A guilty pleasure if ever there was one, Black Rain is a ridiculously entertaining thriller by Ridley Scott (Alien), starring Michael Douglas as a tough New York cop who--along with his partner (Andy Garcia)--goes to Japan to deliver a local mobster. When the latter escapes, Douglas's brand of gonzo crime fighting rubs his Japanese hosts the wrong way. Slick, mechanistic, and absurd, the film is all surface action and attitude (not to mention Scott's incredibly busy, trademark art direction); and one can get lost in the sheer indulgence of it. However, if you can buy Douglas as an iconoclastic lawman, you can buy anything else here, including the notion of Kate Capshaw as a blonde escort highly desired by Japanese businessmen. --Tom Keogh

Cultures clash (and so, occasionally, do clichés) in this 1989 stylefest from director Ridley Scott. Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia are New York cops who grab a Japanese mobster and take him back to Osaka--only to lose him there. When they're forced to track him down, Douglas's knuckles-and-know-how approach to crime-fighting puts him at odds with his Japanese handlers. Beside eschewing police brutality, their code of honor also induces guilt because Douglas has succumbed to the occasional shifty tendency in the past. Despite some strong action sequences and Scott's trademark look of neon reflected on wet streets, it begins to drag and ends up exactly where you expect it to--with Douglas chin-to-chin with chief bad guy Yusaku Matsuda. No one plays a flawed hero better than Douglas but this one tends to be by the numbers. --Marshall Fine

Version: U.S.A / Region A, B, C
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
MPEG-2 BD-50
Running time: 2:05:18
Movie size: 30,75 GB
Disc size: 35,00 GB
Average video bit rate: 27.23 Mbps

DTS-ES Audio English 1536 kbps 5.1-ES / 48kHz / 24-bit / 1536kbps
Dolby Digital EX Audio English 640 kbps 5.1-EX / 48kHz / 640kbps
Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48kHz / 192kbps

Subtitles: English / English SDH / French / Spanish
Number of chapters: 28

#Audio commentary by director Ridley Scott.
#Black Rain: The Script, The Cast - featurette (20M:23S)
#Black Rain: Making The Film: Featurettes (37m:55s)
#Black Rain: Post-Production - Featurette (12m:25s)
#Theatrical Trailer (HD - 2m:24s)

I rented this on tape years ago, and boy what a difference the blu-ray disc makes. Good picture, pretty good sound, lots of action and the relationship between Micheal and the Japanese "detective"? stole the show, especially the last two scenes. It was great.

"Black Rain" provides a showcase for the directorial and cinematographic brilliance of Ridley Scott - whose love for the evocative nature of wet and shining surfaces owes more to Monet than to the fetishistic excesses of a photographer such as Helmut Newton. Gritty, wonderful "New York Cop" performance by Michael Douglas, matched by his partner Andy Garcia, with a perfect Japanese counterpart in Detective Masahira Masimoto of the Osaka Prefecture Police Department, played by Ken Takakura. Very nicely done cross-cultural references to the Japanese sense of group identity and loyalty, contrasted to the American ethos of "radical 'Cowboy' individualism." Lovely score by Hans Zimmer, looking forward to his work in "The Last Samurai."

My favorite character is the villian (Yusaku Matsuda). His life story is very interesting. He did a great job in this film. It doesn't hurt that he is very attractive. A real bad boy!

I remember going to see this film in the theater.

I think it holds up over the years.

Great to look at, well acted.

1 thing I have NEVER liked about it is the Andy Garcia death scene. Just to look at, not realistic. For film only.
And, what started this story. IF Michael & Anthony were in this restaurant WHY DID THEY NOT STOP THE KILLINGS BEFORE THEY HAPPENED? They were police & had guns.

Still can't figure out little scene at the beginning of the film. WHY TAKE YOUR KID TO SCHOOL IN THE RAIN ON A MOTORCYCLE? Can't the kid get sick?

Good extras on this special edition DVD.
BUT, WHY A PLAIN JANE SILVER DVD? This film was great to look at with both the Japan & New York playing key roles in the film.

Film has the Ridley style. 1 of my favorites of his.