A retired automotive engineer constructs an innovative battle car to go toe-to-toe with a deadly street gang which has threatened his estranged daughter and her teenage son as he strives to reconnect with them.

SYNOPSIS:

Act I

Hiroko Ono, a retired automotive engineer in Japan, travels to California following the murder of his estranged daughter’s husband (a policeman) by a gang of Japanese young men. Hiroko’s desire is to reconnect with his daughter, Keiko, and connect with her 15-year old son, Mark, who Hiroko has never met. However, this reunion begins rather shakily.

Act II

Hiroko and Mark begin to develop a bond through the renovation of an old Mitsubishi Montero. Meanwhile, the Japanese gang now threatens and terrorizes Keiko and the family due to her position as an Assistant DA who is involved with an on-going crack-down on gangs in the area.

With the increasing threat of danger to Keiko and her family, Hiroko determines that they must prepare now for a potential conflict. With the help of Mark and two old colleagues from the Mitsubishi factory in Japan, they develop a plan and a means with which to confront the threatening street gang – an invincible high-tech battle car.

After Keiko receives direct threats from the gang and her house is torched, the family is forced into a showdown with the numerically superior gang members and their street machines. During this all-out battle, the gang and their vehicles are ultimately decimated.

However, vigilantism is not looked upon too favorably by governmental powers. And thus, Hiroko is faced with a new problem when he is arrested and interned by the U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service, pending deportation back to Japan.

Act III

In the end, though, Hiroko is unexpectedly released, placed on a fast track for US citizenship, and given a job offer that he cannot refuse, due to the interest of one highly influential individual who was extremely impressed with Hiroko and his battle car.

GENERAL: People like to root for the underdog, especially as the underdog faces insurmountable odds. People like seeing common-folk heroes as they face uncommon or perilous danger. People like to see good deeds rewarded and bad deeds punished. People like to see the success of teamwork and the restoration of broken family relationships. This film has all of these elements! Plus, with the current increase in violent gang activity nation-wide and calls to defund the police, this film is timely in its message.

This film includes elements of drama and action, and should appeal to the same audiences that enjoyed Gran Torino (2008) and The Karate Kid (1984) (the drama of common-folk, old and young, teamed to battle gangs/bullies) and The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) (an underdog overcoming nearly insurmountable odds to find success in the end).

SUBURBAN SAMURAI