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The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Another delightfully cheesy action movie from the guy who brought us COMMANDO and CLASS OF 1999. SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO is full of clichés from start to finish, contains an incredibly poor script, bad acting, and tons of gratuitous sex and violence. It's the classic action B-movie, absolutely hilarious in places without meaning to be, and a lot of fun with it because it's just so bad. There is no plot to this film. Lundgren and Lee are two nominal policeman, partnered up in a fight against a Japanese drug lord. The whole film consists of them battling the Japanese in one way or another. There is no police presence in this film, no other characters apart from the bad guys, the good guys, and the love interest. The script is full of dumb, occasionally offensive one-liners which nevertheless add up to make this an entertaining experience.Lester goes out of his way to deliver as much adult entertainment as he possibly can. Thus we get naked hookers being beheaded, tons of naked women around at every possible moment, Tia Carrera's body double being brought out at every opportunity. The violence is just as extreme, with people getting impaled, slashed, stabbed, gutted, having their little finger cut off, plus tons of shooting and the like. The destruction level is high. Buildings explode and burn to the ground, people are thrown through tables and windows. There's a ton of heavy weaponry and plenty of exciting martial arts fight sequences, with all the violent neck-breaking you could ever want.One of the fun things about this film is watching all the mistakes and inconsistencies play out. My favourite scenes are the dummy in the car crusher and the fight at the end, where Lundgren gets shot through the heart and shrugs off the bullet. Acting-wise, Lundgren and Lee put in extremely poor performances. Yet they kick a lot of ass all the way through the film, which is the main thing. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa has a ball as the slimy, reptilian villain Yoshida – in fact he did so well in it he spent a career copying this character in many straight-to-video movies throughout the '90s. Tia Carrera is hopeless in her debut. Generally, this film is a lot of fun, despite it being shallow, brainless, clichéd, and unsurprising. Yet once in a while it's nice to sit back and chill out in front of a guy film like this.

About eight years ago, I posted a different, rosier review of SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO. I was new to the B-movie martial arts scene and it was the first Dolph Lundgren vehicle I had ever watched, leading to a very favorable analysis of the movie, but after viewing many subsequent offerings of the same subgenre, my impression has become more balanced and critical. SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO is still a fun action outing and definitely among Lundgren's best, but it hasn't aged particularly well and has lost some of its ability to satisfy beyond the appreciation of turophiles.The story: Two renegade cops – played by Lundgren and Brandon Lee – investigating organized crime in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo take on a deadly Yakuza faction.Disregarding any other entertainment value, the main reason for seeing the film is the team-up between Lundgren and Lee. The two have a degree of chemistry and are fun to watch, and it's neat to see both of their distinctive styles of action play out within the same movie. However, even though Lee had just come off the dreadful LASER MISSION and does well enough for himself here, their collaboration is definitely more to the benefit of Dolph, who plays the straight man to Lee's comic relief and is presented as more culturally Asian than the character played by Bruce Lee's son. This (potentially) unintentional display of vanity sets the tone for a level of goofiness throughout the film that fits well with the action standard of yesteryear but won't necessarily appeal to viewers who have since learned that even comic book-style movies can be played seriously. Nothing against the script, but fewer jokes and less idolization of the archetypical action hero would have helped its legacy.The action content, focused on hand-to-hand fighting, is satisfying. This is probably the most martial arts that Lee performs in any movie other than RAPID FIRE, and even Lundgren lives up to his "karate man" image better than usual. The fact that the cast and stunt ensemble are packed with action regulars – from James Lew to Gerald Okamura – makes it a little disappointing that more of the fight scenes aren't showstoppers, but we get at least two pretty memorable bouts in the showdown between Lee and henchman Toshihiro Obata and the swordfight featuring Lundgren and supervillain Cary Tagawa. Lundgren's home invasion is likewise particularly satisfying as a rounded action scene, and the bath house brawl is memorable for several reasons. Retrospectively, it's disappointing that future action heroine Tia Carrere is relegated to damsel here, but she does what she can with the role and is given the welcome opportunity to contribute to the soundtrack.I still recommend this one to action fans, though more as a means of getting in on some nostalgia than as witnessing an objectively great adrenaline vehicle. Even with all its faults, SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO is worth an investment, and fans of either of the leading men will have an incomplete collection without this one. Check it out.

