Hops and Box Office Flops: ‘SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO’

Samurai Cop

Showdown in Little Tokyo is indisputably a bad movie, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a heck of a lot of fun.

Starring Dolph Lundgren as Sgt. Chris Kenner and Brandon Lee as his partner Johnny Murata, it desperately wants to be Lethal Weapon. Unfortunately, it lacks the wit, charm, and overall directing acumen that film had.

Instead, this is a low budget 90s flick with a seedy aesthetic that rises above its mediocre quality because of some insane, though unintentionally hilarious, scenes.

Seriously folks, the way the villain bites it in this movie is one of the all-time great cinema deaths.

All that said, this movie tanked. That wasn’t entirely its own fault. WB, who produced it, hated Showdown in Little Tokyo, releasing it in under 200 theaters domestically and butchering the original edit.

With such low distribution stateside and internationally, it was destined to fail. Boasting a budget of just $8 million, that shouldn’t have been the case. There’s a bathhouse fight, for Pete’s sake.

Anyway, sit back, cut the top off a Kirin Ichiban, and if the bathhouse is rocking, don’t bother knocking! I, the Thunderous Wizard (@WriterTLK), Capt. Cash, and Chumpzilla are playing pin the katana on Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa!

This Week’s Segments:

Introduction/Plot Breakdown – One’s a warrior. One’s a wiseguy. They’re two Los Angeles cops going after Japan’s top mobster…Feet first! (00:00)
Lingering Questions – After a word from our brothers in beer at Hop Nation USA, we discuss the most gnarly death of “B-List Action Star Flops.” (49:00)
The “Double Team” Trivia Challenge – The Double Turn Podcast wins the Samurai Sword Death Match, and then I challenge the field to trivia about the movie. (1:00:20)
Recommendations – We offer our picks for the week and next up: We begin “Hops and Pandemic Flops” with the much maligned The Happening! (1:10:22)

And, as always, hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram to check out all the interesting factoids—the glory of this film’s ending and more—from this week’s episode!

You can find this episode of Hops and Box Office Flops on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, Acast, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Vurbl, and Amazon Music!