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Black Rain (1989) poster

1989 · drama · war · japanese

Black Rain

Directed by Ridley Scott2h 5m1989

Two New York cops get involved in a gang war between members of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. They arrest one of their killers and are ordered to escort him back to Japan. However, in Japan he manages to escape, and as they try to track him down, they get deeper and deeper into the Japanese Mafia scene and they have to learn that they can only win by playing the game—the Japanese way.

Our read: Black Rain (1989) reads as a heavy, measured, grounded drama · war · japanese entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, nihilistic in outlook, with a strong directorial signature.

Movie DNA

Heavy, measured, measured drama / war, grounded in texture. Nihilistic, mid-stakes, measured.

ElsewhereIMDb6.664kRT54%Metacritic56TMDB6.61k
  • heavy
  • measured
  • intense
  • bleak
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DNA · twelve axes

How Black Rain feels to watch.

Each axis is scored by hand, not from votes or genre averages. The bar uses the film's own colours.

MoodHeavy ↔ Cosy
PacingSlow-burn ↔ Kinetic
IntensityGentle ↔ Extreme
WeirdnessConventional ↔ Surreal
HopeNihilistic ↔ Redemptive
StakesIntimate ↔ Epic
HumourNone ↔ Broad
RealityGrounded ↔ Fantastical
DensitySparse ↔ Twisty
WarmthCold ↔ Tender
AuteurTransparent ↔ Signature
Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

“You want neon Osaka noir culture clash with Ridley Scott polish and yakuza gunfire.”

ends bittersweetit stays with yougrabs you earlygrips from the openattention 4/5earns its lengthsubtitles: partial
Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around
Heads-upgraphic violence

Skip it tonight — Skip if eighties macho cop swagger or yakuza violence without fresh angles bores you.

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