The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift


The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is a 2006 American action film directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan. It is a standalone sequel to The Fast and the Furious and 2 Fast 2 Furious, and the third installment in the Fast & Furious franchise. Within the story's continuity, the film is set between Fast & Furious 6 and Furious 7. It stars Lucas Black and Bow Wow. In the film, car enthusiast Sean Boswell is sent to live in Tokyo with his estranged father and finds solace exploring the city's drifting community.
A third Fast & Furious film was confirmed in June 2005, when Lin was selected as director. Morgan was hired after an open call soon after, thus marking the first film in the franchise's longtime association with Lin, Morgan, actor Sung Kang, and composer Brian Tyler. Principal photography began in August 2005 and lasted until that November, with filming locations including Los Angeles and Tokyo, making Tokyo Drift the first film in the franchise to feature an international filming location.
The film premiered at Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles on June 4, 2006, and was released in the United States on June 16, by Universal Pictures. It grossed $159 million worldwide, making it the lowest-grossing film in the franchise. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its driving sequences but criticism for its screenplay and acting performances. In subsequent years, Tokyo Drift has garnered a more favorable view, with some commentators considering it one of the best of the franchise. The film's storylines are continued in Furious 7, released in 2015, and F9, released in 2021.

Plot

In Oro Valley, Arizona, high school troublemaker Sean Boswell races classmate Clay in their respective cars, a 1971 Chevy Monte Carlo and a 2003 Dodge Viper SRT-10, where they end up ramming each other with Clay crashing his Viper into a cylinder pipe and Sean winning the race and wrecking his Monte Carlo. While Clay's family wealth helps him escape punishment, Sean is sent to live with his father, a U.S. Navy lieutenant stationed in Tokyo, to avoid jail time, as he is a repeat offender. He also befriends military brat Twinkie, who introduces him to drift racing. Driving to an underground car meet in Twinkie's 2005 Hulk-themed Volkswagen Touran, Sean gets into a confrontation with Takashi, the "Drift King", over Takashi's girlfriend Neela. Sean agrees to race Takashi's Nissan 350Z in a Nissan Silvia S15 lent to him by retired drift racer Han Lue, only to lose and severely damage the Silvia due to his unfamiliarity with drifting.
To repay the debt, Sean agrees to work for Han. Han begins teaching drifting to Sean, whom he mentions as the only person ever to stand up to Takashi, due to his uncle, Kamata, being a member of the yakuza. Sean masters the art, practicing in a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII, and gains further respect after defeating Takashi's lieutenant, Morimoto. Han and Sean become friends.
Sean eventually asks Neela out on a date; Neela explains that after her mother died, she moved in with Takashi's grandmother. An irate Takashi assaults Sean the next day, telling him to stay away from Neela. Neela leaves Takashi and moves in with Sean and Han.
After Kamata reprimands Takashi for allowing Han to steal from him, Takashi and Morimoto confront Han, Sean, and Neela, who flee after Twinkie creates a distraction. Takashi and Morimoto pursue the trio, with Morimoto crashing and dying, and Han buying Sean and Neela time to escape. The chase ends when Sean and Neela's Evo crashes, while Han's 1994 Mazda RX-7 Veilside is T-boned by a 1992 Mercedes-Benz W140 and then explodes, supposedly killing Han. Takashi later draws a gun on Sean, but his father draws on Takashi; the standoff ends when Neela agrees to leave with Takashi. Sean and his father make amends, while Twinkie gives money to Sean to compensate Kamata for the stolen funds. Sean delivers the cash to Kamata and challenges Takashi to a drift, with the loser leaving Tokyo. Kamata agrees, with Takashi's condition they downhill-drift a mountain pass that only he has descended successfully. Sean and Han's crew restore a 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback that Sean's father recovered and tune it to drift specifications, making use of the engine and other components from the wrecked S15.
On the mountain, Takashi initially leads, but Sean's practice and training allow him to catch up. Desperate, Takashi rams Sean repeatedly. On one of these attempts, Sean slows dramatically, causing Takashi to miss and crash off a cliff, narrowly missing Sean as he reached the finish line. Kamata honors his word, and Sean, dubbed the new Drift King, remains in Tokyo. Neela, Twinkie, and Sean, now driving an Nissan Silvia S15 Spec-R, enjoy themselves at a car meet when Dominic Toretto arrives in a 1970 Plymouth Road Runner to challenge Sean to a race. Sean is initially hesitant, but accepts after Dom proclaims Han was family.

