The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
In which we meet: Shawn Boswell (Lucas Black), an American teenager who’s used up his last strike in America, so he’s sent to Japan to live with his Navy officer father. Shawn befriends Han (Sung Kang), a small-time criminal in Tokyo who ends up teaching Shawn the skill of drifting, a way to race by manoeuvring the tight corners in a major metropolis like Tokyo. Fun fact: Kang played a character named Han in Justin Lin’s previous film, Better Luck Tomorrow, and it’s strongly implied that the characters are one and the same.
What is “drifting?” According to the website, DriftWorks.com: “Drifting is a driving style in which the driver uses throttle, brakes, clutch, gear shifting and steering input to keep the car in a condition of oversteer while manoeuvring from turn to turn. Drifters emphasize car control by coordinating the amount of counter steer (or opposite lock) with the simultaneous modulation of the throttle and brakes to shift the weight balance of the car back and forth through the turns.”
The Plot: Shawn arrives in Tokyo and immediately makes an enemy of D.K. (Brian Tee) by striking up a conversation with Neela (Nathalie Kelley), D.K.’s girlfriend. Despite being an “outsider,” Shawn carves a place for himself with Han’s crew, but the growing tension between Han and D.K., whose Uncle Kamata is head of the Yakuza, puts Shawn in increasing danger until it’s revealed that Han’s been skimming from the Yakuza, making a little profit for himself on the side.
Signature Stunt: Comparatively simple as opposed to other stunts committed in the series, but a car chase sequence through the streets of one of the busiest cities of the world presents its own unique challenges. D.K. runs down Han through the busy downtown core of Tokyo through bumper-to-bumper traffic and pedestrian crossings filled with people.
“Who’s That?” Cameo: Famed Japanese actor and martial artist Sonny Chiba plays Kamata, the godfather of Tokyo. Tokyo Drift was Chiba’s second major American film appearance in three years after playing sword-maker Hanzō Hattori in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Volume 1.
In the end: Shawn defeats D.K. in a seminal race on the mountains outside Tokyo, and as per an agreement with Kamata, D.K. leaves Tokyo forever. Shawn, who is now the new Drift King, is invited to race a new driver who identifies himself as a friend of Han’s, Dominic Toretto.
Crazy chronology: Although Tokyo Drift is the third movie made in the Fast and Furious series, it’s actually the last in the story before Furious 7. The end of the second act in Tokyo Drift, where Han is killed in a car chase with D.K. after being hit by a second car, is also the post-credits scene in Fast & Furious 6, as we see the “accident” from the point of view of the grey car’s driver. Han, as it turns out, is killed to send a message…
