10 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching Tokyo Drift 18 Years After Fast & Furious’ First Spinoff Movie

Summary

• Lucas Black was 24 at the time, making Sean Boswell’s high school student persona hard to believe.
• Sean made plenty of questionable decisions throughout Tokyo Drift, showcasing his reckless behavior.
• The product placement in Tokyo Drift was excessive, with various brands appearing throughout the film.

Looking back 18 years after The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift was released, audiences still talk about and enjoy the action-packed film, although upon rewatching, some harsh realities must be faced. As the first spin-off and standalone sequel in the Fast & Furious franchise, there was a lot to love about Tokyo Drift, but there were just as many issues. As the story of high school troublemaker and car fanatic Sean Boswell (Lucas Black), who was sent to Tokyo to avoid jail time for car racing, Tokyo Drift had plenty of absurdities that revealed themselves upon a rewatch.

With lots of older actors being cast as teenagers and a massive amount of reckless drag racing, Tokyo Drift was the kind of movie that to be fully enjoyed required viewers to set their logic aside and just enjoy the ride. Looking back on Tokyo Drift there were frustrating storylines, infuriating character decisions, and developments that negatively impacted future entries in the series. While there were lots of harsh realities on display when rewatching, Tokyo Drift still remained one of the most enjoyable movies in the entire Fast & Furious franchise.

10 Sean Boswell Was No High School Student

Sean’s actor Lucas Black was 24 years old at the time

Lucas Black, the actor who played Sean, was 24 years old when
Tokyo Drift
was released.

When rewatching The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, the entire premise fell apart when noticing that there was just no way Sean Boswell was believable as a 17-year-old high school student. Lucas Black, the actor who played Sean, was 24 years old when Tokyo Drift was released, and it felt strange to watch a clearly adult man being treated like a wayward child by the police and his mother. To avoid jail time, Sean was sent to live in Tokyo with his father, but it was hard to shake the feeling that he should have just lived independently.

Watching Sean dress up in his high school uniform and try to start anew at a Japanese school looked unusual when this actor would be better cast as the teacher instead. While many movies cast older actors to play teenagers, Black looked like a fully grown man, and it was hard to accept him as a troubled teen. Sean’s young age may explain away some of his more questionable and immature actions in Tokyo Drift, but the actor’s clear maturity signaled he should have known better.

9 Dad’s Rules Were Pretty Reasonable

Lieutenant Boswell just wanted what was best for his son

After Sean Boswell and his classmate Clay got into a race and wrecked their respective 1971 Chevy Monte Carlo and 2003 SRT-10 Dodge Viper cars, Sean was sent to Japan to live with his father. Sean’s dad was a U.S. Navy lieutenant stationed in Tokyo, and considering his military history, he acted pretty reasonably toward Sean after he arrived. While Sean acted like a moody teenager, Lieutenant Boswell had just two rules: Go to school and not be seen anywhere near a car.

Considering all the trouble Sean had gotten into, these rules were to be expected, but Sean just rolled his eyes at his father, and after five minutes, viewers saw him riding in a car with his new friend Twinkie. After almost going to jail, it was frustrating to see that Sean immediately disregarded his dad’s rules and quickly set himself up to get in trouble again. Having moved to Japan due to his reckless actions, it was shocking to see that he did not even wait to get over his jetlag before recklessly driving once again.

8 The 2000s Fashion Made Tokyo Drift Look Painfully Dated

The outfits and style in Tokyo Drift immediately reveal the era it was made in

The Fast & Furious franchise has been around since the first movie was released in 2001, and while it may feel like many of the films repeat one another, there was one thing that separated them all, and that was fashion. Upon watching Tokyo Drift, it’s easy to recognize that this was a movie released in 2006 simply by the accessories, outfits, and style of its characters. While Tokyo Drift was trying to showcase what was cool and modern at the time of its release, when watching today it all looked painfully dated.

The girls in Tokyo Drift wore miniskirts and sported old-fashioned flip phones, while the guys wore oversized baggy clothing, with Twinkie consistently showing off his love for Michael Jordan gear. Sean was less guilty of wearing painfully dated fashion as he mostly sported a plain T-shirt, but he was consistently surrounded by people whose look screamed 2006. While the outdated fashion in Tokyo Drift was part of its charm on rewatch, it’s funny to notice how much style has changed since then.

7 Sean’s Makes Plenty Of Dumb Decisions

Sean seemed committed to causing problems for himself

One of the first things to notice when rewatching The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift was that Sean Boswell made plenty of really dumb decisions. From the opening scene where he wrecked his car to the final drag race at the end of the movie, Sean seemed determined to make every ill-advised, short-term thinking, or ridiculous decision he could come up with. As a character who’s chasing trouble, it was no surprise that people in Sean’s life were getting pretty fed up with him, and maybe he would have been off after a brief stint in jail.

The recklessness of Sean’s decision-making process was proved to be fully negligent when he endangered his life and those around him by drag racing against D.K. before he even fully knew what drag racing was. Adding to this, Sean had no issue getting in over his head with the Yakuza as he sought to resolve his conflict with D.K. Almost every action that Sean took throughout Tokyo Drift defied all logic, and although this was needed to push the story forward, he was a pretty stupid protagonist overall.

6 Tokyo Drift Was Full Of Product Placement

Twinkie was major source of product placement

When product placement was done well in a movie, audiences don’t even notice it, but its subconscious effects can be powerful. However, this was not the case for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, as, upon rewatching, it’s clear that every opportunity to advertise all kinds of products was utilized. While advertising car brands was nothing new to the Fast & Furious franchise, Tokyo Drift took it to entirely new levels with all sorts of other products.

