Is there a more anticipated Hong Kong film in 2005 than Initial D? Ages in the making, this manga-to-screen adaptation is a hype juggernaut that virtually guarantees overblown expectations from a paying audience. Not only is it based on a beloved anime/manga series with fans all over the globe, but it's also the starring film debut of superstar singer Jay Chou, and it's directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, two guys who made some dinky film series called Infernal Affairs. And besides, it arrives in the midst of Hong Kong's worst year for cinema, both in number of releases and actual film quality. Given the above, Initial D is more than a movie, it's a potential savior. If you're crossing your fingers, you're not alone.
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Jay Chou is Takumi Fujiwara, a high school student in Japan whose days are spent working at a gas station and mumbling in a dopey manner. He also quietly lusts after supreme jailbait classmate Natsuki (Anne Suzuki), and hangs with blowhard pal Itsuki (Chapman To, playing 15 years younger than his actual age). Takumi doesn't look like a special guy, but he does have a hidden talent: street racing, and not just any street racing. Takumi uses an old Toyota Trueno AE86 and clocks insane times on the Mt. Akina downhill, all by applying the technique of 'drifting,' i.e. skidding around corners without losing much speed in the process (NOTE: This is a layman's explanation. We apologize in advance to drifting masters everywhere.). However, Takumi does not own the mountain with his racing prowess; instead, he uses his insane drifting skills to get home as soon as possible after delivering tofu for his dad Bunta (Anthony Wong). If Takumi smokes anyone on the way home, it's just a coincidence.
That exact coincidence leads to the eventual outing of Mt. Akina's hidden racing god. Takeshi Nakazato (Shawn Yue), leader of the Night Kids racing team, shows up at Takumi's workplace looking to take on the 'Akina Racing God,' but unfortunately Itsuki claims the title, and subsequently gets embarrassed on Mt. Akina's slopes. But after Nakazato gets creamed by a returning-from-delivery Takumi, he re-ups his challenge at the gas station..except nobody seems to know who beat Nakazato. Takumi's too busy acting morose and fantasizing about a potential beach date with Natsuki to take up the challenge. But Yuuichi (Kenny Bee), Itsuki's dad and Takumi's boss at the gas station, knows that it was Takumi behind the wheel, and pressures Bunta into getting his son to race. Bunta offers to lend Takumi the car for his date, as long as Takumi beats Nakazato in his first 'official' street race. Presto, an illegal racing god is born, which leads to new challengers, including Ryosuke Takahashi (Edison Chen), the leader of the Red Suns racing team, and Kyoichi Sudo (Jordan Chan), an actual racing professional who takes on Takumi to avenge a buddy. Meanwhile, Takumi ponders his future in a quiet, morose manner, and the audience waits for the next CG-assisted car race.
The appeal of the Initial D manga/anime isn't hard to figure out. The copious car detail is cool to amateur car tuners and enthusiasts, but the story itself has a killer concept. Takumi's status as an accidental racing god is an exceptionally cool hook, and creator Shuichi Shigeno's initial stories of how Takumi discovers his own racing prowess - and how he soundly beats all the serious racers in the vicinity - makes for fun and exhilarating storytelling for anyone who likes an underdog story. Takumi is an accidental genius: a racing god created by years of incidental practice, and the filmmakers of the live-action Initial D movie wisely spend plenty of time detailing Takumi's entertaining origins. Screenwriter Felix Chong (also of Infernal Affairs) gives us plenty of buildup, establishing all the hows and whys before Takumi ever begins racing. The effect is two-fold: not only does the buildup add extra oomph to Takumi's ultimate mastery of the downhill, but it also creates the semblance of actual storytelling. And as anyone who's seen a bunch of Hong Kong movies will tell you, actual storytelling is pretty damn rare.
Joe Odagiri and Yukie Nakama in the Live Action Shinobi: Heart Under the Blade Movie. Shochiku 'Shinobi' is an adaptation of the anime 'Basilisk,' which features flashy, outlandish ninja action and a Romeo and Juliet plot. The movie deviates from the original story in many critical ways, especially at the end, and is best seen as a showcase for. Home » 2005, Action, Crime, Drama » Initial D (2005) BRRip 700MB Cimplex Initial D (2005) BRRip 700MB Cimplex. Cimplex.tk Free Download Movie and Subtitle.
Initial D is a very faithful adaptation of the original source material, which is great because it retains the original material's inherent strengths, while hopefully pleasing core fans. Unfortunately, the weaknesses of the original manga get ported over too. Despite the cool origins for Takumi, he's not a very compelling character, and his taciturn ways are as frustrating as they are supposedly cool. Jay Chou handles the part decently, especially since it's a thankless role that only requires an actor to act dopey, mopey, and borderline comatose for a good portion of the film. Chou can handle dopey, mopey, and comatose well, and the limitations of the part even help disguise Chou's stilted Cantonese. What Chou doesn't seem to be able to convey is the character's anger, though the filmmakers don't spend much time there either. Other than the more obvious emoting (Chapman To overacts amusingly, but it's still overacting), the characters are upstaged by the stylish direction from Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, which bleeds MTV-type sensibilities. If the filmmakers need an emotion, they rarely turn to the actors, and instead pour on the camera tricks and obvious music. It's all very cool and even edgy, but there isn't a lot of meat behind the freeze-frames, stutter-shots, and montages set to even more Jay Chou music. This is entertaining, but empty stuff.
