The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

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"Tokyo Drift" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Tokyo Drifter.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
File:Poster - Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Justin Lin
Produced by Neal H. Moritz
Written by Chris Morgan
Based on Characters
by Gary Scott Thompson
Starring Lucas Black
Bow Wow
Sung Kang
Music by Brian Tyler
Cinematography Stephen F. Windon
Edited by Kelly Matsumoto
Dallas Puett
Fred Raskin
Production
company
Relativity Media
Original Film
Munich Pape Filmproductions
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates
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  • June 4, 2006 (2006-06-04) (Universal City, California)
  • June 15, 2006 (2006-06-15) (Australia)
  • June 16, 2006 (2006-06-16) (United States and United Kingdom)
Running time
 104 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $85 million[1]
Box office $158.5 million[2]

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is a 2006 American action film directed by Justin Lin, produced by Neal H. Moritz and written by Chris Morgan. It is the third installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise though, in terms of series chronology, it takes place between the events of sixth and seventh films. The film stars Lucas Black, Bow Wow, Nathalie Kelley, Brian Tee and Sung Kang. The film 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 the rest of the actors from the previous films are not in the film, Vin Diesel reprises his role as Dominic Toretto in a cameo at the end.

Plot

In Arizona, 17-year-old high school student Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) and Clay (Zachery Ty Bryan) race their cars to win Clay's girlfriend Cindy (Nikki Griffin). When Sean cuts through a structure and catches up to Clay, Clay hits Sean's car repeatedly until a high speed turn which causes the pair to both crash; Clay's wealthy family helps him escape punishment, but Sean's numerous past racing activities causes his mother to send him to live with his father in Tokyo, who is stationed there for the U.S. Navy.

At his new school, Sean meets a fellow American named Twinkie (Bow Wow), who introduces Sean to Tokyo's drift racing scene. Sean has a confrontation with Takashi (Brian Tee)—aka DK (Drift King)—over Sean talking to DK's girlfriend Neela (Nathalie Kelley), resulting in Sean challenging DK to a race. Han Seoul-Oh (Sung Kang), a friend & business partner to DK, lends Sean his car for the race. DK easily beats Sean due to Sean's inexperience at drifting, and Sean wrecks Han's car. The following day, Han tells Sean that he must work for him. Sean and Han become friends, with Han teaching Sean how to drift and lending him another car for future races. Han explains that he is helping Sean because Sean is the only person willing to stand up to DK. Sean later moves in with Han and soon masters drifting, gaining some reputation after defeating DK's right-hand man, Morimoto. Sean soon asks Neela out on a date, and learns that after her mother died she moved in with DK's grandmother resulting in her hooking up with DK. DK beats up Sean the next day, telling him to stay away from Neela; Neela leaves DK and moves in with Sean and Han.

DK's uncle Kamata (Sonny Chiba), the head of the Yakuza, informs DK that their business is not meeting expectations, and DK realizes that Han has been stealing from him. DK and Morimoto confront Han, Sean, and Neela about the thefts. Twinkie causes a distraction allowing Han, Sean, and Neela to flee, pursued by Morimoto and DK; Morimoto is killed in a crash, and Han is rammed by an oncoming car and dies when it fatally explodes.

Sean and Neela escape to his father's home, followed by DK. Neela leaves with DK to avoid a gun fight between Sean, his father and DK. Sean's father demands that Sean return to the United States; Sean insists on staying. Sean returns the stolen money to Kamata and proposes a race against DK to determine who will leave Tokyo. Kamata agrees and sets the race to take place on DK's mountain. The following morning, Sean finds that the police have confiscated all of Han's cars. Sean and Han's friends quickly build a new car using Sean's father's old car and the engine from Han's beat-up car.

That night, on the mountain, crowds gather to see the race; After the race starts, DK takes the lead, but Sean's training allows him to catch up to DK. DK resorts to ramming Sean's car, eventually missing and driving off the mountain while Sean crosses the finish line. Kamata keeps his word and lets Sean remain in Tokyo.

The next night, Sean, now the Drift King, is challenged by a new driver who knew Han: Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel).

