ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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I love the blurb at the top of the poster.

A simple plan. And instant fortune. Just add water.

Funny.

This is one of my favorite action movies, with a great cast and a novel idea. Christian Slater is terrific as the reluctant hero, and I was surprised by how well Morgan Freeman managed to play a bad guy. It's impossible to dislike Mr. Freeman, even when he's a skunk like the character in this film.

Randy Quaid playing a good guy gone bad was a nice touch too. Richard Dysart and Betty White were funny as the cantankerous old couple.

Minnie Driver was believable as the lovely-but-tough heroine.

The FX of the deteriorating dam are good, and that really added tension to the story. Having so much of the movie take place in water (and sometimes in pouring rain) was brilliant, but it was certainly expensive.

The budget for this movie was $70 million. Sadly it only made about $20 million.

I like the artwork for the poster.





______________________ Hard Rain - trailer


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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Unless I loose power tomorrow from the first day of a 48-hour deluge from hurricane Florence, I'm going to watch my DVD of this movie.

And if I loose power after sundown, I'll be watching Pitch Black.

Not the movie, just the pitch black in my living room . . .

____ Reporters Get Battered by Hurricane Florence


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[orzel-w]

Just stay indoors. At least, until the water reaches your armpits.
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...or not...

WayneO
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[Pow]

Hope all will be well for you during Flo's onslaught, Bud.

Have family in Wilmington & Jacksonville. Wilmington gang remained, Jacksonville evacuated.

[Bud Brewster]

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The fact that Christian Slater was one of the producers — as well as the star of this movie — makes it even more unfortunate that this $70 million movie only made $20 million.

The concept is totally original, the production crew had to film under the worst imaginable conditions, the stunts are astounding, the photography is exceptional, and the script is Oscar quality.

Is that the whole list of pluses for this movie? Nope, we've barely gotten our feet wet!

The editing is worthy of an Oscar nomination, the casting is inspired, the characters are terrific, the dialog is priceless, and the story's premise is like a well aimed bullet that leaves the barrel right after the title work and hits the target in the climax!

Want more accolades? No problem. Consider these.

The fact that the entire story is set in a small town that's slowly drowning in a flood is presented with sets and special effects which make you forget that none of it is real!

I mean, damn . . . jet skies that race around in the flooded hallways of a high school, speedboats that plow through flooded streets and back alleys with exploding electrical transformers, an over-loaded dam that has to keep releasing flood waters which cascade through the town and ramp up the tension . . .

Hot damn! What a concept! What a movie!

If you're a John McClane Die Hard fan, you'll love this story! What Bruce Willis did in the building's air ducts with the evil Alan Rickman determined to kill him, this movie does with Christian Slater in waist deep water with the brilliant Morgan Freeman constantly right on Christian's ass.

Mr. Freeman is reluctant to be totally bad, but he's not willing to let several million of dollars in stolen cash float away if he has to kill a few people to get it!

Meanwhile, Minnie Driver is lovely and tough and totally devoted to protecting priceless artifacts in her local church from looters and the flood which might destroy them all.

Admittedly I don't quite know why this dirt-poor town has a church filled with priceless religious treasures, but the idea sure gives the plot a shot of nitro when we've already got three million dollars of money rescued from local banks hidden away by Christian, money that was collected by him and fellow armored car driver Ed Asner from small towns whose banks were endangered by the regional flood!
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Reality check: Wow, was this the perfect movie for me to watch today while hurricane Florence raged through the Carolinas and threatened to flood my subdivision? I spent the day worrying that the wind gusts would knock out my power and drop trees through my roof, the way Florence did in the coastal regions!
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The constant rain and the gusting winds are supposed to continue well into Monday, so my personal adventure with hurricane Florence will continue for two more days. But with luck and imagination, I'm hoping that this disaster will inspire a few more interesting posts for the members of All Sci-Fi while I watch movies inspired by actual global disasters!

And I'm hoping you guys will add a few replies which will keep things lively here at the best message board on the internet!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

Let's see what IMDB has to say about Hard Rain.

Originally titled The Flood. However, producers were afraid that audiences would assume that this was simply a disaster movie and not also a heist-thriller.

Filmed in Huntingburg, Indiana and at an aircraft hanger in Palmdale, California where a $6,000,000 set was constructed.


This film had the largest painted scenic backdrop ever used for a film at that time.

Many sets such as the cemetery were filmed in water tanks with the sets built within them. Director Mikael Solomon was hired based upon his work with James Cameron on The Abyss. That film was a grueling shoot and most of its sets were underwater.

Morgan Freeman disliked the film. Years later he said in an interview "Did you see that movie? Don't, just don't."

Minnie Driver hated working on the film due to the intense and continuous wet conditions.

Preview audiences did not like the ending of the movie that had Freeman perish, or that he did not get any of the money. Freeman was brought back in to reshoot the ending where his character survives and gets some of the dough.

[Bud Brewster]