Tuesday was rather a busy day for me, so busy that, much to my shame, I didn’t have a chance to post about this important DVD release.

I have yet to see the Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift - you know how it is when your budget for time and money is a little tight. You can’t get to the theatre in time for the show (which is okay because you can’t afford the ticket anyway) and now that it’s out on DVD, there’s no way you’re going to be able to watch it in two nights (and you can’t afford the late fees), so now you’re biding your time until it’s no longer a new release and you can keep it for a whole week. That, and I’m waiting for a time when I’m not so annoyed at the prospect of scantily-clad racing chicks and can focus on the racing instead of female stereotypes in film and other things I learned about in college.

In the meantime, I managed to get my hands on this. Initial D, I can quite honestly say, is the best Chinese film about Japanese streetracing ever made. I’ve been a fan of the anime for some time, and I was wicked excited when I found out they were doing a live action version. A little suspicious, yes - you can’t help wondering if it’ll live up to the hype - but excited. I was even more excited when they released a U.S. version so I could actually watch it.

I was suitably impressed. The plot of the anime transferred really well into live action, the actors did almost all of their own racing and the soundtrack is excellent for highway driving. Hong Kong rapper Ghost Style did a number of songs on the soundtrack - fabulous stuff. I don’t know if they technically counts as rap, though, because I could understand everything he was saying. And yes, his songs are in English - my Chinese is pretty much limited to "Thank you" and "I don’t want it."

And you have to admit - the actors are a lot more pleasant to look at than the original anime characters.

Just a tad bit of a difference. :) Any other Initial D fans out there?

Anyway, have any of y’all seen Tokyo Drift? What were your thoughts? Is it worth the rental or should I just hang out near Route 3 during rush hour?