If a viewer stopped to pay attention, they’d be shocked to notice just how many random products appeared throughout Tokyo Drift. There’s a bottle of Tabasco flying through the air in Sean’s first car crash scene, Twinkie brings Snickers chocolate bars to a party, and that’s not to mention how much the then cutting-edge musical accessory of an iPod was featured throughout. Twinkie’s side hustle selling consumer goods throughout Tokyo also acted as an easy way to push products of all kinds into any scene the filmmakers desired, and this was painfully obvious upon a second viewing.

5 Sean And Neela’s Romance Was Underdeveloped

More time should have been given to believe Sean and Neela’s love story

From his very first day at his new Japanese high school, Sean Boswell had a thing for fellow student and drag racing enthusiast classmate Neela, as their burgeoning romance was hinted at throughout The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. However, Neela was already seeing Takashi, Sean’s enemy, who was also known as D.K., whose nickname was short for “drift king.” Sean and Neela’s interest in one another was a major source of conflict in Tokyo Drift, as the two started spending time with one another, which drove Takashi crazy.

While Sean and Neela’s relationship was central to the story of Tokyo Drift, it also felt a little underdeveloped and one-dimensional. Sean and Neela had a few flirty interactions and bonded with each other over both being considered “gaijin”, a derogatory term for foreigners in Japan. After Sean won the final race against Takashi, it seemed he also won the heart of Neela. Upon rewatching Tokyo Drift, this felt a little bit too fast, and not enough time and attention were given to truly believe Sean and Neela were a couple with real chemistry.

4 Han Lue’s Death Was A Grave Mistake

As Tokyo Drift’s breakout character, Han Lue’s death was later retconned

One of the central characters in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift was Han Lue, D.K.’s business partner, who lent Sean his car for his very first drag race. Sean and Han quickly developed a friendship, and he helped initiate him into the world of underground drag racing and made him feel like he was welcome and belonged in Japan. As one of the most interesting characters in Tokyo Drift, it was a shock when Han appeared to tragically die in a car wreck after getting into an epic car chase against D.K.

When rewatching Tokyo Drift, it’s easy to see that Han’s death was a mistake and should not have been included in the film. As a former business partner and old friend of Dominic Toretto, Han was the main thing connecting Tokyo Drift to the rest of the Fast & Furious franchise, and he reappeared in later movies that were set before the events of Tokyo Drift. The true magnitude of the mistake that was killing Han became clear when his death was retconned in F9, and it was revealed that Mr. Nobody helped Han fake his death.

The character of Han Lue first appeared outside of the
Fast & Furious
franchise as a character in
Tokyo Drift
director Justin Lin’s older movie,
Better Luck Tomorrow,
from 2002.

3 This Was Where The Franchise Peaked

Fast & Furious never took another risk as big as Tokyo Drift

While it may be a controversial opinion, when rewatching The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, it became clear that this was a high point for the franchise. Having already created a compelling world inhabited by characters like Brian O’Connor and Dominic Toretto, Tokyo Drift went in a new direction with a standalone sequel that proved the franchise had the potential to expand into a vast and sprawling universe. This felt like a creative high point for the series, and it injected new life into the action-packed franchise while remaining grounded and car focused.

Tokyo Drift
was the franchise at its peak, and newer entries could learn a lot by looking back on what worked about it.

However, following Tokyo Drift, the Fast & Furious franchise took fewer risks and instead focused on already established characters as the stakes got higher with each installment and storylines became increasingly ridiculous. Tokyo Drift was truly trying something new and, although it wasn’t very well received at the time, this was the reason it remained one of the most memorable entries in the entire series. Tokyo Drift was the franchise at its peak, and newer entries could learn a lot by looking back on what worked about it.

2 The Death Count Should Have Been Massive

If the drift race scenes were real there would have been a lot of fatalities

The Fast & Furious franchise has always been a bit ridiculous, but the drag racing element introduced in Tokyo Drift should have led to many more dead bodies. From Sean’s first drag race in an enclosed parking lot to driving at such a high speed that the cops did not even bother to chase them, the fact that there was not a fatality every two minutes in Tokyo Drift was a miracle. Almost every character in Tokyo Drift showed a complete disregard for their safety, and it was surprising so many were left alive by the time the credits rolled.

The biggest offender for this reckless endangerment came during the drag race scene with Sean, Han, and D.K., as several cars drove directly into a huge crowd of people at high speed. If this race in Tokyo Drift had really occurred, the death count would have been in the hundreds, as there was not enough time for the people to get out of the way. However, thanks to movie logic, no civilians were hurt as a result of the races, and a worldwide newsworthy tragedy was avoided.

1 Dominic Toretto’s Cameo Felt Shoehorned In

Vin Diesel showed up for just one minute in Tokyo Drift

The final scene of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift introduced a familiar face as Vin Diesel’s character, Dominic Toretto, was revealed to be an old friend of Han Lue who wanted to challenge Sean to a friendly race. Toretto’s brief cameo was presented as an epic moment that linked the entire Fast & Furious franchise and opened the door to Tokyo Drift characters appearing in subsequent movies. While this was an exciting development, upon rewatching, it’s hard to shake the feeling that Toretto’s appearance felt slightly shoehorned in.

The harsh reality was that very little build-up was provided for Toretto showing up, and the scene felt like the filmmakers had one day to quickly film with Diesel to ensure his appearance in the film. Toretto had just four lines in the movie that confirmed his connection with Han and set up his appearances in later entries, although Han’s presumed death meant that Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Fast & Furious 6 were all prequels. Toretto was only in the final minute of Tokyo Drift and could have used a little more screen time to be truly effective.