Also problematic is the actual racing in Initial D, which is known for being incredibly cerebral, i.e. it involves more than one guy just being faster than another. In the manga/anime, actual understanding of the races is gleamed via running commentary, voice-over, and explanations by racing experts who are smoking about 30 miles from where the race is actually taking place. Such storytelling can stretch a 10 minute race out for 2-3 anime episodes, or even a whole volume of manga. The filmmakers excise much of this, which is great for the film's pacing and visuals, but it also diminishes some of the actual impact of the races. In the film, the clever tricks that Takumi sometimes uses to win are made secondary to the simple fact that he's supposed to win, which doesn't prove as compelling as what occurs in the manga/anime.
Granted, this is a media difference; manga and anime have the luxury of time to tell their stories, while a live-action movie has to come in under 2 hours. This is actually a problem shared by most racing movies, as the big things that decide races - split-second decisions, detailed strategy, and technical car stuff that Average Joe Moviegoer would never understand - largely get ignored in favor of blaring music, quick cars, and actors grinning like idiots. Initial D manages to squeeze in some of the cerebral stuff next to shots of cars whizzing by, but even then the result is only perfunctory in its excitement. The races in Initial D aren't truly exhilarating, though your mileage could vary. If shots of cars drifting around corners gets you off, than Initial D is for you. Guaranteed.
The faithful approach taken by the filmmakers eventually takes its toll, too. After a period of time, the film seems less concerned with telling a good story than clicking off some imaginary checklist of what happened in the manga. This is especially true with the character of Natsuki, whose story is truncated in a disturbingly arbitrary manner. Anne Suzuki gives Natsuki a youthful charm, but her character is ultimately hung out to dry, a fact that's only okay because it happened in the anime and manga, too. Again, that's cool for fans, but the layman unfamiliar with the complete story arcs to these characters could find Initial D to be a cold experience.
However, the film has other positives which help out. The cast largely works; Anthony Wong and Kenny Bee are charismatic old pros who bring plenty of fun to their parts, though Wong's take on Bunta Fujiwara errs a bit on the cartoony side. Third-billed Edison Chen is barely developed, which is a shame as his character is integral to the manga and anime. Still, Chen brings some charisma to his role, while Shawn Yue and Jordan Chan do more with their slight screentime than most actors probably could. Chapman To does the impossible: he makes you believe that he's playing a high school kid. And the production is exceptionally impressive. For big-budget summer fare, Initial D fits the bill quite nicely. It doesn't challenge or truly involve, but it's 110 minutes of easily digestible youth drama and slick racing fun. Undemanding audiences - and even those with some inkling of quality cinema - will likely be pleased.
Still, Initial D is so loaded with expectations that it could still disappoint a great many. Despite the big-budget flash, the film doesn't amaze and astound - and those expecting big things from Messrs. Lau and Mak are sure to be unhappy, because Initial D does nothing to approach the watershed in Hong Kong commercial cinema that was the Infernal Affairs films. If anything, Initial D is closer to The Storm Riders (a well-mounted commercial spectacle) than Infernal Affairs (a brilliantly conceived and challenging commercial film). It's not even Kung Fu Hustle, as that film managed to surprise and even charm between egregious displays of its big budget muscles. Initial D possesses neither charm nor surprise, though it does manage to be better constructed than 90% of what comes out of Hong Kong these days. And its subject matter and cast will probably not draw older viewers, meaning Initial D might not destroy the bank like some people might expect it to. So, it may not be a savior. But for an engaging, entertaining time at the movies, Initial D meets expectations..provided you didn't set yours way too high. (Kozo 2005)
Yes, I still believe that both the Initial D manga and anime suck. The characters are so goddamn ugly (all the artist can draw is cars), and the races in the anime look so plastic and shitty in the cheap CG style that they're animated in. But the live action Initial D movie is something else.. It's actually fun to watch and not painful to look at. You have to hand it to those crazy Chinese -- they sure know how to spice up shitty Japanese fare.
