Hard Rain Blu-ray offers solid video and great audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
In the worst storm in living memory, one guard stands between five men and three million dollars. Severe
flooding threatens an Indiana town after a massive rainstorm taxes dams to the breaking point. As part of an
emergency evacuation effort, armored car driver Tom and his uncle Charlie are recruited to collect cash from the
town's banks and drive it to safety. However, a gang of thieves led by Jim plan to lay siege to the truck and
steal the $3 million on board. After Jim attempts to ambush the truck, Tom hides the cash and reports the
attempted theft to the local sheriff. However, the sheriff's lack of honesty soon becomes apparent; he puts
Tom in a lockup and sets out to take the money for himself. As the flood waters rise, Tom has to escape from
jail if he is to save both the townspeople's savings and his own life. Meanwhile, Jim and the sheriff are locked
in a race to see who can find the $3 million first.
"Good movies" need not necessarily be art-house fare, summer
blockbusters, animated epics, soulful Dramas, or other sorts of films recognized for
something-or-another that sets them apart from the crowd. 1998's Hard Rain -- a little
Action
film starring Christian Slater (He Was a Quiet
Man), Morgan Freeman (Deep Impact),
Randy Quaid (Days of Thunder),
and Minnie Driver (The Phantom of the
Opera) -- is a picture that sets its sights rather low, aiming not for awards and
accolades
but instead a basic fun factor that might leave the film existing in obscurity but nevertheless
entertains its target audience for the duration of its runtime and leaves viewers satisfied with the
return in investment. Is that a "good movie," then, one that works as-intended and within its
own little realm, even
if it has nothing to offer beyond a basic, no-frills, nuts-and-bolts, good-old-fashioned
entertainment value? The answer is a resounding "yes," and while
Hard Rain isn't a classic of its genre or even a notable picture, it succeeds in
accomplishing its rudimentary task with little additional filler, a philosophy plenty of other movies
should adopt
instead of trying to be more than is necessary to deliver the one thing movies like this are bred
for:
sheer entertainment.
Who's the quiet man now?
A small Indiana town is flooding and its residents are evacuating. The banks are cleaning out
their safes and leaving millions in cash in the capable hands of two armored car officers, Tom
(Slater) and his uncle Charlie (Ed Asner). When their vehicle becomes stuck in several feet of
water, a call for help to the National Guard is intercepted by a quartet of thugs led by Jim
(Freeman), but his planned robbery of the truck is botched when one of his men with an itchy
trigger finger opens fire, killing Charlie and leaving Tom to fend for himself and escape with the
cash. Hiding it in a nearby cemetery, Tom desperately attempts to flee from Jim's group and
eventually finds himself befriended by a local named Karen (Driver) while a trio of law
enforcement officials, including the Sheriff (Quaid), brave the waters in an effort to validate Tom's
story. With millions in cash, the fate of a town, and plenty of maneuverability in the covering
tracks all on the table, loyalties will be challenged and souls corrupted over the course of a night
where anything is possible and everyone's a target, all in the name of easy money.
Hard Rain is a film that defines the no-frills Action picture. While it hints at budding
relationships, develops a slight backstory to cement the plot, offers a few twists and turns in the
final act, and throws in some good-hearted comic relief that's not really necessary but works well
nevertheless, there's never any question that Hard Rain is nothing but a simple and
fairly mindless Action movie that gets most everything right, and its few miscues don't prove very
detrimental to the experience. A couple of the characters are necessary clichés and exist for the
sole purpose of taking a bullet at some point during the movie, but the handful of leads prove
nicely developed -- but only to the absolutely necessary minimum -- and skillfully acted, allowing
Hard Rain's simple yet effective action pieces to work all the better. Indeed, there's
nothing really special about the movie's point-and-shoot gun battles and routine chase scenes,
but what is special about the movie is the surprising lack of posturing and tacked-on nonsense to
derail the picture's feel. The atmosphere and the resultant urgency play a large part in making
sure the movie can't stray very far from the essentials, and even a few scenes that sidetrack the
movie -- particularly the comic relief -- feel right at home even if they're mostly superfluous to
the overall experience.
