tokyo drift

Plot outline

The story starts with a typical day in a middle class American school where a young man named Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) is being given the once over by the security detail. Sean is a loner who has no friends and looks at the pep rally after school with contempt. As he's approaching his car(a street sleeper Chevrolet Monte Carlo), a girl (Nikki Griffin) in a Dodge Viper flirts with him. Her boyfriend (Zachery Ty Bryan) notices this. He and his friends make fun of his car, so Sean retorts with a taunt that the Viper is Clay's father's car. As Sean drives off, the enraged Clay throws a baseball through the back windshield. Sean steps out of his car with a wrench, but before he can attack Clay, Clay's girlfriend says she'll go out with whoever wins a race between the two.

They race through a construction area and things are not going well for Sean at first. However, he manages to take a side road and ends up beating Clay's Dodge Viper in the end, after demolishing a huge house. Clay's girlfriend says "Looks like I have a new date for prom" and then Clay dents Sean's car by ramming it with his own, thereby giving him a wrecked Viper in the process, while Sean's car flips several times trying to avoid the spectators before landing upside down.

After getting booked by the police, Clay's and his girlfriend are relased, seeing as they're well connected, but Sean is going to jail due to the fact that he has priors and that they're going to try him as an adult. Sean's mother (Lynda Boyd) comes in, and after flirting with the officer interrogating Sean, reveals that they've had to move several times due to Sean's racing. She ends up exhausting her last option by sending Sean to Tokyo to live with his dad, who serves in the U.S. Navy's outpost there.

As Sean arrives and rings the doorbell, his dad (Brian Goodman) ushers out the hooker he rented for the night. Sean comes in and sees the tiny dump which will be his new home. The next morning, he finds a Japanese school uniform on his bed, and gives it another look of contempt. In a Lost In Translation montage, Sean attempts to navigate the Japanese subway system in order to get to school.

When Sean finally arrives at school he notices an attractive girl, named Neela (Nathalie Kelley), in his homeroom. Later, as he's eating lunch, an Army brat comes in and introduces himself as Twinkie (Bow Wow), a cheap hustler who sells American goods such as Air Jordan sneakers, Snickers bars and the like. Sean was hardly interested at anything Twinkie sells, until he notices Twinkie's detachable Sparco steering wheel to his ride, a Volkswagen Touran that has basically been made to resemble the Incredible Hulk. Sean asks where all the action is and Twinkie takes him to an underground parking lot, where we see many tuned Silvias, Mazda RX-8 and a Veilside Honda NSX.

Sean sees Neela and they start talking while DK, short for Drift King, (Brian Tee) and his business partner Han (Sung Kang) talk and wonder who this Gaijin (Japanese for outsider) is. DK walks over and claims Neela. Twinkie stops Sean from getting into a confrontation and tells him that DK's uncle is part of the Yakuza crime syndicate. Sean doesn't back down though, and DK challenges him to a race. Han gives Sean the keys to his ride, a Nissan Silvia S15 Spec-R, and the race is on.

At the very beginning Sean has a big lead on DK, but DK just smiles at Sean. Sean sees a very sharp turn, but doesn't go around in time, and smashes Han's ride. DK on the other hand pulls off a perfect drift and he's soon way ahead of Sean. DK ends up winning in a blowout and afterwards, Han just tells Sean not to leave town. Han also reveals he's been doing business with DK, and that DK is trying to prove his worth to his uncle by helping with the money laundering.

When Sean comes home his dad tells him that he knows what's going on. He threatens to send Sean back home (i.e. to jail) if he ever catches him street racing again.

The next day, Sean gets picked up by Han in his new Veilside Fortune Mazda RX-7 and he tells Sean that he will be working with him to pay off the car that Sean smashed in the race with DK. Sean is sent inside a public bath/sauna and is forced to ask a heavily tattooed man for money that he owes Han. After beating and tossing Sean out of the building (literally) the wrestler gives Han his money.

Later that night, Sean is driving Han's Veilside RX-7 down the highway, and after beating another car in a road race, two cops register his speed around 197 km/h but Sean notices that they don't give chase. Han explains that the cop cars are just stock models, and can't go over 180, so they don't even bother to try and catch him. Sean asks Han why he doesn't drift, and he says that there is rarely any good reason to do so. Sean asks why people do it then, so Han shows him by doing donuts around two girls in a Nissan Skyline GT-R R33, and they proceed to give him their phone numbers.

Han takes Sean to a party with lots of beautiful girls, and he takes him to his garage inside. Han gives him a heavily modified Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX, and later on the roof, Han tells Sean that "Life is simple, you make choices, and never look back". Later Sean breaks up a fight between Twinkie and Morimoto, a guy in DK's crew, over a broken iPod. Twinkie is pissed and tells him that everyone will want refunds now.

Sean begins to learn how to drift with the help of Han. Meanwhile, two fishermen make snide comments about Sean's initial technique. However, he starts getting better and he easily beats Morimoto in a race. DK is noticeably mad over Seans rise in fame.

