Hard Rain
Paramount Pictures
CAST: Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, Minnie Driver, Edward Asner, Michael A. Goorjian,
Dann Florek, Ricky Harris, Mark Rolston and Richard Dysart
DIRECTOR: Mikael Salomon
RATING: R for violence
RUNNING TIME: 96 minutes
1998
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In the Silver Age of action movies the hero was oftentimes given a specialized background that would effectively make believable the inevitable onscreen chaos. In Lethal Weapon, Martin Riggs is presented as ex-special forces, one of the ten best marksmen in the world, a jujitsu expert, and the most dangerous and suicidal cop in Los Angeles. In First Blood, John Rambo is an ex-green beret with expert training in weapons, guerilla tactics, hand-to-hand combat, helicopters, tanks, and emergency medical procedures. In Hard Rain Christian Slater portrays Tom, an ex-construction equipment salesman who now rides shotgun in an armored truck… and that's about all. This sort of ordinary hero first reached popularity in The Fugitive (where all the action was confined to a pair of lucky jumps and a subway sucker punch), ultimately reaching its zenith in Knock Off wherein Jean-Claude Van Damme portrayed an illegal blue jeans retailer caught between the CIA and the Russian Mafia.
As if to offset the curiously underdeveloped backstory of Christian Slater's central character, screenwriter Graham Yost surrounded him with a trio of villains that are, if anything, even more bland. The antagonists in Hard Rain aren't megalomaniac terrorists with a clever scheme to destroy the world, but ordinary souls that each of us could encounter while standing in line at the grocery store. Morgan Freeman is an ex-construction worker; Randy Quaid is an unhappy small-town sheriff; and Dann Floreck is an ex-high school science teacher. Not exactly the sort to make Bond's martini run dry.
What makes Hard Rain such a unique and memorable action picture is the setting. Having an armored car heist take place in a small town during a massive flood is an absolute ingenious setup, with the subsequent water-logged action set pieces piling on the thrills with nary a moment to catch your breath. The action sequences in Hard Rain are gleefully grandiose: The high-speed Jet Ski chase through the halls of a flooded high school; the gun battle in a cemetery amidst floating coffins; the climactic shootout inside the walls of a submerged church. These searing moments are literally an impressive visual resume for the talents of director Mikael Solomon, editor Paul Hirsch, and production designer J. Michael Riva.
One of the film's other most remarkable achievements is Christopher Young's massive orchestral score. After years of crafting memorable horror scores, Young finally got his big break with Hard Rain. Young's clever western motif cues (replete with harmonica) are the film's only stab at subtext, while his action writing explodes with energy. It's an incredible score.
All told, Hard Rain is the cinematic equivalent of an amusement park ride. But like most rollercoasters, you never feel the ill effects until the ride has come to a complete stop.
--Yim Kip
The Official Hard Rain Web Site
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