A thirdFast & Furious film was confirmed in June 2005, when Lin was selected as director. Morgan was hired after anopen call soon after, thus marking the first film in the franchise's longtime association with Lin, Morgan, actorSung Kang, and composerBrian Tyler.[8][9]Principal photography began in August 2005 and lasted until that November, with filming locations includingLos Angeles and Tokyo, makingTokyo Drift the first film in the franchise to feature an international filming location.
The film premiered atGibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles on June 4, 2006, and was released in the United States on June 16, byUniversal 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.[10][11] The film's storylines are continued inFurious 7, released in 2015, andF9, released in 2021.
InOro Valley, Arizona, high school troublemaker Sean Boswell races classmate Clay in their respective cars, a1971 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, aU.S. Navylieutenant stationed inTokyo, to avoid jail time, as he is a repeat offender. He also befriendsmilitary brat Twinkie, who introduces him todrift racing. Driving to an undergroundcar meet in Twinkie's 2005Hulk-themedVolkswagen Touran, Sean gets into a confrontation with Takashi, the "Drift King" (DK), over Takashi's girlfriend Neela. Sean agrees to race Takashi'sNissan 350Z in aNissan Silvia S15 lent to him by retired drift racerHan 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 theyakuza. Sean masters the art, practicing in a 2003Mitsubishi 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 1994Mazda RX-7 Veilside isT-boned by a 1992Mercedes-Benz W140[a] 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 1967Ford 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 whenDominic Toretto arrives in a 1970Plymouth Road Runner to challenge Sean to a race. Sean is initially hesitant, but accepts after Dom proclaims Han was family.
Han Lue went on to make a brief appearance inFast & Furious before returning as a main character inFast Five,Fast & Furious 6,F9 andFast X. Sean Boswell, Twinkie and Earl also returned to the series inF9. During the events ofF9, Boswell, Twinkie and Earl had left Japan and were involved in rocket development in Germany.[12] How they came from their circumstances of the Japanese drift scene to their work in the military industry is not explained in the series.[13] They are shown testing rockets by attaching them to the top of motor vehicles,[14] which came to use inF9.
"After I'd seenBetter Luck Tomorrow, I knew Justin was a director I wanted to do business with. He was the first we approached, and he loved the idea of filming it. This movie needed enthusiasm, and he was the director to do it."
By 2005,Paul Walker, who playedBrian O'Conner in the first two installments, no longer showed interest in the franchise, citing "politics, studio stuff and regime decision".[17] Vin Diesel, who didn't appear already in the second movie and at the time was busy with thexXx andThe Chronicles of Riddick franchises, also turned down the role, leading the film being ordered as a new stand-alone reboot.[18]
Neal H. Moritz, who had produced the two previous installments, began working on the film in 2005. In June 2005, Moritz hiredJustin Lin to direct it.[8] Lin, who wasn't intimately familiar withdrifting at the time, recalled, "I was in film school whenThe 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 energy—create a whole new chapter and up the ante by bringing something new to the table for the audience who loves action and speed."[15] 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."[19] 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."[19]
It was impossible to get the necessary filming permits in Tokyo, so they went ahead without permission. According to Lin, "I wanted to shoot inShibuya, 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.[20]
Following respectabletest screenings ofThe Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Universal still felt it needed a starcameo appearance;Vin Diesel agreed to reprise his role as Dominic Toretto for a brief cameo, in exchange for Universal's ownership to rights of theRiddick character, in lieu of financial payment.[21][9][22]
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.[23]
Races and stunts were coordinated byTerry J. Leonard, who also served as second unit director. The film used almost 250 vehicles, cutting up 25 and destroying more than 80.[24]
TheNissan Silvia which Sean trashes in his first race in Japan is depicted as having anRB26DETTengine swap which itself is donated to theFord Mustang. However, the car in the movie was actually powered by the Silvia's originalengine.[25] TheVeilside body-kittedMazda RX-7, (dubbed "Fortune"), driven by Han was originally built by Veilside for the 2005Tokyo Auto Salon, but was later bought by Universal and repainted from dark red, to orange and black, for use in the movie.[26] The car in which Dominic appears in at the end of the film is a highly customized 1970Plymouth Road Runner, which was built for theSEMA Show.[27]
SCC magazine tested the cars of the film, and noted that the cars inTokyo Drift were slightly faster in an acceleration match up with the cars from2 Fast 2 Furious.[28]
Notabledrifting personalitiesKeiichi Tsuchiya (who also made an uncredited cameo in the film),Rhys Millen, andSamuel Hübinette were consulted and employed by the movie to provide and execute the drifting and driving stunts in the film.[29]Nobushige Kumakubo,Kazuhiro Tanaka,Tanner Foust, Rich Rutherford, Calvin Wan and Alex Pfeiffer were also brought in as none of Universal's own stunt drivers could drift.[30] Some racing events were filmed within theHawthorne Mall parking lot in Los Angeles, as filming in Tokyo required permits the studio was unable to obtain.[31] They instead used street lights and multiple props to help recreate Tokyo.
