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111 reviews in total

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24 out of 29 people found the following review useful:
Much better than rating suggests!, 5 April 2006

Author: J Andrew Evans from United Kingdom

Really surprised at the low rating of this film which as a action thriller is immensely watchable and re-watchable which for me is the test of a good film – that is bears being seen over and over. It is as others have said an endlessly inventive thriller with good action and the idea of a film where all the characters are continuously falling in, or speeding over floods in tremendous. It is not as others have said "another heist film" because the environment and opportunity of the potential crime is different and thought provoking. Doesn't this gain some extra interest given the Hurricane flooding in the southern states also? I enjoy Morgan Freeman's portrayal as well as Christian Slater and Minnie Driver's performances. The old couple is a marvellous piece of human comedy, well portrayed by both actors. Watch this film and then . . . watch it again!

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27 out of 36 people found the following review useful:
Something a little different from the norm - 74%, 8 February 2004

Author: Benjamin Cox from Hampshire, England

I remember seeing the trailer for this film some years ago and thinking it looked pretty good. Thankfully, the BBC decided to show it last night. Had it been something else, I might have ended up watching "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" on Five. Again. Besides, "Hard Rain" was largely met with disinterested shrugs upon release and that is a shame. Just because it's unconventional doesn't mean it's a load of old rubbish and you'd be a harsh critic indeed to describe this film as "rubbish".

"Hard Rain" stars Christian Slater as a goody-two-shoes employee of a armoured truck firm who, together with his uncle, collect $3'000'000 from a bank in a town that's about to be flooded (phew!). Trouble arrives in the shape of the typically brilliant Morgan Freeman who, with his gang of cronies, are intent on collecting the money for themselves. Throw in Minnie Drive as the damsel in distress and Randy Quaid as the gun-toting' sheriff and what you have is the wettest Western ever made.

Despite some dodgy CGI effects, the film is well worth watching. Freeman is by far and away the best actor on screen, offering depth to a character (if you'll forgive the pun) where most would take the role at face-value, like Minnie Driver. Credit too must go to the rest of the cast, who spend most of the film up to their waists in water which must make the action sequences especially dangerous and thrilling to watch. Leonardo de Caprio and Kate Winslet, take note. Speaking of the action, it is both exciting to watch and original. Highlights for me include a jet-ski ride through a high school, a shoot-out at a flooded cemetery and Slater's escape from a prison cell as the water rises around him. To break up the action, the bickering old couple still trapped in the town offer some genuinely funny moments and the change which comes over the characters during the film makes for a tense finale. OK, so some of the town looks like a model when the water comes crashing down the street and as I said earlier, some of the CGI could be touched up a bit. The church roof, for example, clearly isn't on fire as Slater et al speed away from it.

But the fact remains that this is a highly recommended picture. It isn't the best action film you'll see but it is different enough to warrant your attention and certainly one which you'll enjoy. If you can forgive a little out-of-date CGI, occasional suspect editing and Minnie Driver acting worse than a piece of driftwood then this film could be the one to float your boat.

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19 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
Good action flick, 10 March 2006

Author: Peter Collins from Australia

Hard Rain is a nifty action thriller, set during the middle of a titanic flood in a small town in Indiana. Christian Slater plays a local security guard, attempting to transport the loot out of town with his partner, but as always, it all goes terribly wrong. On the run, from a band of determined thieves, led by Morgan Freeman Slater hides the money and takes refuge with the town sheriff and his band of officers. Only they're seeing green too and Slater is on his own.

The sodden atmosphere of this film is unique and impressive, as is the set design. The film is technically very cool, clever too and working with so much water must've been hell for the crew. The performances are all well rounded enough in Hard Rain but the script lacks the spark to truly make this great or memorable. Sure there are some exciting moments, but what action film doesn't have some excitement? With such a unique setting, I'm surprised that there just wasn't more of a good thing. Overall, I enjoyed it. This film is good action flick. Nothing more, nothing less.

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20 out of 24 people found the following review useful:
Fast, exciting action flick with possibly too much shooting (and everyone a bad shot!), 2 May 2006

Author: moonspinner55 from las vegas, nv

Christian Slater plays an armored truck guard who has to deal with thieves, the crooked police, a fierce Indiana rainfall, and a flooded town while trying to protect three million dollars in the company vehicle. Well-done action flick isn't epic-scale, but does have many suspenseful close-calls and colorful characters, plus good performances by Slater, Morgan Freeman, Minnie Driver, and Richard Dysart and Betty White as an elderly couple who didn't evacuate when they were supposed to. Randy Quaid overplays heinously as a trigger happy sheriff, and the continual shootouts in the final third get repetitive, but this scenario (an entire town slowly being submerged) is exceptionally well-captured and the filmmakers didn't forget to add some good humor into the mix. **1/2 from ****

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16 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
I dig it!!, 17 March 2007

Author: jadolie from United States

This is a great film that should have made a bigger splash at the box office. It really isn't just another run of the mil action flick. It's more of a natural disaster meets crime movie; which make for an awesomely unique story with one of a kind scenes to take place. Christian Slater dominates the screen as he does best; I only wish he was still leading man material instead of getting bit roles. I do admit there are times when you know what's going to happen before it does but you do still get some great surprises in there. I love the humor, there is a lot of it but they don't go over the top with it to where you can't take the movie serious. Big thumbs up for this underrated film. Love it!!

