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The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Poster for the film
Directed by	Justin Lin
Produced by	Neal H. Moritz
Written by	Chris Morgan
Starring	Lucas Black Bow Wow Sung Kang Brian Tee Jason Tobin Nathalie Kelley Keiko Kitagawa
Music by	Brian Tyler
Cinematography	Jan Kiesser Stephen F. Windon
Editing by	Dallas Puett Fred Raskin
Distributed by	Universal Studios
Release date	June 16, 2006
Running time	104 min
Language	English
Preceded by	2 Fast 2 Furious
IMDb profile

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is the 2006 spin-off to car-racing movies The Fast and the Furious and 2 Fast 2 Furious. The film focuses on a new cast of characters and a different setting (Tokyo, Japan) from previous films in the series.

Contents [hide] 1 Plot outline 2 Featured cars 3 Cast 4 Rumors and information leaked prior to release 5 Reaction to the film 5.1 Fans' Response 5.2 Critics' Response 6 Trivia 6.1 Cameos 6.2 Technical 6.3 Inside references 7 Original Soundtrack 8 References 9 External links

Plot outline

Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) is an outsider who attempts to define himself as a hot-headed, underdog street racer. Although racing provides a temporary escape from an unhappy home and the superficial world around him, it has also made Sean unpopular with the local authorities. To avoid jail time, Sean is sent to live with his gruff, estranged father, a career military-man stationed in Tokyo. Now officially a gaijin (outsider), Sean feels even more shut out in a land of foreign customs and codes of honor. But it doesn't take long for him to find some action when a fellow American buddy, Twinkie (Bow Wow), introduces him to the underground world of drifting. Sean's simple drag racing gets replaced by a rubber-burning, automotive art form with an exhilarating balance of speeding and gliding through a heart-stopping course of hairpin turns and switchbacks. On his first time out drifting, Sean unknowingly takes on D.K., the "Drift King," a local champion with an uncle in the Japanese mafia (Yakuza). Sean's loss comes at a high price tag when he's forced to work off the debt under the thumb of expat Han. Han soon welcomes Sean into this family of misfits and introduces him to the real principles of drifting. But when Sean falls for D.K.'s girlfriend, Neela, an explosive series of events is set into motion, climaxing with a high-stakes face off.

Featured cars

Car	Color	Year	Driven by
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	Red	2006	Sean Boswell[1][2]
Ford Mustang Fastback (RB26 engine swap)	Highland Green/White Stripes	1967	Sean Boswell[3]
Chevrolet Monte Carlo	Beige/Gray	1970	Sean Boswell[4]
Nissan Silvia S15	Blue/Silver	2000	Sean Boswell (originally Han)[5]
Nissan Fairlady 350Z	Gold	2004	Morimoto [6]
Mazda RX-8	Aqua/Blue/Black	2006	Neela[7]
Nissan Fairlady 350Z	Black/Gunmetal	2002	D.K.[8]
Mazda RX-7 designed by Veilside	Orange/Black	1994	Han[9]
Nissan Fairlady 350Z	Gold/Black	2002	Morimoto [10]
Nissan Fairlady 350Z	Blue/Silver	2003	Tea Hair[11]
Nissan Silvia S-13		1993	Virgil [12]
Plymouth GTX	Silver	1970	Dominic Toretto
Mazda RX-8	Red	2006	Jan[13]
Mercedes-Benz S-Class	Black	1999	Kamata
Volkswagen Golf R32		2006	Reiko
Volkswagen Touran	Green	2006	Twinkie
Dodge Viper SRT10	Red	2004	Clay
Subaru Impreza WRX STi		2006	Flatrun

Cast

• Lucas Black as Sean Boswell
• Bow Wow as Twinkie
• Nathalie Kelley as Neela
• Sung Kang as Han
• Brian Tee as D.K.
• Keiko Kitagawa as Reiko
• Jason Tobin as Earl
• Satoshi Tsumabuki as Exceedingly Handsome Guy
• Jan Rodriguez as Yoko
• Zachery Ty Bryan as Clay
• Nikki Griffin as Cindy
• Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto
• Keiichi Tsuchiya as Fisherman
• Leonardo Nam as Morimoto
• Sonny Chiba as D.K.'s Uncle

Rumors and information leaked prior to release

Given the nature of the movie, fans of the import and drifting scenes cast a critical eye on information that leaked prior to the release of the movie.