Cast

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Main article: List of The Fast and the Furious characters
  • Lucas Black as Sean Boswell, a 17 year old social outcast interested in illegal street racing.
  • Sung Kang as Han, Takashi's friend & business partner (and old friend of Dominic Toretto) who becomes friends with Sean and teaches him how to drift. After gaining his share of the Rio heist and also cleaning his record and losing Gisele, he settled in Tokyo and owns a tuning shop. He works with Takashi mainly since his garage is on the turf of Takashi's uncle Kamata, who is the head of the Yakuza.
  • Nathalie Kelley as Neela, an Australian who is Takashi's girlfriend, but later on falls for Sean. She is an outsider due to her background, since her mother died when she was 10 and she was a hostess. Takashi's family took her in and raised her. She drives a 2004 Mazda RX-8.
  • Bow Wow as Twinkie. He is Sean's first friend who he meets in Tokyo and who introduces Sean to the drift world. He himself drives a 2005 Volkswagen Touran with Hulk theme, and he himself dislikes racing, making a living by selling stolen American goods to classmates and drivers.
  • Brian Tee as Takashi/DK (Drift King). He is a professional street racer and is crowned as Drift King (or DK) but in reality, he is only known since his uncle is the head of the Yakuza and he uses it as a leverage.
  • Leonardo Nam as Morimoto, Takashi's closest friend and right-hand man. He drives a yellow-black 2003 Nissan 350Z. He is a typical high-school bully, but in reality, he is not very smart.
  • Brian Goodman as Lieutenant Boswell, Sean's father who works as a US naval officer and is stationed in Tokyo. He owns a 1967 Ford Mustang GT, but he is now fixing it in his garage since he found it scrapped of parts one day.
  • Zachery Ty Bryan as Clay, the football quarterback of Sean's school whom Sean challenges for a race. He is a typical rich kid and owns a 2006 Dodge Viper SRT-10.
  • Nikki Griffin as Cindy, Clay's girlfriend, who suggests that Clay and Sean compete to win her.
  • Jason Tobin as Earl, one of Han's friends.
  • Keiko Kitagawa as Reiko, Earl's friend.
  • Lynda Boyd as Ms. Boswell, Sean's mother, who was fed up with moving her and Sean around, sends him to Tokyo, to live with his dad.
  • Sonny Chiba as Kamata, Takashi's uncle. He is the head of the Yakuza who also manages business on his turf.
  • Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto. He is Han's old friend, and arrived in Tokyo when he heard the news about Han's death. His cameo at the end of this film was originally meant to foreshadow his appearance in a chronological sequel, before it was instead decided to set the fourth film before this one.

Production

Development

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"After I'd seen Better Luck Tomorrow, I knew Justin was a director I wanted to do business with. He was the first we approached, and…he loved the idea of filming it. This movie needed enthusiasm, and he was the director to do it. Absolutely tireless."

Neal H. Moritz [3]

Neal H. Moritz, who had produced the two previous installments, began working on the film in 2005. On June 8, 2005, Moritz hired Justin Lin to direct The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.[4] Lin, who wasn't intimately familiar with drifting when he was approached to helm the project, recalled: "I was in film school when The Fast and the Furious came out, and I saw it along with a sold-out crowd who just ate it up. What really excited me about directing this film was the chance to harness that energy—create a whole new chapter and up the ante by bringing something new to the table for the audience who loves action and speed."[3] Vin Diesel agreed to make his cameo in the film in exchange for Universal's ownership to rights of the Riddick series and character, in lieu of financial payment.[5]

Technical

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 in the movie was actually powered by the S15's original SR20DE engine.[6] 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).[7]

The car in which Vin Diesel's character appears at the end of the film is a highly customized 1970 Plymouth Satellite, Steven Strope's "Hammer", built for the SEMA show. It started life as a Satellite, but now is a GTX clone.[citation needed]

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.[8]

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.[9] 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.[10] Some racing events were filmed within the Hawthorne Mall parking lot in Los Angeles.[11]

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 who starred in Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow, the organizers of the Japanese series, and his former boss at A'PEXi. Among them were 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.).[12] Hayama also joked 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.[10]

Reception

Box office

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 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. However, it was considered successful enough to justify continuing the series with a fourth film, as long as Vin Diesel returned to the main cast.

Critical reaction

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift gained a 37% on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 113 critics, with an average rating of 4.8/10, and the site's consensus reading: "Eye-popping driving sequences coupled with a limp story and flat performances make this Drift an adequate follow-up to the previous Fast and Furious installments. Strictly for the racing crowd and fans of the first two films."[13] On Metacritic, which determines a normalized rating out of 100 from mainstream critics, the film received a score of 46 out of 100 based on reviews from 31 critics.[14]

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".[15] 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."[16] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter said that "it's not much of a movie, but a hell of a ride".[17]

Michael Medved gave Tokyo Drift one and a half stars out of four, saying: "There's no discernible plot [...] or emotion or humor."[18] James Berardinelli from ReelViews 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?"[19]

Richard Roeper strongly criticized 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."[20] 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."[21] 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?"[22]

Rob Cohen, who directed the first film of the series, said: "If you were to just watch 'Tokyo Drift,' you'd say 'I never want to see anything related to Fast and Furious again."[23]