Not that the live action Initial D is the next Schindler's List or anything -- far from it. The acting is either waaaaay over the top or a little too under performed, and the plot is predictable and a little repetitive.. But it's got some of the coolest filmed races ever. Seriously, neither the anime nor the manga come close to showing you how sweet drift racing [down a twisty-turny, narrow, mountain road] can be. The way directors Andrew Lau and Alan Mak(who gave us the uber-edgy Infernal Affairs) capture the heat of the meet and the sense of tense in the air as it whips around the drivers is a sight to see. The races actually FEEL fast and dangerous. Unlike shitty American car flicks like The Fast and the Furiously Gay, and Gone Limp in 60 Seconds, Initial D actually has fairly long takes of the vehicles shooting down the mountain. See, in most American movies the directors think that the only way to show you how *wham bam* FAST a car is is to never use a cut more than .65 seconds long. Show the driver's intense concentration! -Cut- Show a tire spinning! -Cut- Show the car on the road! -Cut-.. Wait, was that car moving or filmed in a soundstage? What? What a fucking cheap piece of shit trick! Initial D though takes the path less traveled that another recent (well, fairly recent in geological terms) movie did with its car race/chase scenes: Ronin. You fucking FELT the desperation and the danger in that movie, and you feel it in the D too.. Christ, can I make that any more clear? Longer camera takes during racing scenes equals more interesting, less shitty, movie. Time to move on.
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Takumi is a teenager without any drive (that pun will be apparent soon). He has the hots for Natsuki, but she's a whore. Literally, she sells her skanky ass for cash. She is a prostitute, a callgirl, a streetwalker, Rooooooooxanne. Takumi also has some really stupid and annoying buddies (made even more stupid and annoying by the way that the characters' parts are OVER-overacted by their 'thinks its funny to overact' Chinese actors. They are wrong; it is most definitely NOT funny and just eye-rollingly gay). Takumi works for his dad's tofu delivery service, and although he doesn't have a driver's license he makes all the late night deliveries for his dad to the town on the other side of Mt. Akina. In fact, Takumi has been making this delivery run since he was like 13 years old. Bad parenting to be sure, but it makes for an interesting racing story.
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Anyway, so Takumi knows every single curve, twist, and turn on the downhill course of the mountain, and even in his Toyota AE86 (pretty much a piece of shit to be sure, but his father [an ex racer himself] specced out the engine something fierce and keeps good care of the thing) Takumi can utterly destroy any drift racer who wants a challenge on the notoriously dangerous mountain road.. And for some reason pretty much every drift racer in Japan comes knocking on Takumi's door by the time the credits roll.
What is 'drift racing' you ask? Well, it's a kick ass style of racing around sharp turns that involves swinging the rear tires around behind you while you hug the shit out of the road with the front.. At least I think it is. I've personally never tried it, but it looks pretty swanky on screen. It's fast, it's furious, and it can be really fucking intense when two racers are skidding around corners right above a cliff on a road that can barely hold two Mini Coopers at once. And if filmed by any American (as the upcoming, bound-to-be-shitty Fast and the Furious sequel based around Japanese drifting will be [hmmmm, wonder where they got THAT idea?.]) you just know that all the life and excitement in the flick would have been sucked out and replaced with gay one liners and shitty special effects. Not that Initial D doesn't use any CGI, it's just that it actually took me some time to figure out what was real and what was computer generated.. And most of it is real. Real mountain, real cars, real drivers, real excitement. Fuck you, Hollywood. Lazy mother fuckers.. 'Hey, George, I know we can easily film this action scene with real cars and real actors for a fraction of the cost of a CGI scene, but if we use computers we can make it look really shiny and fake and gay! I say we use the Silicon Graphics!' I'm flicking you off, Hollywood retards, harder than I've ever done it before.
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Like I said earlier, the racing's pretty cool in this movie, but the movie as a whole has some major problems. Takumi was the only character I really cared about. Underneath it all his dad was just an abusive, alcoholic asshole. Takumi's friends are all morons, and the other racers that come to challenge Takumi (once word gets out about his drifting skills) are all 2 dimensional stereotypes of thugs and societal rejects. I actually wanted them all to die horrible, crash and burned deaths. Takumi's friends too. But the races were pretty cool. I wanted Takumi to open up his eyes and see that the girl of his dreams was a slut to put Warren Beatty to shame. I wanted her to get the AIDs and die while Tak just stood at the foot of her hospital bed and threw used condoms at her and then invited all his friends to come in and perform bukkake over her skanky, dying body. But the races were sweet. I wanted Takumi's alky dad to have one Jack Daniels too many and choke to death on his own vomit while Tak slowly smothered him with a pillow.. But the races were --.. Well, you get the idea.
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The only other thing that really annoyed me about the movie was that they only raced down the same damn mountain in every competition. Every race, every single race was down the same slope. We fucking KNOW that Takumi's a bad ass on this road, so why not challenge him on a different hill? Why the fuck didn't his challengers even come up with this idea? It's like half a dozen full races in this flick and they're all down Mt. Akina. That's like having a porn movie with only one couple and all they do is missionary.. Fuck that! I need cowgirl, doggy-style, blumpkin, rear admiral, donkey punch and at least one Bismarck. One fucking mountain road in an entire racing movie.. Lame.
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So, what did I think of the live action Initial D? I find that I have to give it a B-. Infinitely better than the original manga and anime. Other than that though it could have been a lot more exciting with more tracks and less retardation from the supporting cast. God Takumi's best friend was a douche bag..
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