1. The Fast and the Furious (release date 2001)

2. 2 Fast 2 Furious (release date 2003)

3. Fast & Furious (release date 2009 prequel)

5. Fast Five (release date 2011 prequel)

6. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (release date 2006) We don’t know what happens after Tokyo Drift.

The worst part of Tokyo Drift was Han’s car accident. However, we never saw a funeral and other than a few people saying Han was dead there were never any scenes to prove it. It’s as if that’s what Han wanted them to believe. Think about it, he had a guy wanting to kill him and he just had an accident that would have them believing he was dead. It was a great plan since he needed time to heal and call in support, Dom.

The scene below is the end of the chase for Sean and Neela when they lose control and back into other cars. Right after this scene Han’s car hit from the side, lifted and flipped.

In the scene below Han has already been hit by another car and is hanging upside down presumably by his seat belt. It easy to assume a bystander is actually next to car reaching in for Han at this exact moment.

Between the above and below scene you will notice that enough time has passed that there are many bystanders. One bystander has already pulled Han from the car. Even in Han’s distressed state he is capable of getting to his feet and escaping from the accident under the cover of the flames of the explosion. Sean and DK are incapable of seeing Han from their vantage point because they’re on the opposite side with the explosion and flames between them.

The events of Fast & Furious (Letty’s possible death) and Fast Five (Letty’s possible escape) happen before Tokyo Drift (because they’re prequels) so we can assume that Han learned a trick or two from Letty about escaping a car that’s about to explode and then they disappear.

If Sean could see through the flames in the scene below he would see Han in the distance moving away from the accident. However, Sean would be looking down at the car thinking Han is still in it. Sean would not be looking straight ahead to the other side of the car.

Clearly enough time has passed that there are bystanders all around the accident. In a way I feel like for that to have happened some scenes were cut. Without cut scenes it’s still possible for Han to escape, however, it’s even easier when you realize for that many bystanders to be around more time elapsed than we were shown.

The scene below could be Han looking back and seeing Sean through the flames as he moved away from the explosion.

If DK could see through the flames in the scene below he would see Han in the distance moving away from the accident.

The scene below shows the distance and size of the flames after the explosion from Sean and Neela. By the time Neela reaches Sean, Han has already escaped the accident scene completely.

In following scenes we see Dom has shown up wanting to race Sean. Twinkie never indicates whether he knows Dom so I’m going to assume he actually does. The way Twinkie delivers his lines is more based on the fact that he knows Sean doesn’t know who Dom is. After Dom and Sean’s race I can imagine them going to a secret location to talk and Dom revealing that Han is alive and well, and they have a job.

Today for lunch we went to Sung Kang’s restaurant in Los Angeles, CA, Saketini. While there we were fortunate enough to meet Sung Kang (Tokyo Drift). I introduced myself and told him we had just moved from Indiana to Los Angeles. I mentioned my site http://TokyoDriftMovie.us and he said it was nice to meet us, then he left the restaurant. I (Rob) was very excited to meet him.

Eric at Saketini was the best host ever, great job Eric it was a pleasure to meet you.

Karen talks about her favorites from Saketini.

Allyson gives a shout out to Matthew.

We also visited the La Brea Tar Pits, very cool.

And in celebration of meeting Sung Kang today our family movie was Tokyo Drift, our first time watching it in California and my 166th time watching it.

At the end of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift we learn that Dom won the car he’s driving from Han a few years earlier. This is the scene that follows Han losing his precious “Hammer,” a 1970 Plymouth Road Runner.

[ A few years before the end of Tokyo Drift ]

Just as the race at the end of Tokyo Drift, today’s race between goods friends Han and Dom can be titled as Epic. In a race that Han thought he was certain to win, Dom pulls a move at the end that makes everyone gasp. The dialog that follows is what happens when Han and Dom exit their vehicles.

[ The crowd is yelling and clapping, Dom holds out his hand as Han walks towards him, Han drops the keys to his Plymouth into Dom's hand ]

Dom: [ smiling ] Pleasure doing business!

Han: Enjoy it because that’s the only car you’ll ever win from me.

Dom: What are you saying, I’ll never beat you again?

Han: From now on I’m not racing unless it’s for something important.

Dom: Well at least everyone knows who the better driver is.

Han: Winning doesn’t make you the better driver, it just proves you’re faster that’s all.

