Initial D

That's about it. The race scenes were shot pretty decently. They grip the viewers at the edge of their seat. The songs by Jay Chow are pretty good. The movie is funny. It was set and filmed in Japan, yet all the dialogue were in Cantonese. What else is there to say?

Jay Chow was pretty good for his first starring role. He gave a believable performance. Anthony Wong is his same reliable self and Chapman To again provides comic relieve (seems like he is typecast now).

The movie did not follow its inspiration, the manga. Even though Jay Chow's character is low-key and mild-mannered already, in the manga the character is even more mild-mannered and even less intense. In the manga, the dad seemed to be more responsible and nicer. That does not matter though, because the races are entertaining enough. That is one of two reason why people pack the theaters to see it. The other reason? Jay Chow. Do not underestimate his draw power. This guy is an idol in Asia. Whatever he do is gold.

This film is made for entertainment purposes. No depth. No plot. Just watch it and have a good time.

7/10, because it is entertaining. Take that out, a 4.

You know I'm a man and I like cars. There's nothing to be ashamed of there. I also liked The Fast and the Furious, it had some fun in there but it also had big, fast, shiny cars, and one like mine too. So when I heard that there was this movie (Initial D) about drift racing popular with Japanese teenagers and it had been adapted from the Manga story, I was interested, and courtesy of Moviesville, I got to see it.

Movie The movie itself is good, it's quite comic in places which could be traced back to its Manga origins, and unfortunately this takes away from the story because it does present itself as having a serious underside.

Something that surprised me about this movie is there isn't that much racing. For a film that is supposed to be about drift racing, there's not that much that goes on. However, the four or so races that do occur are superbly filmed and driven. Mixing unusual camera angles, some CGI, and smooth stunt driving, you end up with every race scene being exciting and visually rich.

The pace of the movie is quite back and forth. It's this feeling that there should be more racing, and yet we're taken through scenes that range from comic to romance. It's understandable considering the group that the movie is aiming towards, but you can't help but feel a little bit of growing up could have been applied to the story.

The romance thread is interesting, and brings a dimension to the character of Takumi. Not only does he awaken his racing spirit, but also other feelings as a teenager. However some of the scenes are a little long and can feel like they jar you out of the story. It's a shame because again, this movie is about racing. Ultimately though it's a good plot device and comes to a satisfying ending, comparable with his Fathers life and choices.

Some characters are not full explained, and although that can sometimes be a good thing, here it makes them feel as though they are only brought in as a distraction. The character of Takumi's friend is straight out of a comic, and nothing much appears to have been done to bring him into the world of the movie. Perhaps this was a deliberate move in order to retain the connection with the story's roots, but he just seems to get in the way of events.

Jay Chou playing the lead of Takumi, don't have that much to say, and although this reflects a troubled teenager, it does quickly get grating and you can understand why his Father wants to kick him into action!

Picture Presented: 2.35:1 The picture is very sharp and clear, this is particularly noticeable during the racing scenes which mainly occur at night. The CGI is seamed in very well and the picture remains strong even when the camera is locked to a crane sticking out from a speeding car! It looks like a lot of work has gone into making this DVD look good.

Audio Presented: DD5.1:EX \ DTS:ES During the racing the sounds are really good, you can hear the engines changing gears and over revving, and when the camera is near the car the LFE kicks in well. Good use is made of the DTS track during these races, and you feel immersed in the action.

Outside of the racing little is made of the DTS, but then the story doesn't really dictate it at these points. Use of the DTS would have felt forced and unnatural.

Extras Presented: Behind the Scenes, Character Bios, Making of Featurette, Deleted Scenes, Outtakes, TV Spot, Promotion in Shanghai, Promotion in Japan, Photo Gallery, Cast and Credits Unfortunately there were no English subtitle options with any of these extras, but I still watched them all! Mainly to see some behind the scenes of the racing moments, and to see more of the cars in action. They are there, you just have to watch rather than listen...unless of course you can speak Chinese.

Overall It's an okay movie, but where it excels are in the racing scenes, superb drift racing which has been filmed really well using some interesting techniques, camera angles and a little CGI. This makes for very impressive viewing and when combined with the powerful audio track it pulls you right into the race seat. Yet the rest of the story seems a little bit weak and could have done with more character development and less reference to its Manga roots. If you like cars and you like street racing, you'll enjoy this movie.

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.

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.

Takumi is a high schooler who often delivers his fathers tofu late at night. His late night trips have made him adept at the winding down hill run of Mt. Akina, which is a course used by the street racers of the area as the ultimate test of skill. When an unintentional race brings him to the notice of the racers, his life changes as he has to field numerous offers to actually see who is the best driver.

Based on a Japanese comic and cartoon, Initial D is a live action Chinese film thats broken box office records across Asia. Despite being a huge animation fan I've never seen the animation nor have a I read the comic. I'm not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing, but seeing how many fans of the source material are unhappy with the film I would say its a good thing.

Flat out I liked this movie. It did take a while to warm up to, but once I began to take it for what it is I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Is it a great film? In someways yes and in others no. As I said this takes a bit to get going. The lead is a bit too closed mouth for my taste, barely uttering a word for the entire two hours. Its a bit too teen angsty. Still you have great characters and great performances by pretty much everyone in the cast (even if everyone was speaking three or four different languages when this was filmed.

The racing is excellent. Its mostly seems to have been done with out CGI enhancement. I like that there are no horrific crashes, police chases or other clichéd events that are so rampant in American movies. And while I was initially apprehensive by the fact the racing is always on the same stretch of road, I warmed to the idea since by doing that we really got to see who was best. (If you want American style racing in many different environments stay away)

Definitely worth a look see, especially if you want to see a race film that is not like all of the rest. 7.5 out of 10 rounded up to 8 out of 10 for IMDb purposes.