Amazon.co.uk Review
Showdown in Little Tokyo is a 1991 martial arts action comedy which, in pitting Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee as LA cops against Japanese drug dealers, plays like a B-movie
Tango and Cash or
Lethal Weapon 2 (both released just two years before). Between career highs in
Rocky IV (1985) and
Universal Soldier (1992) it looked as if Lundgren might make it big at the box-office, and clearly wanting to be the new Schwarzenegger he is here directed by Mark L Lester, who had earlier helmed Arnie's
Commando (1985). In the event both actor and director headed for straight-to-video territory. The 75-minute running time suggests the studio lost confidence and seriously cut the movie though, as the space between the action is filled with nothing but cringe-inducing dialogue, thriller clichés and Lundgren "romancing" Tia Carrere, it still makes sense. Basing its title on John Carpenter's 1986 fantasy-comedy
Big Trouble in Little China and anticipating
Rush Hour (1998),
Showdown in Little Tokyo alternates between crude tongue-in-cheek moments and action so ludicrous it's unintentionally hilarious . A camp disaster which simply defies belief, this is stupidly entertaining so-bad-its-good six-pack entertainment.
On the DVD: There are no extras other than the trailer. The anamorphically enhanced 1.77:1 image offers a good transfer of a grainy print. The stereo sound is clear but for a modern action film seriously lacks impact: gunshots sound like a paper bag popping. --Gary S Dalkin
Synopsis
Los Angeles has become a nightmare of murder and corruption and the police seem powerless to stop it. A martial arts expert and his partner join together to take on the big crimelord.