In class later, Sean sends Neela a message on her laptop asking why she never shows him her drifting. She responds with "You never ask" and we see them in Neela's Mazda RX-8, where she tells him that her mother was pretty much a prostitute, and she died when Neela was young. Neela also reveals that DK's grandmother took her in and when they were growing up, she and DK came to the current mountain she's drifting on with Sean, to watch the older kids drift.

The next day, DK pulls up to the harbor where Sean is practicing drifting and he beats up Sean so hard he ends up very bloody. DK tells him to stay away from Neela. At school, Neela notices Sean's bruises so she confronts DK in his shop and tells him that they're done. DK says that she owes him and that she'd have ended up just like her mother if it wasn't for him and his family. She slaps him and promptly leaves. She shows up at Han's garage, crying, and Sean holds her and takes care of her.

Meanwhile, DK's uncle comes to see him. His uncle tells him that there is a discrepancy in the books, and that Han must be cheating them out of money. His uncle sighs and says to DK "I wish your father was here," but he starts to laugh. DK is noticeably shaken and scared.

DK confronts Han in his garage and he punches him and pulls out a Sig P226. (DK:I put my reputation on the line for you! We were partners! You think you can keep your side deals from me?!) Han tells him that "this is what we do", and DK cocks his Sig. Twinkie thinks fast and creates a distraction, giving Han, Sean & Neela a chance to escape. A car chase ensues through the Tokyo streets. Morimoto (driving a gold Nissan Fairlady Z) rams Sean and when he tries to pass him, he crashes head-on into an oncoming Toyota Aristo and it triggers a massive pile-up. DK is now after Sean, ramming him continuously until Han gets in his way. Sean tries to flee with Neela but he crashes in to an oncoming car, wrecking his Lancer Evolution IX instantly. DK (driving his Nissan Fairlady Z 350Z) overtakes Han and turns his car 180 degrees and he is now driving backwards. DK wields his gun and starts firing at the windshield of the Veilside RX-7 to try and kill Han but Han dodges and rams DK while he is driving backwards, spinning him, but then Han is hit hard by an oncoming car and flips his vehicle, landing upside-down. Han, injured and bleeding on the face, is pinned in his wreck of a car. He reaches out toward Sean. Sean starts to rush to his rescue but the gasoline leaking from his car catches fire and the car explodes, killing Han.

Sean and Neela go to his dad's house but DK follows them. After getting punched three times by Sean, DK pulls out his gun. Sean's dad however draws and aims his Beretta M9 at DK and tells him to leave. DK refuses to leave unless Neela goes with him. Neela agrees and they drive off. Sean's dad wants him to get on a plane that night for his own safety, but Sean says it's his mess and he has to fix it.

Twinkie meets Sean and gives him the money that Han took from the Yakuza. Sean takes it to the local Yakuza club, and gives it to DK's uncle. He tells him that he wants to race DK and whoever loses has to leave town because they've both dishonored him. DK's uncle agrees.

Sean goes back to Han's garage, but all the cars are gone, except for the Silvia S15 he ruined in his first race at the parking garage. They take out the Silvia S15's RB26DETT engine, and place it into the 1967 Ford Mustang that Sean's father had been building in his free time. The race is on a touge that DK has the advantage on, because he's the only one to ever make it down to the bottom in one piece.

The race is a sequence of drifts down the hills and there is danger at every turn. Sean's Ford Mustang tries to catch up to DK's Fairlady Z, but when they get side-by-side DK rams him, scraping the paint across their cars. As they go further downhill, DK jumps a rock suffering major damage to his car. At one sharp turn, DK makes a wide drift and collides into a parked car and Sean takes the lead. As a final desperate maneuver DK tries to fishtail Sean, but Sean suddenly stops the car, sending DK flying off the edge of the turn. As Sean makes his way towards the finish line, DK's car comes dropping down, almost crushing the Mustang and killing Sean but he manages to narrowly evade the falling car before it hits the ground. Sean makes his way across the finish line, victorious. The now dethroned DK survives the crash but he suffers a humiliating defeat at the hands of Sean. DK's uncle tells Sean he is free to go, and DK presumably leaves Tokyo.

Later, Sean is hanging out in the underground parking lot with his friends and Twinkie comes up and tells him someone wants to race the new Drift King. He says the guy has been beating everyone across Asia. Sean says no at first but then Twinkie tells him that this guy knew Han and that he considered Han to be family. The mystery car pulls up and we see that it's none other than Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel; from the first "Fast and the Furious" movie), driving his 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner. Dominic tells Sean that he won his car from Han a few years ago and Sean states that he didn't know Han was into American muscle. As the movie comes to a close Sean tells Dom that this is no 10 second race. He responds with "I got nothin' but time", Dominic then says "You ready kid?". Neela counts off the race; the cars take off, and the movie ends without disclosing the race results.