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15 out of 23 people found the following review useful:
Mindless Fun, 31 July 1998
Author: Art Vandelay from Medford, MA

If you like action movies, and only action movies, you will like this movie. Not love it, but you will like it. None of the characters are believable and some, including Minnie Driver's character, are almost completely unnecessary. The plot, with just a few twists to keep the viewers interest, but only minimally, is pretty standard. What saves this movie, however, is its original action sequences and its setting. The movie takes place during a giant flood and we learn pretty quickly that water where it shouldn't be is very entertaining. Simple shootouts aren't just the same when they occur in 10 feet of water. Even a band of robbers chase the hero into a school with jet-skis, or crash through a church roof in a boat. These scenes of mindless action are the only thing that saves this movie from being totally preposterious crap. At the end you realize that the movie was pretty stupid, but you enjoyed yourself while it lasted.

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7 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Brainless Fun, 29 September 1998

Author: Blair Campbell from Perth, Australia

If you are looking for a movie that has some action and is moderately entertaining without requiring much cerebral activity, this is right up your street. It suited my purposes at the time I rented it so I quite enjoyed it. I had heard nothing about it except for the preview I'd seen. Yes, it's no brilliant piece of movie-making, and no it won't change your life. But it is fun and entertaining and doesn't claim to be anything else. (I was pleasantly surprised with Betty White's performance, a long way from 'Golden Girls')

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Morgan Freeman as an armoured car robber?, 23 January 2000
Author: roostersmaling from Sydney, Australia

Though Morgan Freeman is an absolute legend, I can't see him being the bad guy robber at the beginning. After his stellar performance in "The Shawshank Redemption," he has left himself too open to being seen by fans as a "nice guy." True, he did play a convict in that movie, but you never saw him commit the crime that landed him there. Therefore casting him as an armoured car robber didn't sit right with me.

Christian Slater did a "Michael J. Fox" (The Concierge/Secret of My Success) by copycatting his own performance in "Broken Arrow" (same screenplay writer...).

The ending is too abrupt, but, overall, I did enjoy the movie all the same. For action fans only...

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Pan, Pan, Pan, I'm shooting in the rain, I'm shooting in the rain, ... (DVD), 26 September 2010

Author: leplatypus from PariS

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I discovered this movie because there is Minnie Driver in it and i must say that this is a great one! Except "War of worlds" by Spielberg, i don't know a movie with such an apocalyptic setting: Mother Nature is set loose and threatens to flood everything. But instead of focusing with megalopolises (NY, LA) and calling for the President, this realistic movie happens in a little town of Indiana. Thus, it is closes to our every day life and we can better understand the threat.

I don't know if it's intentional or not, but there is a Gothic feeling here that enhances everything. It's the night, the town is surrounded by forest, and a lot of action happens on the cemetery and the church. And if it's an action / thriller movie, actually, some shoots reminds me of the best horror movies.

Then, i found all the characters very attractive: you either care for them or despise them at once. And, they aren't one-sided characters because along the movie, their polarity changes: good guys become bad, and bad guys become good. Thus, it is very interesting to see that and the cast does have mention because they make that happen. As a fan of Minnie, i found that she has truly something because she is 100% believable in this action / comedy part whereas other actress would have failed.

I never heard of the director before but he knows how to deliver great sequences: the opening credits give the mood for the entire movie and you will find all the threats from flooding.

In conclusion, this upside down "Abyss" is an excellent tale and if you can find it, dive in it !

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
better than Speed 2, 21 July 1999
Author: Adrian Moore from London, England

This film starts off ok. It started off with a lot of promise and potential - armoured truck - lots of $$$ - lots and LOTS of rain. Unfortunately it never delivers. The film starts to get boring quite quickly and by the end you are almost glad that it is over. If you really must see this film then rent it - it is just worth spending £3 on, luckily a friend pursuaded me not to spend £18 on the DVD. Minnie Driver is very good considering the below average script and she once again gives another convincing american accent but she is still FAR FAR better in the superb Grosse Pointe Blank (well worth £17 for the DVD). Oh and another redeeming feature is that the band "Jars of Clay" provide a superb song (and a rather appropriate one) entitled "Flood".

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