the score permanently, Sean races Takashi in his father's car; Takashi loses, and is forced to leave town.
• Nathalie Kelley as Neela, Sean's love interest in the movie, who is also Takashi's girlfriend. She comes to know Sean through school, and as they spend time together, he learns that she, like Sean, is an outsider, not from Japan; Takashi's grandfather took her in a long time ago. After Takashi beats up Sean, she leaves him to be with Sean, claiming that he has changed. To avoid conflict, when Takashi confronts Sean and her at his father's house, she willingly goes with her ex; however, after Takashi loses to Sean and is forced to leave Tokyo, the two reunite, and she counts off Sean's race against Dominic.
• Sonny Chiba as Kamata, Takashi's uncle, who learns that Han has been stealing money from him. After Han is killed, Sean visits Kamata with the money Han stole and offers to race Takashi one final time to settle their score, with the loser leaving town, to which Kamata agrees. Kamata keeps his word after Takashi loses, and they leave, with Sean becoming the new Drift King.
• Leonardo Nam as Morimoto, Takashi's close friend, who confronts Twinkie after his iPod is broken. He later chases against Han and Sean with Takashi, eventually colliding with another car, only to die in the accident.
• Brian Goodman as Major Boswell, Sean's father in the Navy, who Sean is sent to live with in Tokyo. He kicks Sean out of the house after he moves in with Han, but agrees to help Sean settle the score with Takashi, holding a gun to his head after he threatens Sean and giving Sean his Ford Mustang to race with in the final race.
• Zachery Ty Bryan as Clay, the quarterback of Sean's school, who he races at the beginning of the film.
• Lynda Boyd as Ms. Boswell, Sean's mother, who, fed up with moving Sean around, sends him to Tokyo, Japan to live with his father.
• Jason Tobin as Earl, one of Han's friends.
• Keiko Kitagawa as Reiko, Earl's friend.
• Nikki Griffin as Cindy, Clay's girlfriend, who suggests that Clay and Sean race to win her.
• Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto (uncredited) brief appearance at the end of the film.

[edit] Reactions

[edit] Box office performance

Despite mixed reviews, Tokyo Drift brought in over $24 million on its opening weekend. The movie itself was in limited release in Japan (released under the name Wild Speed 3). As of January 28, 2007, the domestic box office take has totalled $62,514,415 with another $95,886,987 from the foreign box office, resulting in total receipts of $158,401,402.^[1] Tokyo Drift did, however, gross lower than its predecessor films.

[edit] Critical reaction

The film holds a rating of 34% on Rotten Tomatoes^[2] and a score of 46 out of 100 on Metacritic^[3]. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film, giving it three stars (out of four), saying that director Justin Lin "takes an established franchise and makes it surprisingly fresh and intriguing," adding that Tokyo Drift is "more observant than we expect" and that "the story [is] about something more than fast cars."^[4] Michael Sragow of the Baltimore Sun felt that "the opening half-hour may prove to be a disreputable classic of pedal-to-the-metal filmmaking."^[5] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter said that "it's not much of a movie, but a hell of a ride."^[6]

Michael Medved gave Tokyo Drift one and a half stars (out of four) saying: "There’s no discernible plot [...] or emotion or humor."^[7] James Berardinelli from Reel Views also gave it one and a half stars out of four, saying: "I expect a racing film to be derivative. That goes with the territory. No one is seeing a Fast and the Furious movie for the plot. When it comes to eye candy, the film is on solid ground—it offers plenty of babes and cars (with the latter being more lovingly photographed than the former). However, it is unacceptable that the movie's action scenes (races and chases) are boring and incoherent. If the movie can't deliver on its most important asset, what's the point?"^[8]

Richard Roeper strongly criticized of the film, saying: "The whole thing is preposterous. The acting is so awful, some of the worst performances I’ve seen in a long, long time."^[9] Similarly, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said that Tokyo Drift "suffers from blurred vision, motor drag and a plot that's running on fumes. Look out for a star cameo—it’s the only surprise you'll get from this heap."^[10] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said: "[The main character] has no plan and no direction, just a blind desire to smash up automobiles and steal a mobster's girlfriend. [...] As for the racing scenes, who cares about the finesse move of drifting, compared to going fast? And who wants to watch guys race in a parking lot? For that matter, who wants to watch guys race down a mountain, with lots of turns?"^[11]

[edit] Cameos

Vin Diesel makes an uncredited appearance as Dominic Toretto (his character from the original The Fast and the Furious film), claiming to be a friend of Han's. In the 2009 film Fast & Furious, the opening scene shows Toretto and Han working together to hijack fuel tankers in the Dominican Republic.

