Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

ShangLuda Admirable film.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

George Taylor Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia play cops sent to Japan to investigate counterfeiting. While there tragedy strikes and Douglas ends up unofficially helping a Japanese Detective - in a great move, they don't exactly become friends, but do learn respect for one another. The Yakuza villains aren't cookie cutter bad guys and are frightening.

FlashCallahan When a member of the Japanese Yakuza is arrested in New York, detectives Nick Conklin and Charlie Vincent are assigned to escort him to Japan. Conklin is none too pleased that they are not prosecuting the prisoner themselves. They no sooner arrive in Japan when they are duped and turn their prisoner over to gangsters posing as police. They stay on in Japan hoping to work with their Japanese counterparts but have some difficulty dealing with local protocol and customs. Over time, Conklin develops a working relationship with Detective Masahiro and together they work together to ensure justice is served.....Black Rain is one of those films where it's a case of all style and no substance. Back in the late eighties,this must have sounded like a sure bet. Michael Douglas sitting on a bike in aviators was the one sheet, and why not? He was one of the biggest stars of the decade.So that's what we get, one of the biggest stars of the eighties riding a bike fast at the beginning of the film, brooding, running, brooding, running, arguing, brooding for the middle of the film. And the riding a bike really fast toward the end.Oh and a sub plot involving probably the most non threatening members of the Yakuza ever portrayed in cinema. Seriously, this guy comes straight out of a Schumacher Batman movie.But it looks good, Douglas has a fabulous haircut, and the shoot out at the end is pretty brutal.Plus, it's the greatest film ever to feature Michael Douglas looking slightly perturbed when his back is rubbed against a motorbike wheel.

benjiman-62487 I'm going to start by saying I'm one of the many people who did not particularly enjoy this movie. Id expect a lot of the clichés and so forth from a cop action/thriller film, but I really didn't expect it from from a director like Ridley. That said, I don't blame Ridley, he did the best he could with a weak script. And in fairness to him, the visuals and soundtrack are the only things that stop this from being a completely forgettable. The soundtrack alone is particularly good.I'm not going to write a synopsis, it's already been done by hundreds of other reviewers, and frankly it isn't worth another attempt. Save to say, it's a fish out of water cop film, starring hard nosed cop, streetwise girl, rookie partner and an evil gangster. Basically take any other cop film you have seen and change the setting to Japan. I noticed another review touting this as the "thinking mans cop film", which I found quite amusing as the storyline isn't exactly homers odyssey in terms of complexity. The acting is, at best, passable, but nothing overly attention grabbing. I'm not a great fan of Douglas, I find his acting a little contrived at the best of times, but his is probably the strongest performance, which isn't really saying a lot as his character is thoroughly unlikeable and you can't help but savour every bad thing that happens to him. The Japanese cast appear to be there purely for decorative purposes, and to enforce various stereotypes and tired clichés. The saddest thing about this film is the potential it had, and in the presence of a script that wasn't totally worn out and lacking in plausibility, it could have been something quite spectacular, instead of an aesthetically pleasing waste of time.

Johan Dondokambey Well, the opening gets way too long, and in my opinion, doesn't really detail anything except to connect at the finale action sequence. That, in my opinion is kind of stupid because it waste enough minutes to have a not so significant connection. The story gets so very predictable, just like a typical Steven Segal or Van Damme movie where he would go into a place outside the US and wreak havoc and beat the living hell out of the sorry people there. Having a very predictable plot, it gets even more stupid by presenting it just over two hours long. The scenes take too long while most viewers would have guessed where they would lead to after the first 2 or three minutes into them anyways. Michael Douglas tried to act as the tough guy cop, but in my opinion, he should stick to dramas, or at most thrillers, and stay away from action movie.