YOU HEAR IT FIRST! TOKYO DRIFT!

YOU HEAR IT FIRST ! THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT

Director Justin Lin presents The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift

Our brotha, Director Justin Lin, puts finishing touches to THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT. *check out the trailer below*

Over the past Sunday (bless all mums, it was Mothers' Day), Speak.AsianAmericans caught a sneak preview at Universal's editing studio at full length, of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, directed by Better Luck Tomorrow's Justin Lin. Justin shared with me the story behind the making of this movie. While I cannot share too much (yet! ), I gotta say I truly enjoyed the movie! What an eye-candy! The silverscreen image of the post-modern industrial feel to Japan is refreshing. It absolutely rocked for the following reasons:

-RESPECT: The previous FNF installments paid NO repsect to the importing/tuning scene, which is a predominantly Asian/Asian American scene. On the other hand, Tokyo Drift, was down-to-the-details to show what 'drifting' was all about. Asians were not seen as the stereotypical 'evildoers.' They were 3-dimensional, slick, and cool. The always rico-suave Sung Kang's character really helped to move the story along as well.

In addition, one of the biggest character in this film are the cars. the CARS are absolutely HOT.

- ASIAN PRIDE: Justin was very all about 'respectin' his past' in having Jason Tobin, Sung Kang, and Bryan Tee as lead Asian MALE actors. Both Jason's and Sung's names also are the same as Better Luck Tomorrow, respectively Virgil and Han. Alden from East West Players also makes his appearance as part of Han's posse.

- MUSIC: This movie is like a hot 95 min. music video. Pharrell of N.E.R.D loved the film so much that he did a HOT HOT track for Tokyo Drift. I cannot wait for the soundtrack to come out; this is going to be those CDs you'd be pumpin' while driving down (not drift, because it is illegal. ) the 110 Hwy.

- LIN FACTOR: Director Justin Lin is truly an amazing talent. He changed the original script from a tacky, stereotypical-deAsian film (and I do have the original script in front of me, I read 75% of it, and it WAS crap) to an Asian American empowering film. Lin also made a conscious attempt to make a diverse cast that truly represents the global community: the cast included: there are white, black, Peruvian/Australian, Pinoys, Chinese, Korean, Japanese. Moreover, the cinematography is amazing. There is one screen shot where Lucas Black's car drifted and the audience can see reflections of people and building on the windshield. Better Luck Tomorrow fans will have a blast when they see the film: be on the look out for some scenes reminiscent of BLT. Oil drill, anyone? I remember when I sat down with Justin back in UCBerkeley days, he was an up and coming director. He was full of passion and spoke about BLT as not about a film project, but a vehicle to open up the road of opportunities for other Asian American actors and actress. 3 years later, he kept that vision and is still pushing for more APA representation via Tokyo Drift, even thought Justin had to deal with an uphill battle with studio heads.

Please go support Justin Lin's Tokyo Drift, which premiere in L-A on June 4th.

April 11, 2003. Better Luck Tomorrow opens

and 3 years later... Justin Lin has BLOWN UP!