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Initial D (film)

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Initial D
Image:InitialD film.jpg
Directed by Andrew Lau
Alan Mak
Produced by Wai Keung Lau
Ellen Chang
Written by Shuichi Shigeno
Felix Chong
Starring Jay Chou
Anthony Wong
Edison Chen
Music by Kwong Wing Chan
Cinematography Yui-Fai Lai
Wai Keung Lau
Editing by Wong Hoi
Distributed by Avex Inc.
Media Asia
Release date(s) June 23, 2005
Running time 110 mins
Language Chinese
Budget $12,000,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

Initial D is a 2005 live-action film based on the Japanese Initial D manga and anime series. It is directed by famed Hong Kong directors Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, whose credits include the 2002 smash hit Infernal Affairs and 1999's The Legend of Speed, a previous street racing melodrama.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Taking place in the Gunma prefecture in Japan, the film concerns a young tofu-delivery driver named Takumi Fujiwara. He has incredible skill in taking on the hairpin curves of Mt. Akina (Mt. Haruna in real-life). The film chronicles his evolution from an uninterested delivery boy into a hardened touge racer.

Takumi drives his father's (Bunta) 1986 Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX (AE86). It is seemingly unmodified but is perfectly suited for the downhill corners of Mt. Akina and gains the attention of local street racers all across the prefecture. Some ultimately challenge Takumi to battles on Akina's downhill. Ryousuke Takahashi, a driver of the Mazda RX-7 (FC3S) helps out Takumi along the way by giving him advice. While following the path of a street racer, Takumi must deal with his alcoholic father and his girlfriend who secretly engages in compensated dating.

[edit] Names of characters and places

This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page.
Image:Initial d live action closing credits.jpg
This sub-article applies equally to both the original Cantonese and Mandarin-dubbed versions, but for the sake of the discussion Mandarin is used in the pronunciation of Chinese names and places.

Most of the names of the characters in the film are still the same as the corresponding names in the original manga and anime, at least in their written form; the difference lies in the pronunciation of the names. In both the manga/anime and the film, the name of the tofu boy who drives the legendary AE86 is written "拓海", but is pronounced Takumi in Japanese and Tuo-Hai in Chinese. Similarly, the FC driver's name, written "涼介", is pronounced Ryousuke in Japanese and Liang-Jie in Chinese.

However, there indeed exists some names (mostly family names) which are slightly modified from the original. For instance, in the film Bunta Fujiwara is simply called Yuan Wen-Tai instead of Teng-Yuan Wen-Tai (the direct Chinese pronunciation of "藤原文太", which is Fujiwara, Bunta in Japanese).

Image:Initial d live action closing credits closeup.jpg
The closing credits of the film reveal even more slightly-modified names. The first few entries are reproduced below: 
* 中里毅     余文樂    (1st entry)
  高涼介     陳冠希
  原拓海     周杰倫
  原文太     黃秋生
    花木     杜汶澤
*   健二     阿部力
  木夏樹     鈴木杏
  花祐一     鍾鎮濤
  城清次     劉畊宏
  藤京一     陳小春
   ...       ...
*  艾先生    津村 和幸  (16th entry)
*    美也    田中 千絵  (17th entry)
   ...       ...

The first column contains the names of the characters, and the second column contains the names of the actors, sorted in order of appearance in the film. The entries marked with an asterisk are the names which are either left untouched or not found in the manga/anime. The rest of the names are derived from the original manga/anime names as shown in the table below. All family names are written in capital letters, and stress marks are added to the Chinese (Mandarin) pronunciations to indicate the tones.