Toshi Hayama was also brought in to keep elements of the film portrayed correctly, who was contacted byRoger Fan, an old high school friend who starred in Lin'sBetter Luck Tomorrow. Hayama ensured certain references were deployed correctly, such as the use ofnitrous oxide in straights but not in turns, and keeping the use of references to sponsors to a minimum. One of Kamata's henchmen hasmissing fingers, a punishment typically deployed by theyakuza. He had to have the missing fingers digitally added in to appease cultural concerns.[30]
Tokyo Drift brought in over $23 million on its opening weekend, placing at #3 behindCars ($33.7 million) andNacho Libre ($28.3 million).[32][33][34] The film itself was in limited release in Japan (released under the nameWild Speed 3). The US box office was $62,514,415, and it grossed another $96,450,195 internationally, resulting in total receipts of $158,964,610.[7] According to opening weekend polling by Universal the audience was 58% male and 60% under 25.[34]
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift gained a 38% approval rating onRotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 141 critics; the average rating is 5/10. The site's consensus reads: "Eye-popping driving sequences coupled with a limp story and flat performances make thisDrift a disappointing follow-up to previousFast and Furious installments."[35] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100 based on reviews from 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[36][37] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film a grade A− on a scale of A to F.[38][34]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times praised the film, giving it three out of four stars, saying that directorJustin Lin "takes an established franchise and makes it surprisingly fresh and intriguing", adding thatTokyo Drift is "more observant than we expect" and that "the story [is] about something more than fast cars".[39]Michael Sragow ofThe Baltimore Sun felt that "the opening half-hour may prove to be a disreputable classic of pedal-to-the-metal filmmaking" and "the last downhill race is a doozy."[40] Kirk Honeycutt ofThe Hollywood Reporter said that "it's not much of a movie, but a hell of a ride".[41] Todd McCarthy ofVariety gave the film a positive review and praised the "good, old-fashioned genre filmmaking done in a no-nonsense, unpretentious style", adding it "stays in high gear most of the way with several exhilarating racing sequences, and benefits greatly from the evocative Japanese setting". McCarthy particularly praised the work of stunt coordinatorTerry Leonard.[42]
Michael Medved gaveTokyo Drift one and a half stars out of four, saying: "There's no discernible plot, or emotion, or humor, but the final race is well-staged and nicely shot... The main achievement of this vapid time-waster involves its promotion of new appreciation for the first two movies in the series."[43]James Berardinelli wrote: "When it comes to eye candy, the film is on solid ground—it offers plenty of babes and cars (with the latter being more lovingly photographed than the former). However, it is unacceptable that the movie's action scenes (races and chases) are boring and incoherent. If the movie can't deliver on its most important asset, what's the point?"[44]Richard Roeper strongly criticized the film, saying, "The whole thing is preposterous. The acting is so awful, some of the worst performances I've seen in a long, long time."[45] Ethan Alter ofPremiere magazine was particularly critical of Black's character: "during the course of this movie, Sean makes so many dumb decisions it's a wonder that anyone wants to be associated with him."[46]Peter Travers ofRolling Stone said thatTokyo Drift "suffers from blurred vision, motor drag and a plot that's running on fumes. Look out for a star cameo—it's the only surprise you'll get from this heap."[47]Mick LaSalle of theSan Francisco Chronicle thought "It quickly tanks, thanks to a lead character with no goals, focus, appeal or intelligence and a lead actor who's just a little too convincing at playing a dunce", adding: "As for the racing scenes, who cares about the finesse move of drifting, compared to going fast? And who wants to watch guys race in a parking lot?"[48] Matt Singer ofVillage Voice called it "a subculture in search of a compelling story line, and Black's leaden performance makes you pine for the days of Paul Walker."[49]
Rob Cohen, who directed thefirst film of the series, was very critical of this film, saying: "If you were to just watchTokyo Drift, you'd say 'I never want to see anything related toFast & Furious again.'"[50][51]
It has become a favorite with car enthusiasts, seen as the film in the series most specifically dealing withcar culture and focusing on cars themselves.[59][60][61] Critics and fans have come to appreciateTokyo Drift for introducing Sung Kang and Justin Lin to the franchise, and enjoyed the simple story, stylish direction, and that the film never takes itself too seriously. As the film series became more elaborate and incorporated less realistic storylines includingheists andspying, the relative simplicity ofTokyo Drift has become more appreciated by critics.[56][62][63]Tokyo Drift has been described as "the movie that kept the series alive" since "Vin Diesel abandoned his other projects, and came back—with Lin at the helm".[64]
In a 2020 interview,Christopher Nolan said that although the first film was his favorite, he had a "soft spot" forTokyo Drift.[65][66]
Tokyo Drift was mostly ignored in later films up until the direct sequelFurious 7, while the characterHan Lue originally appeared as a short cameo from directorJustin Lin'sBetter Luck Tomorrow. After Han's apparent death inTokyo Drift, his character wasretconned into Dominic Toretto's crew for three subsequent sequels:Fast & Furious,Fast Five, andFast & Furious 6, which are set before the events of Tokyo Drift.
Han's death was revisited inFast & Furious 6, revealing that his fatal crash was intentional. InFurious 7, it was also revealed thatDeckard Shaw, seeking revenge for his brother Owen Shaw, was driving the Mercedes Benz thatT-boned Han. As Deckard's redemption arc gained attention, fans rallied for Han's return to the series with the hashtag #JusticeForHan.[68]
InF9, Han's "death" was revealed to have been an illusion, staged to keep him under the radar for the events that would unfold inFast X.
^abcJosh Friedman (June 19, 2006)."'Cars' Still Outpacing Competitors".Los Angeles Times."Our movie has no stars -- the cars are the stars." She also pointed to the movie's rating of A-minus in audience surveys by CinemaScore.
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