Nothing beats the look, the sound and the atmosphere of movies from this era of movie making.

And also, RIP to all the people in this movie, including Mas himself, Ken Takakura, and also Yusaku Matsuda, who played the main villain Sato, to name a few. He sadly passed literally right after the film's release. It's so sad knowing that so many associated with this film are gone.

Definitely an underrated 1980's classic for both Ridley Scott and Michael Douglas. The movie also bears some eerie similarities to the gritty 1970's classic THE YAKUZA.

I feel that this is one of Ridley Scott's more underrated films.

One of my favorites. The residue of Blade Runner is all over this thing.

Finally people realize that this movie is a fu**ing gem

This movie SCREAMS 1989, I love it and it is totally underrated! 👍🏼

After watching this I started binge-watching Ken Takakura's filmography, He truly was a very talented actor.

I've seen this movie many times. Here in The Netherlands it was aired on tv almost every two years or so. It's funny that many people thought of it being offensive, but got the Academy Prize for Best Foreign Film in Japan.

"You watch your tail, cowboy." Black Rain is one of my favourite movies. It is a very underrated Ridley Scott movie and an all time great performance by Michael Douglas. It has a great score by Hans Zimmer, which has been used in most film trailers since the films release. The film has a great neo noir look at osaka Japan. A superb 5 star movie.

This has always been a great film. An underrated film that really needs to be seen by those who haven't. 😊🖒

Black Rain is definitely underrated. Was big when it came out but has been forgotten since. Besides being a great action flick there's some deeper themes to it, including the film's title.

the photography is just amazing.

Thank you so much for doing this! black rain is one of my favourite movies! i was lucky enough to have seen it in the theatres back in 1989 when i was 16. it made me obsessed with japan and i went there in 1994. definitely an underrated movie. a true classic.

BRO! You hit the nail on the head when you said “a movie your dad was watching on cable when going to bed” That is Exactly my reference point to this movie. My dad definitely watched this and other Douglas movies of the 80s on HBO when I was about to go to bed. great video! I’ll definitely have to check it out. Thanks for the memberberries 🤓

One of my favorite films of the 80’s, and my personal favorite Ridley Scott action movie.

YES! I absolutely adore this movie! One of the most underrated 80s movies ever and definitely Ridley Scott's more underappreciated pieces of work. I also love how aesthetically similar this movie feels to Blade Runner, another Ridley Scott project, and the cyberpunk visuals seen in the Japan scenes.

13:05 - So THAT’S where Ollie got his old outro music from.....

"Sato only respects one thing...Money" "So what are you into it for...Love?"

This and 'Rising Sun' were awesome! The daylight scenes have an almost Micheal Mann type feel.

I'd like to see something closer to Ridley's original 2hr40m cut.

I've spent so much time in Osaka, especially Dotonbori, that this film gives me chills every time. Also amazing to hear that "Ridley Scott had a couple of flops, like Blade Runner"... :D

I saw this with my dad when it premiered on HBO and I loved it. Definitely underrated, even though it has Scott's amazing visual style on it.

Black Rain, To Live and Die in L. A. and Year of the Dragon are the holy trinity of 80s cop movies.

I read the original script. It was dramatically different than what we got in a good way. Much changed due to Japan's disagreement of how the Japanese police officer was portrayed. Literally did a 180 on everything about the character from a Japanese man who was short, heavy, messy, and lover of USA stuff (Hawaiian shirts etc) to what we see now as the tall, honorable, strong, square, Japanese police officer Masahiro. The finale showdown was different as well, but still on motorcycles. FUN FACT: Ken Takahura who played as Masahiro is also in an incredible 1974 movie "The Yakuza" and in that movie you see actor James Shigeta as a businessman who was former Yakuza. He literally was playing as Takagi the head CEO of Nakatomi Plaza. I had a wild theory its the same character in both movies. It makes a lot of sense if you think about it. How Takagi died. No one dies for a company llike that unless they know they are dead either way. Hans and his goons did not know they would be robbing from the Yakuza's State side business front. Takagi knew if he gave the code he was a dead man either way so he decided to give them their won death sentence knowing the Yakuza would have gotten them. Turns out they died anyways, but I digress. I did a lot of exploring in this movie some time last year and it stuck with me. Also Yusaku Matsuda in Black Rain is the inspiration for Cowboy Bebop anime from a show he did in Japan called "The Detective Story". He passed away from cancer at a young age. Black Rain is his best work arguably as he was a highly praised actor in Japan.

