Megalopolis Expressway Trial
Japanese street-racing film series banned at home, influential abroad.
Megalopolis Expressway Trial (首都高速トライアル, Shuto kōsoku toraiaru) is a series of five Japanese films about illegal highway racing on the Shuto Expressway, released between 1988 and 1996. The first film was released theatrically by Nikkatsu in 1988, and the sequels were direct-to-video. In North America, an English-subtitled DVD version was released in 2004 under the title *Freeway Speedway*, capitalizing on the success of *The Fast and the Furious*; the fourth DVD included the tagline "before there was The Fast And The Furious, there was Freeway Speedway." No 2007 re-release titled *Tokyo Speedway: The Complete Collection* is supported. The DVD edition was also available in Hong Kong but not in Japan.
The films were produced during a notorious era of street racing dominated by the Mid Night Club. Car magazines freely covered illegal races until they were banned from doing so. In the mid-1990s, Western media began reporting on the Bōsōzoku, and in the 2000s, a popular American street racing video game series was named *Midnight Club* after them.
The first film, produced by Nikkatsu, was released in Japanese cinemas. From the first sequel onward, former street racer and professional driver Keiichi Tsuchiya became involved, and the series adopted an anti–street racing message. The series became a semi-biographical account of Tsuchiya, partly based on his experience as a hashiriya (the local term for "street racer") and his decision to quit street racing for professional racing.
After the first film, the series was released under Toei Company's V-Cinema line, meaning all subsequent installments were direct-to-video. These films are known to have influenced the manga *Wangan Midnight* and Hong Kong cinema's *Legend of Speed*, though claims of influencing *Ridge Racer* and *Midnight Club* are speculative and not established as widely-known canon. The phrase "shutokō battle" is not a line of dialogue in the fourth film; it is the title of a separate video game series.
**Plot Summary**
**Megalopolis Expressway Trial (1988)** Street racers challenge each other to beat the speed record held by an F1 driver.
Quick Facts
- Starring
- Keiichi Tsuchiya / Gitan Ōtsuru / Yumiko Okayasu / Daisuke Nagakura / Arthur Kuroda / Kazuhiko Nishimura / Ikuo Fukada / Toshihiko Sakakibara / Keika Miyamoto / Masaki Nishimori / Wataru Watanabe
- Distributor
- Toei (Japan) / Nikkatsu (Japan) / Adness Entertainment (U.S.)
- Country
- Japan
- Language
- Japanese
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The first film, produced by Nikkatsu, was released in Japanese cinemas in 1988. From the first sequel onward, racing driver and former street racer Keiichi Tsuchiya participated, and the series adopted an anti–street racing message. The series became a semi-biographical piece about Tsuchiya, partially about his experience as a hashiriya (street racer) and his transition to professional racing. Subsequent films were released under Toei Company's V-Cinema direct-to-video line.
Plot summaries detail street racers challenging speed records, rivalries, and personal tragedies. The second film features Tsuchiya testing tires and mentoring a younger racer.
Reader's Guide
The Megalopolis Expressway Trial series is significant for its role in shaping global street racing culture in media. Though banned in Japan, the films gained a cult following abroad. An English-subtitled version, renamed Freeway Speedway, was released on DVD in North America in 2004, capitalizing on the success of The Fast and the Furious. A 4-disc re-release titled Tokyo Speedway: The Complete Collection followed in 2007. The series is believed to have influenced Japanese video game franchises Ridge Racer and Shutokō Battle (the phrase 'shutokō battle' appears as a line in the fourth film), as well as manga Wangan Midnight. It also inspired Hong Kong cinema's Legend of Speed, western video games like Midnight Club, and Hollywood's The Fast and the Furious. The series remains unreleased on DVD in Japan, where it is still banned and the final episode unreleased.
Did You Know?
- The first film was banned from Japanese theaters due to its content.
- Keiichi Tsuchiya, a former street racer turned professional driver, appears from the second film onward.
- The phrase 'shutokō battle' is a dialogue line in the fourth film.
- The series was renamed Freeway Speedway for its 2004 North American DVD release.
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