Hard Rain (1998)

A armored-truck driver and his nephew try to prevent three million dollars from being taken by a local rival gang during a catastrophic flooding caused by a severe storm.

Director:

Mikael Salomon

Writer:

Graham Yost

Stars:

Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, Randy Quaid

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Morgan Freeman	...	Jim
Christian Slater	...	Tom
Randy Quaid	...	Sheriff Mike Collins
Minnie Driver	...	Karen
Edward Asner	...	Uncle Charlie
Michael A. Goorjian	...	Kenny (as Michael Goorjian)
Dann Florek	...	Mr. Mehlor
Ricky Harris	...	Ray
Mark Rolston	...	Wayne Bryce
Peter Murnik	...	Phil
Wayne Duvall	...	Hank
Richard Dysart	...	Henry Sears
Betty White	...	Doreen Sears
Ray Baker	...	Mayor
Lisa Fuhrman	...	Mayor's Wife

Storyline

In Huntingburg, the armored truck with three million dollars driven by Tom and his Uncle Charlie gets stuck in the flooding and realizes that the town has been evacuated since the dam does not have capacity to hold the storm. While waiting for the National Guard, they are attacked by Jim and his gang formed by Kenny, Mr. Mehlor and Ray and the clumsy Kenny kills Charlie. Tom flees with the bags of money and hides them in the cemetery. Then he is hunted down by Jim and his gang and he hides in a church. Out of the blue, he is knocked out and awakes locked in a cell. Soon he learns that the restorer Karen believed he was a looter and hit him. Sheriff Mike Collins and Deputy Wayne Bryce go to investigate Tom' story while Officer Phil takes Karen out of the town by boat. However she escapes with the boat and goes to the church. Meanwhile Tom is trapped in the cell full of water and Karen rescues him. He decides to return to the armored truck to retrieve a shotgun but he is captured by Jim...

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Plot Keywords:

rogue cop | renegade cop | money | sheriff | dam | 

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Taglines:

Prepare for hard rain.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence

Details

Country:

USA UK Denmark France Japan New Zealand Germany Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Flood

Filming Locations:

Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,009,024, 19 January 1998, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$19,819,494, 19 April 1998

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,600,000, 22 March 1998

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Television,Marubeni,Mutual Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (DeLuxe) Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a 1997 interview with Empire magazine, Minnie Driver stated she hated working on the movie due to the intense and continuous wet conditions.

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Goofs

When the armored car stalls, it is near the middle of a dip in the road. Later the water is chest deep next to the car, but when the robbers cross the water it never gets much deeper than waist depth. As the middle of the dip would be the lowest point, the water depth should have been much greater.

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Quotes

Tom: Watch your step!

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Crazy Credits

The Paramount mountain is seen in much worse weather than normal; the camera pans down from the logo to scenes of flooding.

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Connections

References Swamp Thing (1982)

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Soundtracks

The River
Written by Bruce Springsteen

User Reviews

Fast, exciting action flick with possibly too much shooting (and everyone a bad shot!)

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 ****