Aside from its setting and atmosphere that deliver a unique flavor to the picture, it's Hard
Rain's surprisingly solid -- and arguably even exceptional when taken in the context of a
largely-inconsequential-Action-movie -- performances that make it one of the
more effective movies of its kind. Morgan Freeman is, no surprise, the best of the bunch, and it's
his insistence on giving his part the same thoughtfulness and depth that he would a movie
considered more important not only to his career but from a critical and commercial perspective --
such as
Deep Impact or Glory -- that makes
his turn in Hard Rain such a strong asset to the picture. It's also a sign of an actor that's
something of a once-in-a-generation sort, a man dedicated to his craft and not phoning in a
performance simply because the movie from the outset seems one that's destined to be more of
a resumé padder than a headlining accomplishment. Freeman embraces his character's
single-mindedness wonderfully, always playing to that "me and money only" refrain with chilling
precision. Christian Slater also turns in a surprisingly
solid performance as a lead character that's fairly shallow and utilitarian but nevertheless
effective-in-context. His is a rather generic part, but that's fine, because a movie like Hard
Rain doesn't really need -- nor does it, much to its credit, attempt to fashion -- characters
that are more well-rounded or purposeful than what's needed for the story to work. Slater plays
to the
film's atmosphere and action, turning in a consistently steady effort that's typical of the actor's
ability to mesh some humor in with the action, and it works very well in Hard Rain. Like
Slater's, Quaid's and
Driver's parts are rather generic but also fill a necessary role in the movie and both actors turn in
commendable efforts that keep the film afloat at all times. However, Hard Rain's
surprising star is Betty White ("The Golden Girls") in a completely superfluous comic relief part as
a loud-mouthed,
opinionated, bear-trap laying, and shotgun-toting grandma that's a laugh machine in a movie
that doesn't need
one, but White nevertheless embraces the part and has plenty of fun with it, as do all of her
fellow actors that
she interacts with throughout the course of the waterlogged production.
Hard Rain's 1080p, 2.39:1-framed transfer never has more than a cursory opportunity to
sparkle in a bright-and-colorful sort of way; the picture's deliberately dreary, overcast, and
dulled imagery doesn't exactly lend itself well to a breathtaking high definition image, but
Lionsgate's release nevertheless offers a fairly faithful presentation. Hard Rain is a picture
dominated by shades of black and gray, the nighttime setting and deluge of water drowning out any
semblance of bright primary colors, but the disc nevertheless delivers a stable if not dulled palette,
every hue presented accurately within the limited context. Detail is adequate and the image is
consistently sharp with no egregious softening at any one point. Blacks can be slightly
overwhelming at times but never appear unnaturally bright. The image is littered with
scattered speckles, but not to any seriously detrimental effect. Hard Rain is one of
the least visually stimulating films available on Blu-ray, but this transfer is nevertheless a solid
presentation of the material.
Hard Rain's DTS-HD MA 7.1 lossless soundtrack isn't phenomenal, but it's aggressive and
exciting from start to finish. Surround speakers are used throughout the picture to great effect,
particularly in support of the torrential downpour that's a constant companion in practically every
scene. Additionally, rolling thunder -- sometimes gently, sometimes more aggressively -- booms
and drifts through the entire listening area to surprisingly realistic and enveloping effect. Still, the
front three channels carry much of the payload, and while every drop of rain or clap of thunder
aren't the most pronounced and realistic effects ever heard, there's still a strong sense of immersion
to the track and listeners should find themselves everything but wet by the end. The other major
player in Hard Rain's soundtrack is gunfire. Whether the blast of a shotgun or the cracking
of a high-powered rifle that with each shot echoes wonderfully about the listening area, the
soundtrack delivers a nicely-realized symphony of gunplay with ease. Music plays with suitable
clarity and dialogue never misses a beat. Hard Rain proves a well-rounded soundtrack to a
movie that demands an honest and immersive sound experience, and while it could stand a bit
more realism and oomph, it's plenty satisfactory as-is.
Hard Rain is a "good" movie in the basic context of the word, the picture not exactly the
stuff of cinematic legend but nevertheless managing to deliver the goods within the narrow
spectrum in which it exists. A straight Action film with good performances, a fairly novel setting, a
couple of decent twists, and just the right dosage of comic relief, Hard Rain doesn't set out
to do anything more than deliver 90 quick-paced minutes of mindless fun, and with every passing
tick the movie manages to keep viewers entertained on a base level and for the duration of the
picture. Lionsgate's Blu-ray release of Hard Rain isn't a stunner, but it's fairly adequate for
the film it accompanies. Most important is that the Blu-ray disc delivers a solid technical
presentation, but fans will be disappointed with the lack of any substantive extras. Nevertheless
and
considering the aggressive pricing, good technical presentation, and quality of the movie, Hard
Rain comes recommended.
Making his full-length feature directorial debut, Peter Billingsley (who will forever be known as "Ralphie" from A Christmas Story) couldn't have hopped for a better supporting team. On writing detail was popular funnyman Vince Vaughn and the driving force behind ...
Lionsgate Home Entertainment has announced that they will bring the classic action films 'The Running Man', 'Hard Rain', 'Drop Zone', and 'The Phantom' to Blu-ray on February 9th. All four films, which feature performances by such action stars as Arnold Schwarzenegger ...
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