[.ca] Rising Sun (Widescreen)

From Amazon.com:
Author Michael Crichton and director Philip Kaufman had a falling-out over the script for this film, based on Crichton's best-selling novel (which was controversial for its take on the Japanese invasion of American business in the early '90s). Kaufman ultimately won, doing an above-average job creating a murder mystery based on the culture clash between Los Angeles cops and Japanese multinational business interests. When a prostitute is murdered at the opening of a new L.A. headquarters for a Japanese company, detective Wesley Snipes is forced to call upon retired cop (and Japanophile) Sean Connery to help solve the murder. But he runs into obstruction from the Japanese, as well as a high-tech cover-up, while having to deal with anti-Japanese sentiments from people on his own team. Intriguing if overlong. --Marshall Fine

Yakuza classic:
This move is simply amazing. Excellent mixture of action flick with a gangster edge.

International Incident:
The film adaptation of best selling author Michael Crichton's Rising Sun had its share of troubles...both on screen and off. Crichton had a falling out with director Philip Kaufman over some of the script changes. While I never read the book, and have nothing to compare the film to, I can't say that I wasn't all that thrilled with the film version anyway. When a call girl is found to have been murdered in the boardroom of a Japanese corporation in Los Angeles, Lt. Web Smith (Wesley Snipes) is assigned to work the case. He soon realizes that his lack of knowledge about the culture is hurting the investigation. He is forced to team up with Captain John Connor, (Sean Connery) who is not only an expert on Japanese culture, but he's also spent time there as well. As I say, even though Mr. Kaufman seems to have changed key elements of the story, in translating the book, I had other concerns on my mind. In order for "good cop--cop on the edge formula" to work--there has to be chemistry between the actors. Here, Connery and Snipes have very liitle. In fact, as a huge Connery fan, I was suprised at how bored he seemed. The mystery in the story, while having a few nice twists--doesn't sustain enough tension throughout. The usually great Harvey Keitel and Asian legend Mako are wasted in thankless roles. Rising sun is a film brimming with missed potential. The only extra on the DVD is the movie's theatrical trailer. Given the problems I have with it, that's probably a good thing...What a disappointment. Maybe Kaufman should have stayed closer to the book??

I Recomend the Book first then the Movie:
I first read the book just recently in 2004 and rented the DVD right after. My first Michael Critchon book, I must say I am impressed with the author's knowledge, he is a genius to write about so many topics in all his books. The main difference i noticed was that in the book he talks much about business between America and Japan but in the film not much of that theme is really stressed or atleast the average viewer might not pick up on it. also in the book the main character (played by w. snipes in the movie)has more of his life story told and you get a sense of his life history more. but all in all all the actors in the movie do a terrific job. the addition of martial arts fighting in the movie is a plus aswell. i would have liked to see more special features on the dvd though such as interviews from cast,etc.

Bleh.....:
First, I wanted to see this movie because of I heard Sean Connery played a mentor on Japanese customs to Wesley Snipes in a homicide investigation-and I thought "How interesting!", but after watching it, I felt the plot was disjointed, and choppy, and the dialogue was constipated. The movie does not flow well at all. I have not read the book, but I have heard it is better than the movie (as usual), and I do like Chricton's work. Still, I found this movie slow, and wondering what the point was.

A lacklustre movie from an interesting book..:
For one thing, the movie is a pale adaptation of a fairly decent book into an intended "thriller" tinged with pseudo-racial slurs. Sadly, these clueless bromides about a Japan of yore are probably all mistaken. For instance, we are made to believe that all Japanese "keiretsu" companies have a barrage of video cameras and monitor their employees 24 hours; a "sempai" (boss) and "kohai" (subordinate) have only one unilateral way of dealing with each other; a man who has lived in Japan for 18 years somehow just has to know a mysteriously effective form of aikido that only requires the use of 2 fingers to knock a man unconscious in a second; and oh, he has to have a Japanese wife (who btw does not look Japanese at all, and this is explained by the fruitcake theorem that one of her parents was black); etc etc...ad infinitum ad nauseum. But as though the cultural glitches were not misplaced enough, the acting in this plotless movie is torrid too. Sean Connery scrambles to come off as an expert in all things Japan, but his Japanese is nearly incomprehensible. Minor nits about Japan are excruciatingly explained every minute of the movie bogging down the pace of a thriller beyond any semblance of thrill. But above all, the central event -- a much-ado-about-nothing strangling of a girl during a business conference -- is pretty much left hanging in mid-air. Why was it done? We do find out after wading through an hour and a half of farcical Japan-Culture-Versus-US-Culture morass about WHO did it (and this was anything but a surprise) but WHY it was done is still a mystery to be addressed in a part 2 that we can only hope never sees the light of the day. In a nutshell, a suspense movie without any suspense, stereotypical misgivings about Japan (the country does admittedly have its quirks but not so bird-brained), a plethora of ill-timed and abysmal attempts at humor without inducing any real laughs, the tired cliche of a black-cop/white-cop combo that start out with mutual chagrin but end up with a deep reciprocal esteem, and a Wesley Snipes perpetually dressed in a flourescent orange shirt. With a Jackie Chan + Chris Rock/Tucker combo a flaky adaptation such as this could have meant some entertainment, but Rising Sun ends up being a painfully ordinary affair and a tragic squandering of a great cast over what was quite an alright novel. If you really must see the Japan of 90s, you'd learn a lot more by reading the book, or by watching "Black Rain" (Michael Douglas) or "Mr. Baseball" (Tom Selleck). Both of which don't jumble up on the reality and have a real story up their sleeves.