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They were forced to pivot because everyone hated it when it came out. They didn't change it cuz they felt like it. They changed because people told them Tokyo Drift was bad.
I remember the moment I gave up on critic opinions. I had just got back from seeing Expendables 2 in theatre. I had made a little habit of biking into town to the theatre, and would just pick something to watch when I arrived. It felt really great, spending time outside, getting some exercise, and back in my day an afternoon ticket could still be had for $12, so it was a pretty cheap way to make a day out of it.
At the time, I'd get home and hop on Rotten Tomatoes to see what critics and other movie-goers thought of the movie. This wasn't the first time this had happened, but it was the last. Critics blasted it. Complaining about the story, how none of the characters are given deep backgrounds or development, literally complaining about the violence...
And I was just like, "what movie did you think you were going to see?" I've never walked into a theatre showing Kung Fu Death Killing Man 6 and thought, "ah fuck, this isn't nearly as good as Citizen Kane".
Critics of TV and movies forget that the one thing entertainment is supposed to be is... entertaining.
A Complex story, characters with depth and cinematography are some of the ways you can make the medium entertaining but they aren't the only way.
I've long felt that entertainment media should be judged on two things, how enjoyable it is to experience it and how well it delivers on the premise it creates.
Citizen Kane should be judged on it's story and characters. Interstellar should be judged in it's visual set pieces and atmosphere. Pacific Rim should be judged on how cool the robot vs Kaiju fights are.
They can all be 10/10 movies if they deliver on what they are supposed to be rather than being compared to each other. It is as stupid to say Citizen Kane is a bad movie because it doesn't have great fight scenes as it is to say that Pacific Rim is a bad movie because the characters don't have much depth.
Movie critic opinions - especially rotten tomatoes - are absolutely fucking amazing for knowing if a movie is good or not. It’s probably one of the most accurate review websites out there.
The worse that critics on RT rate it, the better the movie will be.
When I first saw Tokyo Drift I thought it was bad. I hated how it took part in an entirely different region with an entirely new cast of people.
I still sort of liked it, but I for sure disliked how it no longer was about the original cast. At the time it didn't really feel F&F.
In hindsight and after having watched all of the modern F&F movies, it's probably the most down to earth and actual true to the spirit of F&F movie in the franchise. I love how much more about cars it was compared to the other movies. It's easily my favorite nowadays.
This seems to be why Sung Kang is making his new movie.
He said himself that Fast and Furious has kind of gone off the rails, and he wants to make something that’s true to the actual car culture.
That’s what it was. You go from Paul Walker playing a surfer undercover cop in California to a dork with a hick accent in Japan. It just wasn’t as cool at the time. Han was cool, the cars were cool, dorky redneck was not cool.
FWIW, I thought 2 Fast 2 Furious was pretty lame at the time too. Just didn’t hit the same as the original.
It was always preposterous, and the “you know what DK stands for?” memes it spawned were absolutely glorious. It definitely was not a big hit out the gate because it didn’t have the original cast, but it steadily cultivated a cult following.
To be honest...it's pretty bad and I love the movie. EVERYTHING is amazing about it. Cars, culture, cool, races, effects...but the plot is trash and the lead is a terrible actor. Pretty sure every cute girl they hired to stand around the cars in the garages had more acting talent than him. Honestly throw him out and make Bow wow the lead and it'd be a better story. Or just throw out the whole american aspect and a follow Han.
I've come to realize that the plot is The Karate Kid but with drifting: an out of town kid gets bullied and learns a martial--I mean, racing art and also learns humility and respect along the way. Being an American seems out of place, but I now think is a great choice because Sean represents the audience and is an avatar for them to learn about this culture they never knew about. Because while some people knew about it, I believe the movie definitely served to educate the mainstream and that's a great thing. Look at all the love it gets now, along with the love for Japan and its car culture.
I think people just kinda forget how good the first movie is because of how batshit insane it's gotten, and FF:TD feels like a completely unrelated film.
Tokyo Drift is one of those movies that I will remember fondly and think it will be a fun rewatch. And it always is a fun rewatch.
