The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

Plot synopsis:
In rural Arizona, a young, 17-year-old, redneck outcast named Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) starts his first day of school. As he is leaving school after classes, a fellow female student, named Cindy (Nikki Griffin) compliments him on his car. The girl's football player boyfriend, Clay (Zachery Ty Bryan), is jealous that she's talking with another person, and confronts Sean, insulting his car. Clay proceeds to brag about his Viper, while Sean insults him for using basic information you can read in a brochure. Sean gets in his car, and starts to drive off, when Clay throws a baseball through his back window. Sean stops his car, and gets out to confront Clay. Little does he know, Sean is wielding a wrench and smiles smugly. Clay's girlfriend intervenes, stating that the boys should race and the winner gets to date her. Sean agrees, as does Clay. The two race in a neighborhood under construction. In the midst of the race, Clay and his girlfriend crash into a piece of concrete tubing, while Sean plows through a house and ends up flipping his car.Later, Sean is seen at a police station, where Clay and Cindy get off of any charges because of their wealthy parents who have powerful connections. Sean, however, is not so lucky, and stands a chance of serving jail time. His frustrated divorced mother (Lynda Boyd) sends him to Japan, where his divorced father (Brian Goodman), a former US Army officer, lives in a low-rent part of town. Sean arrives "one day late" (or so says his father) due to the time variation between the U.S. and Japan. A woman, who is implied to be a prostitute or perhaps a date, is seen leaving the apartment, obviously disgruntled by Sean showing up.The next morning, Sean wakes up early to discover a school uniform, and heads off to the nearest Tokyo metro station. He has issues finding the school, and is late. He is greeted by a teacher who doesn't speak English, to which he is confused as to why she is yelling over his shoes. He walks in, where Neela (Nathalie Kelley) is first introduced. She is a bi-racial teenage girl originally from Australia. Sean shows obvious signs of attraction from the start, and because she speaks fluent Japanese. During lunch, a fellow student named Twinkie (Bow Wow), an African American "army brat", tries to sell Sean a laptop, phone, etc. Sean notices a Sparco steering wheel on his bag, and asks him if it's for sale. Twinkie denies, and shows Sean his car.That evening, Sean and Twinkie drive to a multi-level carpark, where the local race scene is at. While there, he meets Neela formally for the first time, and starts talking with her. Takashi who is known as D.K. (Drift King) (Brian Tee), Neela's boyfriend, is angered by this, and confronts Sean. Being ill-tempered and confrontational himself, Sean then calls him the "Justin Timberlake of Japan", which further angers DK. DK gets in Sean's face once more, and tells him he's lucky he's about to race. Sean mouths off once more to him, to which DK challenges him to a race. Without a car, Sean has no way of racing and proving himself. A laid back racer, named Han (Sung Kang), appears throws Brian his keys, and says he can use his car. Surprised by this, they head to the elevator to begin the race. Twinkie informs Sean that Han built the car from scratch, and it's one of the best cars known in the scene. Then Twinkie explains that DK really means "Drift King." Sean says, "Drift?" and Twinkie just tells him not to mess up the car.Sean and DK meet at the starting line, and proceed to start the race. Sean is clearly in front of DK down the straight-away, until the first turn comes up, sending him crashing into other cars/pillars in the carpark. By the end of the race, Sean is clearly beaten, and drives the wrecked car to the finish line at the top. Han is clearly not upset by what has happened, and simply tells him, "Don't leave town." Sean heads home, where is he is confronted by his clearly drunk father. His father tells him he has nowhere else to go, and he better follow his rules. Sean agrees, and heads to bed. The next day at school he is looked down upon by all the students for the previous night's actions.After school, Han is waiting outside for Sean, and instructs him to drive to a local bathhouse. He goes inside to get money that a very large man owes Han. Brian is tossed out the door, and the large man tosses the money to Han. They then proceed to drive down to DK's Yakuza underground casino/storage room. While driving, Han tells Sean that he now works for him.At the casino, Sean demands that DK teach him to drift, to which Han agrees. Once at the