Visually, this film can get very nice with some great backdrops and all but it plods along at a pace that is way too slow for a movie of this genre. 3.25-

I'm not sure about killers riding around on motor bikes with knifes, but apart from that a great action thriller.

A slick and beautifully shot police actioner starring Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia as a pair of New York City cops pursuing a Japanese gangster in Osaka, Japan. While the plot is strictly by-the-numbers, Ridley Scott's direction and superb cinema... (read more) A slick and beautifully shot police actioner starring Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia as a pair of New York City cops pursuing a Japanese gangster in Osaka, Japan. While the plot is strictly by-the-numbers, Ridley Scott's direction and superb cinematography and scoring elevate 'Black Rain' to an excellent action film.

A well-constructed, although highly conventional, cop drama, not to be confused with Chocolate Rain. You got these two American cops (Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia) who bring down this Japanese criminal for homicide. They have to take him back to... (read more) A well-constructed, although highly conventional, cop drama, not to be confused with Chocolate Rain. You got these two American cops (Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia) who bring down this Japanese criminal for homicide. They have to take him back to Japan for… some rights or whatever, but as soon as the plane lands, they manage to lose their culprit. They must track down their man in this unfamiliar environment, all the while becoming neck-deep involved in a Yakuza war. As soon as the movie opens, I wasn’t sold, because they immediately portray Michael Douglas as a leather jacket wearing, motor bike riding, chain smoking badass, but as much of a stretch that seems for him, he falls into his role nicely. There are a lot of cool things going on here, but the only thing is that this is a lot like a number of cop dramas you have seen before, and clearly a more serious precursor to movies like Rush Hour. Although it shares a lot of common ground with the aforementioned genre, it is a cut above the rest due to a few great one-liners, some crazy (and pretty gory for the 80s) action scenes and the, as always, beautiful cinematography from Ridley Scott.

Back in '89 it seemed pretty damn good, but now it's kind of embarrassing.

J'avais un meilleur souvenir de ce film, finalement seule la premiere moitie s'en sort bien, plus on s'approche de la fin plus c'est mou. Reste une belle ambiance graphique, on a part moment l'impression de voir un Blade Runner 2...

Ah, the 90's action thriller. Dig out that synthesiser keyboard and make the hero have a mullet and you're halfway there.
Unfortunately Black Rain squanders an initially promising first act by becoming rather routine a wholly predictable for it's s... (read more) Ah, the 90's action thriller. Dig out that synthesiser keyboard and make the hero have a mullet and you're halfway there.
Unfortunately Black Rain squanders an initially promising first act by becoming rather routine a wholly predictable for it's second two thirds. Michael Douglas is the mulleted NYC cop with the bad rep, Nick Conklin (didn't he play a San Francisco cop with a bad rep called Nick Curran in Basic Instinct? Surely someone can come up with names which sound a bit different??) who along with his partner, the sauve, karaoke singing Andy Garcia and entrusted with escorted a Japanese mafia man back to Japan. Naturally it all goes wrong, due mostly to Garcia and Douglas' stupidity and the fact that they've been entrusted with this task when neither one of them can speak a word of Japanese and.....well, that's the point that Black Rain starts to get a bit gloomy and dull.
There are crossings, double crossings, that woman from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, ritual slayings of karaoke singing idiots and Douglas looking pissed off...a lot.
Ridley Scott shows nothing of his fine craftsmanship as a director, choosing to light everything in as bleak a way as possible. The finale comes as no shock as it's basically a repeat of the opening sequence so you know that this kind of face off must be coming, otherwise why include the opening scene. At least this finale scene does deliver a few thrills though to awaken the viewer from the coma they've likely lapsed into by now.
Black Rain is laboured and miserable.....a bit like waiting for a bus in the rain when you haven't got an umbrella.