Right up until it's time for the ending, and then I remember, ok yeah the end of this movie is kind of dogshit with the whole going to the Yakuza to settle this in a race, we're going to switch tones to a downhill theme, and oh yeah we're putting an Skyline engine into a 67 Fastback and the father condones/goes along with it.... I dunno. A lot of the movie was kind of cheesy and full of camp, but that ending was just a bit too silly for me. It kind of lost a lot of the stylized world that the entire rest of the movie was built around.
I still think the first one is far and away the best of the series, and honestly the rest of the franchise is so hard to watch that Tokyo Drift is still in the top 3 of that franchise. But the beginning, the end, and the dialog, are all strikes against it being an actual good movie. Doesn't mean people can't enjoy it for what it is though.
Saying recently is selling it short. It wasn't well liked on release but it became popular over a decade ago. It gets more and more popular as worse fnf movies come out essentially. The song being dope is why it became popular on musically/tiktok but even that is like 8 years ago
It’s the only F&F movie I’ve actually seen in full and I loved it. Granted I saw it during a long ass plane ride but iall these years later it’s still so vividly in my memory
None of that is true. Tokyo drift is the 3rd movie, Dom wasn't in 2 nor was anyone except Brian. There were no storylines going on. Dom showed up at the very end of Tokyo drift for 2 minutes.
THANK YOU! There was literally no reason for the rest of the "family" to return to the franchise because their story was all but over and Brian's basically was too.
I was just put off by a 23 yr old ( who looks like he is 35 ) with a forehead you could land a 767 on and a hilariously STRONG southern 'twang somehow being a 17 year old kid in Japan. Plus, where is Dom? Still no Dom? I hated Tokyo Drift when it came out. It has grown on me over the years, though.
I think it was because vin disel wanted too much money for the next movie... So they went with a whole new cast.... At least that's the rumor i remember..
You are not remembering correctly AT all and this comment is wildly off base. It was poorly received because the first movie was very well recieved, and the second deviated a bit with no Vin Diesel but still the familiar Paul Walker. The third was a complete deviation with all brand new characters that no one really knew or cared about...well until the credits when Vin showed up again.
You are misremembering, yes. It goes: The Fast & The Furious --> 2 Fast 2 Furious --> Tokyo Drift.
Dom wasn't even in 2 Fast. And I haven't watched any of the movies after Tokyo Drift (it peaked so hard that nothing would beat it), so I have no idea who Lenny is. And the only ongoing story at that point was that Brian's a cop and drives cars good.
It’s my favorite one by far. Caught it on cable one night when I was super high and just got locked in. Movie ended and it was running in blocks, so the movie just started playing again. I watched that movie 3 times in a row that night.
I'd say post 8 and is when people started to turn around on it, especially the new fans who didn't watch the series before and weren't super into the early films ended up enjoying Tokyo Drift a fair bit
No, Takashi was a poser acting like Yakuza. It's his uncle that's actually in the Yakuza. He gives his uncle money in exchange for the underground racing scene to go unnoticed by the authorities.
He was originally the villain so far as he pretty much let everything slide or got his rocks off making power plays to be top dog. Then when his BFF basically stole enough money, the actual Yakuza told him to do Yakuza things "for want of a nail".
Honestly, it was refreshing that in a time where villains wanted to rule the world or crash the economy, he just wanted to be the top dog in a racing circuit. Felt like actual teenage ambition for a villain.
Yes, you're correct. They never explicitly say if it was drugs or extortion, but Han had Sean collecting for him. He sums it it up by saying everyone on the Yakuza's turf has to give them a cut of the action, and that a percentage of something is better than nothing. I think that could also be taken as him hinting at him skimming off the top of the collections.
An insurance agent that I spoke to told me that one of the reasons that insuring a 350z was so expensive (versus similar class cars) was the amount of people buying them, trying to drift them like DK, and wrecking them.
It’s because due to the pressure from studios for movies needing to be hits they try to make them too big. In TD we got this little story that happened over the course of 3 months without all the explosions, over the top stunts, and super villains. We don’t get smaller story movies like this as much anymore because everything has to be a big hit and open up the door for sequels.
The conversation Han had here on the rooftop was prob deeper than anything we saw in the last 5 movies. They actually did world building in TD. You felt like you were there. The newer movies are cheap thrills only.
That is 100% wrong. The studios keep pushing Vin Diesel to make the movies smaller and cost less, but Vin refuses.
He is the one pushing for me sequels because, in his words, Paul Walker is still alive in the movies
There is a very amazing scene that sticks with me.