• Modified Magazine pictured in their October 2005 editorial that two of the cars in the film were a Veilside RX-7 and a 1960's Ford Mustang Fastback with an engine swap from a Nissan Skyline GT-R. The article also mentioned possible appearances of other show cars from the various Tuning firms.
• The website MovieCarZ was one of several car locating firms that posted a list of wanted cars for the film, mainly background and set cars. According to the Modified Magazine editorial, most of the "Star Cars" were ones from Tuning firms and already filled. Among some of the wanted cars on their list were the Toyota Corolla AE86 (a possible homage to the anime Initial D); mainstays in the tuning world like the track dominating Toyota Supra, Mazda RX-7, Nissan Silvia, and Honda Civic; Luxury and Exotic Cars (possibly Japanese luxury cars like the Toyota Celsior/Lexus LS400 and the Nissan Cefiro/Infiniti I30), RHD (Right-Hand-Drive) cars, and even Japanese Classics.
• On the website Streetfire.net, spy footage from a set shoot shows a Nissan 350Z and a Ford Mustang Fastback in what appears to be Touge action.
• The forums at Toyota Nation had a posting where the set of F&F: Tokyo Drift took over a portion of downtown LA. In the spy shots, a fleet of modified RX-7's, Nissan 350Z's, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions, and a fleet of Keicars were stored in a lot, while other shots showed the set crew putting up Japanese signs over existing signs and setting up shots.^[14]
• Sport Compact Car tested the cars of the film, and noted that the cars in Tokyo Drift were slightly faster in an acceleration matchup with the cars from 2 Fast 2 Furious.^[15]
• Hot Rod Magazine reviewed the domestic cars of the film (The RB26 equipped Mustang, the Monte Carlo, and the Dodge Viper) and noted that most of the drifting action done by the Mustang were handled by Mustangs equipped with the Windsor Engine. They also lamented the possibility that tuners might swap in Japanese motors into American cars.^[16]

Reaction to the film

Fans' Response

Despite negative reviews, Tokyo Drift brought in over $24 million on its opening weekend. Its impact on pop culture has not been nearly as great as the first film in the series, but it is credited by fans for resurrecting the series' novelty.^{[citation needed]} Tokyo Drift was also greeted with a more postive response from the Asian community when compared to the original film in the series, as it depicted many of the Asian characters in a more realistic and sympathetic light. Many fans consider this a stark contrast from the first film. As of August 13, 2006 the domestic box office take has totalled $62,021,525 with another $70,305,776 from the foreign box office, resulting in total receipts of $132,327,301.[1]

Critics' Response

The film was widely panned by film critics, such as Michael Medved, who gave Tokyo Drift 1 1/2 stars (out of four) saying, "There’s no discernable plot...or emotion, or humor."^[17] James Berardinelli from Reelviews also gave it 1 1/2 stars out of four, saying that "There's something odd about Tokyo Drift. It fetishizes cars in a way that's almost unhealthy. When the vehicles appear in the same scene as a bunch of scantily clad Asian women, the camera is drawn not to cleavage but to carburetors."^[18]

Richard Roeper also levelled strong criticism of the film, writing: "The whole thing is preposterous. The acting is so awful, some of the worst performances I’ve seen in a long, long time."^[19]

Several critics found much to like about the film, such as Pulitzer prize winner and Roeper cohort Roger Ebert, who bestowed three out of four stars saying director Justin Lin "takes an established franchise and makes it surprisingly fresh and intriguing," and also concludes that the film is "more observant than we expect... the story about something more than fast cars."^[20]

There was also some citicism about the casting of the film. As the Drift King, Brian Tee, is supposed to be Japanese when most native Japanese can tell outright that he is not - both from his appearance and his Japanese accent.^{[citation needed]}