Ms. Capshaw ( Spielberg ), you are a stunner in this movie....

That bell melody is also used by Zimmer in Broken Arrow! Another great film with memorable OST.

I think Michael Douglas just won the award for “most 80’s mullet ever”

Hollywood: The film is racist. Japanese: F-You, we love it!

I actually love Black Rain mostly due to its storytelling, characters, direction, visuals, and music. The music by Hans Zimmer is so good mostly and I can listen to it almost every time whenever I think about this movie. The story is interesting of America meets Japan in that sense.

Loved this movie. The music, the bikes, the style. Captured the 80s. Well done.

This is such a good movie I saw it many time over the years and when I think of cop films this one always comes to mind. Going to watch it again this weekend.

Yusaku Matsuda is fantastic! If you enjoyed his performance here, i recommend "The Resurrection of the Golden Wolf", "The Beast To Die" and "The Most Dangerous Game"

early 80's to mid 90's movies where the best!

Nick's apartment in New York is my dream apartment for that view alone

If oliver Harper reads this comment there is one movie I'd love him to, fright night 1985. I recently watched it last September and loved it. I'm 19 and have only gotten into 80s and love them. Fright night would make for a great video

One of the best movies of the 90's and one of my all time favorites! I'm a Japanese and loved how Ridley Scott and Michael Dougles did this movie!

Saw it three times at the cinema and you could really sense how the score was sweeping the audience along for the ride. Top stuff.

thank god.. i thought i was one of the few who really remembers and appreciates this movie. This and Falling down, my 2 fave Michael Douglas movies. it reminds me of this 90s movie "The Hunted" with Christopher Lambert.

Fantastic overview of a late 80s classic, sir! This is probably Scott's most criminally underrated films.

One of my favorite Paramount films of 1989. I have it on DVD.

It had an amazing cast of Japanese actors. Ken Takakura was the model for Golgo 13, and even played the character once. Yusaku Matsuda died young, so he's attained a movie icon status to this day. Tomisaburo Wakayama played Itto Ogami of Lone Wolf and Cub, enough said!

Black Rain totally underrated movie. One of my favorites.

This has me interested. Never heard or seen of it before. I'm gunna have to watch this one. Thank you Oliver👌👍

Hans Zimmer 🎵🎶 Perfection

Nice one, cheers for this long-overdue acknowledgment of a genuine late 80's cop classic. I saw this about four times at the flicks (it was streets ahead of Someone To Watch Over Me, stylistically speaking), and one of the film's many hooks was Hans Zimmer's exotic, percussion driven-score. I've lost count of how many other film trailers used it for a good few years afterward. Really chuffed to hear about the remastered version and the extra tracks. There was so much good material in the film itself, and we only got a few snippets of it on the soundtrack's initial release. I was into Laserdiscs, too, and the film was one of one of my frenzied first purchases,(as Nick would say, "Fuck patience."), right after Blue Velvet! Once again, cheers for posting. :)

The prime example of an underrated, hidden gem.

I have been expecting this review, for a while now, and it was well worth the wait... I guess I never really thought about how much Oliver likes this movie's score. I mean, HELLO... his outro music makes that pretty obvious. This is one of my favorite movies, from the late 80's! Thanks, Oliver!

One of those great 80's movie's.

