What do you get when you mix a natural disaster film with a heist thriller written by the guy who wrote Speed? You get the biggest flop of 1998 apparently.
It's kind of surprising that Hard Rain was such a major box office failure because in retrospect the film is a perfectly watchable action thriller that contains some seriously impressive set pieces and inventive action sequences. The jet ski chase in the flooded-out high school was definitely a highlight. I seriously wonder how the filmmakers were able to pull off certain scenes in this movie. Hard Rain still looks visually impressive today.
Of course, the film is far from being a legitimately great action movie. All of the characters are severely underwritten and none of the performances are particularly great. Both Morgan Freeman and Christian Slater are clearly phoning it in and Minnie Driver feels completely wasted. The dialogue can get pretty atrocious and the film's attempt at adding religious themes felt very half-baked.
But Hard Rain is a film where its original and dare I say, ingenious premise is enough to overlook some of those flaws. It may not reach the same heights as Christian Slater's previous action film Broken Arrow, but Hard Rain would still make for a perfectly enjoyable viewing on a lazy Sunday afternoon, especially if it's a rainy Sunday.
It's kind of surprising that Hard Rain was such a major box office failure because in retrospect the film is a perfectly watchable action thriller that contains some seriously impressive set pieces and inventive action sequences. The jet ski chase in the flooded-out high school was definitely a highlight. I seriously wonder how the filmmakers were able to pull off certain scenes in this movie. Hard Rain still looks visually impressive today.
Of course, the film is far from being a legitimately great action movie. All of the characters are severely underwritten and none of the performances are particularly great. Both Morgan Freeman and Christian Slater are clearly phoning it in and Minnie Driver feels completely wasted. The dialogue can get pretty atrocious and the film's attempt at adding religious themes felt very half-baked.
But Hard Rain is a film where its original and dare I say, ingenious premise is enough to overlook some of those flaws. It may not reach the same heights as Christian Slater's previous action film Broken Arrow, but Hard Rain would still make for a perfectly enjoyable viewing on a lazy Sunday afternoon, especially if it's a rainy Sunday.