Showdown in Little Tokyo
All actors and roles (10)
Short description
In Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, a yakuza organization is extending its reach into the local drug trade, and two very different detectives are assigned to stop it. Chris Kenner grew up in Japan and carries a personal history with the yakuza boss Yoshida. His new partner, Johnny Murata, is Japanese-American and largely disconnected from that heritage. Both are skilled martial artists, and their shared work against Yoshida's criminal operation forms the film's central conflict.
Mark L. Lester directed the film, which followed his earlier features Class of 1999 and Commando and preceded Public Enemies. The screenplay is by Stephen Glantz and Caliope Brattlestreet, with Lester and Martin E. Caan producing. Dolph Lundgren plays Kenner and Brandon Lee plays Murata, with Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Yoshida, Tia Carrere as Minako, Toshishiro Obata as Sato and Philip Tan as Tanaka. The production is credited with a large cast and crew, and it runs 79 minutes.
Released in 1991, the film had a budget of 8 million USD but returned about 2 million USD worldwide, a result well below its cost. On IMDb it holds 6.1 out of 10 from roughly 22,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.5 from 562 votes. A critics' rating of 4.3 out of 10 from nine reviews sits below both audience scores, indicating a less favorable critical response than from viewers.
What's left behind the scenes
- The original script consisted of 104 pages and included scenes later removed by the producers (for example, a scene where Kenner and Murata, after a fight in the sauna, pursue one of the Yakuza, ending up in a shopping mall). During filming, the script was decided to be shortened to 95 pages.
- Filming took place from January 14 to March 8, 1991.
- Fearing the film would receive an NC-17 rating, director Mark L. Lester cut some particularly explicit or violent scenes: A moment in the pool scene showing a woman with exposed breasts was cut; Some moments from the scene of the dancer's (Edela’s) murder were cut: an episode where Yoshida delivers an additional sword strike was removed. A moment at the very end of the scene, where her severed head falls to the floor, was also removed; The moment of killing the fat Yakuza in the sauna fight scene was shortened: it showed Kenner twisting a knife in his stomach in different directions; A scene of Minako’s rape was completely cut, as it was considered too violent by viewers at test screenings. As a result, the film received an R rating, but was released with an "18+" age restriction in the US.
- All the swords used in the film were replicas, with the exception of the one used by Dolph Lundgren’s character when he cut through bundles of bamboo – that was a genuine samurai sword.
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