I remember watching this when it was on TV in the 90s but I actually forgot the title! Thanks for persuading me to watch it again!

Black Rain is both my personal favourite Ridley Scott and Michael Douglas film. I think the movie does do something other cop thrillers don’t and that is add depth to character dynamics, there is a lot of depth to Douglas and Takakura’s onscreen relationship, in some ways the movie is about Michael Douglas’ character overcoming his xenophobia and learning to respect the Japanese. All the other characters are also very likeable and well defined, my only complaint with the film is the action scenes are a little too short, especially at the end, I wish they were just a little longer. Other than that 10/10 for me

I was in the service at the time after having just returned from a six month deployment to Japan. I almost passed on this movie. After having been stuck in Japan for all that time, all I wanted was a burger and fries and not have to pay $4 for an "import" Bud. I'm glad I didn't. This has become one of my top 10 favorite cop movies.

Sometimes the simplicity of the story and its characters can pay off. Brilliant movie.

I remember watching Black Rain and No Mercy with my dad on the weekends at age 12, loved both movies that I own them on Bluray. 👍

Thank you so so much for this Oliver. Been on the fence about getting this for months.

Thank you for remembering this movie. I bought it on VHS because it reminded me so much of Blade Runner and, to me at least, that was a good thing. I'm very sorry to hear about the passing of many of the cast. As I get older it seems to happen more and more. If the Los Angeles of 2019 looked used up and falling apart, Osaka of 1989 looked a shiny, sexy place you would want to be.

My brother's friend saw this and Tango & Cash in January 1990. He preferred this movie more. Don't blame him as it's an intelligently written, philosophical action thriller.

My auntie had a VHS copy of the film back when the VHS market was big here in Egypt, still my favorite Michael Douglas film. Ken Takakura was referred by some as the Clint Eastwood of Japan because of his tough guy image, whether it was as the Yakuza with the heart of gold or the heroic hardboiled cop or detective types. Yasaku Matsuda most famous role to Japanese audiences was as a detective in the tv series Detective Story, Spike Spiegal the main character of the anime series Cowboy Bebop was modeled after Matsuda's detective character right down to the big bushy hair.

What a great review... For me, the only thing missing is a few lines about that memorable Andy/Ken karaoke from Ray Charles... It's such an iconic scene, so many people talk about it.... But nevertheless, such a good video, congrats 😉👍🏾

Ur reviews are legendary already very Good detail & narrative keep up the great work very unbiased reviews 🙏🏾🔥

Saw Black Rain at the cinema in 89 and loved it. One of the better movies I saw that year. Was really surprised at how good Kate Capshaw was in the movie as the only other thing I saw her in was Temple of Doom.

Holy crap! That's a two year turn around from spec script to release! That's amazing! I recall being very affected by Garcia's scene with the bikers, though it did remind me of a similar scene in Black Moon Rising. Still, I don't think anybody could get a spec script produced and released in two year's time anymore.

So glad I brought this DVD (literally DVD not Blu ray lol) just watched it for the 1st time,1 of the best films I ever seen.This is a keep sake DVD.I was on the edge of my seat the entire time!! These the type of films I miss!!

This and Rising Sun are two of the best America/Japan culture clash films I have seen.

I remember watching this on Netflix for the first time. Outstanding film to go in with no history or expectations! Loved it!

Awesome. Thanks Oliver. I do love your retrospectives, there are quite a few movies that your cover that I have never seen. I am a film lover and it's always a surprise when I haven't seen one that you are covering. This is one of them. I know of "Black Rain" but have never seen it. I aim to rectify that. Thanks again for the retrospective.

Great movie closing wonderfully the unique era of 80's thrillers, that sky view of Osaka when the plane arrives is a visual masterpiece echoing the one introducing Blade Runner.

I am so glad your channel exists

Quality stuff again Oliver. I actually save these retrospectives for when I’m in the bath or in bed so I can chill out and take it all in.

