Black Rain
Director Ridley Scott, who created two of Hollywood's most impactful and stylish adventure thrillers, Alien and Blade Runner, hits the mark again with Black Rain.
Academy Award-winner Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia play New York cops whose job to escort a vicious assassin back to his native Japan leads the two Americans into Osaka's exotic underworld and straight into the center of a raging, brutal "Yakuza" gangland battle.
Member Reviews
At Least They Took Away His Gun! For A While! - revsdd
Michael Douglas can always be counted on to offer a strong performance in pretty much any movie: comedy, drama, thriller, whatever. His talents were in evidence here, as he portrayed NYPD Det. Nick Conklin, a cop suspected of being corrupt, who's nevertheless given the assignment along with his partner of escorting a dangerous criminal to Japan. Unfortunately, upon their arrival, Conklin is tricked into letting the guy go, and the rest of the movie deals with his efforts to get him back into custody. In addition to Douglas, there were strong performances from Andy Garcia as his partner Charlie, and from Ken Takakura as Japanese officer Masahiro, who somewhat reluctantly helps track the criminal down.
Unfortunately, the good performances were about all that was in evidence here. The basic premise of the story was weak. Regardless of how much his immediate superiors may have trusted him, I doubt that Conklin, under investigation by Internal Affairs, would have been given this assignment to begin with, so the movie had an unbelievable edge right off. The movie also fell into the trap that so many American movies fall into - Conklin arrives in Japan, loses the bad guy, and then becomes front and centre in the effort to find him, even though he has no business doing police work in Japan. True, the Japanese police made it clear that he was unwelcome, and they made him give up his gun - but he later got one anyway. He ends up as the hero (true, along with Masahiro) - even getting a medal from the same Japanese officer who originally disarmed him. In the same vein, the depiction of Japanese police struck me as less than flattering, and, of course, Masahiro only becomes a hero because he starts to act like an American cop. The movie also offered a look at the Japanese underworld that wasn't sufficiently developed, and for no discernible reason included Kate Capshaw in a totally meaningless role as an American woman who runs a nightclub in Osaka.Ridley, come on - Mr_Humidty
This film followed Ridley Scott's "Alien" and "Blade Runner," two contemporary masterpieces. It makes one wonder how someone can go from producing two films so good to producing something as unremarkable as this. But then, Tarantino certainly hasn't matched "Pulp Fiction."
I watched "Black Rain" years ago, when it was on VHS. Most of the time I was bored. I would probably get more out of it now, being older and wiser. Still, there was very little that grabbed me.Bad rep, but good Scott direction - eoguy
People have complained about this being not a great film -- and it's true. But Black Rain is redeemed by a few things: - typically great, dark, Ridley Scott filming. It captures the claustrophobic yet exotic aspect of living in Japan. The movie ends in an orgy of violence. Sure, it may be somewhat derivative, but it looks great, is over the top in many places, and after a restrained sense of tension in the movie, the screen erupts into violence. It's worth a look for fans of the genre, but isn't going to excite many others.
Member Reviews
Read All...
At Least They Took Away His Gun! For A While! - revsdd
Michael Douglas can always be counted on to offer a strong performance in pretty much any movie: comedy, drama, thriller, whatever. His talents were in evidence here, as he portrayed NYPD Det. Nick Conklin, a cop suspected of being corrupt, who's nevertheless ...Ridley, come on - Mr_Humidty
This film followed Ridley Scott's "Alien" and "Blade Runner," two contemporary masterpieces. It makes one wonder how someone can go from producing two films so good to producing something as unremarkable as this. But then, Tarantino certainly hasn't matched ...Bad rep, but good Scott direction - eoguy
People have complained about this being not a great film -- and it's true. But Black Rain is redeemed by a few things: - typically great, dark, Ridley Scott filming. It captures the claustrophobic yet exotic aspect of living in Japan. The movie ends in an ...