Showdown in Little Tokyo

Chris Kenner (Dolph Lundgren) grew up in Japan and he learnt the Asian martial art in his youth. In the Asian district of Los Angeles he again met the man who had once killed his parents. Meanwhile they both worked it up a nice way but each in different direction. Kenner works as a special agent, killer Yoshida promotes to a boss of local family of some Japanese maffia which is run by rituals of obedience and killing. Now the maffia has a plan to get new drug to a market and uses a brewery and a night club as a disguise. Before both leading characters encounter, the scene is often changed but the action is more or less the same. The simple motto is "take off the rival" either by fists or by a weapon.

Have you ever heard the name Brandon Lee? Yes, he is the son of famous Bruce Lee and he follows in his father's footsteps. We can learn more about this young actor in the interview for Video Plus magazine.

Video Plus: You were born in Oakland but grew up in Hong Kong. Do you feel like Asian?
Brandon Lee: No, I'm American. Though all my friends were Chinese when I was a child I used to fly with my parents between California and Hong Kong. Thus I missed Halloween several times which I was really sorry for.

VP: Bruce Lee died when you were eight years old. Were you already connected with your father at the time?
Lee: Yes, there was at least one boy in every school who defied me to the fight. I had to beat him up so the others left me alone.

VP: Did your father teach you how to fight?
Lee: Yes, it happened the natural way. I learned some techniques as soon as I could walk. There still has been some connection between us because Danny Inosanto continues my training. He is one of his students who uses the method "make the best of useful, ignore all useless and put your personality in."

VP: What is the difference between the movie fight and the real street-fight?
Lee: Real fight scenes would be too fast for camera so it is necessary to adapt certain things. Even my father thought that it wasn't too smart to want to use hips in the real fight because you can get rival's head much faster with hands. It must look good in the movie, in real life man doesn't need any choreography.

VP: How do you see yourself in Hollywood?
Lee: As a student. My aim is to make a movie after its finishing one doesn't have to spend three weeks in hospital. The problem is that fight movies are always somehow connected with a vengeance. There are about four different stories which are repeated continuously.

VP: Which stars do you respect?
Lee: Steven Seagal for his choreographies and then Chuck Norris and Jackie Chan. Otherwise I like Brando, DeNiro and Tom Hanks and John Malkovich from the younger generation.

-mar-

SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO
USA 1991. Directed by Mark L. Lester. Starring: Dolph Lundgren, Brandon Lee, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Tia Carrere. Running time: 76 minutes.

Parabola 48/1992

Translated by Arwen with kind help of Monika.


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