Customer Reviews

Initial D

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

While the anime stayed fairly close to the manga, this live action movie makes substantial character and plot changes. For instance, Bunta is now perceived more as a drunken womanizer more than the retired legendary (yet still smug and egotistical) racer from Akina. Ryousuke and Keisuke Takahashi are essentially one character. Several other characters don't even appear in the movie.

The plot was also condensed considerably. Instead of being a movie covering a few races from the anime's first season, it compresses everything from the first three stages (which took the anime 39 thirty-minute episodes and its own two-hour movie). Obviously with about two hours of time, this movie had to drop several races and increase the pace of character and car driving technique development.

However, the movie does get some things right. Character development is focused on Takumi and his indecisiveness of what he wants to be in life. The actual car racing uses the real cars that the characters drive in the series, and most of the driving is more realistic than completely special effects. The mood of the movie fits, and it follows the general "teenager who has special skills but doesn't know it" plot of the series. Itsuki is still the overzealous racer wanna-be, even if his character's background was totally changed.

One thing to note is that there is absolutely no EuroBeat music in this version, which can be a good or bad thing depending if you're a fan. Most of the Chinese pop music is from Jay Chou, who plays Takumi.

In the end, if you're a previous fan of the series, don't go in expecting to see a live-action version of the anime or manga. You'll just end up disappointed that the movie tries to cover so much ground in such a short amount of time. This movie is like the later Harry Potter movies in that it is an okay adaption of a much better and more detailed story.

Guys look I know that by the reviews that the movie is not like the manga anime series but for what it is the movie is a fun action comedy that you can enjoy. Aleast you don't have to dramatize it into a life or death situaition like the Fast and Furious series has beeen doing. This has cool racing scenes and sweet cars doing the best drifting i've ever seen. And not to mention the comidic side of this story works and Anthony Wong is the man. If you hate this movie just because it did not stay true to the anime then you are being unfair to this movie. This is a fun film to watch and you will find it refreshing to see as Initial D will take you to the wildest drift of your life.

It's hard to give a review of this, because it could go either way. Some people like it and some people don't, but I don't think you'd be able to tell until you've watched it. Personally, I liked the live action movie--I liked the anime better, but the live action was still pretty cool. There are obviously changes that the directors made that many people won't like, but... Overall, I liked it, and if you haven't seen it, check it out and see for yourself.

For fans of Japanese cars & drift racing this is a must.
It deserves 4 stars for the driving action scenes alone, made well before the recent Tokyo Drift movie & probably more true to life.
The story line is nothing special, but this is a cult comic book in Japan & fitting everything into a movie can sometimes be difficult.
Watch the chinese version with subtitles, the dubbing is OK but the voices always seem weird !!

I have read many of the reviews, and I realize that this movie is a condensed form of the anime series, however, I have to admit that this movie was excellent. Try comparing this movie to the first two incarnations of Fast and Furious (especially #2), I would have to say that Initial D is by far the superior.

The storyline is basic but enjoyable, with the main characters getting a decent amount of screen time. However, what sets the movie apart is the cars! I am a car nut, and I love the way the cars, ranging from the RX-7 to the Trueno, were cleanly built and well crafted to fit the mold from the anime. The drifting sequences were breath-taking, including the final racing sequence (I'll let you watch that).

Please remember that this is geared mainly for those that enjoy cars and drifting, then I highly recommend this.

I wasn't sure what to expect...didn't know if this would hold true to the anime series of the same name. But, I was pleasantly surprised! Unlike Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift, it didn't go down that same road and stayed true to the spirit of the series. My only quibble is that they tried to cram everything into a near-2 hour movie, but despite that, it's a must see.

I'm not a car fan, nor a racing fan, but when I stumbled upon the anime, I loved it. So, even though I knew the live action film wouldn't be the same, I still looked forward to seeing it. As I have never read the manga, any comparisons I make are between the anime and the live action versions.

Like any movie that is adapted from another souce, they made changes, some significant - Bunta, Takumi's father is a womanizing alcoholic who abuses his son, and Itsuki is a braggard,, rather than the nerdy side kick - both revisions did not appeal to me. On the other hand, Jay Chou, who plays Takumi, did an excellent job of projecting the personality of the character in the anime, and which is part of the appeal for the story - a kid who doesn't know or like cars is a better racer than those obsessed by cars - and then finds focus in his life by racing.

I think the problem with this film is that it tries to do too much. This is worse for viewers familiar with the anime or manga because character and racing development takes place in leaps, rather than steps. Even for viewers who come in with no knowledge of the characters, sometimes you wonder where they are coming from - and basically, I think it comes from trying to imitate the major points from the original story without spending the time to develop it. On the other hand, the movie does revise characters' personalities and histories, so it is also trying to add some original touches. In the end, the movie is neither original, nor a faithful adaptation for the hard-core anime fans.

