Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Mark L. Lester

Writers (WGA):

Stephen Glantz (written by) &
Caliope Brattlestreet (written by)

Release Date:

23 August 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

One's a warrior. One's a wise guy. They're two L.A. cops going after a gang of drug lords. Feet first.

Plot:

For 400 years, Japan has been home to a secret criminal organization dedicated to its own supremacy in the underworld...

Plot Keywords:

Yakuza | Little Tokyo | Violence | Drugs | Hot Tub

Cast

Dolph Lundgren	...	Sgt. Chris Kenner
Brandon Lee	...	Johnny Murata
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa	...	Funekei Yoshida
Tia Carrere	...	Minako Okeya
Toshirô Obata	...	Sato (also as Toshishiro Obata)
Philip Tan	...	Tanaka
Rodney Kageyama	...	Eddie
Ernie Lively	...	Detective Nelson
Renee Allman	...	Angel Mueller (as Renee Griffin)
Reid Asato	...	Muto
Takayo Fischer	...	Mama Yamaguchi
Simon Rhee	...	Ito
Vernee Watson-Johnson	...	Nonnie Russell - Coroner
Lenny Imamura	...	Kickboxer #1
Roger Yuan	...	Kickboxer #2

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | West Germany:18 (video premiere) (cut) | Germany:18 (re-rating) (JK/SPIO) | Finland:K-18 | Iceland:16 | Australia:R | France:-12 (video premiere) | Netherlands:12 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:(Banned) | UK:18 | USA:R | New Zealand:R18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Little Tokyo Productions

Trivia:

All of the swords used in the film were replicas, with the exception of the one used by Dolph Lundgren's character when he slices through bundles of bamboo: this was an authentic samurai sword.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Yoshida is pinned to the firework wheel and it begins to spin, he is defying gravity by keeping his legs and lower body against the wheel when upside down; it's obvious that his entire body has been bound to the wheel.

Quotes:

Minako: This is a nice place.
Chris Kenner: I built it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Hollywood Stuntmakers: Fantastic Fights" (1991)

Soundtrack:

Round and Round

Cult classic starring Dolph and Brandon

Macho B-movie madness at its sublime best, this crazy action quickie is about as braindead as you can get: wooden acting, a terrible story and a script that truly sucks. But with all the mindless violence on offer who really cares. Gun battles, martial arts, Samurai sword slashing and gory deaths are the order of the day, not to mention plenty of beautiful ladies treated like playthings and shedding clothes at every opportunity. Despite the tits and guns, there is some kind of story: Kenner (Lundgren) is on a mission of vengeance. His parents were killed when he was ickle by crazy Yakuza thug Yoshida (Tagawa), an ice-cool super-villain now specialising in drug dealing and generally looking mean. Kenner, adept in the Samurai ways, grows to be a law-abiding copper who's now right on his tail. Male bonding ensues when policeman Johnny Murata (Lee, in his US debut), a hip-talking dude with street credentials, is assigned as Kenner's partner in crime, and all hell simply breaks loose. You could say that there's an artistic angle to all this fighting, shooting and banging, but then that would be a lie - Showdown in Little Tokyo is a classic in a completely different sense of the word.