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Summary: ITS MEGA COOL MAN!
Review: It is an awesome film containing the man himself, king WESLEY! Also contains Sean who is the don! Add this to the naked women you see when they raid the villains house and you can see why this film is the best!
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Summary: The Rising Sun is very intriging and a great who did it.
Review: It is full of action and questions. Just when you thought you knew who did it your wrong. Sean Connery is the very known and Proper Japanese interpurator for the police department. Also a very good friend of the Japanese people. On the other hand you have Wesley Snipes who is a very cocky young officer who does not know just what is happening until it is over. That really makes a great team of teacher--student. Plus you never know who did what they did until the last posible moment. You also have a little bit of romance.
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Summary: Philip Kaufman's interesting take on Crichton's work
Review: Like Michael Crichton's book on which this movie is based, "Rising Sun" hasn't aged well. That has nothing to do with the artistic effort itself, but is due rather to the reality of the post-bubble stupor of Japan over the last 12+ years vs. the hegemonic, ruthless superpower depicted in both book and film. Despite this disparity, "Sun" is worth seeing if for no other reason than to appreciate director Philip Kaufman's ability to stamp his own imprint on Crichton's tale.
As noted elsewhere on this page, Crichton and Kaufman had a famous falling out over Kaufman's efforts to bring "Sun" to the screen. In the recently re-released novel of "The Manchurian Candidate," Louis Menard wrote an introduction discussing John Frankenheimer's movie adaptation of that novel. Noting the criticism that Richard Condon's book seemed to read like a movie, he pointed out that current fiction masters like Michael Crichton "all but provide camera angles" in their works.
That may be true, but I credit Kaufman for bringing a lot of creativity and vision into the translation from print to screen. And it happens right from the start - it's a brilliant beginning to the film...you think you've stumbled into a Western, then via a very measured transition and pull-back, you release you're deep into a scene of Japanese sub-culture with tortured karaoke in a small watering hole.
That's great movie-making. Philip Kaufman wrote or adapted for the screen such classics as 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' 'The Right Stuff' and 'The Outlaw Josey Wales.' This guy knows movies and how to stage a story. Crichton's criticism makes Kaufman's work all the more intriguing. Each work stands on its own merits. Even fans of the book can appreciate a movie that surpasses a simple shot-by-shot, by-the-numbers approach.
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Summary: Boring, in relation to the novel.
Review: Michael Crichton's novel "Rising Sun" is my favorite novel of his. I prefer it to Jurassic Park, Andromeda Strain, or any of his others. The film is NO tribute to the novel. It's simple - the novel is GREAT - the movie is NOT. Please, please ... read the book!!!
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Summary: The thinking man's action flick
Review: Michael Crichton's RISING SUN (and that's both movie and book) is sheer brilliance. Unfortunately for the average American moviegoer, this is a flick too loaded with subtleties and hidden clues to appeal to someone who's used to more explosions, shootouts, and decisive final confrontations. You must pay close attention to every line of dialogue in order to keep up, and in this the average viewer is going to lose interest. Which is a pity, as you are kept guessing throughout --it's presented in such a way as to enable you to see the point of view of almost every character. Snipes and Connery work extremely well off each other, Harvey Keitel plods through his usual role, Cary Tagawa shines as the unfortunate fall guy stuck between East and West, Tia Carrere proves that she's MUCH more than mere 'Wayne's World' eye candy, and the film's few deviations from the novel do not detract from the suspense --they actually help to keep the plot moving. Don't believe the reviews --this movie is most emphatically NOT racist Japan-bashing; in fact such a reaction is even anticipated within the narrative. An excellent treatise on the mindset of the Japanese corporate and how ill-equipped American culture/politics is in dealing with it. Not overly violent, but there is a considerable amount of sensuality and a disturbing murder scene that, of necessity, is replayed over and over throughout the film --definitely not for children.
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Summary: PARTIAL ECLIPSE
Review: RISING SUN has some good moments, but overall it's a slow-paced and convoluted story. Based on Michael Crichton's best seller, the plot revolves around the murder of a call-girl during a high-powered gathering of Japanese businessmen who are trying to buy a failing American corporation. The movie uses flashbacks, and takes its time in laying out the multi-layered, if somewhat predictable plot.
Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes do not have a good screen chemistry and both actors seem to be earning a paycheck but not infusing their performances with any real gusto. Kevin Anderson as a lecherous lawyer has the worst hairstyle in movies in years; Harvey Keitel looks constipated, Mako and Tia Carrere are wasted, and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is ineffective as well.
Since this movie was made, our "fear" over America becoming Japanese dominated has certainly vanished, so one has to remember when this flick was filmed.
Director Philip Kaufman offers no real cinematic genius in his direction, and by the time the movie wraps up, you're ready to put in another disc. Not awful, but very disappointing considering the geneaology.
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Summary: Routine, nothing more
Review: Rising Sun is basically a standard issue mystery/thriller that decides to put in a couple of martial arts fights to show off Wesley Snipes's moves and show a lot of pointless nudity for mere titillation. It's unfortunate, because this could have been a good intriguing thriller. The main problem lies in casting. While Connery is perfect in the role as the wise detective, Wesley Snipes is completely miscast. Somebody with more restraint should have been chosen for the role. There's also an abundance of red herrings thrown around. Heck, the killer's identity is even changed from the one in the book, not for the sake of plausability but just to "surprise" those who read the novel. There's a scene near the end that struck me as laughable. The good guys approach the person they think is the killer (this character is the one that was the killer in the book), and then they start shouting at him, and then all of a sudden the suspect points to another person, claiming he is the killer! A very preposterous scene, in a very preposterous movie.
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Summary: What ruins this movie is...
Review: The editing and the pace of the movie is way too slow for anyone to really get a grip on what the story is.Before long, you stop caring and wish that the movie would end already.A waste of Sean Connery's time and acting abilities.
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Summary: Rising Sun
Review: The film "Rising Sun" is as bad as the novel by Michael Crichton is good. The film fails to capture Crichton's opinions on the Japanese, and it changes the murderer to a person who could never have been considered in the book. The makers of this film didn't care about making a good film; they just wanted to be politically correct by not insulting the Japanese. This is the only film that I've seen that I honestly wanted my money back. It is an insult to a great novelist and a fine book.
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Summary: International Incident
Review: 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??
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