compound, Sean and Han head back to where DK, and his second in command, Morimoto, (Leonardo Nam) are playing a game. DK instructs Sean to leave the room while him and Han discuss "business", where DK asks where Han's "shipment" is. Han tells him not to worry, and him and Sean leave to go to Han's garage. On the way, Han explains that DK is not Yakuza, only his Uncle Kamata is, and that DK and Han are simply working on their turf. Han further explains that he let Sean race because he's DK's "Kryptonite". Sean and Han arrive at the garage, to reveal an extravagant array of cars. Han gives Sean a red Mitsubishi Evo to drift / do running in.Sean heads outside where he comes across Neela, to which he wrongly assumes she is an army brat who runs around, "pissed off" all the time, hence why she hangs out with drifters. Neela is obviously offended and says, "Zero for one, cowboy."The next day after school, Sean starts his practice drifting at the docks, to which he does terrible. At school later, two of Sean's friends come to get Sean, who is taken up to the roof of the school. Twinkie is being beaten up by Morimoto, for apparently selling him a stolen iPod that he actually broke himself. Sean intervenes, and gives him his own iPod. Neela is up there to witnesses this. Twinkie gets angry at Sean, and states that everyone will want exchanges for any damaged merchandise. Sean, confused, waits until everyone leaves then starts to head downstairs, to which Neela talks to him and Sean apologizes for his blatant ignorance a few days prior.Sean is seen drifting with Han teaching him along a rural mountain road. He gets better and better. Days later in school, Sean messages Neela in class on his laptop, asking her why he's never seen her drifting. She and Sean go out on a "date" to get something to eat. She reveals that her mother died when she was age 10, and was an "entertainer." Her father apparently left them, and DK's grandmother raised her. Sean then explains how he's moved from town to town over the trouble he's been in for ages, and that he got his first speeding ticket the day he got his license. Neela and him go drifting with a bunch of other people down a mountain on a calm night. She explains how things were a lot simpler when she was younger, and how drifting has always been a way to alleviate stress and allows them to be "free." Sean later leaves his father's house, in order to go live at Han's garage.The next day, Sean is drifting, and pulls up to get a change of tires. Twinkie interrupts him saying the tires aren't cheap, and that he needs to take it easy. DK and Morimoto drive up, and DK punches Sean repeatedly in the face, and tells him to stay away from Neela.The next day at school, Neela sees what DK has done, and breaks up with him. He confronts her, insulting her mother and insisting that she would be just like her had it not been for his family. She runs off to Han's garage and asks for a place to stay.That evening, DK's Uncle Kamata (Sonny Chiba) pays him a visit to check up on the business. Uncle Kamata reveals that Han has been secretly stealing from the Yakuza by not informing DK of all the side deals. DK is frustrated and upset by this, and after Kamata leaves, he and Morimoto drive to Han's garage. He confronts Han, telling him he put his reputation on the line and that he knows he's been stealing from them. Han tells him it's "what they do." DK sees Neela there, and pulls a gun on Han. Twinkie, in an effort to save Han and the others, releases the garage gates, slamming them on top of the cars belonging to DK's crew, and preventing DK from following Han. However, DK is parked outside. Sean and Neela get in his car, and run down Morimoto who attempts to stop them from leaving. Everyone flees the scene, while DK persues Han. In the middle of the pursuit, Morimoto is killed in a multi-car crash. DK witnesses his car getting smashed, and this only upsets him further. While in an intersection, Han's car is hit by a car, sending it flipping over. Han attempts to climb out of the car, but the leaking fluids from the car catch fire and explode, right as Sean gets out of his car to go help Han. Han is killed in the explosion. DK proceeds to turn around and flee the scene. Neela insists Sean go with her and flee the area before the cops show up.Sean and Neela head to Sean's father's home, only to ring the bell and nobody is home. DK pulls into the street, and gets out of his car. He instructs Neela to get in. Sean confronts DK and starts to punch him in the face repeatedly. DK shoves him back and pulls out his gun. Right before he attempts to shoot Sean, Sean's father shows up behind DK with a gun of his own. DK slowly gets back into his