Bayside Shakedown is based on a Japanese TV series by the same name that was first aired between January - March 97. The TV show had great success and was very popular in Japan which spun off into several special episodes and eventually a movie. The Japanese box office made 100 million US with Bayside Shakedown, the movie was also nominated for 12 movie awards. It can easily be said that this movie was quite successful in Japan. The genre is a little hard to classify as there is comedy and drama and some thriller, it is basically a police movie but really toned down on the action. The story and the characters are very important in this movie. Talking about the story, it is a little complicated to start with. There is a lot that you will find out during the movie so don't worry if your a bit lost. Also the movie stands alone and it is not necessary to have seen the TV series to be able to understand this movie.

The characters in this movie are very important, the focus is placed on the main characters that appeared in the TV series. You can easily notice the background and development of the characters that must have taken place during the TV series. Also there is that chemistry between the characters that generates the drama and humour. The actors put up a great performance and in the end leaves you with a feeling of wanting more. We would be really interesting actually seeing the TV series.

There is not much physical action, the action in a way is comparable to American Police TV series. The true action takes place with the advancement of the story as the cops do their investigation and try to solve the crime. The movie basically has 3 sub plots and will eventually connect, its really interesting to see how these totally different plots develop. Even with the lack of physical action you wont find the movie long or boring, there is plenty of drama, suspense and of course some comedy to keep you interested.

The subtitles were standard DVD (in other words good but sometimes fast). This is an interesting movie in the respect that it is a movie adaptations of TV series, most of those were failures in the US. The first thought that come to mind is X-Files which did not work so well. We are wondering how we would have felt about this movie if we have seen the TV series before, would it be better or worse. It is often hard to get a good movie adaptation of a TV series as the fans have certain expectation but also there is the non fan who are not all that familiar with the TV series. It is something that is not easy to balance and to make work. In our opinion Bayside Shakedown did well on the part of not confusing the non fans and I am only guessing the fans enjoyed it as well with its great success in Japan. We consider this movie a must see for anyone who would enjoy Police Drama but with the humor and some chilling elements in the story it should appeal to a wider audience.