This solid thriller deals with a down-home cop (Michael Douglas) accused of corruption and his young partner (Andy Garcia). They witness a grisly killing by a Japonese murderer named Sato (Matsuda). They pursuit him and barely escape with their life , but get detain him . They're assigned to protect him but with painful results when the mobster is transported to Osaka . Then they are assigned to upright Inspector (Ken Takatura) and forced into action against Yakuza . Thus starts a clash of culture and a cobweb of intrigue which keep the spectators on the edge of their seats. An American Cop in Japan. Their country. Their laws. Their game. His rules. Osaka, Japan. A cop on the edge. A conspiracy on the rise. A killer on the loose. A cop on the edge, a conspiracy in the rise, a killer on the loose.

A Ridley Scott Film From The Producers of "Fatal Attraction", this is a superb, though predictable at times, blending of tough American police genre and Japanese gangsters by means of a mobster organization called Yakuza, a kind of oriental Mafia . Michael Douglas as down-and-out police and Ken Takatura as honorable Inspector are very fine . Good secondary actors , such as : Andy Garcia and Kate Capshaw , Spileberg's wife . Appearing uncredited John Spencer as the chief official and Luis Guzman . This first-rate suspenseful action pic benefits from intelligent screenplay and visual dynamics ; however, being overlong , two hours and some. This special buddy-movie is full of neon lights from Osaka in videoclip and advertisement spots style . The motion picture was glamorously directed by Ridley Scott as stylish as ever , similar his previous film (Someone to watch over me) and others (Blade runner , Duelists , Legend) in which the visual style is impressive .

Black Rain is directed by Ridley Scott and written by Craig Bolotin and Warren Lewis. It stars Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia, Ken Takakura, Kate Capshaw, Yusaku Matsuda and Tomisaburo Wakayama. Music is by Hans Zimmer and cinematography by Jan de Bont.

After New York cops Nick Conklin (Douglas) and Charlie Vincent (Garcia) arrest a sword wielding psychopath named Sato Koji (Matsuda),they are tasked with escorting him back to Osaka in Japan. From here they are plunged into a war that is brewing in the Japanese underworld.

You see there's a war going on here and they don't take no prisoners.

Welcome to Blade Runner's younger brother, Black Rain, a Ridley Scott film I feel has never received the credit it deserves. Viewing from the outside it looked like one of those 1980s cop movies, one where the main cop is washed up and perched on the edge of oblivion, his partner his sanity and voice of reason. However, Scott (brought in late to direct when Paul Verhoeven bailed) wasn't interested in the normalities of the cop drama, he saw the potential for cross continent culture clash and the chance to bring his visual skills to the fore.

Yep, it's the big neon glitter of Osaka and the grime and dime of New York that is the big draw here, but characterisations are still rich for the drama, with Scott taking plenty of time to set up the lead protagonist. We know Conklin's troubles, we know how tight his friendship is with Charlie, and by the time things go grim and dour in Osaka we understand just why Conklin plunges head first into a do or die situation.

Visually Scott infuses the picture with cramped locales, steamy streets, industrial wastelands and blood red suns, while his lead character is an unshaven trench coat wearer who still manages to look devilishly cool. It's perhaps the drawing of Osaka that is the most impressive, for it's an alien creation to us as much as it obviously is to Conklin, the ignorance gap between America and Japan still wide apart in 1989.

Complaints? At just over two hours in running time the film does have periods of flatness, where some better editing wouldn't have gone amiss; though Scott's original cut was considerably longer, begging the question on if more could have been done to enhance the seething culture clash between cops Conklin and Matsumoto (Takakura)?

Another problem is that Capshaw's character is under written, a crime when it's the sole female part of note in a two hour movie. Did more of the character hit the cutting room floor? Likely, because now it's a token eye candy offering, which is a shame since what little we do get hints at a savvy performance from Capshaw.

Ridley Scott lifts Black Rain from merely being a fish out of water thriller to something more layered. True to say there is more style than substance (what style though),but there is still very much interesting juxtapositioning of countries and human interactions of credible worth as well. 8/10

When Ridley Scott filmed Black Rain in Japan and got some top players in the Japanese cinema to appear in it, it was at a time when relations between Japan and the USA were tense. Japan was in the midst of an economic boom that got a lot in America quite jealous. Can't really blame them that much as Japan's prosperity was due to American protection because Japan spent a pittance on a defense budget as compared to what we spend. When the Japanese boom eventually went bust ironically things got a whole lot better.

Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia are a pair of American cops who arrest a top Yakuza boss right in New York. They'd like to keep him here, but are ordered to extradite him to Japan as a matter of good will, sorely needed in 1989.

Upon landing in Osaka they lose the prisoner and I won't say how. Garcia's all for going back to New York and face their music but Douglas wants to get him back. It costs Garcia his life.

Some elements of the Robert Taylor/George Raft police drama Rogue Cop are present here. Douglas is a cop who at a minimum shuts his eyes to corruption and Internal Affairs is on his case. Garcia is relatively new and a Boy Scout. He's more in line with the Japanese who according to Black Rain just don't have corruption. It's all about honor and saving face in their tradition. Douglas teams up with Japanese detective Ken Takahara and they take down a pair of feuding Yakuzas more in an American movie style shootout.

Michael Douglas plays well of both Andy Garcia and Ken Takahara, their scenes have both bite and poignancy. The feuding Japanese Yakuza are played by Tomisaburo Wakayama as the older and Yusaku Matsuda as the younger and more evil and violent. Matsuda was in fact dying of cancer when he took on the role in Black Rain. I suspect a whole lot more doubling than usual was working here.

Black Rain is surely dated now that America and Japan seem to be back on track together again. It's still a good action film with some fine acting by Michael Douglas and the rest of the cast.