Writers: Craig Bolotin, Warren Lewis
Composer: Hans Zimmer
Starring: Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia, Ken Takakura, Kate Capshaw, Yusaku Matsuda, Shigeru Koyama, John Spencer, Gus Ishimatsu, Yuya Uchida, Luis Guzman, Stephen Root
More info: IMDb
Tagline: An American Cop in Japan. Their country. Their laws. Their game. His rules.
Plot: Two NYC cops arrest a Yakuza member and must escort him when he's extradited to Japan.
My rating: 6/10
Will I watch it again? No.
What a letdown. I expected more from Ridley Scott and Michael Douglas. It's a good looking picture (something you can always count on Scott for having) but it's also close to a one-note, cliche-laden film that perpetuates the badass American in another country stereotype. It took two attempts to watch the movie. The first half isn't so bad I guess but the second half fares worse as Nick and Charlie (Douglas and Garcia) try to find their man in unfamiliar territory. Then something happens that sends Nick pas the point of no return and he almost single-handily takes on two Yakuza gangs...and wins. I've seen movies where these kinds of odds are overcome but they're usually ridiculously fun and the film makers know it's stupid but have fun with it anyway. This one isn't played like that. It can't because of the serious, grounded rules that have been established for the prior 90 minutes. I mean, come on. Nick gets in a one-on-one fight with a Yakuza chop socky badaass and wins? Whatever. His ass would have been handed to him on a silver platter. More forgiving fans of Scott or Douglass may find a lot more to like in this film than I did but I expected more than this. The Paramount DVD has a nice widescreen print with extras including a commentary by Scott, four behind the scenes featurettes (totallin about 70 minutes) and an anamorphic widescreen trailer.
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