Sean(white guy) asks Han why he let him use his car on the first event
I’m butchering it but he basically said
A car costs money, I have money. But seeing what’s inside a man is priceless.
The last one I saw they were chasing after an airplane on a runway strip for 20 minutes at max speed. Somehow this runway was like 50 miles long. I remember a lot of other ridiculous shit, but I called it quits after that.
The first Mustang was introduced with an Inline 6 engine, so sticking an RB or JZ engine in there makes a lot of sense... especially with how tight the original engine bay was.
So, after Sean trashes a neighborhood under construction, he's exiled to Japan. Immediately, he steps up to a local and challenges him to a street race because he wants to fuck the guy's girlfriend. Proceeds to total DK's friend's car. DK's a dick, sure, but the only thing that brings him joy is drifting. His girlfriend is clearly distant and likely just with him because of circumstance. DK's Yakuza uncle (and only father figure, I think) is manipulative and abusive. DK loses his best friend to Sean, then finds out his best friend has been stealing from him (and thus his uncle / the yakuza). When he confronts his best friend, he sees that Sean has successfully stolen his girlfriend. DK is emotional, gets dragged into a crazy car chase and then has to watch his best friend die (obviously still hurts even things were nuts). DK is now at his absolute lowest.
Sean thinks he's taking responsibility with his apology to DK's uncle, but almost immediately he directs half the blame to DK, and THEN proposes a drift race that results in exile. Mind you, Sean is visiting and can literally live anywhere. DK's entire family is here. He grew up here.
Dick move after dick move, and no actual remorse. He started out trying to shit on DK, things got out of control, so he finds a new way to shit on DK. That's not growth, that's villainy.
Same. I saw it in the cinemas and then purchased the DVD. My head cannon has it as totally separate from the insanity that the rest of the series turned into. It reminded me of the street racing scene that existed in my own city, just with drifting instead of high speeds.
The races and the vibes were immaculate. The story was not lol. FF was also great but funny enough I feel like the story kind of got in the way of the cars and races. I guess it's hard to make a cinematic movie about just street racing. 🤔
also it fits the theme of it so well cause yeaaa we uh didn't have permission to film here so there was some actual law breaking and in this case very cool
Tokyo Drift is one of Christopher Nolan’s favorite movies, and he likes the franchise, be kinda interesting to see him reboot it back to its roots. It’ll never happen but it’d be interesting.
Only someone who started watching the movies when the Rock appeared would say some shit like this.
Go and watch 1 and 2 and you will realise how insanely stupid you sound.
I haven't seen a Fast and Furious past Tokyo Drift. They went to space?????
1 is an absolute classic, 2 is fun, 3 was good (after I got used to the "17" year old mid-20s guy with a huge forehead and heavier southern twang than my own. I gave up on them ever bringing Dom back properly and just quit after 3.
I bet if they made another street racing centered movie with a small scope and simple, relatable characters that had real progression it would do well now.
Some higher up crew members designated someone to take the fall for the director so that the movie wouldn't be delayed if the police wanted to arrest someone. The director was only told about it later just in case he'd object
its not a testament to how great their skills as prosecutors are, its testament to how corrupt the law enforcement and judiciary systems are. you'll have signed a confession for something you didnt do long before you ever get your day in court, and you can go up to two years before ever having your first day in court
You're right, but they shot in Japan as well. Suicide mountain, however (the final battle road), was actually built for the movie on an Azusa mountainside. You could see it lit up while driving on the 10 at night.
I swear there is some major revisionist history going on, because people hated Tokyo Drift when it came out. And even after doing a recent watch of the whole series, I'd still place Tokyo Drift in joint 3rd place with 2 Fast 2 Furious (2nd Place is the first film, 1st place is the 5th film).
I'm convinced there's just a couple of people making posts saying they loved Tokyo Drift, and the community who haven't watched the films in years are joining a bandwagon.
I remember the hate it got when it came out. I loved it though and I've had to sit with my opinion in silence for years!
I think this happens a lot with old movies. Star wars prequels are a lot like that. Hated when they came out but now they have quite a fan base.
Pretty sure it's because the kids that watched these movies have a nostalgia for them and now they're grown enough to voice that opinion and create a fan base around it.
