Despite owning the video for a number of years,I always found myself pushing it to the side,due to the film appearing to be rather dry. With a poll taking place on IMDb's Classic Film board for the best titles of 1989,I was happily caught by surprise,when a very kind IMDber gave me the chance to at last take a look at the movie,which led to me getting set to see the black rain pour.
View on the film:
Teaming up with the cinematography who had given Die Hard its crystal clear appearance, (who would end up working with Rain's originally chosen director,when he crossed legs with lead actor Michael Douglas on the Erotic Thriller Basic Instinct) director Ridley Scott and Jan De Bont give the movie a strong futuristic glaze,thanks to Scott and De Bont's making Black Rain's US look like a burning industrial zone,whose colour patterns are emphasized by De Bont and Scott brilliantly covering Japan in flashing,face melting bright,neon lights.
Cut by over 30 minutes,the screenplay by Craig Bolotin and Warren Lewis never quite gel the 2 excellent strips of the title into one whole entity. For the US set part of the ,movie,and also the beginning of Vincent and Conklin adventure in Japan,the writers decide to take a fish out of water approach with the plot,which despite allowing some charming 'buddy cop' moments to rise to the surface,leads to the potentially interested new Japan based characters to be rather 2D,thanks to all of their relationships with Vincent and Conklin being shown as disconnected.
Taking the movie in a wonderful Neo-Noir direction for the second half,the writers peel the buddy cop side away and instead introduce a burnt out cop,who despite having been used as a punch line for the first half,is successfully used to pull Charlie and Nick into the vicious underground of the Yakuza.
Made just a few weeks before he was to tragically pass away from cancer,Yusaku Matsuda gives a terrific sharp performance as Sato,with Matsuda keeping Sato away from becoming a simple boo-hiss villain,thanks to showing that Sato has a real skill in making others drop their guard,in order for he and his gang to strike at their hardest. Taking on Sato,Andy Garcia gives a delightfully playful performance as Charlie Vincent,with Garcia showing Vincent to be a quick-witted cop,who will also never turn down a chance to party.
Entering the movie on a stylish motorbike,Michael Douglas gives an excellent performance as Nick Conklin,thanks to Douglas balancing Conklin's laid-back attitude that he has with Vincent with a wonderful tough'n'gruff Neo-Noir edge,which Douglas brings to the front of the title,as Nick Conklin starts to see black rain fall from the sky.
View on the film:
Teaming up with the cinematography who had given Die Hard its crystal clear appearance, (who would end up working with Rain's originally chosen director,when he crossed legs with lead actor Michael Douglas on the Erotic Thriller Basic Instinct) director Ridley Scott and Jan De Bont give the movie a strong futuristic glaze,thanks to Scott and De Bont's making Black Rain's US look like a burning industrial zone,whose colour patterns are emphasized by De Bont and Scott brilliantly covering Japan in flashing,face melting bright,neon lights.
Cut by over 30 minutes,the screenplay by Craig Bolotin and Warren Lewis never quite gel the 2 excellent strips of the title into one whole entity. For the US set part of the ,movie,and also the beginning of Vincent and Conklin adventure in Japan,the writers decide to take a fish out of water approach with the plot,which despite allowing some charming 'buddy cop' moments to rise to the surface,leads to the potentially interested new Japan based characters to be rather 2D,thanks to all of their relationships with Vincent and Conklin being shown as disconnected.
Taking the movie in a wonderful Neo-Noir direction for the second half,the writers peel the buddy cop side away and instead introduce a burnt out cop,who despite having been used as a punch line for the first half,is successfully used to pull Charlie and Nick into the vicious underground of the Yakuza.
Made just a few weeks before he was to tragically pass away from cancer,Yusaku Matsuda gives a terrific sharp performance as Sato,with Matsuda keeping Sato away from becoming a simple boo-hiss villain,thanks to showing that Sato has a real skill in making others drop their guard,in order for he and his gang to strike at their hardest. Taking on Sato,Andy Garcia gives a delightfully playful performance as Charlie Vincent,with Garcia showing Vincent to be a quick-witted cop,who will also never turn down a chance to party.
Entering the movie on a stylish motorbike,Michael Douglas gives an excellent performance as Nick Conklin,thanks to Douglas balancing Conklin's laid-back attitude that he has with Vincent with a wonderful tough'n'gruff Neo-Noir edge,which Douglas brings to the front of the title,as Nick Conklin starts to see black rain fall from the sky.