Dom: [ in a ribbing manner ] Then how about the winner but not necessarily the better driver buy you a beer.

Han: [ with his head hanging a bit ] Sounds good, I need something to wash this feeling of loss away. You’ll take good care of my car won’t you?

Dom: Are you kidding? I’ll cherish this car long after you’re gone.

[ Cut ]

Lucas Black is 27 years old today, Happy Birthday Lucas.

Here’s a list of other cast and crew members birthdays, sorted by month.

Alden Ray “Alden” March 7th (confirmed by Alden)

Bow Wow “Twinkie” March 9th, 1987

Brian Tee “DK” March 15th, 1976

Sung Kang “Han” April 8th, 1972

Brian Tyler “Composer” May 8th (confirmed by Brian)

Jason Tobin “Earl” June 12

Keiko Kitagawa “Reiko” August 22nd, 1986

Nathalie Kelley “Neela” October 5th, 1985 (confirmed by Nathalie)

Justin Lin “Director” October 11th, 1971

Leonardo Nam “Morimoto” November 5th, 1979 (confirmed by Leonardo)

Lucas Black “Sean Boswell” November 29th, 1982

It’s obvious that Han had plenty of time from when he left Dom in Fast & Furious to the beginning of Tokyo Drift to build not only his crew but his garage. And he earned a lot of respect by his crew.

I look forward to Justin Lin taking us back to Tokyo in the next Fast & Furious movie, I can only hope.

Better Luck Tomorrow, is a 2003 movie directed by Justin Lin. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, is a 2006 movie directed by Justin Lin.

One of the lines from Better Luck Tomorrow, “Rumors about us came Fast and Furious!”

BLT: Han leaning on car waiting for Virgil from school. TD: Han leaning on car waiting for Sean from school.

BLT: Han hanging out with sexy women. TD: Han hanging out with sexy women.

BLT: Han with a lot of cash. TD: Han with a lot of cash.

In the commentary of Tokyo Drift on DVD Justin Lin says the following: ”There’s Sung with his oral fixation, um, when we did the indy movie, his character smoked, you know, pretty much every other shot, and here because this is a big studio movie, no cigerettes for the main character, and uhh heh, so we had to kinda heh, make sure he’s always snacking.”

BLT: Han smoking and gambling with his friends. TD: Han snacking and gambling with his friends.

BLT: Han relaxing and drinking a beer with his crew. TD: Han relaxing and drinking a beer with his crew.

BLT: Han smoking and partying with his friends. TD: Han snacking and partying with his friends.

BLT: Han with a gun to his head. TD: Han with a gun to his head.

Hans Crew: The 1st man in this pic, Jason J. Tobin, played Virgil in BLT & Earl in Tokyo Drift.

The 3rd man in this pic, Alden Ray, played Ulden in BLT & Alden in Tokyo Drift.

The 4th man in this pic, Jimmy Lin, played “a jock” in BLT & Jimmy in Tokyo Drift.

Justin Lin and Sung Kang’s inside joke is that Han went to Tokyo after Better Luck Tomorrow but we learn that he doesn’t leave for Tokyo until after Han and Dom split up in Fast & Furious (a prequel to Tokyo Drift).

00:03:10 Cindy, “Nice Ride.” Sean, “It does the job” Cindy, “What job, delivering pizzas?” Sean, “Well, it’s not the ride, it’s the rider.”

00:10:02 Sean, (watching a video of himself jumping his car) “Can I get a copy of that?”

00:19:03 Twinkie, “Japanese food is like the Army. Don’t ask, don’t tell.”

00:24:09 Han, “What’s with you and the schoolgirls, D? You’re moving up in the world. You gotta elevate your company.”

00:25:18 DK, “You know who I am, boy?” Sean, “Yeah. You’re like the Justin Timberlake of Japan, right?”

00:26:39 Sean, “Can he drive?” Twinkie, “Can he drive? You know what DK stands for?” Sean, “Donkey Kong?”

00:37:16 Han, “You’re in the pickup and delivery business now. I might call you once a week or once an hour. I don’t care if you’re sick as a dog or in bed with Beyonce. I call, you show.”

00:40:15 Sean, “You really need to stop following me around.” Neela, “What are you doing here?” Sean, “I thought I’d stop by and ask your boyfriend for some drifting lessons.”

00:41:10 Han, “Why can’t you go find a nice Japanese girl like the rest of the white guys around here?”