Music

The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on June 20, 2006. AllMusic rated it three stars out of five.[24] RapReviews rated it two out of ten.[25] Another album, the Original Score, has 30 tracks, most composed by Brian Tyler and one track "Welcome to Tokyo" composed by Tyler and the musician Slash. The album was released by Varèse Sarabande on June 27, 2006, with 64 minutes and 10 seconds worth of music.[26] Tyler partnered with music producers Pharrell Williams and Dr. Dre for the 2006 film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
File:Tokyo Drift OST.jpg
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released 2006
The Fast and the Furious soundtrack chronology
2 Fast 2 Furious
(2003)2 Fast 2 Furious2003		 The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
(2006)		 Fast & Furious
(2009)Fast & Furious2009
No. Title Performer(s) Length
1. "Tokyo Drift"   Teriyaki Boyz 4:15
2. "Six Days (Remix)" (featuring Mos Def) DJ Shadow 3:52
3. "The Barracuda"   The 5.6.7.8's 2:28
4. "Restless"   Evil Nine 4:54
5. "Round Round"   Far East Movement 3:20
6. "She Wants to Move (DFA Remix)"   N.E.R.D 3:34
7. "Cho Large" (featuring Pharrell) Teriyaki Boyz 5:14
8. "Resound" (without intro) Dragon Ash 4:45
9. "Speed"   Atari Teenage Riot 2:50
10. "Bandoleros" (featuring Tego Calderón) Don Omar 3:18
11. "Conteo"   Don Omar 2:23
12. "Mustang Nismo" (featuring Slash) Brian Tyler 2:25
Songs featured in the film, but not in the soundtrack

Charts

Chart (2006) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[27] 77
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[28] 8
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[29] 51
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[30] 72
French Albums (SNEP)[31] 79
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[32] 25
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[33] 14

Original Motion Picture Score

All music composed by Brian Tyler except where noted.

No. Title Length
1. "Touge"   0:46
2. "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift"   7:05
3. "Saucin'"   4:28
4. "Neela Drifts"   3:27
5. "Preparation"   1:10
6. "N2O"   0:49
7. "Mustang Nismo"   2:21
8. "Underground"   1:33
9. "Hot Fuji"   1:55
10. "This Is My Mexico"   1:23
11. "Welcome to Tokyo" (written by Slash and Brian Tyler) 1:54
12. "DK vs. Han"   3:32
13. "Downtown Tokyo Chase"   2:33
14. "Aftermath"   1:22
15. "Empty Garage"   1:01
16. "DK's Revenge"   1:09
17. "Journey Backwards"   0:58
18. "Sumo"   1:37
19. "Shaun's Crazy Idea"   2:24
20. "Dejection"   1:12
21. "Kamata"   1:32
22. "Two Guns"   1:29
23. "I Gotta Do This"   1:14
24. "Megaton"   2:16
25. "Neela Confronts DK"   1:47
26. "Winner ... Gets ... Me"   1:21
27. "War Theory"   1:54
28. "I Don't Need You to Save Me"   0:57
29. "Neela"   1:44
30. "Symphonic Touge"   6:50

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ "IGN Cars: The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Car of the Day: Han's S15." IGN Cars Accessed June 19, 2006
  7. ↑ "IGN Cars: The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Car of the Day: VeilSide RX-7." IGN Cars Accessed June 19, 2006
  8. ↑ Sport Compact Car "Fast, Furious, & Drifting" By John Pearley Huffman July 2006 Pg. 56-92
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Wong, Jonathan. "Interrogation Room: What up, Toshi?" Super Street, September 2006, pg. 116
  11. ↑ Drift and Driven: The drivers, stunts and stuntmen of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
  12. ↑ Interrogation Room: What up, Toshi? by Jonathan Wong Super Street September 2006, pgs. 144-118
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ "Review, Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, June 16, 2006
  16. ↑ Review by Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun
  17. ↑ Review by Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter
  18. ↑ Review, Michael Medved, MichaelMedved.com, 21 June 2006
  19. ↑ Review, James Berardinelli, Reel Views
  20. ↑ Review, Richard Roper, rottentomatoes.com, July 18, 2006[dead link]
  21. ↑ Review, Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
  22. ↑ Review, Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
  23. ↑ Rob Cohen Hated The First Two 'Fast & Furious' Sequels Because They Were Just Done For The Money
  24. ↑ The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift at AllMusic
  25. ↑ RapReviews review
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Soundtrack – The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  29. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Soundtrack – The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  30. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Soundtrack – The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  31. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Soundtrack – The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  32. ↑ "Officialcharts.de – Soundtrack – The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  33. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Soundtrack – The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 13, 2015.

External links

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