The Shuto Kousoku Trial / Freeway Speedway / Megalopolis Expressway film series spanned eight years and six films. The title of the previous film ‘Shuto Kousoko Trial 5: The Final Battle‘ seemed like the end, but four years later, this direct-to-video flick ended the influential series.
For those who are fans of racing, classic JDM cars, drifting or Japanese race car god Keiichi Tsuchiya, these films are really what started it all. Years before the Fast & Furious film series, there was Shuto Kousoko Trial and one wouldn’t exist without the other.
This instalment might seem familiar. Angry young man Shikiba Tatsuya is the Shuto Kousoko champion in his Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R. Shikiba drives to Osaka to challenge the local Kanjō champion Sendo in his Toyots Supra. They both wreck and Shikiba end up in the hospital with a broken leg. The films do hammer home the “Street racing bad! Circuit racing good!” message a little much. By this point, the plot and redemption arc are predictable. But at least the cars are cool!
Everyone tells Shikiba that he has to give up street racing, and his pretty girlfriend even asks him “How did it feel killing your friend?”. Shikiba is taken to see Keiichi Tsuchiya, the real-life Japanese race car driver who produced the last 5 movies in this series. Tsuchiya must have some skeletons in his closet, because he spent nearly a decade trying to convince young Japanese men that street racing (like Tsuchiya himself used to compete in) is foolish, dangerous and reckless.
Determined to be a street racing legend, Shikiba says he will race the Shuto Kousoku one more time in his purple R34 GT-R. He challenges the local champ, and we’re treated to a Rocky-esque training and wrenching montage. Shikiba overcomes his fear, adapts his racing style, and wins. A champion once again, Shikita later returns to the circuit to challenge Keiichi Tsuchiya.
While the movie preaches against street racing, the visuals are stunning, and must have been very appealing to youngsters at the time. The talk of becoming legends of street racing seems perfectly Japanese. But the movie really runs out of steam. The characters are terribly forgettable, and the flashback-heavy structure of the film actually makes it difficult to follow. After the initial race, there’s much melodrama about the protagonists friend tragically dying in a street race, yet both challengers appear in the same hospital. So, who died?
Apparently, Shuto Kousoku Trial 6 was never released in Japan. Just watch the movie and it’s quite obvious that roads were not closed to traffic during the niht racing scenes. Japanese authorities did not look the other way this time, and blocked release, putting a sorry end to the underground street racing series.
The protagonists character arc is completed when Shikiba realizes the futility of street racing, but only after gaining legendary startus as a champion. He then returns to a circuit to challenge legendary Keiichi Tsuchiya to race in a Honda NSX, and the movie ends with pair drifting around the circuit.
The series was very uneven. In retrospect, the first movie in the series was a serious high point. And ‘Shuto Kousoku Trial 3‘ was the most visually stunning. But the plot lines became repetitive, and the moral of the story that that the “Street racing bad! Circuit racing good!” seemed entirely disingenuous considering how the Shuto Kousoko Trial series glamourize the very actions it preaches against.
But as gearheads, we give the series two thumbs up and cannot recommend them highly enough!