Black Rain is a 1989 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Michael Douglas, Andy García, Ken Takakura, Kate Capshaw, Yūsaku Matsuda and Tomisaburo Wakayama. The film focuses on two NYPD detectives who arrest a member of the yakuza and must escort him back to Japan. Once there, he escapes, and the two officers find themselves dragged deeper and deeper into the Japanese underworld.
The film was released by Paramount Pictures on September 22, 1989. It received much publicity beforehand as it was Douglas's first film since his Oscar winning role in Wall Street - a span of nearly two years. Upon release, it received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics, which praised the performances, Hans Zimmer's musical score, direction and editing but criticized the screenwriting, clichéd story and lack of character development.
In the years since, the film has become a cult film and has been widely praised. It was also a huge box office hit, grossing over $134 million worldwide in front of a production budget of $30 million, and was nominated for Best Sound and Best Sound Editing at the 62nd Academy Awards.
Black Rain was the final film role for actor Yūsaku Matsuda, before his death in November 1989. The film is dedicated to his memory.
Plot[]
Nick Conklin is an NYPD detective who has come under fire from Internal Affairs, who believes he and his former partner stole money from evidence used in a drug bust. In addition, he is behind on his alimony payments. One day after an interview with Internal Affairs, Nick and his current partner Charlie Vincent witness a lunch meeting between a Mafioso and some Japanese men gone wrong when a yakuza named Koji Sato arrives and kills the Japanese men after taking a small package from them. After Nick and Charlie arrest Sato, they are assigned to escort him back to Osaka under orders from the Japanese Embassy. Upon landing in Osaka, Nick and Charlie are tricked by yakuza dressed as police officers to hand Sato over to them before the real police arrive.
While explaining the incident, Nick and Charlie convince the Osaka prefectural police to allow them to observe the investigation on Sato's activities, with Assistant Inspector Masahiro Matsumoto accompanying the duo. At a nightclub, Nick meets Joyce, a nightclub hostess from Chicago who tells him Sato is fighting a gang war with a powerful oyabun named Kunio Sugai. The next day, Nick and Charlie join a police raid without permission, and Nick takes a few US$100 bills from the crime scene. He later proves to Matsumoto and his superior that the bills are part of a counterfeiting war between the rivaling yakuza groups. After a night out with Matsumoto, a drunk Nick and Charlie walk back to their hotel when a motorcyclist steals Charlie's trench coat and leads him to an underground parking garage. Nick follows them, only to watch in horror as a bōsōzoku gang attacks Charlie before Sato appears and decapitates him.
Following Charlie's death, Nick reveals to Matsumoto that he stole money during the drug raid in New York. Nick and Matsumoto follow a hostess who is their only clue to Sato. The trail leads to a steel foundry, where they see a meeting between Sato and Sugai. It is revealed that the package Sato took in New York is one-half of a printing plate that Sugai sent for the Mafia to verify its craftsmanship, and Sato is offering to return it if Sugai grants him the title of oyabun. Shortly after the meeting, Nick chases after Sato, but is promptly arrested and deported for carrying a gun in public, while Matsumoto is suspended and demoted. Nick sneaks off the plane to pursue Sato on his own. Following a tip from Joyce, he meets Sugai, who tells him that he survived the bombing of Hiroshima and that his counterfeiting scheme is his revenge on the U.S. for the "black rain" he experienced that day and for corrupting Sato and the younger Japanese generation with western ideals. Nick convinces Sugai that he can help him retrieve the stolen plate from Sato to retain Sugai's reputation among the other yakuza clans.
At a remote farm, Nick and Matsumoto regroup and deduce that Sato is plotting to massacre Sugai's gang upon seeing some of his henchmen dressed as rice farmers. During the truce meeting with Sugai, Sato cuts off his little finger, but betrays Sugai by stabbing him in the hand before running off with both plates. As both rival gangs are engaged in a gunfight, Nick chases Sato on motorcycle before they tangle in a fistfight. Nick gains the advantage and, having Sato at his mercy, has the choice of whether or not to kill Sato for Charlie and all the humiliation he has suffered. Nick and Matsumoto walk a handcuffed Sato into police headquarters to the amazement of everyone and later receive commendations, which Nick accepts gratefully.
Before Nick boards his flight home, Matsumoto remarks that the printing plates were not recovered, and Nick seems to imply that he took them. Nick thanks Matsumoto for his assistance and friendship and gives him a dress shirt in a gift box. Underneath it, Matsumoto finds both plates.
Cast[]
- Michael Douglas as Detective Nick Conklin, NYPD
- Andy García as Detective Charlie Vincent, NYPD
- Ken Takakura as Assistant Inspector Masahiro "Mas" Matsumoto, Osaka Prefectural Police
- Kate Capshaw as Joyce
- Yūsaku Matsuda as Koji Sato
- Shigeru Kōyama as Chief Inspector Ohashi, Osaka Prefectural Police
- John Spencer as Captain Oliver, NYPD
- Guts Ishimatsu as Katayama
- Yuya Uchida as Nashida
- Tomisaburo Wakayama as Kunio Sugai
- Miyuki Ono as Miyuki
- Luis Guzmán as Frankie
- John Costelloe as 'The Kid'
- Stephen Root as IA Detective Berg
- Richard Riehle as IA Detective Crown
- Jun Kunimura as Yashimoto
- Tim Kelleher as Bobby
- Rikiya Yasuoka as Ishioka
- Bruce Kaztzman as Yudell
Additional cast members include Ken Kensei as Matsumoto's son, Vondie Curtis-Hall as an NYPD detective, Josip Elic as Joe the bartender, Keone Young as a karaoke singer, Shôtarô Hayashi; Toshishiro Obata and Takayuki Kubota as yakuza mediators, Shiro Oishi; Roy K. Ogata; Nathan Jung; Al Leong, Mak Takano and Bruce Locke as Sato's henchmen, and Professor Toru Tanaka and Jôji Shimaki as Sugai's henchmen. Musician David Tao appears uncredited as an extra, playing an Osaka police officer.