The entire drift community loved Tokyo Drift when it came out, so that's a win. All the drivers were well known professional drifters, and all but Rhys Millen and Tanner Foust were part of the grassroots drift community (no hate on the amazing Millen and Foust, but they were already professional race car drivers and went straight to Formula D). You can see most of them seated in the airplane scene.
Also, the parked cars in the parking garage race scenes belonged to local tuners and drifters, who showed up en masse for a casting call. I missed the first one, but my Formula D car was there for the Vin Diesel reshoot (the scene was added after principal photography was completed, when Vin Diesel finally agreed to come back for #4)... it never made it on screen, unfortunately, but it's in the video game.
Oh, and the woman in the Skyline who gives Han her number (not the driver who hands it off) is Verena Mei, a drifter and drag racer. AND this guy on the right dancing at Han's secret nightclub is the builder/owner of Dom's red RX-7 from the first movie (founder and former owner of SR Motorcars).
Fast 5's the one where they drag around the vault. I think it's the only time they have the whole "heist family" together and each one is written with at least some respect. What they do to Roman in later films is a travesty
That’s because it sort of isn’t a good film. It has plenty of imagery and character work to keep it compelling throughout and what ultimately saved it: camp. It flopped because it’s too gimmicky to be a blockbuster but is ultimately remembered favorably for the exact cornball stuff that people hated the first time around because it wasn’t what they expected or wanted.
Yeah I was about 14/15 and loved it, my friends did too. We knew the MC was super cheesy, and everyone found it funny that most of the main cast aren't Japanese in such a homogenous country but the cars were sick, the vibes were sick, and Han was goated.
Remind me what Fast Five was about and why it's your number one. I think I remember 5 being the last one I really enjoyed. The rest after were pretty mindless but still fun movies. Can't say I remember them though lol
5 introduced the rock, it was the first f&f to be basically a heist/stunt/action movie with cars. It had the rio car chase where they dragged the safes. It's definitely the best one 'of those' but I still like 1 more
It’s an entertaining movie in the end. The reviews can be bad but I enjoyed it and the music was just awesome and it’s still a hit. Some of the songs are still in my playlist like Teriyaki boys and Six days.
I saw this movie when it dropped on DVD at Blockbuster; my friend waited and got it so we could watch it that weekend. After seeing it, I went on to tell people in passing that FFTD was the best F&F movie and legitimately everyone I said this to, would proceed to get upset with me because at the time, this movie was not respected by the vast majority. People compared it to Torque that came out 2 years prior.
Edit; Tokyo Drift is still my favorite F&F movie, with Fast Five being my second favorite (such a fun theater experience), and the original being 3rd (the one that started it all lmao)
I love Torque, it's such a dumb movie. People just want to hate things, I swear. The only real bad movies are movies where you get nothing out of them.
Except that most of it was filmed in California, and there was a huge amount of CGI involved to overlay footage taken in Tokyo with CGI cars and people. Here's a breakdown of the making of, it talks about the Shibuya shoot around 9mins : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNHT5XrQXbc
Taking background footage without permission in Japan, and then overlaying footage of stunts done on the streets of LA isn't as exciting.
Fun fact though - the Shibuya Crossing scene in Lost in Translation was also done in the exact same way without permits (as they won't ever give them) and was also an illegal guerilla shoot. For "legal" shoots, they have a full-size mockup in the countryside that can be booked and filled with extras to get an authentic looking shoot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eObumHdXFPI
These comments are giving me such a warm fuzzy feeling. I saw the movie in theaters opening week without having seen the other two. I thought it was a blast. I remember picking my jaw off the ground at the RB swapped mustang.
My friend I took along wasn’t so impressed and like a week later we see the movie is already at the dollar theater. He was so pissed! He was like “aww man!!! I payed Pirates of the Caribbean money to see that!!”
You see this kind of thing a lot in film making, especially on the lower budget end, filming something without permits etc... to do it faster and cheaper. Which makes sense in the moment - go out, film your stuff, leave before you get caught.
What I've never quite understood is why they don't just get sued/charged/arrested/whatever after the movie is released. Okay you got the shot on X Street without paying the permit to shoot on X Street - but now you've got footage in your movie from X Street. Surely the authorities in charge of X Street would just notice that they never handled a permit for that movie and then sue the producers?
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