Trivia / Miami Connection

• Cast the Expert:
  • Most of the cast is composed of Taekwondo students from Kim's school.
  • Angelo Jannotti, the guy who plays Tom, is a musician, not a Taekwondo practitioner. This is why he takes center-stage during the musical numbers and gets beaten up during every fight.
• Completely Different Title:
  • Germany: American Streetfighter
• Dawson Casting:
  • The main characters are supposed to be in college (presumably for their Bachelor's degrees), but they are all too old to be undergraduates. At the time of the movie's release, Angelo Jannotti (Tom) was 29, William Ergle (Jeff) was 33, Vincent Hirsch (John) was 28, Joseph Diamond (Jack) was 32, and Y.K. Kim was either 31... or a ripe old 41, as some sources claim. Kathy Collier (Jane) was the closest to college age, as she was 25 in 1987.
  • Inverted with Jim's father, who looks roughly the same age as his "son".
• Missing Episode: Narrowly averted. The pre-DVD disclaimer states that the negative was destroyed in a hurricane, though luckily the people at Drafthouse Films were able to reconstruct it using existing footage.
• The Shelf of Movie Languishment: Though produced in 1987 (and given a regional run in 1988), the film wouldn't see a major release until 2012, when Drafthouse Films bought a film print on eBay and restored it with permission from Y.K. Kim.
• What Could Have Been: The original ending had Jim dying from his wounds on the way to the hospital and the White Ninja never fighting Mark at all.