6. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

Release Date: June 16, 2006
Starring: Lucas Black, Bow Wow, Nathalie Kelley, Brian Tee, Sung Kang.
Director: Justin Lin (Fast & Furious 3-6)

Many haven’t seen Tokyo Drift—mostly because the only appearance by an original cast member is a cameo at the end. Those who have seen it generally don’t harbor much affection and while rumors of its badness have been greatly exaggerated, Tokyo Drift is undeniably the weakest film in the franchise. Lucas Black (currently in NCIS: New Orleans) does his best “cocky white boy in over his head” act as teenager Sean, but he’s no Paul Walker. Nathalie Kelley is by far the most wooden romantic lead of the entire series and the movie is probably the worst offender when it comes to objectifying women. Sean’s first and final races are essentially about him trying to win a girl from his opponent and the starting flag for the first is a girl taking off her bra under her shirt and then throwing it in the air.

Despite all that, Tokyo Drift is a watershed installment in the franchise. This is Justin Lin’s first foray into the world of street racing and it’s easy to see why he’s directed every movie through the sixth. The look is dark and slick and Lin is smart enough to use CGI sparingly in the action sequences. Watching a car drift up the curved section of a parking structure is still one of the best moments of the franchise and he only got better from there.

The other reason that Tokyo Drift is so important is that, technically, the action of 4, 5 AND 6 all take place before it. Sung Kang’s Han is the best character in the movie by a (quarter) mile and SPOILER while he dies in a car crash about 3/4 of the way through, he appeared in every movie after that as part of Dom’s (Vin Diesel) team. His character made vague references to Tokyo in the other films and SPOILER AGAIN the franchise finally caught up to his death during the mid-credits sequence in Fast & Furious 6. Judging by that sequence, his death will partially drive the plot of Furious Seven and I can’t wait to see how the movie explains how Lucas Black’s character–in his first appearance since Tokyo Drift–goes from a teenager to his 30’s out of nowhere.

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