Showdown in Little Tokyo

Plot synopsis:
Chris Kenner (Dolphn Lundgren) is a detective working in LA's Little Tokyo. He busts in on an illegal kickboxing operator Tanaka (Philip Tan), but a rival gang led by Sato (Toshiro Obata), attacks and captures Tanaka. Kenner leaps over the getaway car, but loses them. Later, in a Chinese restaurant, Kenner sees the thugs and attacks them. He is hampered by the arrival of Johnny Murata (Brandon Lee), who mistakes him for a criminal. Murata is Kenner's new partner, apparently. They arrest the remaining thug.During questioning, Kenner sees the thug's tattoo and realizes he's Yakuza. He has a flashback to the murder of his parents, apparently by a Yakuza member. The thug breaks his own neck. A mob boss kills Tanaka by crushing his car with him in it.At a party, boss Yoshida (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) questions Angel (Renee Griffin) about her tipping Tanaka off, then decapitates her. Kenner talks to the coroner later, and she explains that Angel had enough Ice (an illegal drug) in her to kill her.Kenner and Murata go to one of Tanaka's club, and find out the club has come under ownership. They see Minako Okeya (Tia Carrere) and question her about Angel. She doesn't want to talk, though. Thugs arrive and Kenner and Murago take them out. Sato stops them with a gun and takes them to see Yoshida. Kenner recognizes him as his parent's murderer, but since they're surrounded by goons with guns, he and Murata leave.The next day, Kenner and Murata follow Yoshida to a beer brewery, where Yoshida is importing and distributing Ice. Later, Yoshida shows Okeya a video of Angel's death and takes her hostage. Kenner and Murata see her preparing for suicide, and Kenner goes to rescue her, leaving Murata to trail the departing Yoshida. Kenner wipes out the goons guarding Okeya and rescues her. He lifts a car on its size and shoots it to make it explode, then drives off with Okeya. Yoshida swears vengeance.Kenner and Murata accost Yoshida and his goons in a bathhouse and beat the crap out them. Yoshida gets away, and Kenner and Murata flee the cops. They take Okeya to a remote cabin for protection, and Kenner sleeps with her. The bad guys show up again, and a battle ensues, Murata with guns and Kenner with knives and a crossbow. Sato captures Okeya, and Kenner gives up. Kenner and Murata escape torture, but get stuck in a car crusher, escaping in secret at the last minute.Yoshida starts shipping his drug-laden beer, but Kenner and Murata attack the brewery, spoiling the deal in progress. The good guys shoot the bad guys, Murata beats up Sato, and Kenner faces off with Yoshida, both with lots of fire. Kenner finally kills Yoshida in a swordfight, getting revenge for his parents. End.

Tags: comedy, murder, cult, violence, flashback, humor, revenge

Review:
This is one of the better Dolph Lundgren-takes-on-all-comers movies, and its got Brandon Lee godamnit!Ok, so it gets predictable, but isnt that why action movies are so well loved?
Brandon Lee is pretty funny, making lots of wise-cracks through out the film and Dolph gives a pretty good performance as a man looking for revenge.
Great movie to check out especially if your a fan or brandons or dolphs and love action and martial arts!.
I think I've seen this but, alcohol, so I don't know.The other guy on the box has a cool name and once played a dead bird in another movie.I thought Tokyo was a big city, but I guess it's rather little if I am to believe the title of this film.Anyway, I should see this movie again and so should you.
It's not the best action movie or one of the top movies of the 90's or anything like that but hey, its a fun flick starring the macho Dolph Lundgren and the late great Brandon Lee.They basically play two LA cops working on a case in LA's Little Tokyo involving Drug Lords that were linked to Lundgren's past.
Especially with the sword fight at the end end between Lundgren and the head drug lord.The script is pretty cheesy though and the story not very original and I could name a bunch of things that aren't too realistic about this picture but the fun never lets up and their are some good one liners.
And the vision of Dolph Lundgren running around in a hakama, happi coat, and handband, while waving a katana in one hand, is so hysterical that it's worth the couple of bucks to rent the movie.And great flubs, too, like the scene in which the evil villain is mashing someone up in an auto crusher, and we get a clear shot of the dummy's head in the car, between scenes of the potential victim yelling for help.
