Best "American in Asia" movies?

Submitted by Ebbemonster t3_10pz5r8 in movies

Throughout film history "The East" has been portraited as place of mystery with everything from martial arts and spirituality to bodily pleasures and strange traditions. I have always enjoyed watching movies about "clueless" westerners diving into the rich Asian cultures and the Asian underworld, whether it was Bill Murray being lost in translation in Tokyo, or Van Damme participating in a dangerous secret tournament in Hong Kong. So...

Which are your favorite movies about Americans being lost in Asia?

It is also OK to include movies that take place in Chinatown, Little Tokyo or the likes :)

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NuovaFromNowhere t1_j6mw86a wrote

Lost in Translation

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astrodruid t1_j6mx48w wrote

Came to say this. I can feel the characters’ culture shock.

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NuovaFromNowhere t1_j6my5z8 wrote

Right! And it’s not all hammed up. Except for Bill Murray on the elliptical 😭

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6n0xs8 wrote

Black Rain - Michael Douglas and the Yakuza!

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TheDadThatGrills t1_j6mxydy wrote

Giri/Haji on Netflix is technically a limited series that plays out as an eight-hour film. It swaps residents from Tokyo & London for nearly the entirety of its runtime.

5/5 stars, one of the best things I've ever watched on the streamer.

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6n0922 wrote

Looks super interesting! It looks similar to the Tokyo Vice series.

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TheDadThatGrills t1_j6n1b3g wrote

Many similarities :) really hope you give it a shot, watched it years ago and it still sticks in my brain

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6n22m6 wrote

I will check it out for sure. As I said, I live the genre 😍

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Cruitire t1_j6n0cxw wrote

Crazy Rich Asians.

The main character, although Asian, is still primarily American and is basically discovering her own ancestry and culture by going to Asian to meet her fiancé’s family. It’s a far more interesting premise than some white dude being shocked by Asian culture as someone so out of place. Rather its about someone who should fit in, but doesn’t, and being surrounded by people who look like her and that she can to some degree relate to, but who don’t accept her just the same. It’s incredibly well done.

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nirensoguen t1_j6o85tu wrote

I mean the movie was made for white people

Western educated good asian woman goes to asia to teach those backward soulless savages who only care about money how to be human

Exactly how hollywood sees "asians" (takes place in singapore, everybody is east asian, except the male lead of course, can't have him be fully asian, full straight asian men aren't allowed to exist in hollywood)

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timojenbin t1_j6orphy wrote

Wow. The director and 2 of the scripters are Asian, as are ~95% of the cast. That alone makes it non-hollywood.

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PoppysPen t1_j6mx0vz wrote

Mr. Baseball, starring Tom Selleck

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dalsiandon t1_j6n2gni wrote

This was what came to my mind first. Glad I'm not the only one who thought of it.

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nephewsucks t1_j6n387v wrote

Not a movie, but Tokyo Vice on HBO max was fucking awesome. I ended up loving it so much. Highly recommended

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6n5eba wrote

The atmosphere and dive into the Japanese work culture was spot on! Cannot wait for season 2.

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nephewsucks t1_j6n5w3i wrote

Didn’t know about a second season. Great to hear

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6n6zl8 wrote

Untill then I think the Rising Sun is the closest you will get 😊

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MaxPower-Roberts t1_j6nx6fy wrote

Please, it is obviously Lucas Black in Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift

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trashbagbody t1_j6mxcuf wrote

The Ramen Girl

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6n1jey wrote

True, though I remember Brittany Murphy being a bit too much. I have a hard time abstracting from her voice.

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6mv2pd wrote

Showdown in Little Tokyo - An American who grew up in Japan and a Japanese, who grew up in the USA, have to stop the Japanese from selling drugs. It is a fun twist on the genre, where the Japanese guy learns about Japanese culture.

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OzymandiasKoK t1_j6mykbb wrote

Brandon Lee also has to say a line where he talks about how big Dolph's dick is.

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6n1p5c wrote

Ha ha, I hope the joke wasn't too culturally inappropriate...

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OzymandiasKoK t1_j6n6say wrote

Depends on your feelings on "Kenner, just in case we get killed, I wanted to tell you, you have the biggest dick I've ever seen on a man" might be.

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6mvh63 wrote

Rising Sun - Sean Connery as a Japan expert, who is full of amazingly funny quotes 👌 John Connor: The Japanese have a saying, "Fix the problem, not the blame." Find out what's fucked up and fix it. Nobody gets blamed.