For me, the movie itself is a two star rating, but might be a 2 1/2 for those who give higher priority to visual racing scenes, or three for those not familiar with the anime - but as far as the Amazon rating stars, it still gets two because, as other reviews have stated, those trailers in the beginning are really annoying. Not only did I spend some extra time trying to skip past the trailers, but when the movie finally started, I realized that I forgot to set the sub-titles and had to sit through the trailers again. If you are going to watch this movie, make sure to see it in one sitting - it's just not worth having to sit through the trailers just to get to the movie and then getting to the point you left off at.

Since nobody has reviewed the Blu-ray transfer, I might as well. I will start off by saying that I have this on DVD as well and this review will be based in comparison to it in terms of video/audio quality.

At first I was a bit skeptical about this one, I am not too familiar with studios doing transfers from over seas. But just wow, this video transfer is definitely a step up from the DVD! The clarity and color is just superb and it was definitely a joy to watch again. You can actually see the detail in skin tones (like most great transfers) and during the races it pretty crystal clear to keep up with the action. My only gripe about the transfer is that some scenes are a hit and miss. Like you can catch some noise in some scenes (most notably in the Gas Station scenes) and BLACKS are sometimes crushing (most notably during in-car scenes at night).

Sorry but I am still running a standard 5.1 DD and in terms of the audio quality its nearly identical to the DVD's 5.1 DD. If anyone gets to test the Cantonese LPCM let me know how it turns out! I actually watched this movie in English DD and the dubbing is so-so as expected but fitting.

All in all if you are a fellow Blu-ray enthusiast, I actually would recommend this one and being at 19.00 smacks, its actually worth more than that sitting nicely in your collection.

TESTED ON:
Sony Playstation 3
Sony Bravia KDL40v2500 (1080p)
Harman Kardon AVR146 with Polk Surrounds and MTX SW2

"Initial D" is a fairly good film. With about 5 separate car races and numerous flashbacks where the same footage is repeated in montages, the film does tend to drag a bit.

Jay Chou plays the teenage Takumi whose stoic facial expressions as a tofu delivery boy get punctured by love. Chou did much of the music in the film; and we see fancy footwork on the car pedals as he jams into gear around the curves. He gets some nice reaction shots after his romantic breakup. Chou followed this, his first film, with "Curse of the Yellow Flower."

Anthony Wong who was recently in "The Painted Veil" plays his alcoholic father who is an ex-racer but who has spiraled downhill since the loss of his wife. He keeps passing out, but he knows how to outfit a tofu delivery car. After repeated threats to knock his son around, it was a wink that let his son know how much his dad loves him. With a cigarette dangling, Wong plays the perfect vagabond.

Anne Suzuki who was in "Moon Child" & "Snow Falling Cedars" plays Natsuki. She seems to be a normal high school girl who develops a crush on Takumi. However, we soon find that the uncle who takes care of her is an older guy who uses her for physical pleasure at the "Love Hotel." Obviously, this causes some problems in her relationship with Takumi who is her true love. Suzuki seemed far too nice and innocent to believably play a lady of the evening (or in her case afternoon), but she does a good job with the innocent love in the film.

Chapman To who was so good in "Six Strong Characters" plays the heavy-set Itsuki, best friend of Takumi. His father owns the service station at which Takumi works. To is the comic relief of the picture, mugging, full of bravado one moment and vomiting by the curb from carsickness the next. Kenny Bee does a nice job as Itsuki's father, owner of the service station.

Edison Chen who was in "Gen Y-Cops" does a good job as being the other independent racer who tries to take out the professional in the climactic final race. The race sequences, mostly at night, are well filmed and keep you glued to the screen. While there may be a few too many of them, overall this is a good movie that grabs your attention and makes you care about its characters. Enjoy!

As just about every review says the same thing for this movie, the anime was better. And that is true, the anime is better, but the anime runs about 15 hours longer than this movie if you watch the entire series. Im not really a fan of how condensed the movie was. It is full of very good racing scenes, even if the movie does not go into as much detail as the anime did. It's still pretty cool to see the racing in live action. I did not enjoy the change of so much of the plot. Itsuki was alot more of a likeable character as the stupid but good hearted best friend from the anime than he is as the spoiled punk in this movie. And Buntha was also alot more likeable as a quite humble retired street racer rather than a womanizing drunk. My advice would be to those who have watched the anime, this is still a good buy if you are a fan of the series. It is interesting to see the whole story in the eyes of a different producer/director. Enjoy. If you haven't seen the series and you plan to watch this first, please do not judge the anime based on this movie, although the storylines are similar the anime series goes into alot more detail and is almost educational in the art of drift. I suggest watching the entire series, all four stages, before watching the movie. One last note is that in this edition, the english dubbing is very B-movie-esque. Just as I would suggest with the anime, I would suggest watching at least once with the original japanese soundtrack with subtitles. There is definitely a better sense of mood with the original language. Just remember to try and see this movie as a stand alone package, despite the fact it is based on the anime series, its like hamburger and filet mignon. Its not that hamburger is bad, I love a good hamburger, its just filet mignon is alot tastier.