MOVIES: Megalopolis Expressway Trial

[BadMouth]

This is a 1988 Japanese movie that fans of Initial D & Wangan Midnight might want to check out.
The roots of both those series are here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalopolis_Expressway_Trial

Forum rules prevent me from posting a link to the full movie here,
though it's easily found under the name Shuto Kousoku Trial

This was listed as a trailer, but it seems more a slow pace collection of scenes.
It's the closest thing to a trailer I could find.



I enjoyed the first one. 
It's the usual Japanese formula of guy races, guy stops racing, someone less talented gets hurt racing, guy has to race again to avenge their friend.
As far as I know the formula started with this movie.

The movie was banned for glamorizing street racing.  The following movies in the series were straight to video and get progressively worse as the makers tried to appease the government.  The second one has an anti-street racing message and by the third one, they are only driving fast if someone is being rushed to the hospital! 

The first one is worth a watch.  The second and third I'd only recommend if you want to see how bad they are.
There were a few more after the third, but I haven't watched them.