Undescribable Perfection

Best movie of this year hands down!

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Two cops have to work together to bring down the yakuza, while trying to protect a beautiful women. Showdown in Little Tokyo is a 1991 Action Film starring Dolph Lundgren, Brandon Lee, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and Tia Carrere. The movie was directed by Mark L. Lester the man behind one of the most coolest action films ever made named "Commando" and just like that film this is another epic action movie with one liners, crazy action and a great chemistry between Lundgren and Lee plus Tagawa makes a terrific villain and the soundtrack is pretty cool too. The showdown between the 2 men is terrific and even tho is a 79 minute film it still moves very fast that you can't really tell. Overall this film has some Lethal Weapon, Red Heat and Tango and Cash vibes and it's definitely as good as those films that i mentioned plus Lundgren was a freaking beast back then and action fans won't be disappointed. (A+)

About eight years ago, I posted a different, rosier review of SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO. I was new to the B-movie martial arts scene and it was the first Dolph Lundgren vehicle I had ever watched, leading to a very favorable analysis of the movie, but after viewing many subsequent offerings of the same subgenre, my impression has become more balanced and critical. SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO is still a fun action outing and definitely among Lundgren's best, but it hasn't aged particularly well and has lost some of its ability to satisfy beyond the appreciation of turophiles.The story: Two renegade cops – played by Lundgren and Brandon Lee – investigating organized crime in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo take on a deadly Yakuza faction.Disregarding any other entertainment value, the main reason for seeing the film is the team-up between Lundgren and Lee. The two have a degree of chemistry and are fun to watch, and it's neat to see both of their distinctive styles of action play out within the same movie. However, even though Lee had just come off the dreadful LASER MISSION and does well enough for himself here, their collaboration is definitely more to the benefit of Dolph, who plays the straight man to Lee's comic relief and is presented as more culturally Asian than the character played by Bruce Lee's son. This (potentially) unintentional display of vanity sets the tone for a level of goofiness throughout the film that fits well with the action standard of yesteryear but won't necessarily appeal to viewers who have since learned that even comic book-style movies can be played seriously. Nothing against the script, but fewer jokes and less idolization of the archetypical action hero would have helped its legacy.The action content, focused on hand-to-hand fighting, is satisfying. This is probably the most martial arts that Lee performs in any movie other than RAPID FIRE, and even Lundgren lives up to his "karate man" image better than usual. The fact that the cast and stunt ensemble are packed with action regulars – from James Lew to Gerald Okamura – makes it a little disappointing that more of the fight scenes aren't showstoppers, but we get at least two pretty memorable bouts in the showdown between Lee and henchman Toshihiro Obata and the swordfight featuring Lundgren and supervillain Cary Tagawa. Lundgren's home invasion is likewise particularly satisfying as a rounded action scene, and the bath house brawl is memorable for several reasons. Retrospectively, it's disappointing that future action heroine Tia Carrere is relegated to damsel here, but she does what she can with the role and is given the welcome opportunity to contribute to the soundtrack.I still recommend this one to action fans, though more as a means of getting in on some nostalgia than as witnessing an objectively great adrenaline vehicle. Even with all its faults, SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO is worth an investment, and fans of either of the leading men will have an incomplete collection without this one. Check it out.

There are spectacular parts to this hopeless piece of film making. Like spectacularly bad delivery of the awful dialogue. Like a plot with no firm parts to hold together the holes. Like characters getting shot "straight through" the lung and just keep fighting on. Like policemen having no regards for police work, the law, civilization. Like characters picking up "samurai swords" from parade actors and use them for a life and dead fight.When I feel like watching terribly bad action movies with crazy plots, and wooden acting leads, constantly looking for an excuse to lose their shirt, I prefer the works of Andy Sidaris where at least the constantly topless leads are female and rather nice looking Playboy models (with less plastic surgery than Dolph Lundgreen)

This movie I absolutely love. It is probably one of the fastest action films that I have seen and there is very little time in which you get to rest before the action starts again. It is also Brandon Lee's best movie by far, having not liked Legacy of Rage and Rapid Fire. Even though Dolph Lundgrun also stars in this movie, he is actually quite tolerable as well. The team that Dolph and Brandon make works very well in my opinion.Lundgrun is an American who was raised in Japan while Lee is a Japanese raised in America. This actually makes an interesting mix as Lundgrun expects Lee to have a lot of traditional Japanese traits, where the only traits he has is fast food and fast cars and Lee sees Lundgrun as somebody who is caught up in pointless tradition that should be thrown away in exchange for fun. Lundgrun is also the cop that can't keep partners, and we expect Lee to be the naive new cop on the beat, and then we find out that he is actually a lot like Lundgrun, a cop that can't keep partners. As such they get on really well, and the dialogue that jumps between them in this movie is very well done.It is a shame that Brandon Lee's career was cut so short by the accident in the Crow because Lee is actually quite a good actor. As I said in Legacy of Rage, if it wasn't for the stupid action sequences at the end, the movie would have been quite good. From what I remember of the Crow, he acting ability was actually very good.Anyway, it is the action that makes this movie. There are some interesting themes, but generally we watch this movie for the action. The plot is simple, this Yakuza boss is making his move on the American market by distributing a new drug called Ice. This boss happens to be Lundgrun's arch-enemy and as such Lundgrun goes on a personal mission of vengeance against him. Lee simply gets caught up in it, and acts as the voice of reason to Lundgrun's uncontrollable emotions. They go through numerous action sequences and then end up killing the boss. As I said, simple plot, but excellent movie. This movie I thought as being so good that I started creating a Shadowrun module based on it.