Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

occodemaster Like most of the reviews said, the ONLY good thing about this movie was the driving and the cars. The stunt people they hired for this movie did a great job driving and tearing up the roads (the ONLY reason why it even got 3 stars from me). Unfortunately there wasn't even that much driving!! The cars were also almost exactly modified and painted like the anime, which I thought was pretty impressive.As for the movie, they pretty much threw the first three stages of the anime in a blender, pureed it to a bloody pulp, farted in it a few times, then poured half of it in a cup and dumped it on a film reel.(Spoilers/Things that ruined the movie) They make Bunta a complete drunken good for nothing jerk, yet ends up showing up at one of Takumi's races..Somehow they found a way to make Itsuki even more annoying.Itsuki and Kioshiro are combined as one character and Yuichi (gas station boss) is his dad..Keisuke is written out of the script and replaced by Takeshi of the Night Kids..Kazumi (Itsuki's love) is a steady worker at the gas station..Kyoichi (Evo III driver) wrecks his car by driving off of Mt. Akina and crashes it similarly to the ending of Tokyo Drift..ALL the races take place on Akina.

shinchrono Before I begin, I must note that I am an enormous fan of the Anime and Manga series that this movie was based on, with it influencing much of my adolescent life (and purchase of an FD RX-7, for better or for worse...).And unexpectedly, like most fans of the series I was horrified by the many changes made by the movie adaptation, not limited to the re-characterization of Bunta, the complete omission of Keisuke and his FD, and the squashing together of many important plot points in the Manga (although this was expected, of course).However, upon another recent viewing of the movie I realized that the changes made result in a strong reinterpretation of the series, rather than a faithful adaptation. Some changes are certainly questionable (Itsuki as the son comes to mind) but the removal of characters (Iketani, Keisuke, etc.) ensures that an uninitiated viewer wouldn't be overwhelmed or confused by some unnecessary characters.Most important, however, is that by placing emphasis on the parallels between the lives Bunta and Takumi, the movie has given Initial D a dramatic edge that may have been diluted in the long-running manga. Without revealing too much, it suffices to say that the movie becomes a story of a Takumi realizing that the things he loves may not be able to co-exist, and whether he likes it or not he'll have to make the same choice his father made so many years ago. While the conflict within Takumi's mind is hardly made complex (Jay Chou's stone-faced acting hardly helps), I'm glad the movie unfolds the way it does. Many fans were upset that the inclusion of the final scene was placed so far ahead of where it belongs in the original story, but in retrospect, it belongs exactly where it should.Of course, the movie is hardly perfect, and here are some of my biggest gripes as a hardcore Initial D fan:-The music has its nice moments but the soundtrack as a whole should have been played up more and given more consideration, as that is arguably one of the strongest aspects of the Anime. -Not enough emphasis was placed on giving the viewer a sense of the skill involved in Takumi's drifting style. From small things such as showing how close his car gets to the guardrail to simply showing the camera facing inward (toward the front of the car/guardrail) rather than the direction the car is traveling would have added a great deal to the races. -Too many quick pauses and strange, amateurish slow motion cuts. -The CG events, while rare, are horribly unconvincing.All in all, the movie is certainly worth a watch. While it isn't incredible, nor will it win over any die-hard fans, the way the plot has been crafted lends itself to a very entertaining and worthwhile movie without all of the ridiculous pretentiousness of the Fast and the Furious series.

Darrell Wong (dkw001) It would've been so easy.Just do the stupid, obvious thing.You're Hong Kong cinema. You're attempting to cram 17 manga volumes worth of material into about two hours, and with a limited cast and budget. You have no idea what made the source material great or how the fans of the manga are going to take it.MAKE IT ALL ABOUT RACING. *Not* a pathetic drunken loser of a father, *not* an extremely minor subplot involving an extremely minor girlfriend that somehow keeps getting hashed to death, *not* a mischaracterization of Itsuki ten times worse than the most inept anime bungling. Racing and people who race.The regrettably sparse driving scenes are by far the most entertaining part of the movie. Even Takumi's solo runs were fun to watch, and the incredible three-way battle at the end has to be seen to be believed. In between these, we get a depressing amount of tedious drama involving characters far too cardboard to give a damn about.So, so easy. Pretend you've never heard of Natsuki or circling the water and give us two hours of spectacular, unbelievable racing action. Why couldn't it have been that?

vivisi I haven't read any Initial D manga, and frankly, hadn't heard of it until a friend asked to watch this movie, thus cannot comment on the accuracy of the story. But after watching the movie for the 10th time, I can freely say the movie is a must-see for car lovers, and goes beyond Hollywood fake races, which makes speed and fancy cars seem more important than the driver's ability. The actors did a great job, too, specially Bunta Fujiwara (Takumi's father), who plays hilarious scenes. Not to mention the Soundtrack, which is great add to the competition scenes.