SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO
film review by Wmpyr
Let me start by saying there is a catchy theme song repeated throughout the film, which works because the music is good.
This film actually has some big names in it, Dolph Lundgren, Brandon Lee, Mr. Tagawa from Mortal Kombat (Shang Tsun) and Rising Sun, he does a good job as the Yakuza boss in this film and portrays a solid main villain, Tia Carrere, and Toshiro Obata from the Ninja Turtles movies. This film is basically about the Japanese Mafia, the Yakuza, and Obata does such a good job as the 2nd in command of the Yakuza boss, he really carries the film. Not to take anything away from Dolph and Brandon of course, because they are so charismatic. The film starts off with illegal gambling for underground fighting, and Dolph literally swings in like Tarzan, and takes out the two fighters in the ring by himself, what an entrance! This film has lots of fight scenes, you pretty much don't want to miss any of them because they are good, we have guns, knives, and various martial arts weapons, and just a whole ton of action at a pretty fast pace with crazy memorable scenes, so this film is a B-movie done right, even though its famous for some filming errors.
Out of Brandon Lee's films I'd have to say that The Crow is my favorite, Rapid Fire is a good one if you like martial arts action, and then this one is his 3rd best, meaning this is not a bad film at all if you like martial arts action flicks.
Scenes you don't want to miss:
Dolph jumps over a classic convertible heading right for him with a flying side kick, they used trick cinematography, and a launch pad but still it looks quite real and the idea is awesome it just puts a smile to my face. Another scene with Dolph when he takes out 5 guys without spilling a drop of tea in a zen like manner which goes with his character. We get to see some powerful looking karate moves from Dolph and one guy attacks him with a butterfly knife, in the same fight scene we are immediately introduced to Brandon Lee and have a very short dream match where Brandon fights Dolph. It's a very nice contrast to see the quick and agile fighting style of Brandon versus the big powerful style that Dolph brings.
Another memorable scene is when a Yakuza guy commits ritual suicide by snapping his own neck.
In a strange scene, the Yakuza leader, uses a Katana sword to decapitate a crack head while having sex with her in public. There is quite a bit of nudity in this film, topless girls sumo wrestling and eating sushi off of naked girls just to name a few. We also have a Yakuza finger removing scene done by none other than Simon Rhee from Best of the Best. The fight scene at the bath house is another show stealer, the main fight is with Dolph versus a Sumo Wrestler.
At about an hour into the film, Brandon has one of the most bizarre lines ever when he comments about the size of Dolph's junk.
There is a scene where Dolph and Brandon get tortured in a similar manner to the Lethal Weapon torture scene. Of course the heroes escape, and from there the heroes go into hiding and we get a small training scene with Dolph, and I'm glad they squeezed it in, because how could you not like training scenes in a martial arts flick. The Samurai outfit he wears is pretty silly but definitely something you don't see often! Fight scene between Brandon and Obata does not disappoint, to me it rivals the main fight in Rapid Fire. It's really no surprise considering the impressive martial arts background that Obata has. But then again there are many talented real martial artists in this film.
Last but not least the Japanese spoken by some of the people in this film was painful to listen to, I wish they didn't make those poor actors do that.
All in all I have to say that Showdown in Little Toyko is a successful execution!
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