Black Rain (1989)

Two New York cops get involved in a gang war between members of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. They arrest one of their killers and are ordered to escort him back to Japan. In Japan, ... See full summary »

Director:

Ridley Scott

Writers:

Craig Bolotin, Warren Lewis

Stars:

Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia, Ken Takakura

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Douglas	...	Nick Conklin
Andy Garcia	...	Charlie Vincent
Ken Takakura	...	Masahiro
Kate Capshaw	...	Joyce
Yûsaku Matsuda	...	Sato
Shigeru Kôyama	...	Ohashi (as Shigeru Koyama)
John Spencer	...	Oliver
Guts Ishimatsu	...	Katayama
Yûya Uchida	...	Nashida
Tomisaburô 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

Storyline

Two New York cops get involved in a gang war between members of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. They arrest one of their killers and are ordered to escort him back to Japan. In Japan, however, he manages to escape. As they try to track him down, they get deeper and deeper into the Japanese Mafia scene and they have to learn that they can only win by playing the game the Japanese way.

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Plot Keywords:

japan | mafia | gang war | yakuza | extradition | 

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Taglines:

Osaka, Japan. A cop on the edge. A conspiracy on the rise. A killer on the loose.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

22 September 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lluvia negra

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$45,645,204 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Jaffe-Lansing, Pegasus Film Partners

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Yûsaku Matsuda, who plays the villain, Sato, knew he had bladder cancer, and that his condition would be aggravated by acting in the movie. He elected to do so anyway, unbeknownst to director Ridley Scott, reportedly saying, "This way, I will live forever." He died on 9 November 1989, less than seven weeks after the film's American premiere.

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Goofs

Towards the end of the film, in the section where Nick and Sato are fighting. Sato pushes Nick onto the bike wheel, and then they cut to Sato punching the ground. In the following shot you see Nick grimacing and in the background you see a blonde haired guy wearing a green tracksuit type top quickly duck behind a tree.

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Quotes

Crown, Internal Affairs: We'll charge you. We'll find someone to help us. Nobody's got a softer center than a dirty cop.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits begin with a Japanese kanji, which can be translated as "complete" or "end" and is sometimes used at the end of Japanese films.

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Connections

Referenced in Mr. Baseball (1992)

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Soundtracks

"THAT'S AMORE"
By Jack Brooks and Harry Warren

User Reviews

Ultra-moody cop fiction.

I saw this film on crappy pan and scan VHS when I was about 12 and I didn't really understand it and I wasn't really up on Ridley Scott's work. As a result, the impact of the film was somewhat lost on me. I was expecting an action film instead of a character drama with lots of police procedure. But now, older and wiser and with a brand new Blu Ray of the movie, I am finally able to appreciate how clever the film is.

The story unfortunately IS riddled with 80s Cop Movie clichés and goes through quite a lot of familiar motions. But if you see past that you'll appreciate the immense atmosphere and mood that Ridley Scott piles on. Simply put, Michael Douglas is Nick Conklin, a bad cop (pretty much the exact same character in Basic Instinct) who drag races on his superbike to pay alimony and pinches drug money instead of turning it in for evidence. Enjoying lunch with partner Charlie (Andy Garcia) in a steakhouse in New York's meat-packing district, they just happen to witness a Yakuza execution by wanted Japanese criminal Sato (Yusaku Matsuda, who was dying of cancer during filming and didn't tell anyone). After a quick punch-up and shoot-out they find themselves chaperoning Sato back to Osaka. But when they arrive there he manages to escape, leaving them embarrassed with lots of questions to answer.

Nick and Charlie find themselves in a very foreign and intolerant world and recapturing Sato proves to be difficult in many ways. Not the least of which is Japan's alienating culture (from an NYPD point of view) and rigid rules. Nonetheless, Nick is determined to catch Sato and restore his honor.

Like I said, the atmosphere of the film is overwhelming, which is really all the film needs. The clichés and stereotypes don't matter so much when you are involved this much. Hans Zimmer (his first film with Ridley Scott) provides a deeply emotional and very melodic score that'll be rattling around in your head for days. It's a shame it's never had a comprehensive CD release, as it's one of Zimmer's most impressive efforts.

You could call it a pretty 80s movies, but I still do feel that it holds up pretty well today. As one of Ridley Scott's more forgotten works, it's well worth checking out.