Trivia

Cameos

• Vin Diesel makes an uncredited appearance as Dominic Toretto (his character from the original Fast and the Furious film), claiming to be a friend of Han's.
• 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 snide comments on Sean's lack of proper drift technique.
• Rhys Millen, the primary stunt driver in the film, has a cameo appearance as one of the passengers in the airplane scene.
• John Cho, the Korean American actor who appeared in Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow also appears in the airplane scene.
• Former sumo wrestler Konishiki makes an appearance in the bathhouse scene as one of the collection marks that owes money to Han.
• Japanese pop superstars Ayumi Hamasaki and Mika Nakashima can be seen in background pans around Tokyo.
• Import Models Verena Mei and Mari Jaramillo are in the Skyline drifted around in circles by Han.
• During the start lines near the beginning and at the end of the movie, Import Models Aiko Tanaka (Setto) and Kaila Yu (Ready) flank the start line. Satoshi Tsumabuki (Go) starts off the first race in the parking garage.
• Toshi Hayama, the English language speaking commentator at both the US and UK D1 Grand Prix events, makes an appearance at the gate to the parking garage.
• MC Hammer make numerous cameo apperances thru the film, hawking electronics and cell phones on adversements. The cameos stem from a chance encounter with Lin at the Sundance Film Festival before he made Better Luck Tommorrow.^[21]

Technical

• The RB26DETT(Motor found in the Nissan Skyline GT-R) powered Mustang in the film has been subject to much criticism by fans of both US domestic cars and JDM cars. The criticism grew when it was revealed that the car itself barely had any screen time and regular, V8 powered Mustangs were used instead for most of the drift scenes.^{[22] [23]}
  • According to SCC, 1 Mustang received the RB26 swap, while 5 other Mustangs were created for drifting purposes. 2 were destroyed in the process.^[24]
  • In addition, the RB26 Mustang was shown to be faster than it's V8 powered kin, with times of 0-60 in 5.38 seconds, and the quarter mile in 13.36 seconds at 109.83 MPH.^[25]
• The S15 Silvia which Black's character trashes in his first race in Japan is depicted as having an RB26DET engine swap which itself is donated to the Mustang. However, the car used was actually powered by the S15's base SR20DE engine^[26].
• The Veilside Fortune body-kitted RX-7 driven by Sung Kang's character was originally built by Veilside for the 2005 Auto Salon but was later bought by Universal and repainted (the original was dark red and not orange and black like in the film)^[27].
• 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.^[28] Tanner Faust, Rich Rutherford, Calvin Wan, and Alex Pfeiffer were also brought it when it was revealed that none of Universal's own stunt drivers could drift.^[29]
• 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 stared in Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow, the organizers of the Japanese D1 Grand Prix series, and his former boss at A'PEXi. Among them are keeping certain references in check (the useage of Nitrous Oxide in straights than in turns, keeping the useage of references from sponsors to a minimum, etc.).^[30]
• Toshi 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.^[31]

Inside references

• The sento proprietor is reading Initial D, an anime and manga franchise about a young teenage boy whom has hidden talent in racing in the mountain passes of Gunma Prefecture.
• DK bets his "86 Corolla" with Han on the result of a race." "Drift King" Keiichi Tsuchiya is famously known for drifting in a Toyota AE86 Corolla Sprinter Trueno.

Original Soundtrack

• 1. Teriyaki Boyz - "Tokyo Drift (Fast & Furious)" - 4:19
• 2. DJ Shadow feat. Mos Def - "Six Days the Remix" - 3:54
• 3. The 5,6,7,8's - "The Barracuda" - 2:34
• 4. Evil Nine - "Restless" - 4:56
• 5. Far*East Movement - "Round Round" - 3:22
• 6. N.E.R.D. - "She Wants to Move" - 3:32
• 7. Teriyaki Boyz - "Cho Large" - 5:17
• 8. Dragon Ash - "Resound" - 4:49
• 9. Atari Teenage Riot - "Speed" - 2:49
• 10. Don Omar feat. Tego Calderon - "Bandoleros" - 5:07
• 11. Don Omar - "Conteo" - 3:16
• 12. Brian Tyler feat. Slash - "Mustang Nismo" - 2:30

References