Original Name Japanese Pronunciation Chinese Pronunciation Modified Name (Used in the film) Chinese Pronunciation Played By
高橋涼介 TAKAHASHI Ryousuke GĀO-QIÁO Liáng-Jiè 高涼介 GĀO Liáng-Jiè 陳冠希
Edison Chen
藤原拓海 FUJIWARA Takumi TÉNG-YUÁN Tuò-Hǎi 原拓海 YUÁN Tuò-Hǎi 周杰倫
Jay Chou
藤原文太 FUJIWARA Bunta TÉNG-YUÁN Wén-Tài 原文太 YUÁN Wén-Tài 黃秋生
Anthony Wong
武内 樹
(武内イツキ) 		TAKEUCHI Itsuki WǓ-NÈI Shù 花木 (阿木) HUĀ Mù (Ah Mù) 杜汶澤
Chapman To
茂木夏樹
(茂木なつき) 		MOGI Natsuki MÀO-MÙ Xià-Shù 木夏樹 MÙ Xià-Shù 鈴木杏
Anne Suzuki
立花祐一 TACHIBANA Yuuichi LÌ-HUĀ Yòu-Yī 花祐一 HUĀ Yòu-Yī 鍾鎮濤
Kenny Bee
岩城清次 IWAKI Seiji YÁN-CHÉNG Qīng-Cì 城清次 CHÉNG Qīng-Cì 劉畊宏
Will Liu
須藤京一 SUDOU Kyouichi XŪ-TÉNG Jīng-Yī 藤京一 TÉNG Jīng-Yī 陳小春
Jordan Chan

In the first row, Ryousuke's complete name, "高橋涼介", loses its second kanji and turns into "高涼介". Consequently, "TAKAHASHI Ryousuke" becomes "GAO Liang-Jie" in the film. In the second row, Takumi's name loses its starting kanji and becomes "YUAN Tuo-Hai". Similar reasoning applies to the rest of the rows.

An exception is Itsuki's name. Itsuki's film name is not simply a modification but a complete replacement of the original name. In the film, Itsuki is "HUA Mu", the son of the gas station owner HUA You-Yi ("Yuuichi Tachibana"). Hua Mu is fondly called "Ah Mu" by his friends. (The "Ah" prefix is also used in Tuo-Hai's name. Tuo-Hai's friends sometimes call him "Ah Hai".)

The table below contains the untouched names:

Name Japanese Pronunciation Chinese Pronunciation Played By
中里 毅 NAKAZATO Takeshi ZHōNG Lǐ-Yì 余文樂
Shawn Yue
健二 Kenji Jiàn-Èr 阿部 力
Tsuyoshi Abe
艾先生 - ÀI xiānshēng 津村 和幸
Kazuyuki Tsumura
美也 Miya Měi-Yě 田中 千絵
Chie Tanaka

In the table, "AI xiansheng" (played by Kazuyuki Tsumura) literally means "Mr. Ai". He is "Mr. X" (Natsuki's (Nataile) "papa") in the manga/anime.

Kenji in the film is radically different from Kenji in manga/anime. He almost doesn't talk in the film.

Miya, the gas station girl and Itsuki's love interest in the film, does not exist in the manga/anime. In the latter, Itsuki's love interest is Kazumi, the sister of Wataru Akiyama.

In summary, if the closing credits were to be translated, the first few entries would really be this: 

Zhong Li-Yi       Shawn Yue        (1st entry)
Gao Liang-Jie     Edison Chen
Yuan Tuo-Hai      Jay Zhou
Yuan Wen-Tai      Anthony Wong
Hua Mu [Ah Mu]    Chapman To
Jian-Er           Tsuyoshi Abe
Mu Xia-Shu        Anne Suzuki
Hua You-Yi        Kenny Bee
Cheng Qing-Ci     Will Liu
Teng Jing-Yi      Jordan Chan
  ...                ...
Mr. Ai            Kazuyuki Tsumura (16th entry)
Mei-Ye            Chie Tanaka      (17th entry)
  ...                ...

As for the names of places, they are also left untouched. Refer to the table below:

Place Name Japanese Pronunciation Chinese Pronunciation (used in the film) English
秋名山 Akina-san Qiū-Míng Shān Mount Akina
妙義(山) Myougi (san) Miào-Yì (Shān) (Mount) Myougi
群馬 Gunma Qún-Mǎ Gunma

[edit] Changes from previous versions

The movie differs from the manga and anime in several distinct ways. Some changes are significant, while others are minor.

