whose credits include the smash hit Infernal Affairs trilogy and 1999's The Legend of Speed (directed by Lau), a previous street racing melodrama. The catchphrase for the movie is "It's not what you drive, but what drives you".Contents[hide]
1 Cast
2 Plot
3 Changes from previous versions
4 Release
5 External links
Cast
Major Characters
Jay Chou - Takumi Fujiwara
Anthony Wong - Bunta Fujiwara
Edison Chen - Ryosuke Takahashi
Anne Suzuki - Natsuki Mogi
Shawn Yue - Takeshi Nakazato
Chapman To - Itsuki Tachibana
Kenny Bee - Yuichi Tachibana
Jordan Chan - Kyouichi Sudou
Will Liu - Seiji Iwaki (Kyouichi's partner)
Minor Characters
Chie Tanaka - Miya (Gas station girl / Itsuki's love interest)
Tsuyoshi Abe - Kenji (One of the gasoline boys)
Kazuyuki Tsumura - Mr. X (Natsuki's "papa")
Plot
Taking place in the Gunma prefecture in Japan, the film concerns a young tofu-delivery driver named Takumi Fujiwara. He has incredible skill in taking on the hairpin curves of Mt. Akina (Mt. Haruna in real-life). The film chronicles his evolution from an uninterested delivery boy into a hardened touge racer.
Takumi drives his father's (Bunta) Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX (AE86). It is seemingly unmodified but is perfectly suited for the downhill corners of Mt. Akina and gains the attention of local street racers all across the prefecture. Some ultimately challenge Takumi to battles on Akina's downhill. Ryousuke Takahashi, a driver of the Mazda RX-7 (FC3S) helps out Takumi along the way by giving him advice. While following the path of a street racer, Takumi must deal with his alcoholic father and his girlfriend who secretly engages in compensated dating.
Changes from previous versions
The movie differs from the manga and anime in several distinct ways. Some changes are significant, while others are minor.
Movie
Anime/Manga/Games
Itsuki Tachibana is the spoiled brat and the son of Yuuichi Tachibana, the Gas Station manager. He is the de facto leader of the Akina Speed Stars.
Kouichiro Iketani is the leader of the Akina Speed Stars, while Itsuki Takeuchi (as he is named in the original series) is an employee like Takumi at the gas station, and is more of a comic relief.
Bunta Fujiwara is portrayed as an abusive, easily angered, alcoholic womanizer.
Bunta is portrayed as a wise and often secretive father, who nurtures Takumi's "gift" of touge racing. He likes to drink, but is not an alcoholic.
Team Emperor is portrayed as a Bōsōzoku gang.
Team Emperor is portrayed as a semi-professional street racing team.
Itsuki tells Takumi that Natsuki Mogi is cheating on him after noticing Mogi in another man's Mercedes-Benz driving out of a hotel. Takumi then sees Mogi in the Mercedes on the highway.
In the anime, an anonymous phone call following a number of anonymous notes informs Takumi that Natsuki Mogi is engaging in enjo kōsai. Takumi stakes out a family restaurant and sees Mogi entering the Mercedes together with a middle aged man. In the manga, Takumi sees the two come out of a love hotel parking lot.
Itsuki drives a Nissan Silvia K's (S13) which he crashes and later on he drives an AE86.
Itsuki mistakenly obtains a Toyota Corolla Levin SR (AE85), thinking it is a Toyota Corolla Levin (AE86), in contrast with Takumi's Trueno. Koichiro Iketani drives the Nissan Silvia K's (S13)
Takeshi Nakazato Drifts while racing in his GT-R
Takeshi Nakazato never drifts while racing in his GT-R.
Both Takumi Fujiwara and Ryosuke Takahashi use the gutter technique
Only Takumi Fujiwara and Bunta Fujiwara are ever seen using the gutter technique.
An intercom system is used during races to inform the racers
There are no communications between the teams and their racers during a race.
A car is seen in the last race coming up the mountain
There have been a few instances of cars coming up the mountain during a race (AE86 vs. SilEighty, for example).
The engine, carbon fiber hood, tachometer, and light weight headlamps are installed all at once
Each of the modifications are installed separately. First, the 200+ horsepower 4A-GEU engine, then the tachometer, and during the 4th stage, a carbon fiberhood and light weight headlamps are installed.
Seiji Iwaki's Evo IV & Kyouichi Sudou's Evo III involved in a car crash during the race.
Seiji Iwaki's Evo IV & Kyouichi Sudou's Evo III doesn't have a car crash during a race.
Bunta gave Takumi a cup of water to put it onto the cup holder in the AE86 the following day after Takumi breaks the tofu in the AE86's boot. Bunta warned Takumi that he'll be thrown/kicked out of his house for the night if Takumi were to spill even a single drop of it.
Bunta simply gave Takumi a cup of water right on his very first day of his tofu delivery, just telling him not to spill a single drop of it.
Release
Initial D was released on June 23, 2005 in several Asian markets including Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and mainland China, where it topped the box office in its first week. The film made its North American debut at The Imaginasian Theater in New York City. It went straight to DVD in Australia on October 21, 2005. It was also released in the United Kingdom on April 28, and the Philippines on July 12, 2006. Tai Seng Entertainment, the distributor of Initial D to the USA, released Initial D on Blu-ray on January 22, 2008. This is an exclusive release for the Blu-ray format.
Posts