Before the credit roll is shown, a "Don't try this at home" message informs the audience that the racing stunts are performed by professional drivers in controlled environments, and that such practices are dangerous and illegal and by no means should be imitated. Even though the actors didn't do their own driving for the film, they underwent "Drifting School" sessions to get a feel for how the stunt is performed, and to act appropriately for their Bluescreen performances. (Information obtained from DVD bonus content).

Featured cars

The following cars are featured in the film:^[1]

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. 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 homage to the anime Initial D); mainstays in the tuning world like 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 mixed reviews, Tokyo Drift brought in over $24 million on its opening weekend. The movie itself was in limited release in Japan and South Korea. As of November 17, 2006 the domestic box office take has totalled $62,514,415 with another $95,318,994 from the foreign box office, resulting in total receipts of $157,833,409.[1]

Critics' Response

• The film received mixed reviews by film critics. Michael Medved gave Tokyo Drift 1 1/2 stars (out of four) saying, "There’s no discernible 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, including Roeper's cohort Roger Ebert, who rated the film 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]

• Empire Magazine in the UK gave the film 3 out of 5 stars.

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 side 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 and as a passenger in the airplane scene.
• MC Hammer makes numerous cameo appearances throughout the film, hawking electronics and cell phones on advertisements. The cameos stem from a chance encounter with Lin at the Sundance Film Festival before he made Better Luck Tomorrow.^[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 USDM cars and JDM cars. 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.^{[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 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. The V8 powered machine was designed for drifting and suffered from no traction, while the inline 6 version was set strictly for straight line performance.^[25]
• 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 used was actually powered by the S15's base SR20DET engine^[26].
• 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)^[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 in 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 starred 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 usage of Nitrous Oxide in straights but not in turns, keeping the usage 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]
• A modified Koenigsegg CCR can be seen on a platform in Han's garage in one scene.

Inside references

• The sentō proprietor is reading Initial D, an anime and manga franchise about a young teenage boy whom has a hidden talent for drift racing in the mountain passes of Gunma Prefecture.
• DK bets his "86 Corolla" with Han on the result of a race, while Han puts up the "72 Skyline". "Drift King" Keiichi Tsuchiya is famously known for drifting in a Toyota AE86 Corolla Sprinter Trueno, while the 1972 Nissan Skyline (popularly known by the Japanese as the Hakosuka (ハコスカ), meaning box-Skyline) happens to be Keiichi Tsuchiya's first drift car.

Miscellaneous

• The drifting done inside the parking lot was actually filmed in Los Angeles's old Hawthorne Mall parking lot. ^[32]
• A section of Wilshire Blvd. in Downtown Los Angeles was retrofitted with signs and other props to resemble Tokyo's Shinjuku District during the city chase scene.
• An intersection in Burbank, CA, was used to film the Shibuya District high-speed drift scene. Thousands of boxes were placed to represent the buildings, which were later added to the final print via CG, along with the swarm of pedestrians.
• When Clay throws a baseball at the rear wind sheild of Sean's Monte Carlo we see a base ball and glass fly towards Sean and the center console,however in the next shot we see a baseball and glass fragments on the pavement.

Original Soundtrack

• 1. Teriyaki Boyz - "Tokyo Drift (Fast & Furious)" - 4:15
• 2. DJ Shadow feat. Mos Def - "Six Days the Remix" - 3:53
• 3. The 5.6.7.8's - "The Barracuda" - 2:28
• 4. Evil Nine - "Restless" - 4:56
• 5. Far*East Movement - "Round Round" - 3:21
• 6. N.E.R.D. - "She Wants to Move" - 3:35
• 7. Teriyaki Boyz - "Cho Large" - 5:15
• 8. Dragon Ash - "Resound" - 4:09
• 9. Atari Teenage Riot - "Speed" - 2:50
• 10. Don Omar feat. Tego Calderon - "Bandoleros" - 5:07
• 11. Don Omar - "Conteo" - 3:18
• 12. Brian Tyler feat. Slash - "Mustang Nismo" - 2:23

Music from the movie that is not on the soundtrack CD

• Kid Rock - "Bawitdaba"(found on the CD "Devil Without a Cause")
• Fanny Pack - Hey Mami
• MC Hammer - I Got It From the Town
• Jake One - Jake Alert
• Pharrell feat. Daddy Yankee - Mamacita
• Qypthone - Mission Banana Muffins
• GRITS - "My Life Be Like (Ooh Aah)"
• Brian Tyler - Neela Drifts (found on the Tokyo Drift score soundtrack CD)
• The Crystal Method - Realizer
• N.E.R.D. - Rockstar (Jason Nevins Mix)
• Brian Tyler - Saucin' (found on the Tokyo Drift score soundtrack CD)
• Juelz Santana - "There It Go (The Whistle Song)"
• tobyMac - The Slam (song from the trailer)
• The Prodigy - You'll Be Under My Wheels (found on the CD "Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned")