SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO (Mark L. Lester, 1991)

[Jox]

30 years... RIP Brandon...

[alex.sp89]

He will be missed forever... Great person and actor
Recent interview with his co -star from The Crow Ernie Hudson remembering Btandon a day before fatal incident
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ern ... 05921.html

Brandon in SILT

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[alex.sp89]

My favourite SILT is in JoBlos list of - Best Dolph Lundgren movies

https://www.joblo.com/best-dolph-lundgren-movies/

Great objective review in my opinion. It has issues but is very fun entert. movie. One of the best in the genre. I think even Dolph reconsidered it in recent years being asked so many times at conventions about it...
I wish he could do some more like this

Silt

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[alex.sp89]

I was wondering what was the deal placing Brandon Lee's name before the title in released version of SILT? I never thought that behind this move were huge money involved, lawyers and studios. Recently I watched the documentary Arnold (2023) where Jamie Lee Curtis mentions this thing when she got the co staring credit in title of TRUE LIES (1994). Well she explained a bit that this simple event it is not that easy as it looks like at the first sight. Especially in the golden age of Hollywood in 80-90s. Maybe Jox knows more about this

[Jox]

What I know is that they ended up paying Brandon Lee a lot more than what was first budgeted...

[adolphus]

I recently watched the bluray of SILT. Here some unorganized notes/reflections on this film.

-First, the opening credit sequence is taken directly from the film “The Yakuza” starring Robert Mitchum. DL’s fight with the “sumo” in the bathhouse also seems to have been inspired by a similar scene in the older movie.

-On a big tv, with the added detail of the blu-ray, the constant mugging of Brandon Lee really stuck out to me. I'm not sure how to express it, but his facial expressions made me feel almost uncomfortable at times.

-On that point, I noticed an odd bit of editing in the Bonsai Club scene. The shot is from behind DL and BL as they watch Tia Carrere perform "Slow Hand" (which perhaps counts as cultural appropriation these days). Anyway, DL is explaining to BL that TC (Minako) is the friend of the recently decapitated Angel. BL is clearly laughing and mugging in a way that doesn't match the scene at all. I'm guessing some exchange between the two of them got cut and the lines delivered by DL were overlayed on the scene.

-Thinking of that scene with Angel: more than any other, that bit of the film stuck with me over the years--decades really. And I can't be the only one either because the first three film images on imbd are from that scene! According to imdb, a longer version of the scene exists. It definitely seems like moments were cut out of it. Watching it now, I appreciate it as perverse in an over-the-top way. It's not gratuitous though, because it does develop Yoshida's character.

-What the scene says about Yoshida is that he is, of course, diabolical, but more interestingly it suggests he has a sexual hangup. When attempting to arrest him, DL mentions that Yoshida 'has trouble getting it up' and that he has 'a bad habit of filming things'. When you add those things together and connect them with a) his filming of Angel's murder and b) his playing it for Minako before he rapes her, it hints that Yoshida's sadism is something he needs to become aroused and/or he is incapable of becoming aroused in a typical way.

-What a guy Yoshida is. His English is apparently so good that he can make puns on the spot, like the line about how it “crushes” him to see Tanaka go. And his bald henchmen, who hardly speaks English in the film, laughs at the joke somehow!

-The 'Made in Japan' on the camera Yoshida uses is a nice touch and connects the film to the general fears about an ascendant Japan that were in American media at the time.

-There's a goof I think in the scene when DL and BL hijack the brewery truck. When jumping on, DL has no guns. When they get in the cab, he suddenly has two M16 rifles, one of which he hands to BL. Maybe the idea is that the guns were in the truck, but it seems off to me.

-But there’s a goof listed on imdb that is actually not a goof. It’s claimed there that in the scene when DL and BL are trapped in the car and about to be shredded, DL enters the car shirtless, then is suddenly wearing a shirt when he escapes. But this is not true. It’s very brief, but as soon as he and BL get in the car, he starts to put what looks like a sleeveless hoody. And this is what he is wearing when he escapes.

-And a question: how many times has DL gone up against the Yakuza? I can think of three. SILT, The Punisher, and Johnny Mnemonic (I think).

[Jox]

Good observations.

-First, the opening credit sequence is taken directly from the film “The Yakuza” starring Robert Mitchum. DL’s fight with the “sumo” in the bathhouse also seems to have been inspired by a similar scene in the older movie.

Absolutely, I think there are several moments that are very reminiscent of THE YAKUZA, and interestingly the working title was briefly called YAKUZA (after being SGT. K, and right before the studio came up with SILT)...

There are also some similitues with 1993's RISING SUN (I always think of it as a serious version of SILT with Sean Connery playing the role of Dolph Lundgren^^).

-And a question: how many times has DL gone up against the Yakuza? I can think of three. SILT, The Punisher, and Johnny Mnemonic (I think).

Yes, although in JM he actually is a gun for hire for the Yakuza.
(I was gonna say JOSHUA TREE / ARMY OF ONE but I believe it's the Chinese triads and not the Yakuza)

[Gunner]

-Thinking of that scene with Angel: more than any other, that bit of the film stuck with me over the years--decades really. And I can't be the only one either because the first three film images on imbd are from that scene! According to imdb, a longer version of the scene exists. It definitely seems like moments were cut out of it. Watching it now, I appreciate it as perverse in an over-the-top way. It's not gratuitous though, because it does develop Yoshida's character.

-What the scene says about Yoshida is that he is, of course, diabolical, but more interestingly it suggests he has a sexual hangup. When attempting to arrest him, DL mentions that Yoshida 'has trouble getting it up' and that he has 'a bad habit of filming things'. When you add those things together and connect them with a) his filming of Angel's murder and b) his playing it for Minako before he rapes her, it hints that Yoshida's sadism is something he needs to become aroused and/or he is incapable of becoming aroused in a typical way.

Early drafts of the screenplay for the film went even further into Yoshida's sexual perversions. In Steve Sharon's Yakuza draft, he kills Minako very brutally, but it's also implied he raped her. And in Jonathan Lemkin's draft, it's confirmed that he can't get off unless he kills the girl he is raping or having a sex with. I don't know was Angel's death scene cut even before MPAA gave the film NC-17 rating, but in Lemkin's draft he comes as soon as he cuts her head off. Also in that draft, when he starts to rape Minako, at first he can't get an erection, until he turns on the video of Angel's murder. I heard that rape scene was cut after test screenings, so maybe something like this was filmed, maybe with Tia Carrere's body double again.

And you're right about similarities between this film and Yakuza. Interestingly, even Seagal almost did a movie (remake?) based on that film, which was also titled Yakuza. It was going to be his follow up to Exit Wounds, in which he would play former FBI agent who grew up in Japan, and has to go back to save his friend's daughter who was kidnapped and sold into sex slavery by Yakuza gang. But this film was left unmade. And honestly, it was too good of a script for him anyway in my opinion.

[Jox]

The original Sydney Pollack's YAKUZA is so good...

[alex.sp89]

Brandon acted in SILT very similar as he did before in Laser Mission. Similar expressions despite the fact that Laser Mission is very terrible movie. The worst in his career, mostly because of bad music and title song, music cues, effects and stuff. If someone could re score it - sort of comedy adventure movie OST it could be much better.
This YOSHIDA character is the worst human being in the world- drug dealer, ripper, kidnapper, killer etc all bad features in the same person. It is hard to not dislike him...
Despite the fact Yakuza, Rising Sun were much more successful at box office and critics action fans watched SILT MORE OFTEN THAN PREVIOUS 2 MOVIES. SILT score is so good

[adolphus]

There are also some similitues with 1993's RISING SUN (I always think of it as a serious version of SILT with Sean Connery playing the role of Dolph Lundgren^^).

For sure, and it even has Cary Tagawa AND Tia Carrere in it too! That film is based on a Michael Crichton novel of the same name and both (film and book) are preoccupied with that moment when Japan's rise seemed unstoppable.

It's an interesting moment in history looking back and one which DL's filmography touches on at least three times. In SILT it's mostly subtext, in Punisher it's more explicit, and in Johnny Mnemonic it defines the future setting. And then a few years later Japan's economy went into recession and the topic essentially disappeared.

Now, of course, the West is preoccupied with China's rise. But this fear has not produced the same existential angst that the rise of Japan did back in the 80s/90s, and it hasn't inspired cinematic narratives like Japan did back then. I often wonder why.

