What is it about criminal masterminds? Even in Japan, they can’t just kill off the hero with a point-blank gunshot to the head. Instead they string him up to elaborate yet escape-able death traps, such as this runaway Toyota that is both silver-hued and topical.
However, in this case we are at a loss to explain exactly how Yusaku Matsuda frees himself from this KE30 Corolla Goldberg murder device. Teleportation? Sheer badassery? Maybe he could give Prius driver James Sikes a pointer or two. Watch this clip from Detective Story and see for yourself.
Poor Sgt. Daimon. It seems that no matter what TV series he’s in, he is always called upon to dispatch a ridiculously over-armed bad guy with a single shot worthy of Vasily Zaytsev, after which he must solemnly watch their last gasps from behind his aviator shades. (more…)
You know the drill. Bad guys with a militia’s worth of weapons, explosives lobbed from a truck, hapless black and whites led to the slaughter. It could only be another episode of Seibu Keisatsu. This time, a small twist. Instead of the customary Nissan Cedrics it’s mostly yonmeri Skylines that make up the patrol car fodder, and Detective Tatsu rather than Sergeant Daimon saves the day.
Another week, another Seibu Keisatsu clip. This time the squad takes down a truckload of illegal arms at the expense of a whole lot of 130, 230 and 330 Nissan Cedrics. This appears to take place early in the series, before Sgt Daimon gets his gullwing S130 or R30 Skylines. But perps be warned: Z or not, he wil intercept you at the roadblock and shoot you in the face.
If I remember correctly, I learned to drive in a second-generation Chevy Cavalier. If only my driving school taught spin turns in an S60 Toyota Crown. We don’t know what this clip is from, in which an exasperated driving instructor rides shotgun with a parade of bad students. The important thing is that there’s plenty of driving shots of said kujira and a cameo by a Fairlady Roadster to boot. Clicky click the image to watch the vid.
Don your headbands, hang your friends out your side windows and get ready for Shakotan Boogie. In 1987 Japan apparently made a movie out of the manga that celebrates the bosozoku lyfe. Plot points include cross-cultural drag racing that ends in some hard-to-watch hakosuka and F-body carnage, but the parade of boso’ed cars is worth the suffering. There are more Japanese lowriders than you can shake a takeyari exhaust at — Soarers, Cedrics, Glorias, Crowns, Skylines, and even some other not-so-boso cars like an AW11 MR2 and Honda CR-X.
Anyone who can name all the cars in this clip will win either an Apple iPad or our eternal admiration (prize to be determined).
Here is Japanese comedy troupe Katoken in a sketch about driving lessons behind the wheel of a four-door Toyota Starlet. Hilarity and havoc ensue. Surprisingly, there appears to be a Pontiac Fiero GT at one point. It escapes unscathed. However, the same cannot be said for unfortunate JNC reader favorites like the Mitsubishi Sigma and Mazda 626 at the end.
A runaway city bus careens through the streets after the driver is shot. The police can’t do anything for fear of triggering the explosive device stowed on board. Only one renegade cop can leap onto the bus from another moving vehicle as they charge past swarms of patrol cars.
You might think this is the plot of the 1994 blockbuster Speed, but no. Our favorite Japanese cop show, Seibu Keisatsu, came up with this premise decades before Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock made puppy eyes at each other at 55 miles per hour.
The only thing missing is an insane, one-armed Dennis Hopper but hey, there’s a Hino dump truck and a metric buttload of Nissan Cedrics, so, fair trade?
Embedding was disabled for this clip so you’ll need to click on the image above to watch the video.
I rented the Hong Kong action-comedy Mad Mission II from the local video store back in the 80s. This was when I lived in Texas and it was the first Hong Kong movie I’d ever seen, lured by the VHS box’s promise of crazy vehicular stunts. It delivered. Hilarity ensued. And I watched the fleet of Jaguar XJ6s pursue the hero in his yellow A40 Toyota Celica (perhaps the same one from the Norwegian milk ad?) over and over again. I had completely forgotten about it until TSiSS350 posted this link. Thanks for bringing back memories!
We’ve posted on another Hong Kong flick featuring J-tin before, but given that city’s penchant for churning out action packed movies there’s probably a lot more out there. Click through for a brief scene involving a Datsun Sunny as well. (more…)
“On the horizon, a sweet graceless creature appears, a Datsun 100A, propelled by a cloud of dust.” This is the description of the Finnish art film called Up and About Again, in which said Datsun meanders through some kind of 10-minute artistic statement too abstract for us to get. Those more trained in the ways of modern art can learn more here.
