Showdown In Little Tokyo Legacy Of Rage

Showdown in Little Tokyo is a 1991 American buddy cop action film directed by Mark L. Lester, and starring Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee in his first American film role. It follows a police officer and a martial artist attempting to save a woman from a drug dealer. The film was released in the United States on August 23, 1991, and was a box-office bomb. It has gained a cult following among action fans, especially for the chemistry between Lundgren and Lee.[2][3] Plot Los Angeles cop Chris Kenner (Dolph Lundgren) is an American who was raised in Japan. He is given a new partner, Johnny Murata (Brandon Lee), an American of partial Japanese descent. Kenner does not appreciate American culture, while Johnny does not like Japanese culture much. One thing they both enjoy are the martial arts, in which they are both experts. The two are assigned to L.A.'s Little Tokyo, where they break up some criminal activity in a Japanese restaurant, and an arrest is made. While Kenner and Johnny are questioning the suspect, Kenner notices that he has tattoos of the Iron Claw yakuza clan. This reminds him of when he was 9 years old and he witnessed his parents being killed by a member of the yakuza. Before Kenner or Murata can interrogate the suspect further, he kills himself in the interrogation room by breaking his own neck. The leader of the Iron Claw clan, Yoshida (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), kills the owner of a popular downtown nightclub, the Bonsai Club, by crushing the owner, Tanaka (Philip Tan), in a car compactor. To celebrate gaining ownership of the Bonsai Club, Yoshida throws a party at his house with all of the club staff. Yoshida discovers that one of the girls at the party, Angel (Renee Griffin), had warned Tanaka about Yoshida behind his back. Yoshida summons Angel to his office to question her about her loyalty, where she attempts to appease him by offering her body to him, but Yoshida instead drugs Angel and strips off her clothes before beheading her. When the coroner runs an analysis on Angel's body, it is revealed that the methamphetamines in her system would have led to her death anyway. This discovery of drugs, together with the suspect having yakuza tattoos, prompts Kenner and Johnny to go to the Bonsai Club in search of information. There they meet Angel's close friend, lounge singer Minako Okeya (Tia Carrere). Whilst talking with Minako, Kenner and Johnny are ambushed and taken to see the nightclub's owner and Kenner recognizes Yoshida as the man who killed his parents. Yoshida is now a drug manufacturer using a local brewery as his distribution center. He uses smaller gangs such as the Hells Angels, Crips and Sureños to peddle the drugs for him, in return for a percentage of the profit. Enraged, Kenner pulls his gun on Yoshida and almost kills him to avenge the death of his parents, but Johnny manages to defuse the situation and they both leave the nightclub. Later that night, Yoshida rapes and kidnaps Minako and holds her hostage in his home and vows to kill Kenner. Kenner and Johnny set out for Yoshida's heavily guarded home, where they rescue Minako. His pride wounded, Yoshida sends his men out to get Minako back. He has Kenner and Johnny captured, stripped topless and tortured by electrocution, however, the two manage to escape. They prepare for an assault on Yoshida's brewery, where they rescue Minako once again. They chase Yoshida down to a parade being held in the middle of the city, where he and Kenner engage in a modern-day samurai-like sword duel. The fight ends with Kenner overpowering Yoshida and impaling him through the abdomen before throwing him into a giant spinning Catherine wheel firework display, which burns Yoshida alive before exploding and killing him. Kenner and Johnny are then hailed as heroes by the crowd as they escort Minako away. Cast Dolph Lundgren as Sergeant Chris KennerBrandon Lee as Detective Johnny MurataCary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Funekei Yoshida (Japanese: 吉田船渓, Yoshida Funekei)Tia Carrere as Minako Okeya (Japanese: 桶屋美奈子, Okeya Minako)Toshishirô Obata as Sato (Japanese: 佐藤, Satō)Philip Tan as Tanaka (Japanese: 田中, Tanaka)Rodney Kageyama as EddieErnie Lively as Detective NelsonRenee Griffin as AngelReid Asato as Muto (Japanese: 武藤, Mutō)Takayo Fischer as Mama YamaguchiSimon Rhee as Ito (Japanese: 伊藤, Itō)Vernee Watson-Johnson as Coroner Nonnie RussellLenny Imamura as Kickboxer #1Roger Yuan as Kickboxer #2Gerald Okamura as HegataSteve Park as Asian Cop #1Jim Ishida as Asian Cop #2George Cheung as HenchmanNathan Jung as Bonsai Club ManagerAl Leong as HenchmanJames Lew as HenchmanBranscombe Richmond as Man In DoorJimmy Taenaka as Hardboy Production Lester says the film was taken over by the studio and recut without his involvement.[4] Reception Box office Warner Bros. was not happy with the film and re-edited it, only to give it a limited theatrical run in the United States, Mexico, Australia, France (where it skipped Paris),[5] Italy, Israel, and Hungary. Except for these markets, the film was released direct-to-video in 1992. In the US opening weekend, the film grossed $455,192 from 140 theaters which was an average of $3,251 per theater. This accounted for 20% of the film's total gross.[1][6][7] It ranked #9 in Hungary's Top 10 of 1992 Overall Box Office Grosses (according to the 1994 Variety International Film Guide), grossing $197,590 in Hungary. After Brandon Lee died while filming The Crow (1994), movies with Lee in leading roles, such as Showdown in Little Tokyo, saw a surge in video sales.