You finally covered this classic movie! I hope you can do it the justice it deserves. Will watch it tomorrow.

Another stellar Retrospective/Review, Oliver. Well done. Liked this film ever since I took a chance on it by buying the DVD must be almost 20 years ago, liked the movie ever since.

the candid shots od matsuda vs those in character as sato reveal how brilliant he was at facial acting. in fact the japanese in general are very good at this.

Easily one of the most underrated films I’ve ever seen. One of my personal favorite Ridley Scott films.

This is one of my favorite movies hands down it's such a underrated classic I wish it would get mentioned with the top classic action movies of the 80s

Ok so today I was watching Dark5 on KZfaq and there was a video were 'black rain' was mentioned in reference to nuclear bombs. Being bored I googled it and this film popped up. After realizing it had Michael Douglas and was set in Japan I immediately watched it online. Then I wondered if my favourite reviewer Mr Harper had reviewed it? So now I'm back on KZfaq and the circle is complete.

I was 10 when the B-29 came. My family lived underground for three days. When we came up the city was gone. Then the heat brought rain. Black rain. You made the rain black, and shoved your values down our throat. We forgot who we were. You created Sato and the thousands like him. I'm paying you back.

Enjoyed the "false endings" to this Retrospective with the music kicking in a couple of times before the actual end of the video!

Seen this on the big screen when they filmed this in the ending of the 80's this was a huge hit. Not been to Japan since 1977!

Thanks Oliver I must have missed it, was looking forward to this one of my old favourites 👍

Thanks for this review, Oliver. I grew up with this film when it first came into theaters and always felt this was my favorite Michael Douglas film of all his films. It's a film I highly recommend to anyone who is a fan of Ridley Scott as this is very underrated.

Great work Oliver! I saw this movie once in 2002 and was impressed by it and also surprised it wasn´t much talked about it. A very entertaining action movie and I always wanted to know more on its production. Many thanks for your work!

Great to see you do a review of this. Black Rain's one of my favourite films, an incredibly underrated gem in Ridley Scott's filmography.

I have my Dad to thank for introducing me to this flick as well. Thank you for pointing out the re-using of some of Han's score for the Dark Knight trilogy. His score for "Backdraft" has some cues that would be used in TDK trilogy as well. Yes folks, these 2 movies are what you have to thank for both the music to that Batman trilogy, and every movie score that's copied it ever since, lol.

Thank you for this retrospective! Just saw Black Rain on your recommendation and loved it! I never heard of the movie before your video. Amazing how these gems stay hidden.

I studied this film when i was a teen. Its brilliant structured.

Thanks for reviewing this movie. I watch it at least once a month, I think it's a truly wonderful and underrated film. Classic 80's film making. Keep up the great reviews on these older movies, and a new generation of people will discover what great films were truly like 👍

I have seen this movie since 1989 for over 100 times. See how good this movie is.

Thanks Oliver for finally doing this movie! Great video!

I Thought The Head Yakuza Boss, was From Shogun Assassin (2 Films Edited Together)!!! Classic Film & Tommish Wakayama!? IS A Great Actor!!! Black Rain IS A Quality 80's Film & one of Ridley's Most Underrated!!! Brilliant Content Again Ollie!!

Ollie needs 500k subs, been watching his content a long time.

How had I never heard of this film before? Cheers Oliver, I’ll be watching it this weekend!

Underrated gem from 80's.

No More Heroes 3 made me watch this 80s classic again. Suda has great taste in movies :-)

Loved this movie as a kid, still love it now. Great Retrospective as always!

Excellent film. Ridley Scott is the man. Thanks for the review Oliver. Good job.

Thank you so much for this one Oliver! Such a great underrated film!

Do Basic Instinct!

Since you did this Michael Douglas film any chance you do The Game.

Great video! Another film I'm adding to the collection.

digging that sunsoft superman song at the end!