Cast

  • Lucas Black as Sean Boswell: A young man interested in street racing.
  • Bow Wow as "Twinkie": Sean's first friend he meets in Tokyo, who sells various consumer goods and introduces Sean to drift racing.
  • Sung Kang as Han Lue: DK's business partner and old friend of Dominic Toretto, who befriends Sean and teaches him how to drift.
  • Brian Tee as Takashi: Sean's enemy who is acknowledged as the best drift racer and given the title "Drift King", or simply "D.K.".
  • Nathalie Kelley as Neela Ezar: Takashi's girlfriend who later falls for Sean.
  • Sonny Chiba as Kamata: Takashi's uncle who is the head of the yakuza.
  • Leonardo Nam as Morimoto: Takashi's right-hand man.
  • Brian Goodman as Lieutenant Boswell: Sean's father.
  • Zachery Ty Bryan as Clay: The quarterback of Sean's school whom Sean races at the beginning of the film.
  • Lynda Boyd as Ms. Boswell: Sean's mother who is fed up with moving them around and sends him to Tokyo, Japan to live with his father.
  • Jason Tobin as Earl: One of Han's friends who specializes in tuning the cars, along with Reiko.
  • Keiko Kitagawa as Reiko: Earl's friend and fellow tuner.
  • Nikki Griffin as Cindy: Clay's girlfriend, who suggests that Clay and Sean race to win her.
  • Satoshi Tsumabuki as Exceedingly Handsome Guy: Who starts the first race between Sean and Takashi
  • Keiichi Tsuchiya as an elderly fisherman
  • Kazutoshi Wadakura as an elderly fisherman
  • Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto

    Character development after the events of ''Tokyo Drift''

Han Lue went on to make a brief appearance in Fast & Furious before returning as a main character in Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, F9 and Fast X. Sean Boswell, Twinkie and Earl also returned to the series in F9. During the events of F9, Boswell, Twinkie and Earl had left Japan and were involved in rocket development in Germany. How they came from their circumstances of the Japanese drift scene to their work in the military industry is not explained in the series. They are shown testing rockets by attaching them to the top of motor vehicles, which came to use in F9.

Production

Development

Writer Chris Morgan was a fan of the Fast & Furious series, and the producers had an open writing call for the third film. Morgan originally pitched Dominic Toretto in Tokyo, learning to drift and solving a murder, but Universal Pictures wanted a high school-themed story.
By 2005, Paul Walker, who played Brian O'Conner in the first two installments, no longer showed interest in the franchise, citing "politics, studio stuff and regime decision". Vin Diesel, who didn't appear already in the second movie and at the time was busy with the xXx and The Chronicles of Riddick franchises, also turned down the role, leading the film being ordered as a new stand-alone reboot.
Neal H. Moritz, who had produced the two previous installments, began working on the film in 2005. In June 2005, Moritz hired Justin Lin to direct it. Lin, who wasn't intimately familiar with drifting at the time, recalled, "I was in film school when The Fast and the Furious came out, and I saw it along with a sold-out crowd who just ate it up. What really excited me about directing this film was the chance to harness that energycreate a whole new chapter and up the ante by bringing something new to the table for the audience who loves action and speed." Lin was not enthusiastic at first and was unimpressed by earlier drafts of the script, saying, "I think it's offensive and dated, and I don't have any intention of doing it." The producers allowed him to develop the film in his own way, although it was a constant challenge and he was always battling Universal to make the film better, but Lin said that "to their credit, they were very fair and reasonable."
It was impossible to get the necessary filming permits in Tokyo, so they went ahead without permission. According to Lin, "I wanted to shoot in Shibuya, which is the most crowded place in Tokyo. The cops, they're all so polite, so it takes ten minutes for them to come over and kick you out." Unknown to Lin, the studio had hired a fall guy, who stepped in when the police came to arrest him, and said he was the director and spent the night in jail instead.
Following respectable test screenings of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Universal still felt it needed a star cameo appearance; Vin Diesel agreed to reprise his role as Dominic Toretto for a brief cameo, in exchange for Universal's ownership to rights of the Riddick character, in lieu of financial payment.
The series itself, being in a stage where most of the main cast were not involved, was in a precarious state where the movie may have actually been released straight to video, however it was in the end decided to release it to cinemas.