Black Rain (1989/I)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Ridley Scott

Writers (WGA):

Craig Bolotin (written by) &
Warren Lewis (written by)

Release Date:

22 September 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

An American Cop in Japan. Their country. Their laws. Their game. His rules.

Plot:

Two New York cops get involved in a gang war between members of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. They...

Plot Keywords:

Mafia | Japan | Yakuza | New York | Shootout

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Michael Douglas	...	Nick
Andy Garcia	...	Charlie
Ken Takakura	...	Masahiro
Kate Capshaw	...	Joyce
Yusaku Matsuda	...	Sato
Shigeru Kôyama	...	Ohashi (as Shigeru Koyama)
John Spencer	...	Oliver
Guts Ishimatsu	...	Katayama
Yûya Uchida	...	Nashida
Tomisaburo Wakayama	...	Sugai
Miyuki Ono	...	Miyuki
Luis Guzmán	...	Frankie (as Luis Guzman)
John Costelloe	...	The Kid (as John A. Costelloe)
Stephen Root	...	Berg
Richard Riehle	...	Crown

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby SR (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Brazil:14 | New Zealand:M | Australia:M | Argentina:18 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Singapore:M18 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

1000 N. Crescent Drive, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

"Jackie Chan (I)" turned down a role, as he didn't want to play a "bad" character.

Goofs:

Continuity: The orientation of the shotgun after Sugai's bodyguard tosses it to Nick.

Quotes:

Nick Conklin: If you pull it, you better use it.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Soundtrack:

LIVING ON THE EDGE OF THE NIGHT

Good, but not that good.

Black Rain is an absolutely gorgeous movie to look at. And for the most part it's highly entertaining and well acted - the guy playing Sato is brilliantly menacing. But occasionally, very occasionally, it descends into either complete predictability or downright cheesiness. A motorbike chase, well, that's a surprise! And that award ceremony right near the end - why? It's totally irrelevant, feel good factor nonsense - the sort of stuff you get with bog standard action movies. And this is not bog standard, and not really an action movie. Certainly underrated and deserving of a better audience than it has received, but ultimately let down by a few lapses in quality.