Dolph plays Detective Kenner, a very angry cop who has a tendency to beat up any yakuza in sight, coincidentally alienating all of his partners until his forced to pair up with Johnny Murata (the late, great Brandon Lee), and the two go around kicking yakuza-arse together.
Good action scenes, and some great one-liners from Brandon Lee, granted none of them are as classic as Arnie's "remember when I said I'd kill you last?
The movie has a fast pace and Brandon Lee showed that he had screen prescence by stealing the show as a wise cracking Americanized, Asian American policeman joining Dolph Lundren's maverick cop who is well versed in the ancient ways of the Japanese Samurai.Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is excellent as the villain, Yashida and I have a sneaking supsicion that this was a fun film set.
Lester directed this little actioner which stars Brandon Lee and Dolph Lundgren.
Showdown in Little Tokyo tells the story of two cops, Lee and Lundgren, who want to catch one violent yakuza gang that is selling drugs and doing other criminal activities in USA.
Also, the leader of that gang has done something bad to Lundgren in the past, so Dolph has also some personal things to settle with the yakuza leader..What follows is non-stop action, stupid dialogue, violent fight scenes and firepower.
Made in the early 90s and shot in various parts of Asia Showdown in Little Tokyo is a nice martial arts-based action film starring the tragic Brandon Lee and Dolph Lundren.
Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee make a great team and I wish they could've done another film together, but unfortunately that will never happen only in my dreams.
After proving his ability to be an action star from Red Scorpion (1988), The Punisher (1989) and Dark Angel (1990), someone got the bright idea to pair up Dolph Lundgren with famous martial arts star Bruce Lee's son, Brandon Lee. I'm going to assume this was director Mark L.
Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee (son of Bruce) play cops who have to fight against evil Yakuza leader Cary Hiryouki Tagawa and save important witness - sexy singer Tia Carrere Both Lundgren and Tagawa are also connected by a tragedy from the past.
Some of the lines Dolph and Brandon come out with are the funniest I've ever heard.The sad thing is that its not meant to be a comedy but an action movie and most of the parts that are hysterically funny are actually not supposed to be.
Lundgren and Lee made a great pair in a movie that is full of glorious action, and one liners...one of those classics that didn't take itself too seriously.
Made in the early 90s and shot in various parts of Asia this is a nice martial arts-based action film starring the tragic Brandon Lee and Dolph Lundren.
Made in the early 90s and shot in various parts of Asia this is a nice martial arts-based action film starring the tragic Brandon Lee and Dolph Lundren.
Made in the early 90s and shot in various parts of Asia this is a nice martial arts-based action film starring the tragic Brandon Lee and Dolph Lundren.
Showdown in Little Tokyo isn't a masterpiece by any means, but it is a nice film to watch if you miss nostalgic early 90s movies..
Showdown in Little Tokyo isn't a masterpiece by any means, but it is a nice film to watch if you miss nostalgic early 90s movies..
Showdown in Little Tokyo isn't a masterpiece by any means, but it is a nice film to watch if you miss nostalgic early 90s movies..
Showdown in Little Tokyo isn't a masterpiece by any means, but it is a nice film to watch if you miss nostalgic early 90s movies..
Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee's action classic at their best!.
Showdown in Little Tokyo is Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee's best action film classic!
Like is said in my earlier review (I Come in Peace aka Dark Angel), Showdown in Little Tokyo is my second favorite film of Dolph Lundgren and it is also my second favorite film of Brandon Lee, his first one will always be Rapid Fire (1992) they where both films I grew up watching it when I was a child.
Showdown in Little Tokyo is a classic film, it is only one hour and nineteen minutes long, it is a kick ass action and has a lot of fight scenes.
Dolph Lundgren did a lot of direct to video action movies that I haven't seen them yet, but I Come in Peace and Showdown in Little Tokyo are his best films he ever worked on them.
Anyway it is a classic and I love it.Showdown in Little Tokyo is a 1991 American buddy cop-action film directed by Mark L.
Starring: Dolph Lundgren, Brandon Lee, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Tia Carrere, Toshishiro Obata, Philip Tan, Renee Griffin, Simon Rhee Director: Mark L.
SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO is still a fun action outing and definitely among Lundgren's best, but it hasn't aged particularly well and has lost some of its ability to satisfy beyond the appreciation of turophiles.The story: Two renegade cops – played by Lundgren and Brandon Lee – investigating organized crime in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo take on a deadly Yakuza faction.Disregarding any other entertainment value, the main reason for seeing the film is the team-up between Lundgren and Lee. The two have a degree of chemistry and are fun to watch, and it's neat to see both of their distinctive styles of action play out within the same movie.
