The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Justin Lin
Produced by	Neal H. Moritz Associate Producer: Grace Morita Chiaki Yamase Co-Producer: Amanda Lewis Line Producer: Kazutoshi Wadakura Executive Producer: Ryan Kavanaugh Lynwood Spinks Clayton Townsend
Written by	Chris Morgan Characters: Gary Scott Thompson
Starring	Lucas Black Bow Wow Sung Kang Brian Tee Nathalie Kelley Sonny Chiba Zachary Ty Bryan
Music by	Brian Tyler
Cinematography	Stephen F. Windon
Editing by	Kelly Matsumoto Dallas Puett Fred Raskin
Studio	Relativity Media Original Film Munich Pape Filmproductions
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	June 16, 2006
Running time	104 minutes
Country	United States Germany
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 (also known as Wild Speed X3: Tokyo Drift (ワイルドスピードX3 TOKYO DRIFT^?) in Japan) is a 2006 film directed by Justin Lin and the third installment (chronologically, the fourth) 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 parts of Los Angeles, the latter often covered with props and lights to create the illusion of the Tokyo style. While Paul Walker is not in the film, Vin Diesel reprises his role as Dominic Toretto in a cameo appearance.

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

Plot

Sean Boswell (Lucas Black), a 17-year-old teenager with a talent for auto mechanics, has led a life of getting into trouble. His mother had to relocate to different cities and states with him every time his problems at school or with the local authorities escalated enough. One day, in Arizona, he gets into a street race against the high school quarterback. Both men crash their cars during the race and are sent to the police station. The incident almost lands Sean in jail, and his mother, deciding not to deal with moving again, sends him to Tokyo, Japan, to live with his father, who is stationed as a U.S. Naval officer. Upon arriving at his father's home in Tokyo, he is warned by his father not to stir up any trouble, or he will return to the U.S. to serve jail time.

At his private school, Sean meets Twinkie (Bow Wow), a fellow American, who hustles imported pre-owned goods to their Japanese classmates. That night, Twinkie and his gang bring Sean to a carpark and introduce him to the world of drift racing. Sean soon runs into Takashi (Brian Tee) - also known as DK (short for Drift King) - and his close friend Han Lue (Sung Kang), who was born and raised in America. Sean is seen by Takashi talking to Neela (Nathalie Kelley), Takashi's Australian girlfriend, and when Takashi tells him to stay away, Sean challenges him to a race. Due to Sean's lack of drifting skills, Takashi easily defeats him in his Grey And Black Nissan 350Z, and Sean winds up wrecking Han's Nissan S15 . The next day, Han meets Sean after school and tells Sean that he must work for him to repay the damage done to his 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 when he leaves his father's home, teaching him how to drift, and providing him with a Red Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX to race with,and some financial support. Han does this because Sean is the only one unafraid of Takashi (calling him Takashi's "kryptonite"). Sean slowly builds a reputation in the drift scene, and befriends Neela, who is also Sean's classmate. Neela reveals that she, like Sean, was also considered a gaijin 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 leaves Takashi to be with Sean.

Takashi's uncle Kamata, a high ranking Yakuza (Sonny Chiba), tells 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 and his right-hand-man Morimoto pursuing Han, Sean and Neela. During the chase, Han's car is broadsided by a car at an intersection and lands upside-down. As Sean and Neela approach Han's Mazda RX-7, a gasoline leak erupts into a fire, causing the car to explode, killing Han.

Sean and Neela return to his father's house when Takashi arrives to take Neela and kill Sean. Before he can do so, Sean's father intervenes. Neela voluntarily goes away with Takashi. As Sean has already caused trouble in Tokyo, his father tells him to pack his bags and leave the country, but Sean begs him to stay so he can clean his mess.

Sean meets up with Twinkie, who hands him the money Han laundered from Kamata. Sean attempts to make amends by appealing to Kamata, returning the money and offering to challenge Takashi to an "honor race", a duel where whoever loses leaves town. The race is on a tōge (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. Since all of the other cars were confiscated by the police, Sean and his team use the engine, an RB26DETT, from the S15 Silvia Sean had ruined in his first race. Sean, Twinkie, and Han's crew borrow his father's car, a black 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback, and work on it. After transplanting the Nissan engine and doing some upgrades, as well as test runs on the mountains, the old Mustang is fully modified for the race.

After a long race battle in the mountains, Sean wins while Takashi survives a last-minute crash. Takashi's loss causes him great humiliation since he still considers Sean to be an "outsider". Kamata tells Sean he is free to go, and Takashi presumably leaves Tokyo. Neela gets back with Sean.

Not too long after the race, Sean becomes the new Drift King and is hanging out in the carpark with his crew and Neela. Twinkie comes up to Sean, saying someone who has been defeating racers all over Asia wants to challenge him, to which Sean accepts only after finding out the challenger knew Han. Sean pulls up his Nissan S15 next to a silver Plymouth Road Runner and sees the mystery driver as none other than Dominic Toretto (portrayed by Vin Diesel from the first film). Toretto tells Sean that Han was a close friend of his back in the U.S. and he won the Roadrunner from him. Neela counts off the race and the cars take off around the first corner.

Cast

• Lucas Black as Sean Boswell, a young man interested in street racing and is the protagonist of this film.
• Bow Wow as Twinkie, Sean's first friend he meets in Tokyo and who sells various consumer goods and catastrophically introduces Sean to drift racing.
• Sung Kang as Han Lue, DK's business partner (and old friend of Dominic Toretto) who befriends Sean and teaches him how to drift.
• Brian Tee as Takashi/DK, Sean's enemy. Also acknowledged as the best drift racer and given the title "Drift King."
• Nathalie Kelley as Neela, an Australian who is Takashi's girlfriend, but later on falls for Sean.
• Jason Tobin as Earl, one of Han's friends.
• Keiko Kitagawa as Reiko, Earl's friend.
• Sonny Chiba as Kamata, Takashi's uncle who is a Yakuza head.
• Leonardo Nam as Morimoto, Takashi's close friend and right hand man.
• Brian Goodman as Lieutenant Boswell, Sean's father.
• 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.
• Zachery Ty Bryan as Clay, the quarterback of Sean's school whom Sean races at the beginning of the film.
• Nikki Griffin as Cindy, Clay's girlfriend, who suggests that Clay and Sean race to win her.
• Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto (uncredited), who makes a cameo appearance at the end of the film.

Reactions

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.

Critical reaction

The film received largely mixed reviews from the critics. 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]

Cameos

Vin Diesel reprises his role as Dominic Toretto, claiming to be a friend of Han. 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.

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. It is clear that in the film it would have been much easier to repair the mostly superficial damage to the S15 than it would have been to convert the RB26 into the Mustang, especially when comparing the high performance modifications of the S15 to the incomplete mustang. 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 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]

Soundtrack

References

External links

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

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) · Fast Five (2011) Characters List of characters Soundtracks The Fast and the Furious · More Fast and Furious · 2 Fast 2 Furious · The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift · Fast & Furious Video games Arcade (2004) · Video game (2006) · Super Bikes (2006) · Drift (2007) Related articles Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)

Films directed by Justin Lin 1990s Shopping for Fangs (1997) 2000s Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) · Annapolis (2006) · The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) · Finishing the Game (2007) · Fast & Furious (2009) 2010s Highlander: The Reckoning (2010) · Fast Five (2011)