Movie Anime/Manga/Games
Itsuki Tachibana is the spoiled brat and the son of Yuuichi Tachibana, the Gas Station manager. He is the de facto leader of the Akina Speed Stars. Koichiro Iketani is the leader of the Akina Speed Stars, while Itsuki Takeuchi (as he is named in the original series) is an employee like Takumi at the gas station, and is more of a comic relief.
Bunta Fujiwara is portrayed as an abusive, alcoholic womanizer. Bunta is portrayed as a wise and oftentimes secretive father, whom nurtures Takumi's "gift" of touge racing.
Takeshi Nakazato and Ryousuke Takahashi are in an alliance. No such alliance exists.
Team Emperor is portrayed as a Bōsōzoku gang. Team Emperor is portrayed as a semi-professional street racing team.
Itsuki tells Takumi that Natsuki Mogi is cheating on him after noticing Mogi in another man's Mercedes-Benz driving out of a Hotel. Takumi then sees Mogi in the Mercedes on the highway. An anonymous phone call following a number of anonymous notes informs Takumi that Natsuki Mogi is engaging in enjo kousai. Takumi stakes out a family restaurant and sees Mogi entering the Mercedes together with a middle aged man.
Itsuki drives a Nissan Silvia K's (S13) which he crashes and later on he drives an AE86. Itsuki mistakenly obtains a Toyota Corolla Levin SR (AE85), thinking it's an Toyota Corolla Sprinter Trueno (AE86) like Takumi's.
When Takumi's AE86 engine blows out, he slows to a stop in the middle of the road with a jerky RPM drop and electricity going out.When Takumi's AE86 engine blows out, he spins out as the RPM slowly drops and nearly falls off a cliff with the headlights still on and black marks along the front side of the car.
The tachometer was upgraded by Bunta himself a day later after the engine upgrade. The tachometer was upgraded by Takumi and Iketani after the engine upgrade and Takumi had trouble adjusting to the new engine.
The AE86's receives a carbon fibre hood when they upgrade the engine. The hood is changed to a carbon fibre hood when Takumi joins Project D.
Nakazato and Ryosuke never mention any other members of their teams Shingo is a member of the Night Kids and Keisuke is a member from Red Suns/Project D.
The Red Suns, Night Kids, Akina Speedstars, and the Emperors are the only teams. The teams also include Impact Blue, Seven Star Leaf, Todo Juku, Northern Saitama Alliance, Purple Shadow, Team 216, and Project D.
Takeshi Nakazato lost by his bad drift into hairpins and Takumi's gutter drop. Takeshi Nakazato lost by his heavy car's stress on the front wheel, and when he wanted to accelerate past him, he wheels lost grip and he spun out, hitting the guardrail. Ryosuke Takahashi was supposed to follow them, watching Takumi's racing style. Keisuke Takahashi was the one who lost to Takumi by the gutter drop.
There was a 3 car race, containing Team Emperor, Red Suns, and Takumi. In First Stage, Takumi, Ryosuke, and Nakazato were all on Akina's downhill, however Ryosuke was there as a driving spectator.
When Takumi lost to Kyouichi Sudou, it was not an official race, Kyouichi just saw him pass by and raced with him at Akina. The race was official and Takumi lost to him on Akagi because of an engine blowout, but then beats him later at Irohazaka.
Seiji Iwaki was the one who mocked Ituski's car, telling them to go home and sleep like little kids. Seiji stopped them twice along the way down, then Takumi raced against him, destroying his car. Afterwards, Itsuki pukes. Some Akina amateurs, looking for Takumi's AE86, were the one mocking Ituski's car, laughing at his AE85 at the summit of the mountain. Takumi was mad and raced against the ametures. He passed them by doing the gutter drop move. The amateurs thought they saw a ghost, since the AE85 didn't have the power to beat them. Afterwards, Itsuki was fine.
Takumi was complaining that the car was bad because of a malfunction in the braking system. Takumi was complaining about the tire's grip on the road.
Takeshi Nakazato's Nissan Skyline GT-R is a Rear Wheel drive. Takeshi Nakazato's GT-R is an All wheel drive.
Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cast

  • Minor Characters
    • Chie Tanaka - Miya (Gas station girl / Itsuki's love interest)
    • Tsuyoshi Abe - Kenji (One of the gasoline boys)
    • Kazuyuki Tsumura - Mr. X (Natsuki's "papa")

[edit] Release

Initial D was released on the June 23, 2005 in several Asian markets including Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and mainland China, where it topped the box office in its first week. The film made its North American debut at The Imaginasian Theater in New York City. It went straight to DVD in Australia on October 21, 2005. It was also released in the United Kingdom on April 28, and the Philippines on July 12, 2006.

[edit] External links

pt:Initial D (filme) zh:頭文字D (電影)

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