Ridley Scott (“Alien”, “White Squall”) directs the cop thriller “Black Rain” starring Michael Douglas (“Basic Instinct”, “Falling Down”). The movie is not to be confused with the Japanese movie “Black Rain”, which was also released in 1989 and takes place in Japan. Many people feel that out of all of Ridley Scott’s films, this one feels closest to the movies of his brother Tony Scott (“Man On Fire”, “Enemy of the State”) and I have to agree.

New York City police officers Nick Conklin (Douglas) and Charlie Vincent (Andy Garcia “The Godfather Part III”) arrest a Yakuza criminal (Yûsaku Matsuda “Detective Story”). They are then tasked with escorting him when he is extradited to Japan. Things do not go to plan as he escapes upon arrival in Osaka.

Michael Douglas does a very good job as Nick. Andy Garcia is okay as Charlie. Ken Takakura (“Railroad Man”) gives an impressive performance as Masahiro Matsumoto, an English-speaking Japanese officer assigned to Nick and Charlie. The chemistry between Michael Douglas and Ken Takakura is rather entertaining as they play two cops from very different backgrounds. While this is not really a buddy cop movie, I was reminded of the Russian and American officers forced to work together in “Red Heat”. Yûsaku Matsuda is great as the bad guy Koji Sato.

Like many of Scott’s movies, “Black Rain” is a brilliant movie to look at. Scott has done a fantastic job in making Osaka look truly alive. The plot is somewhat interesting and takes some intriguing turns here and there. The movie contains some exciting action sequences but I would not really classify it as an action movie; this is more of a thriller. The movie is more about the cultural divide between Americans and Japanese than it is about blowing bad guys away. While it is not his best work, this is an underrated film from Ridley Scott’s terrific library.