Starring:
Lucas Black as Sean Boswell
Zachery Ty Bryan as Clay
Chris Astoyan as Racer
Nikki Griffin as Cindy
Lynda Boyd as Mrs. Boswell
Nathalie Kelley as Neela
Bow Wow as Twinkie
Leonardo Nam as Morimoto
Special Features:
Deleted Scenes
Tricked Out to Drift
Feature Commentary with Director Justin Lin
Drifting School
Cast Cam
The Big Breakdown: Han’s Last Ride
The Real Drift King
The Japanese Way
Don Omar “Conteo” Music Video
Other Info:
Widescreen (2.35:1)
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
French Language
French and Spanish Subtitles
Running Time: 1 Hour 45 Minutes
Synopsis:
The following is from the DVD cover:
“From the makers of “The Fast and the Furious” and “2 Fast 2 Furious” comes the highest-octane installment of the hit movie franchise built for speed! When convicted street racer Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) tries to start a new life on the other side of the world, his obsession with racing sets him on a collision course with the Japanese underworld. To survive, he will have to master drifting a new style of racing where tricked-out cars slide through hairpin turns, defying gravity and death for the ultimate road rush. With more mind-blowing stunts and heart-pounding racing sequences than ever, “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” puts you in the driver’s seat.”
“The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” is rated PG-13 for reckless and illegal behavior involving teens, violence, language and sexual content.
Mini-Review:
Let’s face it “The Fast and the Furious” isn’t about plot. It’s about fast cars, cool guys, and hot women. And the latest installment in the series, “Tokyo Drift,” delivers on all fronts. But fortunately, on the plot side, they break some new ground, too. Rather than rehashing the story of a cop infiltrating a car racing gang, they tell the story of a troubled teen being sent to Japan and falling into a new style of racing. It’s your classic tale of teen rebellion set against your classic culture clash story. The result isn’t going to win any Oscars, but it is entertaining.
Despite the beautiful women, the real highlight of the film is the stunt driving. In ‘drifting’, the car goes into a controlled skid around sharp turns. The result is a very exciting racing style that looks great on film. The racing scenes look quite unique and when Sean finally puts his drifting skills to work in a life or death pursuit, it makes the chase all the more entertaining.
As for the acting, the cast is more notable for their personalities than their acting skills. Lucas Black’s southern drawl worked great when he was a kid actor, but it doesn’t help cover up the fact that he’s a little wooden in this movie. Despite that, he’s still charming as the fish out of water. Bow Wow adds some comic relief as Twinkie, but little more.
Overall, “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” works well for what it aims to do. It’s a nice bit of dumb entertainment and a good excuse to put car chases up on the screen.
I was surprised to find out that there were a lot more bonus features than were listed on the DVD cover. You’ll find over 19 minutes of deleted scenes. A number of them feature Lucas Black dealing with life in Japan. There’s an alternate scene where Black meets his love interest at the subway station before their in-school encounter. (And I don’t know why, but I didn’t realize Twinkie’s car was Hulk themed until I saw the bonus features.) “Tricked Out to Drift” features the special cars for the film while “Drifting School” details the drift driving school held for the actors at a private race track. In “Cast Cam” an extra from the film was given a video camera and filmed the wild and crazy antics going on behind the scenes. “The Big Breakdown: Han’s Last Ride” features the big Tokyo chase scene. They talk about dressing up Los Angeles into Tokyo, the big car crashes, and more. Rounding things out is “The Real Drift King” which highlights a man who is known as the real Japanese Drift King. “The Japanese Way” shows what it was like filming in Tokyo including the locations, fashions, customs, and more. You’ll also find the Don Omar “Conteo” Music Video and a Feature Commentary with Director Justin Lin.