Real-life "Drift King" and drift pioneer Keiichi Tsuchiya also makes an appearance during the scenes where Lucas Black's character (Sean Boswell) is learning how to drift. He appears as an old fisherman who makes a side comment on Sean's lack of proper drift technique, which is obviously an inside joke. Drift driver Rhys Millen can be seen talking to a Japanese couple during the transition from America to Japan.

In the uncut edition of the film, Ben Sinclair makes a brief appearance as the famous drifting champion Quinn Jackson. Sean has a short conversation with Ben, whose wisdom helps inspire him to keep trying to make it in the Tokyo underground.

[edit] Technical

The RB26DETT motor found in the Nissan Skyline GTR, which powered the Mustang and Nissan Silvia S15 in the film, has been subject to much criticism by automotive enthusiasts. The criticism grew when it was revealed that the car itself barely had any screen time, and regular stunt Mustangs used for the drifting scenes were powered by 351cid Windsor V8 engines.^[12] Hot Rod Magazine lamented the possibility that tuners might swap in Japanese motors into American cars.^[12] According to SCC, one Mustang received the RB26 swap, while five other Mustangs were created for drifting purposes of which two were destroyed in the process.^[13] In addition, the RB26 Mustang was shown to be faster than its V8 powered kin, with times of 0-60 in 5.38 seconds, and the quarter mile in 13.36 seconds at 109.83 MPH.^[14]

The S15 Silvia which Black's character trashes in his first race in Japan is depicted as having an RB26DETT engine swap which itself is donated to the Mustang. However, the car used was actually powered by the S15's base SR20DE engine.^[15] The Veilside Fortune body-kitted RX-7 driven by Sung Kang's character was originally built by Veilside for the 2005 Tokyo Auto Salon but was later bought by Universal and repainted (the original was dark red, not orange and black like in the film).^[16]

SCC tested the cars of the film, and noted that the cars in Tokyo Drift were slightly faster in an acceleration match up with the cars from 2 Fast 2 Furious.^[17]

Notable drifting personalities Keiichi Tsuchiya, Rhys Millen, and Samuel Hubinette were consulted and employed by the movie to provide and execute the drifting and driving stunts in the film.^[18]Tanner Foust, Rich Rutherford, Calvin Wan, and Alex Pfeiffer were also brought in when it was revealed that none of Universal's own stunt drivers could drift.^[19]Some racing events were filmed within the Hawthorne Mall parking lot in Los Angeles. ^[20]

Toshi Hayama was also brought in to keep elements of the film portrayed correctly after being contacted by Roger Fan, an old high school friend that starred in Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow, the organizers of the Japanese series, and his former boss at A'PEXi. Among them are keeping certain references in check (the usage of nitrous oxide in straights but not in turns, keeping the usage of references from sponsors to a minimum, etc.).^[21] Hayama also claims that a prop car was "stolen" by some of the action stars and taken for an impromptu "Drift Session" and never returned by the stars.^[19]

[edit] Soundtrack

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift at the Internet Movie Database
• The Fast and the Furious Official site

Preceded by The Omen

Box office number-one films of 2006 (UK) June 18 - June 25

Succeeded by Over the Hedge

v • d • e The Fast and the Furious Films The Fast and the Furious (2001) · 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) · The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) · Fast & Furious (2009) Characters List of characters Soundtracks The Fast and the Furious · 2 Fast 2 Furious · The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift · Fast and Furious Video games Arcade (2004) · Video Game (2006) · Super Bikes (2006) · Drift (2007)

v • d • e Films directed by Justin Lin Shopping for Fangs (1997) · Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) · Spotlighting (2005) · Annapolis (2006) · The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) · Finishing the Game (2007) · Fast & Furious (2009)