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kjhwkejhkhdsfkjhsdkf t1_j6nmyvi wrote

That's a great example of being lost in Asia in the middle of an American city. If you haven't read the book, it expands a lot more on the background stuff which I found really interesting, especially in historical context of 30 years ago when it was predicted that Japan would soon be the dominant global power, at least culturally and economically.

Also the premise of the movie is actually quite topical, even if the technology is dated, as it revolves around essentially a deepfake.

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6mvran wrote

Rush Hour 2 - Chris Tucker in Hong Kong! 😂

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Blackfist01 t1_j6p2nkx wrote

"I can't believe i flew 10 thousand miles for this shit!!" ~ Carter. 😂

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6mvvsz wrote

Kate - The recent Netflix flick, where Kate has to fight her way through the Tokyo underworld!

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6n2wft wrote

Bloodsport - Probably my favorite martial arts movie of all time!

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the_greasy_one t1_j6n9thi wrote

You beat me to the Bloodsport joke... also, technically it was in Kowloon City which gives it some merit.

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Teagrish t1_j6n5d1y wrote

7 years in Tibet

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OkGround6783 t1_j6n9wst wrote

Weirdly enough, a lot of Toho monster films films. Notably Godzilla Final Wars and a lot of the Nick Dean-Eiji Tsuburaya collaborations

Any movie where the Asian film studios hire an American actor to "American" the shit out of everything is great.

Their stereotypes about us are as hilariously crazy as our stereotypes about them and it brings a smile to my face

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cmirsch t1_j6p5esx wrote

Karate Kid II :)

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weatherbeknown t1_j6mvuco wrote

3 Ninjas Kickback. Rocky, Colt, and TumTum are put to the test in Japan to help save their Grandpa from a life long rivalry and hidden treasure. While in Japan, Rocky meets a girl far more suited for him than Lisa D Murino back home. Colt learns to control his anger and short fuse, being humbled in the process by losing to a girl (same girl Rocky likes) in a martial arts tournament. And TumTum shows zero growth at all and still just makes one liners and eats candy. Also all three play on the same baseball team even though wildly different in age. And Colt throws a ninja ball into the barrel of a gun from across a room. This movie also throws a dash of female empowerment into it by having Rocky’s crush beat up the baseball bullies from the beginning of the movie. Nothing says taking the high ground like beating people up!

A classic of our time. Also the song that plays while they are in the car seeing Japan for the first time slaps something fierce.

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6mw7b8 wrote

I remember the movie from back in the 90s, but it also seems the movie has gotten a lot of hate since then on IMDB 😭

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weatherbeknown t1_j6mwhnb wrote

Haters gonna hate. And don’t use IMDB for anything of value. It’s become nothing more than an ad machine.

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6mwyy2 wrote

How so? It is not like the IMDB Top 250 is full of Amazon movies.

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6n0ozp wrote

Saigon (1988) - With Willem Dafoe who has to solve a murder mystery.

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6n19xi wrote

Big in Japan (2014) - An unsuccessful punk band goes to Japan to become big! They go through a lot of special cultural aspects of the Japanese culture 😊

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GizmoBeans t1_j6n28c4 wrote

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6n2s0g wrote

So true! I wonder what Indians think of the movie...

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6n5jyj wrote

The Beach - With Leo... I guess...?

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Mr_Tough_Guy t1_j6nd0ap wrote

Maybe not my favourite but I didn’t see it mentioned yet, A Prayer Before Dawn (2017). Definitely worth a watch.

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MrWednsday t1_j6npm50 wrote

Not americans, but...

Empire of The Sun? I think bale character is british. Does that matter?

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timojenbin t1_j6osgdi wrote

Empire of the Sun, is a great example as it's from the pov of a boy whose both clueless and savvy through the whole of it.

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NotSoNiceO1 t1_j6mwz9u wrote

Lost in Asian? Dude . . . The Hangover II

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6mzwh1 wrote

Rambo 4: The second best Rambo movie 😍

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Yowz3rs87 t1_j6n0mqu wrote

If you watch it backwards, it’s about a magical gun that puts people back together.

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6n26wp wrote

The Protector - Jackie Chan's least child friendly movie! It is a buddy cop movie, where they even go to a massage parlour....

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Ebbemonster OP t1_j6mwv8o wrote

The King of Kickboxers

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