Today on TV: ‘Die Hard’ meets dark, suspenseful disaster action with ‘Freelance’, ‘Sieben’ and ‘Sleepers’ stars

‘Hard Rain’ cleverly combines two of the most popular subgenres of suspense cinema: heist thrillers and disaster films. Even today – a quarter of a century after its theatrical release – this blend still works surprisingly well. That’s certainly thanks to the top-notch cast with stars like Morgan Freeman (“Seven”) and Christian Slater (“Freelance,” “Sleepers”). The latter plays the hero who – similar to Bruce Willis’ character in ‘Die Hard’ – has to fight alone against a whole series of villains and also has to contend with external circumstances.

Above all, the cleverly constructed script by “Speed” author Graham Yost and the efficient production are responsible for making it all work. Director Mikael Salomon (“The Trail of the Wind”) managed to create a dark, intense atmosphere. This, combined with some wonderfully unexpected twists and spectacular action scenes, ensures that the film remains interesting until the end.

“Hard Rain” will be broadcast today, October 12, 2023 at 8:15 PM on Tele 5. But be careful! Since the title has an FSK-16 rating, it only runs here in an edited version. If you want to see the uncut version, you will have to wait for the repeat on the night of October 14 to 15. The film will be broadcast again in full here at 1:00 am. The FSK 16 title can also be streamed for free on the station’s media library until November 11. Alternatively, you can buy it as a Blu-ray, DVD or paid video on demand.

In addition to the main actors Freeman and Slater, there were a lot of other stars in front of the camera, mainly known from the character industry. Above all, Minnie Driver (“Sleepers”) should be mentioned, who plays an important role in the story. Also starting: Randy Quaid (“Brokeback Mountain”), Mark Rolston (“Aliens”), Ricky Harris (“Heat”) and TV veterans Edward Asner (“Lou Grant”), Betty White (“Golden Girls”) , Dann Florek (“Law & Order”) and Richard A. Dysart (“LA Law”).

“Hard Rain” on Tele 5: that’s the story

It has been raining heavily in Huntingburg for weeks. The flood of water threatens to break the neighboring dam. If that happens, the entire provincial town is in danger of being completely flooded and destroyed. But the impending catastrophe not only sows fear and terror. Aging career criminal Jim (Freeman) sees the seemingly inevitable flood as an opportunity for one last major coup before he retires.

Because not only the population, but also the money stored in the local bank must be evacuated. With a few accomplices, Jim ambushes the armored car on the way into town. But the robbery goes wrong because driver Tom (Slater) manages to escape with the three million. After he hid the money in a cemetery, local police arrested him. The sheriff (Quaid) does not believe a word Tom says and locks him in a cell. But he is anything but safe there. Soon he will have to defend himself not only against the criminals hunting him, but also against the threatening rising water level…

No chance against ‘Titanic’

Screenwriter Graham Yost originally conceived “Hard Rain” as a modern western with a modest budget. In a nod to this idea, Morgan Freeman’s character wears a cowboy hat for almost the entire first half of the runtime. Due to the extensive flooding effects, which were filmed practically and not computer generated, the production ultimately cost a whopping $70 million. Accordingly, the thriller would have had to make a big profit at the box office for the studio to recoup its investment. For this purpose, a long weekend with a national holiday (Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January 1998) was chosen as the starting date in the US.

But that was of no use. ‘Hard Rain’ only managed to gross a measly eight million in its first four days. Behind the megahit ‘Titanic’, which dominated everything in the fifth week after its release, the Oscar films ‘Good Will Hunting’ and ‘It Can’t Get Better’, which also came from the previous year, and the thriller ‘ Demon -Trust No Soul.” with Denzel Washington it only reached a disappointing fifth place in the charts.

With a US box office gross of less than $20 million, ‘Hard Rain’ was a huge flop. That this label does not do the film justice became clear when it was released for home cinema and was able to at least make up for a large part of the damage suffered in the cinemas.