car and drives off, implying that he'll see him soon.Sean's father insists that he be put on a plane that very night, and be sent back to the U.S. Sean tells his father he must fix the mistakes he's made, and that he cannot keep running. Proud of his son finally admitting fault, Sean's father walks off. He later meets Twinkie, who's made plans to leave the city. Sean tells Twinkie he will go to Kamata himself. Twinkie insists he's crazy, but gives him a bag of cash to get out alive. Sean goes to Kamata's place, to where he sees Neela and DK. He offers to race DK, and the loser is to leave town to prevent getting into Kamata's way any further. Kamata agrees.Sean and his crew go back to Han's garage, to which they find the police took every car, except for the totaled car that Sean ruined during his first race. Over the next few days, Sean and his friends take the engine, and Sean's father gives him the base frame of his dismantled Mustang. The crew reassembles the entire car, and is ready for race day. Twinkie expresses concerns that DK is the only one to ever make it down the mountain they are racing down.Everyone gathers for the final race, and it commences. DK ends up flipping his car off the side of the hill, and Sean narrowly avoids getting crushed by the wreckage. DK loses the race, and Sean is clear to go. Kamata starts walking back towards DK, who is being pulled out of the wreckage and taken away.Later in the final scene, Sean is known as the new "Drift King" of Tokyo. Twinkie comes to get Sean, saying someone who has been winning races all over Asia wanted to race him. Sean is hesitant at first, until Twinkie said that Han was "family" to the racer. Sean meets his competition and Han's late friend, and it is revealed to be Dom Torretto (Vin Diesel). Sean informs him that it's not a 10 second race, to which Dom says he's got "Nothing but time." The film ends as the race begins.

Tags: cult, fantasy, violence, stupid

Review:
Branching away from any original cast members of the first two films, thankfully, Tokyo Drift provides a refreshingly new look to the franchise.Tokyo Drift is possibly my favourite of the series, or at least its up there with the first film; it only has a few problems that can be swept under the "It's Fast and the Furious, what do you expect" carpet.
He attempts to move on a dangerous rival's girl, and must become a competitor in the street racing's drifting scene.I say "teenager" as that's what IMDb says, and he does go to school in the movie but honestly, he's the oldest teen I've ever seen.
I don't mind this so much, but I fully expect all of the Japanese characters to speak Japanese, especially when Sean isn't present!But, unlike 2 Fast 2 Furious (choke) this film actually cares for its characters and their personalities (as Sean says early on: "It's not about the ride, it's about the rider") from Sean's fish-out-of- water acceptance, to his mentor Han's closet of skeletons.
Again unlike 2 Fast 2 Furious (gag) the cars have never looked better, sleek and refined and the drifting action is spectacular, especially when synchronized.
Plus, no CGI, just skilled professional drivers, making the film worth seeing solely for the racing.There's no stupid Tyrese Gibson mugging at the camera, no rats in buckets, no CGI, just an entertaining (albeit poorly localized) flick featuring excellent car racing and professional stunts..
Star Wars, The Godfather, Lord of the Rings and Back to the Future are the only exceptions that have worked in the past because there's an on-going story line.Tokyo Drift was a good film.
"The Fast And The Furious" series opened the cinema for a whole new way to make car movies.
The creators of "The Fast and The Furious" were PROBABLY pioneers in making underground car movies and they were surely the first doing a movie about drifting.I must say that Tokyo was indeed a very good place to film this kind of driving.Just to finish, I just wanna say there's a great surprise at the end of the movie!!!
Got a free screening pass to see it 6-12, saw it with some car buddies, the dork I am took notes.This movie had more semblance of a plot than the rest of the franchise, the action stayed fresh and actually flowed with the plot, and the characters actually had motivation this time!
The film more than exceeded my low expectations and whilst it way a little bit routine in places, I had a great time watching it.Not only is this film a damn good car/action film in it's own right, it is arguably the best in the series.
The new cast is great with Lucas Black heading up the roster as Sean Boswell, an American street racer who moves to Japan and becomes embroiled in the underworld Tokyo street racing scene.