The fact that the cast and stunt ensemble are packed with action regulars – from James Lew to Gerald Okamura – makes it a little disappointing that more of the fight scenes aren't showstoppers, but we get at least two pretty memorable bouts in the showdown between Lee and henchman Toshihiro Obata and the swordfight featuring Lundgren and supervillain Cary Tagawa.
Like characters picking up "samurai swords" from parade actors and use them for a life and dead fight.When I feel like watching terribly bad action movies with crazy plots, and wooden acting leads, constantly looking for an excuse to lose their shirt, I prefer the works of Andy Sidaris where at least the constantly topless leads are female and rather nice looking Playboy models (with less plastic surgery than Dolph Lundgreen).
then i saw this Movie i Remember it Now then i enjoy watching this movie Action Packed,Fast Placed,Good Shot of Filming and Brandon Lee R.I.P Rest in Peace Lost a very good Action Star who did just 5 Movies sad so sad losing a very good Action Star Brandon Lee (Johnny Murata) is not main character the main character is Dolph Lundgren (Sgt. Kenner)and i like the Villain he was Entering and fun Villain Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa(Funekei Yoshida)and the Action Scenes were Awesome and Funny Johnny play as Wise Cop and Trying to help Kenner then Kenner tells Johnny that his story what happened orphaned as a child as his father was in the service and was killed and lived in Japan.
so then Dolph is trying to find the guy who killed his Family and as Character Dolph was funny and Awesome when he fights in pool with big Japanese guy in fighting in water that was a very cool shoot in movie Very cool and Showdown at end when Dolph and Cary was fighting in sword fight was amazing and funny when Dolph was saving the girl from Suicide was awesome him breaking into house then killed bad guys quickly and saving girl that was awesome people say terrible acting Terrible movie screw what screw that if your into Martial Arts and Kicking Ass Non Stop Action movie ever made you will enjoy this movie Brandon Lee was missed could be more franchise of Showdown In Little something ?
I saw SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO back in 1992, back then I enjoyed action movies purely for the fact that I was going to see a main villain and his henchmen get their just deserts, I wasn't really critical on the acting back then neither did I judge the editing or the direction.Now I've developed the knack for actually dissecting a film and pointing out the positives and the negatives, with this film at least I didn't go "I can't believe I liked this crap." I actually still like it, its not an action masterpiece but its very fun to watch if your not an up tight film critic.The acting is not as bad as people have been saying, the only wooden acting I've seen in this film only came from the female members of the cast, the guys all showed some degree of emotion and played their parts reasonably well considering their characters weren't very developed but the as for the women in the film the only good acting they did was take their clothes off and this is not me making fun I'm actually serious and the women are attractive.Overall, its better not to take the film seriously, the character development is thin, the plot has been done before and its loads of fun, best to see it for the mindless action..
Highly recommended film for Brandon Lee and Dolph Lundgren fans..
Lots of topless attractive women.This movie is very well cast starring Lundgren and Lee. Also with great turns by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and Tia Carrere.After watching Universal Soldier: Regeneration, it made me long for the good old days when Van Damme and Lundgren were at the top of their game!This movie will always stand as a classic movie about the clash of Japanese tradition and American culture.
Sorta like old Grand Funk Railroad singles.In this one our hero plays a L.A. cop named Kenner who partners up with an Asian Task Force agent, Johnny Muratta (Brandon Lee) to get the goods on a Japanese crime lord (played with slithery zeal by the one and only Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa.) Seems the Yakuza (Japan's answer to the Mafia) is invading L.A.'s Little Tokyo and it is up to Kenner and Co. to stop them.
The best line in the whole movie was by Brandon Lee saying to Dolph, "Chris you got the biggest dick I've ever seen!" What do you even say to that?
Dolph Lundgren is a white samurai and also a cop and Brandon Lee is his partner, though he's an Asian, he knows nothing about his culture except for martial arts, but that's all we need.
"Showdown in Little Tokyo" is a typical fighting/gunning/explosion/bad ass muscleguy-classic from the peak of the golden era of action movies.