00:41:52 Han, “50% of something is better than 100% of nothing.”

00:42:19 Sean, “Why are you letting me race?” Han, “Cause you’re DK’s kryptonite. And you owe me a car.”

00:42:59 Han, “Police cars here are only factory-tuned. You can do better than 180 k, they can’t catch you, so they don’t even try.”

00:46:09 Han, “The red EVO’s yours.” Sean, “What do you mean?” Han, “You’re representing me now. What you think, I’m gonna let you roll in a Hyundai?”

00:47:09 Earl, “My mother, she’s blind in one eye and she can drift better than that.”

00:48:20 Major Boswell, “You know, Sean, the Japanese have a saying. The nail that sticks out gets hammered.”

00:51:07 Earl, “Hey, Han, sort this wanker out.” Twinkie, “Wanker?” Han, “What do I look like, a zebra?”

00:51:19 Sean, “So, how did you end up over here, anyway?” Han, “Well, you know those old Westerns where the cowboys make a run for the border? (Sean nods his head) This is my Mexico.”

00:51:55 Han, “You know, who you choose to be around you lets you know who you are.”

00:52:25 Han, “Life’s simple. You make choices and you don’t look back.”

00:54:11 Han, “There’s no ‘wax on, wax off’ with drifting. Learn by doin’ it.”

00:54:50 Twinkie, “I’m so good, man, I could sell rubbers to a monk.”

00:59:58 Sean, But I realize now, outsider or insider it doesn’t really matter. All that matters is knowing what you really want and going after it.”

01:03:03 Han, “What’d you expect? You didn’t just play with fire, you soaked the matches in gasoline.”

01:05:03 DK, “Difference is I know who I am and where I belong. Do you know who you are? Do you know where you belong?”

01:07:48 Kamata, “There’s an old saying: For the want of a nail… the horseshoe was lost. For the want of a horseshoe, the steed was lost. For the want of a steed… the message was not delivered. For the want of an undelivered massage… the war was lost.”

01:22:20 Kamata, “You think you can walk in here, dump some cash and walk out?”

01:26:10 Twinkie, “DK picked this road for a reason. This is his mountain. He’s the only one to ever make it to the bottom.”

01:35:39 Sean, “Nice ride.” Dom, “I won it from our friend Han, a few years ago.” Sean, “I didn’t know he was into American muscle.” Dom, “He was when he was rolling with me.”

01:36:54 Sean, “You know this ain’t no 10-second race.” Dom, “I got nothing but time. (engines revving) You ready, kid?”

Deleted Scenes

Where’s my fizz?: Twinkie, “Where’s my fizz?”

Wasabi: Sean, (after eating Twinkie’s wasabi) “Raised on habaneros, bro. Radishes ain’t gonna cut it.”

Golf Drift: Earl, “Twinkie, you drive a minivan and you can’t drift. Han, what is this, like the Special Olympics of drifting?”

Happy Birthday to Han: Neela, “There’s no right or wrong in drifting. How you drift is who you are. It’s like fingerprints. Everyone’s different.”

So when I picked up Midnight Club Los Angeles my one and only goal was to get the Mitsubishi EVO, and then tune it to death. After I finally got the EVO I decided to checkout some of the custom vinyls that people had done within the game that were for sale. I had a killer grin on my face when I saw the APR vinyls on a red EVO. I bought that car immediately and then proceeded to fix what was wrong with it. It had many parts that weren’t as close to the Tokyo Drift EVO Sean drove as they could be. So after changing the wheels, ride height, front spoiler, rear spoiler and a few other things I had the closest thing to the Tokyo Drift EVO the game could give me.

One of the interesting aspects of Midnight Club Los Angeles is that a large portion of Tokyo Drift was filmed in Los Angeles, CA. None of the locations used in the movie are within the boundries of the game. Maybe one would be if they had modeled it correctly.

I race this car against everything, I don’t care about losing, I just want to drive this car. Below are a couple of in game pics of my actual EVO in Midnight Club Los Angeles.

The AE-86 has been made famous by comics and movies. Mostly known for it’s appearance in the movie Initial D. Below are some images of the very cool looking AE-86 (grey 2-door hatchback) that was the basis for the 3rd major race in the movie.

The mall garage has several curved ramps but the curved ramp next the yellow pin is the drift ramp that was used in the movie. The lower garage was used in the racing scenes where they were drifting around the straight aways. Click the image to see it in Google Maps.