Black proves to be better to watch than Paul Walker was in the previous movies in the franchise because he is a better actor (which isn't saying much but still...), whilst the other characters all have chemistry on screen too, creating an authentic Japanese street racing feel.
The stand out character in the movie for me though was Sung Kang as Han, easily the coolest character in the film.Justin Lin does a great job of capturing the art of drifting as well as keeping a good sense of speed and a focus on the character development.
If Lin can continue this trend into the fourth film in 2009, I will be the first in line at the cinema to see Vin Diesel return to the franchise.If like me, you were initially put off by the lack of ties to the first two movies, give Tokyo Drift a chance and you'll probably find you'll enjoy it.
Car fans should have no problems liking the subject matter (Cars and beautiful girls) and whilst it doesn't make you think a whole lot, you really can't go wrong with the 3rd effort in the popular Fast and Furious franchise.
When i first heard this film wasn't going to have any of the original cast in it i felt rather disappointed but my opinion has totally changed after seeing it for the first time.The cast in it are great.Lucas plays his part well as does bow wow and the guy who plays Han. The things that stood out for me were the racing scenes mainly.There are a lot more than there were in the other 2 films and in my own opinion the races in this third are a lot better than any in the first two.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Directed by Justin Lin Starring: Mitsubishi Evo 9, Nissan Silva, Ford Mustang, RX 7, Toyota Chaser, Lucas Black, Bow Wow, Nathalie Kelly, Sung Kang, Sonny ChibaI think the Mitsubishi should get a best actor nomination for next year's Oscars.Nice cars.
But that's what I watched it for, to have my brains parked outside the cinema and let the brainlessness drive me through a two hour entertainment.The RX7 has more expression than all the actors.C - Because it served its purpose in entertaining me with awesome drifts, over-sized exhaust pipes, and kick butt photography for a car racing film..
Maybe my view of The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift is heightened by the fact that I cracked a few jokes during the movie.Now down to business.
Sean, a 'dude' who loves to race at high speeds for no apparent reason, is sent to Tokyo to live with his military dad and ends up being drawn to the racing circuit again, witnessing a new style of race called 'drift' (as seen in Need For Speed Underground, to those that don't know).
I will admit that no-one looks for a good plot in a Fast and the Furious movie, but still, the less said, the better.The dialogue, as I stated, can be funny - because of its stupidity.
I admit that I didn't really get bored during the film, which may lead to my rose-tinted view of it (compared to my original perception of what it would be like).So let me summarise my thoughts: "Didn't expect much, got more than I bargained for." The acting is satisfactory (for a racing film, otherwise it would more or less suck), the plot and the dialogue are predictably terrible, the racing sequences are satisfactory and the cinematography is somewhat effective, with frequent close-ups of the cars.
I found it cool that most of the movie was filmed on-site in Tokyo, Japan, though a few scenes were shot in L.A. in the Japanese part of the city.
While Tokyo Drift may sound like 'just another movie about cars', it is much different from the previous two Fast and Furious installments, shifting from the hot streets of Californa to Tokyo, Japan.
The protagonist is no longer surfer-boy Paul Walker, but Lucas Black as 17-year-old Sean who always escapes his problems by moving away.But Sean decides to stay in Tokyo this time to deal after gets entangled in a dirty Yakuza mess when he races against a Yakuza boss's nephew, and steals his girlfriend (unforgivably annoying Nathalie Kelley).
In my honest opinion, this movie was probably the best movie of the first Fast and Furious trilogy.It took you to Japan (a place the Otaku inside of me always wanted to go), exposed you to the flashy streets of Tokyo, showed you the mountain highways, and taught you how to drift.When I first watched this movie, I was in 9th grade, and it was absolutely brilliant, the colors were vibrant, the soundtrack was awesome, and there was this one great character called 'Han' played by Sung Kang.
He demonstrated a lot of talent, making his heartbroken character believable, and also acted as a guide to the audience, showing them the underground of drifting in Nippon.The main character in Sean (Lucas Black) was by far one of the worst actors I have ever seen.