Early drafts of the screenplay for the film went even further into Yoshida's sexual perversions. In Steve Sharon's Yakuza draft, he kills Minako very brutally, but it's also implied he raped her. And in Jonathan Lemkin's draft, it's confirmed that he can't get off unless he kills the girl he is raping or having a sex with. I don't know was Angel's death scene cut even before MPAA gave the film NC-17 rating, but in Lemkin's draft he comes as soon as he cuts her head off. Also in that draft, when he starts to rape Minako, at first he can't get an erection, until he turns on the video of Angel's murder. I heard that rape scene was cut after test screenings, so maybe something like this was filmed, maybe with Tia Carrere's body double again.

Wow, very interesting and extremely lurid. I mean, just thinking about that, you'd have Yoshida cumming into Angel as her headless corpse spurts blood from the neck. I'm not surprised that was cut. On the other hand, I won't lie; I wish that scene were longer. Are these scripts available online?

[Gunner]

Wow, very interesting and extremely lurid. I mean, just thinking about that, you'd have Yoshida cumming into Angel as her headless corpse spurts blood from the neck. I'm not surprised that was cut. On the other hand, I won't lie; I wish that scene were longer. Are these scripts available online?

No, they are only available amongst script traders/collectors, last i heard at least. Here are the details;

There are two drafts by Steve Sharon, however they are actually the same draft, only in different format. One is titled Yakuza, it only has Sharon's name on it, it's 110 pages long, it's listed as "Rewrite of Sgt. K", and is dated 5.6.1990. Other draft is titled Showdown In Little Tokyo, it's undated and 105 pages long, with Sharon and original writers Stephen Glantz and Caliope Brattlestreet credited for screenplay, and Glantz, Brattlestreet, Mark L. Lester and Martin Caan also have a story credit.

There are two drafts by Jonathan Lemkin that i know of. His 99 pages long production rewrite from January 2, 1991, and if i'm not mistaken, 95 pages long shooting draft from around the same time.

[alex.sp89]

Jonathan Lemkin Production Rewrite dated January,2 1991 is 95 pages long and it includes omitted car chase and shout out at sport store after Jap. bath scene. What a pity it was never filmed. Very similar to MARKED FOR DEATH, car chase and shout out at he mall - almost copy-paste stuff. This script was available on script sites for $$$ years ago. Could come on scriptslug for free soon. Original TANGO AND CASH (1989) script has been posted recently with all deleted scenes present in the trailer before they did re-shot the opening Stallone scene, stealing the opening from Jackie Chan Police Story (1985). It was theme for debates for years, today everyone can read it for free.

Sgt. K or Yakuza (not sure under what title) was on EBAY few years ago, it has a character named SUKITA in it, absent from final script , different changes.

[alex.sp89]

Actually HAPPY BIRTHDAY. SILT was released today 32 years ago

[Gunner]

Jonathan Lemkin Production Rewrite dated January,2 1991 is 95 pages long and it includes omitted car chase and shout out at sport store after Jap. bath scene. What a pity it was never filmed. Very similar to MARKED FOR DEATH, car chase and shout out at he mall - almost copy-paste stuff. This script was available on script sites for $$$ years ago. Could come on scriptslug for free soon. Original TANGO AND CASH (1989) script has been posted recently with all deleted scenes present in the trailer before they did re-shot the opening Stallone scene, stealing the opening from Jackie Chan Police Story (1985). It was theme for debates for years, today everyone can read it for free.

Sgt. K or Yakuza (not sure under what title) was on EBAY few years ago, it has a character named SUKITA in it, absent from final script , different changes.

It was Yakuza draft which was on Ebay, i still remember some of us thinking it was some other draft, only for it to turn out to be the same Steve Sharon draft that's been out there for years.

It sounds like those two Lemkin drafts are actually the same then. But again, probably due to format, one is just few pages longer. And yeah, too bad that car chase/fight scene wasn't filmed, it sounded like it was pretty fun. Showdown has pretty much anything you'd want from an action film, but it's missing a good car chase scene, so it sucks to know we almost got it, but time and budget prevented it from happening.

There was already a draft of Tango & Cash that's been available in private trading for years, so some fans already knew about how different it was, and original opening scenes. However, it's still nice to see another later draft has been found. Personally though, i'd prefer if somebody would finally find few of Feldman's unproduced specs that people have been looking for; He Who Dares, Fully Automatic, and of course, Man To Man.