| The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Justin Lin |
| Produced by | Neal H. Moritz |
| Written by | Chris Morgan |
| Based on | characters by by Gary Scott Thompson |
| Starring | Lucas Black Sung Kang Bow Wow Brian Tee Nathalie Kelley Jason Tobin Vin Diesel |
| 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 | 105 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $85 million (est)[1] |
| Box office | $158,468,292[2] |
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is a 2006 Japanese-American street racing action film directed by Justin Lin. It is the third installment in the The Fast and the Furious film series and currently the sixth in terms of series chronology. The film, featuring an all-new cast, 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.
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Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) is involved in a crash during a local street race. Because of his numerous brushes with the law in the past, his mother 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.
Sean meets Twinkie (Bow Wow), a fellow American, who introduces him to the drift racing scene. Sean has a verbal confrontation with Takashi (Brian Tee) – also known as "Drift King" and nephew to a local yakuza boss – because he was talking to Takashi's girlfriend, Neela (Nathalie Kelley). They race and Sean is defeated and destroys the car lent to him by Han Seoul-Oh (Sung Kang), Takashi's business partner. 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.
Han becomes Sean's friend and teaches him to drift. Han does this because Sean is the only one unafraid of Takashi (calling him his "kryptonite"). Neela and Sean go on a date which precipitates Takashi to beat him up. Angry after seeing Sean's bruises, Neela leaves Takashi to be with Sean.
Takashi's uncle Kamata (Sonny Chiba), an Yakuza head, admonishes his nephew for allowing Han to steal from him. Takashi confronts Han, Sean and Neela whereupon they flee. The resulting car chase results in the death of Han in a fatal collision. Takashi, Sean and his father become involved in an armed standoff which is resolved by Neela agreeing to leave with Takashi. With the help of Twinkie, Sean returns Kamata's stolen money, proposing a race against Takashi to determine who must leave Tokyo. Sean and Han's friends then build a car from various parts of Han's lent car. During the race, Takashi drives off the cliff and wrecks his car, resulting in Sean winning the race.
Later, Sean, now the DK, is challenged to a race in the parking lot by Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), a good friend of Han. Sean, already knowing Dominic's reputation, tells him "you know this ain't no ten second race." Dominic responds with a smile on his face, "I've got nothing but time."
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 $95,953,877 from the foreign box office, resulting in total receipts of $158,468,292.[2] Tokyo Drift grossed lower than its predecessor films.
The film received largely mixed reviews from the critics. The film holds a rating of 34% on Rotten Tomatoes[4] and a score of 46 out of 100 on Metacritic.[5] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film, giving it three out of four stars, 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."[6] 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."[7] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter said that "it's not much of a movie, but a hell of a ride."[8]
Michael Medved gave Tokyo Drift one and a half stars out of four, saying: "There’s no discernible plot [...] or emotion or humor."[9] 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?"[10]
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."[11] 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."[12] 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?"[13]
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. Also, in the 2011 film "Fast Five" Han reappears as a member of their crew along with many other former cast members. "Tokyo Drift" is supposed to take place after the "Fast Five" movie and possible after future movies in the series as well.
Paul Walker was asked to star but he turned it down due to other projects and Universal decided to get a new cast and a new script.
Real-life "Drift King" and drift pioneer Keiichi Tsuchiya also makes an appearance during the scenes where Lucas Black (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.
Keiko Kitagawa makes an appearance in the film as Earl's friend "Reiko". Kitagawa, known primarily for her role in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (a live action Sailor Moon series from 2003-2004) where she played Rei Hino a.k.a. Sailor Mars, makes her first appearance in an American action film.
This is the second movie in the franchise not to star Vin Diesel, and the only one not to star Paul Walker. Diesel's cameo appearance was uncredited.
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.[14] Hot Rod magazine lamented the possibility that tuners might swap in Japanese motors into American cars.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16]
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 SR20DET engine.[17] 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).[18]
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.[19]
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.[20] 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.[21] Some racing events were filmed within the Hawthorne Mall parking lot in Los Angeles.[22]
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.).[23] Hayama also jokes that a prop car was "stolen" by some of the action stars who took the car for an impromptu "Drift Session" from which the car never returned.[21]
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