Of course, when one goes to a different country with or without research, there is a learning curve, but it was hard for Sean to adjust because he was so set in his ways, and ultimately wound-up disrespecting many people, leading to the death of xxxxxxxxx.You could say Sean is your link, or avatar in Tokyo Drift, and just pretend you're very ignorant, and don't know how to use the internet.The actor who played Drift King Takashi did a stellar job, right up there with Han, and Morimoto was great.
Neela was a believable character, you'll love her, no doubt.The cars were absolutely amazing, my personal favorite was the Mazda RX-7 Veilside Fortune S6 13B that belonged to Han. I loved how they made areference to Initial D, by mentioning the Toyota Corolla AE86.The women are pretty in Tokyo Drift, cue some lewd joke.-.5 My only knocks on this movie were the facts that Sean Boswell was poorly written, and the actor was more wooden that a hollow oak cabinet.-.5 Although the pacing was great, keeping you interested all the way, I feel like this movie was way too short, it could have been elaborated upon, and someone shouldn't have died.FAST FURIOUS 7: The story from Tokyo Drift, the last chronological entry of the FAST series goes full-circle when the 7th movie pick-off where Tokyo Drift ended.Hopefully someone will be resurrected.Justin Lin is an absolute treat to have as director.Hopefully, James Wan (new director for F7) can provide the same level of storytelling, and explosiveness the series had with Justin Lin.Although, he is coming to a party, where everyone is already drunk..
The movie is just a "loser to bruiser" story, as the young American masters the Japanese racing style, with flashy fast cars providing the backdrop for our hero's transformation.
The drivers, the cars and the Drift races are the real stars of this movie , well directed on Tokyo location.
Now let me state I haven't seen it in a long time so I'm going by memory of how I felt about this film.The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift is the third film in the series and unlike the first two films it doesn't have the original cast members which is a let down since it's normally wise to have the cast reprise their roles for the films.But for the story for this film it just makes you understand why they went to a new cast.The plot centers around an American Teenager Sean Boswell (Played by Lucas Black) who gets into trouble with the law after a street race with an high school kid so to avoid going to jail he is forced to move in with his father Major Boswell (Played by Brian Goodman) in Tokyo, Japan.But old habits are not easy to bring as he begins to rival with Takashi (Played by Brain Tee) who serves as the film main Antagonist, the feud begins when Lucas begins to chase his girlfriend Neela (Played by Nathalie Kelley).What most fans would be disappointed about the film is that the film features no of the original characters.
The film is just hold back for many reasons but if you're a fan of the series give it a watch.I give The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift an 7 out of 10.
Being first directing effort in the series by Justin Lin - Tokyo Drift captured what fans (and not only them) have truly wanted from the movie, an involving story, fast cars, different approach to races, interesting characters.
He meets new friends Twinkie (Bow Wow) and Han (Sung Kang), a potential love interest Neela (Nathalie Kelley), and some guys who he may mess up with.As a "Fast and Furious" film, expect what you expect: car sequences that you just love to watch and always thrill your soul.
OK i have to admit it : wonderful cars and babes but that's it ...the love story is unreal : to get a phone number from a Japanese chick you just have to do a perfect drift in the middle of the street ??????Above 180kms per hour, don't worry the cops in Tokyo wont arrest you, their cars are not powerful enough ?????Super stunt : the heroine is doing a drift on a hill (better than anything you could do on NFSU) while almost putting some make-up on ????????The only good thing maybe is the appearance of Vince Diesel at the end so you make the connection with the previous Fast and Furious ...Well if you really want to waste your money and have poor clichés about Japanese babes : this movie is for you ....
"Tokyo Drift" was a vital proving ground for director Justin Lin, who would go on to make the next three "Fast & Furious" movies.
The story of Alabama teenager Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) shipping off to Tokyo, discovering the drift racing scene and burrowing his way into the innermost circle is ambitiously preposterous.Obviously the plot of the "Fast & Furious" movies is known to be second fiddle to a handful of other components, but this particular plot has some problems as far as race – and unfortunately not the car kind of race, but the people kind.
