Oshima, Danny Kamekona, tries to sell a revolutionary turbo charger to an auto maker controlled by Derek Jarryd [Dennis Holahan], but the deal is brokered by two brutal enforcers, Scully [Tom Noonan] and Kosnic [Randall 'Tex' Cobb]. When Oshima backs out at the last moment, claiming he has hidden the turbo charger, he is tortured and hung upside down, dying before he can reveal its location. The junkyard manager who stumbles onto the scheme is shot with a rocket gun by Scully, sealing the murder in a cloud of danger.
Detective Tony Costas [Jay Leno] is called to investigate, but his captain pulls him off the case once the junkyard manager’s past ties to Costas are revealed. Undeterred, Costas enlists the help of his partner, Shortcut [Ernie Hudson], and the investigation deepens. Arriving in America at this critical moment is Investigator Fujitsuka Natsuo [Pat Morita], sent by Kitao [Soon-Tek Oh], whose arrival signals a second, secret motive tied to the turbo charger.
Lieutenant Dingman [Al Waxman], a racist and obstructive figure, flatly refuses to pursue the murder of a Japanese national, pushing Costas to push back and search Oshima’s hotel room on his own. When Natsuo is found at the scene, the two men are briefly at odds with their superiors, but an inspector’s sharp rebuke forces them to keep digging. Natsuo finally reveals the true reason behind his presence in the United States, and Costas learns that their aims, though different in surface detail, converge on the same dangerous conspiracy.
Natsuo takes a calculated risk, posing as a reporter to draw Jarryd into the line of questioning. Jarryd, under the watchful eye of Scully, is escorted away after Madras [Chris Sarandon], a corrupt crime boss who has leverage over him, orders it. As the investigation coalesces, Costas and Natsuo uncover that Jarryd’s loan from Madras has him tightly bound to a dangerous alliance, shaping events from behind the scenes.
The trail leads to an auto shop where Oshima had hidden the charger within a car he rented. Kosnic and his goons close in, and a violent chase erupts onto Detroit’s streets, briefly interrupting an auto race. The pursuit spills into a frantic motorcycle chase and a high-stakes car showdown, with Madras and his henchmen bearing down on Costas and Natsuo. In a desperate moment, Costas and Natsuo are separated from their ride as Madras closes in, and a grenade that had been mislaid becomes central to the escape. Natsuo, who had inadvertently taken the weapon, passes it to Costas, who hurls it from the train car just in time. The blast decimates Scully’s position and leaves Scully dead, clearing the way for Costas and Natsuo to press on.
Costas’s pursuit of Madras becomes personal as the two clash in a confrontation that ends with Costas being temporarily suspended and Natsuo ordered home in disgrace. Undeterred, the two men outsmart Dingman and press forward to recover Oshima’s car and the concealed charger. A tense shootout with Kosnic’s squad erupts as they converge on the rental company, where the evidence points to Oshima’s car. The chase escalates into a wreck-filled sequence: a crash, a motorcycle escape, and another collision as Madras’s goons close the net.
In the final, explosive confrontation, Madras’s car rams toward Costas and Natsuo. Madras is shot, and the two partners watch in a mix of horror and resolve as Natsuo’s kamikaze strike—kicking through the windshield and delivering a fatal blow that decapitates Madras—collapses the final engine of the criminal plan. As the car bleeds fuel and begins to explode, Costas pulls Natsuo clear, narrowly surviving the blast.
With the immediate danger behind them, Costas arranges for a policewoman to deliver the missing turbo charger to Natsuo so he can reconcile Madras’s fall with Jarryd’s legacy back in Japan. The bodies and the evidence are prepared for transport, and in the airport, Natsuo prepares to return home with Oshima’s body but without the crucial turbo charger. The plan is sealed by a quiet form of justice and strategic mercy: the charger is promised to reach its rightful destination through official channels, preserving face for Jarryd’s administration in Japan. In the end, Costas and Natsuo share a wary but genuine goodbye, their partnership forged in the crucible of a city-wide conspiracy and the cost of pursuing truth across borders.
- Tenement Kid, [Hamadi Izzard]
- Tenement Man, [Damien Leake]
- Mac, [Jack Poggi]
- Lieutenant Ryerson, [John Hancock]
