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By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
The Fast and The Furious was an immediate hit when it drove into theaters, and suddenly Vin Diesel was a star. Sci-fi fans knew he was incredible in Pitch Black, but that could never compare to the mainstream success he found alongside Paul Walker. Then 2 Fast 2 Furious happened without Diesel, and then fans were up in arms when the third film, Tokyo Drift had no Walker and no Diesel. Removed from the crushing wave of disappointment in 2006, Tokyo Drift is now one of the better-regarded movies in the franchise, helped, of course, by the choice to make Han (Sung Kang) one of the most important characters in the series.
Tokyo Drift Is Unlike Anything Else
The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift starts off with Lucas Black as the world’s oldest high school student, Sean, racing against Home Improvement star Zachary Ty Bryan, getting in trouble, and being sent to live with his military dad in Tokyo. Dropped into a culture he can’t understand, Sean at least knows cars, and finds his way into the city’s underground racing scene. The problem is that instead of living life a quarter mile at a time, the Japanese style focuses on drifting, oversteering into corners but remaining in complete control. It’s also, as audiences discovered, one of the coolest-looking driving techniques.
Han and another American student, Twinkie (Bow Wow) take Sean under their wing and teach him all about Japanese car culture. Along the way, he wins over Neela (Nathalie Kelley) and becomes the mortal enemy to her boyfriend, Takashi (Chicago Med’s Brian Tee), ending up in a “loser leaves town” race after Han’s tragic death (which is later retconned, and then retconned a second time). Tokyo Drift lacks the wild stunts and insane plot of later Fast and Furious films, but it puts the focus on what brought people to the series in the first place: street racing.
Tokyo Drift turns drifting into a cinematic experience, and the one time Neela is shown behind the wheel of her car, it’s a gorgeous sequence of multiple cars moving in time like a choreographed dance at 60 miles per hour. These aren’t the muscle cars of the first two films, instead, it’s a lineup of Nissan, Mitsubishi, and Mazda modified cars. Everything about Tokyo Drift, including the soundtrack featuring the Teriyaki Boyz is different from every other entry in the long-running franchise.
From Most Hated To One Of The Most Beloved
That’s likely why the movie has aged so well. In 2006, it made only $159 million, falling just short of double the production budget, which would, in normal times, make it a success. Back then, the lack of Diesel and Walker made it dead on arrival to the fans of the first two films. Vin Diesel’s cameo at the end though, gave fans hope for the future and helped re-establish Fast and Furious with the fourth movie, marketed as “New Movie. Original Parts.”
The fate of the franchise is up in the air following the lackluster reception to Fast X and the cliffhanger ending. At least fans were able to see Sean and Twinkie again in F9as they launched Tyrese and Ludacris into space.
Today, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is one of the top five streaming movies on Peacock. Proving that no matter how a movie is received when it hits theaters, good films eventually get the recognition they deserve.