Dolph Friggin' Lundren with a Japanese accent is funny enough, but add really corny buddy-buddy action to the mix, an eccentric and over-the-top villain, a clichéd love interest subplot and one of the worst endings of all time, and you've got yourself quite the little suicide-inducing cure for people who enjoy their life and, up till watching "Showdown," had never contemplated killing themselves with a blowtorch.I don't know if it's just me but the whole homosexual subtext is none too subtle.
This movie has the absolute worst acting (check out Tia Carrere's face when she is in any scene with Dolph, that's worth a laugh), with the worst dialogue ever (Brandon Lee's comment about little Dolph is the worst line ever in a film), and the worst outfit in a film (Dolph in full Japanese attire).
Picture "Tango and Cash" with worse acting, meets "Commando," meets "Friday the 13th" (because of the senseless nudity and Lungren's performance is very Jason Voorhees-like), in an hour and fifteen minute joke of a movie.The good (how about not awful) performances go to the bad guy (who still looks constipated through his entire performance) and Carrere (who somehow says her 5 lines without breaking out laughing).
Dolph Lundgren stars as Christopher Kenner an American samurai cop who hooks up with Johnny Murata (Brandon Lee) to take on a the Japanese Yakuza, who are also responsible for murdering Kenner's parents.
Brandon Lee is a great wise ass with Dolph Lundgren as the serious samurai cop.
Starring the late Brandon Lee seals the deal on making Showdown in Little Tokyo a classic action movie.
Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee star as two cops who take on the japanese yakuza one man at a time to avenge the death of Dolph's parents.Showdown In Little Tokyo is a flat out sub-par action movie that will have you either laughing at the cheap production values or groaning from pain.
The stars are a mismatched pair: Brandon Lee, despite the terrible lines he has to say, actually shows traces of charisma and screen charm - things that Dolph Lundgren is completely free of (at least in this movie).
Who is raped then tries to commit suicide, only to be saved by Dolph who ends up sleeping with her!!!Had enough.....well just watch it and it turns into a movie like Sunset Beach.It is not a very good film compared to Brandon Lee`s other films.I give this a Sunset Beach over the top 5 out of 10..
Just Plain Bad. Extremely poor action film starring the ever wooden Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee trapped in a sidekick role that never seems to gel.
Lester, the director who gave us gung-ho Arnie classic Commando, Showdown in Little Tokyo is a prime example of early-90s action cheeze: badly acted and incredibly corny from start to finish, but hugely enjoyable thanks to likable leads Lundgren and Lee, a delightfully wicked comic-book-style villain in Funekei Yoshida (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), groan-worthy one-liners, the occasional spot of surprisingly nasty violence, plenty of gratuitous T&A, and some of the most diabolical fashion disasters the decade had to offer (the Yakuza wear some hideous suits and shirts, but they seem quite tasteful when compared with Dolph's baggy pleated trousers, his ugly-assed leather jacket, and his final combat outfit, which was surely designed to reduce the enemy to fits of hysterics)..
Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee play two completely different types of cops who try to crack down on a drug dealer (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) stalking the streets of Little Tokyo.
Action movies are not, however, normally the place to go if you are looking for deep cultural analysis, and the theme of racial and cultural differences is not explored in any depth.The film stars Dolph Lundgren, Sweden's answer to Schwarzenegger, and Brandon Lee, in one of his few films before his tragic death.
The moments are way too short and quite disappointing to watch really, from the man who brought us "Commando".It's foremost a Dolph Lundgren, in which he gets to play the big action hero star, who kicks butt with seemingly relative ease, knows how to handle guns and other weapons and of course also gets the girl, played by Tia Carrere.
The story could have been written by you or me, the acting is perfect for a film like this: bad.By the way, the story is about Detective Kenner (Dolph Lundgren), operating in Little Tokyo.
Kenner's new partner is Johnny Murata (Brandon Lee), a martial-arts expert, and the girl they have to save on the way is Minako (Tia Carrere).If you like B-films, laughing at stupidity that is, you might like it.
It's almost as good as his father (Bruce Lee).I didn't like Dolph Lundgren in this movie, but that is just because the attitude of the character he plays is bad.
It isn't he can't act, the lines are just that bad.The only thing I like in this are the action scenes, especially when Brandon Lee is on screen.
In this film he and (another B-Movie star) Brandon Lee plays two cops, fighting against the Yakuza.
I guess the makers of this film figured they needed an action movie for Lee to star in, but since he wasn't "a name" yet 'let's pair him with Dolph Lundgren.