Rising Sun (1993)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Philip Kaufman

Writers (WGA):

Michael Crichton (novel)
Philip Kaufman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

30 July 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller | Action

Plot:

At the offices of a Japanese corporation, during a party, a woman, who's evidently a professional mistress...

Plot Keywords:

Japanese | Police | Detective | Cement Foundation | Prostitution

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Sean Connery	...	Capt. John Connor
Wesley Snipes	...	Lt. Webster Smith
Harvey Keitel	...	Lt. Tom Graham
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa	...	Eddie Sakamura
Kevin Anderson	...	Bob Richmond
Mako	...	Yoshida-san
Ray Wise	...	Senator John Morton
Stan Egi	...	Ishihara
Stan Shaw	...	Phillips
Tia Carrere	...	Jingo Asakuma
Steve Buscemi	...	Willy 'the Weasel' Wilhelm
Tatjana Patitz	...	Cheryl Lynn Austin
Peter Crombie	...	Greg
Sam Lloyd	...	Rick
Alexandra Powers	...	Julia

Runtime:

125 min | USA:129 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Australia:M (TV rating) | Iceland:16 | Philippines:R-18 | Netherlands:12 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Japanese Garden, Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant - 6100 Woodley Avenue, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Michael Crichton, author of the book and co-author of the screenplay, wrote the part of Connor with Sean Connery in mind.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: The first scene shows the Japanese girl to have a deformed left hand. In one scene where she stands up and pulls her blouse down, it is very clear that her left hand is normal. In a subsequent scene, when she is explaining herself to Web Smith, her left hand again appears deformed.

Quotes:

John Connor: We're playing that most American of games.
Web Smith: Which is what?
John Connor: Catch-up.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Slanted Screen (2006)

Soundtrack:

LOVE SHACK

OK on its own terms

A woman is strangled to death while having sex in a Japaneses' corporation building. Lt. Webster Smith (Wesley Snipes) and Japan expert Captain John Connor (Sean Connery) are assigned to solve it. All the evidence points to her Japanese boyfriend but there's more to this than meets the eye.

Michael Crichtons novel was a frightening and powerful story about how it seemed (at the time) that Japanese corporations were taking over everything. As an adaptation to that this is a joke. Smith is made black for no good reason, the anti-Japanese slant was toned down a lot, there was no romantic interest between Snipes and Tia Carrere as is shown in this movie and the identity of the killer was completely changed! It really destroyed the book. But, if you ignore the book, this is OK on its own terms.

It's well done and written and there's some good acting by Connery, Ray Wise (as a slimy senator), Harvey Keitel (as a cop) and Steve Buscemi (still not sure what he was). But the story is way too convoluted, goes on far too long and has an ending which is more than confusing. Also Connery and Snipes do not work well together. There's no spark between them--they seem to be acting in different movies. There's also plenty of pointless female nudity. This lessens what could have been a good strong movie. So it's an OK thriller. Worth catching if you're a Connery fan. The book is much better.