this movie i saw this movie Showdown in Little Tokyo when i was 5 years old and then when i turned 15 i watched because when i was kid i love Action Movies so much even Today i Still Love them so i am got Into Dolph Lundgren in 2010 when Expendables come out i got into Dolph Lundgren Rented all his movies. then i saw this Movie i Remember it Now then i enjoy watching this movie Action Packed,Fast Placed,Good Shot of Filming and Brandon Lee R.I.P Rest in Peace Lost a very good Action Star who did just 5 Movies sad so sad losing a very good Action Star Brandon Lee (Johnny Murata) is not main character the main character is Dolph Lundgren (Sgt. Kenner)and i like the Villain he was Entering and fun Villain Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa(Funekei Yoshida)and the Action Scenes were Awesome and Funny Johnny play as Wise Cop and Trying to help Kenner then Kenner tells Johnny that his story what happened orphaned as a child as his father was in the service and was killed and lived in Japan. Now he is on the trail of ruthless Yakuza leader named Yoshido, who helped establish a small Japanese area in Los Angeles and is now running a drug ring disguised as a brewery. so then Dolph is trying to find the guy who killed his Family and as Character Dolph was funny and Awesome when he fights in pool with big Japanese guy in fighting in water that was a very cool shoot in movie Very cool and Showdown at end when Dolph and Cary was fighting in sword fight was amazing and funny when Dolph was saving the girl from Suicide was awesome him breaking into house then killed bad guys quickly and saving girl that was awesome people say terrible acting Terrible movie screw what screw that if your into Martial Arts and Kicking Ass Non Stop Action movie ever made you will enjoy this movie Brandon Lee was missed could be more franchise of Showdown In Little something ? like 2nd movie this movie is Awesome that's all i can say in my Review.

After proving his ability to be an action star from Red Scorpion (1988), The Punisher (1989) and Dark Angel (1990), someone got the bright idea to pair up Dolph Lundgren with famous martial arts star Bruce Lee's son, Brandon Lee. I'm going to assume this was director Mark L. Lester's idea because he's worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger before from Commando (1985). He must have enjoyed working with Schwarzenegger so much he needed to make another action film starring another foreign born 6 foot giant with big muscles. But adding to this special film was the casting of Brandon Lee who was added for good measure.Both Lee and Lundgren follow the typical character arcs that most action films contain - the leads work by their own standards and consider themselves above the law, they also don't get along with others. But here's what's different, the two cops don't stay at odds for a lengthy amount of time so that particular element doesn't last very long to begin with. Doing this allows the companionship between them to grow better and stronger and this shows. Lundgren and Lee give their characters a lot of energy (and use it I might add) throughout the film. Plus, to make things even more backwards was having the characters' backgrounds switched. Having Lundgren's character born and raised in Japan and Lee's character raised like an immigrant in America was clever. This enforced the funny tongue and cheek dialog between them which makes it enjoyable to watch. That particular element, the writing, I found to be written well. Together, these two "officers" of the law are trying to rid L.A. of the vicious Yakuza of Japan led by Yoshida (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa). Tagawa was a great choice as the leader, he has a truly menacing presence when he's on screen. It's also appropriate that he plays that role because Tagawa is Japanese. Though it is funny how this isn't the first time Lundgren has fought the Yakuza either. He also did it in The Punisher (1989),...do they have something against him?Like any Dolph Lundgren movie though, there's bound to be plenty of fist and gunfights. And Brandon Lee? Yeah, no bad guy is going to live in this movie. What may surprise people even more is how heavy some of the action scenes are. Apparently the 79 minutes of running time was the cut version, meaning the uncut version was much heavier (lengthier too). It actually stunned me a little to see such a lighthearted duo face off against such a brutal enemy. Tango & Cash (1989) was rated R but even the violence there was light compared to this. That's not to say it wasn't entertaining - far from it. I also liked David Michael Frank's score to the film. It's definitely no orchestra but he creates a main theme for the film and even it gives it a Japanese like feel to it, which was much appreciated.Going back to the running time though, this movie should've been left uncut for release. The movie plays out very well yet the story feels so rushed like there were parts that were supposed to be included in the story (which their were, but were cut). This film could have had that and its frustrating when a good film is lowered in quality when the important parts are cut. Perhaps audiences could have seen even more development between Lee and Lundgren, that way this duo would be just as memorable as any other buddy cop duo. It's not to say they acted badly but there's always room to grow.The leads are charismatic, the action is heavy and the writing is clever. Unfortunately, viewers may feel short-handed when it comes to running time due to all the cuts the MPAA wanted.