The producers' foresight to bring the Han character into future "Fast & Furious" films and paint "Tokyo Drift" as taking place after the sixth movie was surprisingly astute.
In other words, if you're going to put yourself through "Tokyo Drift," do it after watching the fourth, fifth and sixth "Fast & Furious" movies.
I had never sat through the entire runtime until now, and just as I thought, it's definitely not one of the better ones.In fact, Tokyo Drift is the second worst of the series, just in front of its predecessor, 2 Fast 2 Furious.
Lucas Black, the lead in this movie, playing the cool, car maniac, did a good job to fill the shoes Paul and Vin left behind.
And even if you're not a fan, but you are into the Drift world of Car racing, this is your movie.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is the third installment of a series that is focused on racing and fancy cars.
Hell even with the Jap Engine there is no way a car with such a high Center of gravity is going to survive 2 mins into this race.4)The other irritating American influences not only do we have black guy, HELL WE HAVE A LATINA GIRL god save me.5)In one obvious promo for the Jap Telecom Companies we had people seeing the final race live on their phones and the bow-wow saying stuff like..............you guessed it."damn!" "that what I'm talking bout right there" But these are trivialities and hardly dent the overall experience.You really should check out the soundtrack and background score of the film, trust me its great AND ITS USE IN THE MOVIE IS NOTHING SHORT OF SPECTACULAR THE EASTERN INFLUENCES ARE TOTALLY REFRESHING.The acting by the Japenese cast to good, so many new faces who can act super.A bloody technical masterpiece hats of to the entire production.YOU COULD ACTUALLY FEEL THE IMPACT WHEN THE CARS HIT SOMETHING.And FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT I CAN REMEMBER A MOVIE TRIES TO BE SOMETHING MORE THAN IT IS AND SUCCEEDS.This movie really scored because of these things 1)The contrast of the underground scene with orderly and rules oriented Japenese life, brilliant.2)The drifting scene with neela with crazy soothing music,clearly in contrast with the insane driving that was needed, poetic and brilliant.3)The problem most people, even people who have been in the same society (not only a foreign country) for a long time have FITTING IN.
The cast of Tokyo Drift was nowhere near as good as the solid casts they had in the other Fast and the Furious movies.
The dull Lucas Black and his character are, like Tokyo Drift, forgettable..
As for the totally new cast, it didn't bother me because as I've said the cars are the real stars in movies like this, it doesn't matter who drives as we've seen in the previous two films.
This movie "Difently Doesn't let you you down, Action and Comedy from beginning to end." Look for the next installment to stay Tokyo side and look for even maybe Vin Diesel to come back to the movie series that launched his career further "The Fast and the Furious"Let it be heard if this is helpful, The Entertainment World, Website being redone..
I found this movie no more or no less entertaining than the other "Fast and Furious" films; sexy women, tough guys, fast cars, and not much else.
This movie in the series now takes place in Tokyo, where all the race car driving involves drifting.
Even though at the time of the release of the first two movies I was part of the targeted audience group, I never have been impressed with any of the 'The Fast and the Furious' movies and that while I actually do enjoy cars and racing.Again, they attempted to make things a bit different again, by setting the movie in a different country and by starring new different actors in the leading roles.
The new chapter of The Fast And The Furious series is a major disappointment.The good: Great races, beautiful cars, a beautiful picturing of Tokyo.The bad: Too few races (3-4), too much talk, embarrassing script, even more embarrassing acting and the most DUMB DUMB DUMB dialogue seen in years.
People with hangovers, who wants no-brainer entertainment (like I did the other day, and therefore rent TOKYO DRIFT) and likes fast cars, races (the ones we get).
From the way too digital look, to the heavy metal music, to those great slow-mo shots that we all love, Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift might be so bad that it's good..
Because other than the character of Han and a few good races there's not a lot I like about Tokyo Drift.
What matters to me when I watch a F&F movie is great, exciting action/racing scenes and a half decent story.