Showdown In Little Tokyo

Adventure, Action

Reid Asato	Muto
Tia Carrere	Minako
Renee Griffin	Angel
Rodney Kageyama	Eddie
Brandon Lee	Johnny Murata
Ernie Lively	Detective Nelson
Dolph Lundgren	Det. Kenner
Toshirô Obata	Sato
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa	Yoshida
Philip Tan	Tanaka

Director	Mark Lester; Mark L. Lester
Producer	Martin E. Caan; Mark Lester
Writer	Caliope Brattlestreet; Stephen Glantz

Showdown in Little Tokyo is a 1991 martial arts action comedy which, in pitting Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee as LA cops against Japanese drug dealers, plays like a B-movie Tango and Cash or Lethal Weapon 2 (both released just two years before). Between career highs in Rocky IV (1985) and Universal Soldier (1992) it looked as if Lundgren might make it big at the box-office, and clearly wanting to be the new Schwarzenegger he is here directed by Mark L Lester, who had earlier helmed Arnie's Commando (1985). In the event both actor and director headed for straight-to-video territory. The 75-minute running time suggests the studio lost confidence and seriously cut the movie though, as the space between the action is filled with nothing but cringe-inducing dialogue, thriller clichés and Lundgren "romancing" Tia Carrere, it still makes sense. Basing its title on John Carpenter's 1986 fantasy-comedy Big Trouble in Little China and anticipating Rush Hour (1998), Showdown in Little Tokyo alternates between crude tongue-in-cheek moments and action so ludicrous it's unintentionally hilarious . A camp disaster which simply defies belief, this is stupidly entertaining so-bad-its-good six-pack entertainment.

On the DVD: There are no extras other than the trailer. The anamorphically enhanced 1.77:1 image offers a good transfer of a grainy print. The stereo sound is clear but for a modern action film seriously lacks impact: gunshots sound like a paper bag popping. --Gary S Dalkin