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Black RainRating:
Release Date: 01 April, 2003 Retail Price: $14.99 OUR Price: $13.49 You SAVE: $1.50! Cast: Complete Cast (9 total) |
Black Rain Reviews
Very good but a little disappointing
I finally saw this movie yesterday, 15 years after it was released. I had read "Rising Sun" and have watched the movie version of it, and was interested in Japanese culture and the perception of the Japanese back in the late 80's and early 90's. So I ordered "Black Rain" and though it also addresses Japanese-American cultural differences, has plenty of action and is stylistic, it was kind of a letdown. The movie didn't seem to pick up until Andy Garcia's character got his head lopped off (perhaps not such a bad thing), which was an hour into it. After that I enjoyed it quite a bit, but unfortunately my impression of "Black Rain" is not much more than a semi-cheesy 80's buddy cop movie, of which there are so many already. If it's buddy cop flicks you like, "Rising Sun" is a far better movie dealing with similar themes and cultural perspectives. If you are interested in these things, then the book by Michael Crichton is even better. Plus, it was a bit difficult for me to be convinced of Michael Douglas's tough-cop role in "Black Rain" with that hideous perm he's sporting. Overall, a good movie but there are certainly better ones which are just as entertaining, stylistic, educational, and sexy.
A 'Rising Sun'-like bubble film and a guilty pleasure
'Black Rain' came out in 1989. It's shown a lot of legs (it was on HBO last weekend) for two reasons: first and foremost, it's a Ridley Scott film, nuff said; second, it is - as the amazon reviewer pointed out - a wonderfully guilty pleasure, featuring such delightful absurdities as Kate Capeshaw (Mrs. Steven Spielberg, for god's sake) crammed into some va-va-voom sequined outfit, and sportin' some seriously tousled Big 80s hair. And speaking of big hair, that's one excellent mullet being chaperoned around by Michael Douglas. It is, after all, 1989.
I'll put this film in the same category as Philip Kaufman's 'Rising Sun' - 1989 was the height (of absurdity, as it turns out) of the Japanese bubble economy, and Japan-focused films of this age spoke to the fear or at least latent concern about the Japanese economic model eventually besting the US model. So, in light of a dramatically different Japan circa 2005, 'Black Rain' looks a little over the top. But, hey, this is a movie, and this is Ridely Scott. You want subtlety? Look elsewhere.
The real star of the film (if you can look around Mr. Douglas' most excellent rants and rages) is regal Japanese star Ken Takakura as Detective Masahiro. His IMDB filmography lists 130 substantial roles in his prolific history and calls him "the Clint Eastwood of Japan," not faint praise in anyone's book. Mr. Takahura literally holds the film together, acting as the bridge between the Douglas/Garcia side of the film, and the Japanese side of the film. It's great work.
More Customer Reviews (10 total)
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