ebiros2 Based on a long running comic series by Shuuichi Shigeno, this all star cast Hong Kong movie puts on screen what's on the comic's volume 1-15 ( Part until Takumi joins Project D ).Takumi Fujiwara (Jay Chou) is a high school student who lives with his single father running a tofu shop. Inbetween his tofu deliveries, he frequents Mt. Akina that has winding roads to improve his driving skills. He gets involved with the street racers that frequents the area, and a battle ensues to prove who's the fastest one on the road. Takumi with his outstanding driving skills, bests other racers with better performing cars. Amongst the people who shows up was Ryosuke Takahashi (Edison Chen). Ryosuke takes notice of Takumi's talent, and takes interest in him. Takumi's girlfriend Natsuki (Ann Suzuki) is chummy with Takumi, but she also has other things going on with older men. Takumi goes head to head with Keiichi Sudo (Jordan Chan) to prove who's the fastest man on the road.The same staff from Medea Asia that's created the "Infernal Affair" series made this movie. The movie was shot on location in Japan around Yahikoiwamuro highway in Niigata Prefecture, and Shibukawa city in Gunma prefecture. The production quality is high despite the difficulty of bringing the location to Japan. Mt. Akina is a fictitious mountain that's modeled after Mt. Haruna in Gunma prefecture.One of the center piece of the action is the Sprinter Trueno AE86 that Takumi drives. Despite its diminutive size, it succeeds in out performing cars that are designed for racing performances. Trueno is is a sister model of Corolla Levin, and shares the same frame, and the engine. It's a performance version of the standard Sprinter model with a twin cam 4A-GEU engine. In the '80s Japan, 4A-GEU souped up to 450 horse power was sold by custom shops. Used on AE86 that weighs less than a ton, the combination made the car into a deadly rocket that can go head to head with lesser powered cars like the GT-R. So a car to car battle like the one seen in this movie was entirely "Possible". The original comic states that the story is occurring sometime in the '90s time frame, and the cars appearing in this movie also reflects this fact.I wonder if China these days are following the Hollywood style casting that casts compatible astrological sun sign actors in the leading role. This method seems to ensure good chemistry between male and the female lead. In this movie, three earth sign actors plays the lead (Ann Suzuki - Taurus, Anthony Wong - Virgo, and Jay Chou - Capricorn). The movie has a world of its own that's completely different from the TV anime series, and in some ways more exciting due to the interaction between the stars, and the actual driving that takes place on the road. It's an excellently made movie that combines best of what Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan has to offer. I only wish that Edison Chen would return to Hong Kong cinema. He was very good in this movie. A very enjoyable movie that takes you into the world of street racing culture of Japan.

Angelus2 This is based on the Manga comic book...I am a comic book fan but Manga is something I haven't quite become interested in, yet...I hope to read some very soon...Anyway..Takumi is a normal boy who one day accompanies his racer friend to a race...Takumi's friend loses horribly...Later that night, Takumi grabs his own car and beats the guy who beat his friend....Suddenly all the top racers want a piece of the ordinary boy who delivers tofu...I like the story...But I don't know how much is true to the comic...There was some humorous scenes that had me in stitches...But overall the film failed to excite me...The race scenes weren't very good..considering the quality of Hollywood race movies...(This is coming from someone who watches 'World Cinema' avidly)...I understand the need for the camera style and shots...and that they tried to bring a comic bookish style to the film but it just frustrated me...I kept thinking the DVD was freezing in places...LOL...I didn't see the need for Shawn Yue's character or Edison Chan's...The lead actor fails to show that burning passion that makes a driver ride fast and drift....

shinchrono Before I begin, I must note that I am an enormous fan of the Anime and Manga series that this movie was based on, with it influencing much of my adolescent life (and purchase of an FD RX-7, for better or for worse...).And unexpectedly, like most fans of the series I was horrified by the many changes made by the movie adaptation, not limited to the re-characterization of Bunta, the complete omission of Keisuke and his FD, and the squashing together of many important plot points in the Manga (although this was expected, of course).However, upon another recent viewing of the movie I realized that the changes made result in a strong reinterpretation of the series, rather than a faithful adaptation. Some changes are certainly questionable (Itsuki as the son comes to mind) but the removal of characters (Iketani, Keisuke, etc.) ensures that an uninitiated viewer wouldn't be overwhelmed or confused by some unnecessary characters.Most important, however, is that by placing emphasis on the parallels between the lives Bunta and Takumi, the movie has given Initial D a dramatic edge that may have been diluted in the long-running manga. Without revealing too much, it suffices to say that the movie becomes a story of a Takumi realizing that the things he loves may not be able to co-exist, and whether he likes it or not he'll have to make the same choice his father made so many years ago. While the conflict within Takumi's mind is hardly made complex (Jay Chou's stone-faced acting hardly helps), I'm glad the movie unfolds the way it does. Many fans were upset that the inclusion of the final scene was placed so far ahead of where it belongs in the original story, but in retrospect, it belongs exactly where it should.Of course, the movie is hardly perfect, and here are some of my biggest gripes as a hardcore Initial D fan:-The music has its nice moments but the soundtrack as a whole should have been played up more and given more consideration, as that is arguably one of the strongest aspects of the Anime. -Not enough emphasis was placed on giving the viewer a sense of the skill involved in Takumi's drifting style. From small things such as showing how close his car gets to the guardrail to simply showing the camera facing inward (toward the front of the car/guardrail) rather than the direction the car is traveling would have added a great deal to the races. -Too many quick pauses and strange, amateurish slow motion cuts. -The CG events, while rare, are horribly unconvincing.All in all, the movie is certainly worth a watch. While it isn't incredible, nor will it win over any die-hard fans, the way the plot has been crafted lends itself to a very entertaining and worthwhile movie without all of the ridiculous pretentiousness of the Fast and the Furious series.

theredcomet2000 Overall, I'll have to say right off the bat that as a fan of the original anime I found it somewhat amusing.There are a few things that the movie does right. The camera angles and the overall feel of the movie was spot-on to the original source material. A particular highlight was the "zoom-in-on-the-eyes" of the loser in one particular race. This was exactly like the anime, and was a great touch.People might slam Jay Chou, but I thought he did a good job in this. It's rather hard to screw up a character who is generally bored and half-asleep (as he is portrayed in the anime).There are a lot of small changes here and there, such as Bunta being a drunkard for comedy relief, and the complete lack of Keisuke (his character was combined with Nakazato). Or the fact that the anime Nakazato drove the 4WD GT-R model of Skyline, and did not drift. I won't touch on these in detail, as they didn't really bother me that much.However, the biggest element lacking in this is the music! Inital D fans know that Initial D is known for it's high energy dance-style J-pop music. Considering there are at least 10 Initial D soundtrack CD's out in Japan, I can't believe they didn't realize how popular the music is.The music in the film is best described as "Chinese rap/R&B" I guess, which really hurt the feel of the movie in my opinion.As synonymous the anime is with the music, I can't help but think what it would be without it. We'd be left with scenes of car racing with cheesy dialog, intertwined with brief romance scenes. Which now that I think of it, pretty much sums up this film.If they were to make an Initial D anime series with music similar to this movie's soundtrack, I wonder if I would like it as much.I just might feel the same way about it as I do this movie, in that it's a nice reminiscent film somewhat faithful to the original, but nothing to get really excited about.If you're not a fan of Inital D or of import racing, there's not much for you here.