[8] The film became a cult classic among action fans after its release. Director Mark L. Lester said: “I was going for exaggerated reality. Kind of a pop art thing or a comic book. But Warner took about ten minutes out of the film, which were pretty good actually. They changed it all around. They didn’t do a big release, but I guess people liked it.“[9] Brandon Lee was also very fond of the movie: "I didn't have a lot of input into it. It was really just a job for me but it was a good experience".[10] Critical response The film faced largely negative reviews from critics.[11][12][13][14] Vincent Canby of The New York Times described it as "violent, but spiritless."[15] It holds a rating of 33% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 9 reviews, with an average score of 4.3/10.[16] Upon its 2015 DVD release, DVD Talk reviewer Ian Jane wrote that it was a shallow but highly enjoyable action film of its time. He found it fast-paced, action packed, and funny. He felt it had good photography, nice locations, and that Brandon Lee shined in his role.[17] Contemporary critic Chris Coffel of Bloody Disgusting praised it for being a well-made action film of its time, and that both leads delivered their roles well. He also praised the lead villain Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. Finally he felt the movie fell flat on the humorous side of things, but was great fun for its genre.[18] On JoBlo.com, writer Chris Bumbray considers it to be an underrated gem and a cult classic. He thinks that Lee steals the show from Lundgren and that the film showcases the range of the early departed actor. His final thought was that it was a fun B actioner.[19] Legacy of Rage (Chinese: 龍在江湖) is a 1986 Hong Kong action film directed by Ronny Yu. The film stars Brandon Lee, Michael Wong, Regina Kent, and a special appearance by Bolo Yeung, who appeared alongside Lee’s father Bruce Lee in his posthumous 1973 film Enter the Dragon. It was Lee's first leading film role and the only Hong Kong production he worked on. The film follows an average joe on a quest to save his girlfriend from a drug dealer, after being framed for the murder of a corrupt police officer. Plot Brandon Ma (Brandon Lee) is a regular guy with a job and a girlfriend May (Regina Kent). He has two jobs, so he can support his girlfriend and his dream of owning a motorcycle. Brandon's best friend is Michael Wan (Michael Wong), an ambitious and murderous drug dealer. Michael also loves May and so he comes up with a plan using a corrupt police officer named Sharky (Lam Chung) that will win her for himself and get Brandon out of his way. It seems that the corrupt cop has been using his police connections to dominate the local cocaine trade, so Michael has him killed and uses Brandon as the fall guy. Brandon goes to jail and meets Hoi (Mang Hoi), although he thinks that he will be released soon thanks to the efforts of his good buddy Michael. However, after eight years, Brandon leaves from prison and vows revenge on Michael for betraying him and stealing his girlfriend. Whilst out of prison he learns that May has had his son. With the help of Hoi, Brandon tracks down Michael. Whilst engaging his guards he learns that May is dead. After killing Michael's guards, Brandon confronts and kills his former friend Michael. Brandon says farewell to his friend Hoi (who aided him in fighting Michael's guards) and leaving with his son. Cast Brandon Lee as Brandon MaMichael Wong as Michael WanRegina Kent as MayMang Hoi as Four Eyes/HoiMichael Chan as YeeOnno Boelee as PrisonerTanya Lemani George as Rachel the Belly Dancer in Persian RestaurantKu Feng as Prison GuardBolo Yeung as ThugTeddy Yip Wing-cho as Mr. YipKen Lo as Michael's thugBlackie Ko as Michael's thugHa Kwok-wing as U thugNg Man-tat as Captain of the GuardsShing Fui-On -as FooStuart Smith as Big PapaKirk Wong as Inspector Lau Release The film was released in theatrically in Hong Kong on 20 December 1986. In 1987, it was screened at the Cannes Film Festival and released in Japan. On May 16, The film got his cinematic release in the Philippines, under the title of Dragon Blood.[1] In the US the film was released directly to Home media in 1998 after the passing of Lee, its leading star.[2] Reception Upon its 1986 Hong Kong release Lee was nominated for a Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Performer in this role.[2] In 1987, it was a critical success at the Cannes Film Festival and commercial one in Japan. At one point between its Hong Kong release and the 1992 making of Lee's first lead an American Studio film the action thriller Rapid Fire, producer Robert Lawrence screened Legacy of Rage and saw Lee's potential to be an action leading man in Hollywood, which led to their collaboration.[3] When the film was launched in 1998 in the US, the Hong Kong action film was described as a good genre film.[4] In News-Press, film critic Randy Myers gave it three stars describing it as a stylish, but good early film. He added that aside from its flaws it was fast-paced, energetic, and Brandon showcased a lot of talent.[5] Paul Harris of The Age gave it two stars saying it gives a glimmer into the largely unexplored talent of actor Brandon Lee, but found it wasn't up to par with The Crow due to the formulaic plot.[6] Rob Lowing of The Sydney Morning Herald gave it three star, saying it had a generic story but praised Lee's good performance and Ronny Yu's stylish direction.[7] Producer Robert Lawrence was so impressed with Lee's performance in the film that he worked with Lee on developing Rapid Fire.[8]

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