Film

Rising Sun

Name: Rising Sun
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Released: 1993
Cast: Sean Connery, Wesley Snipes, Tia Carrere, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Harvey Keitel

A 1993 thriller pairing Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes as LA detectives investigating a murder in a Japanese corporation's gleaming tower. It's a procedural that uses cultural friction as both plot engine and character study, built on the paranoia of 90s Japan-anxiety. Slick, cynical, and genuinely interested in how power operates across borders.

TMDb rating

3.1

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like a crime story where the puzzle is cultural as much as criminal, and you enjoy watching two very different partners argue their way toward the truth in a glossy, tense Los Angeles.

Skip it if you want a lean procedural with tidy clues; this one is talky, stretched across two hours, and its politics of corporate Japan-bashing can feel heavy-handed and dated.

What it asks of you: Expect a long, layered film of over two hours that rewards patience, with lots of dialogue and slow-burn negotiation between the detectives before the thriller picks up steam.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Blade Runner 20492017

A visually stunning neo-noir about investigating a murder that pulls you through corporate corruption and philosophical dread. Like Rising Sun, it trusts atmosphere and moral ambiguity over action spectacle.

But Deliberately paced and meditative—more interested in asking questions than providing answers. Some find it glacial.

Chinatown1974

The ur-text of LA corruption thrillers: a detective discovering that every thread leads to power he can't touch. Both films understand that the real mystery isn't whodunit but howmuchcantheygetaway.

But The ending is bleak in a way that doesn't resolve anything. If you need justice served, this isn't it.

In the Realm of the Senses1976

An unflinching look at power, desire, and cultural codes through a murder investigation set in 1930s Japan. Like Rising Sun, it examines how sex, violence, and tradition tangle together across a cultural divide.

But Extremely explicit sexual content integral to the story. Not a film you can half-watch or have on in the background.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Rising Sun

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Tokyo Story1953

Both films are fascinated by Japan but approach it from opposite poles: Rising Sun through paranoia and suspicion, Tokyo Story through acceptance and quiet observation. Watch them back-to-back to understand how cinema filters a culture.

Ozu's masterpiece about an elderly couple visiting their son in postwar Tokyo. It observes Japanese culture with the same attentive respect Rising Sun claims but doesn't quite deliver—patient, precise, genuinely understanding.

But Slow, contemplative, almost plotless. Radically patient with stillness. If you want propulsion, you're watching the wrong film.

Lethal Weapon 21989

Snipes and a grizzled older cop facing off against corporate villains using diplomatic immunity as a shield. Same buddy-cop energy, same pleasure in watching professionals spar across institutional boundaries.

But It's an action film first and foremost—lighter, louder, and much less interested in cultural nuance than Rising Sun.

Michael Clayton2007

A corporate thriller where a man discovers the machinery of power doesn't care about his integrity. The slow realization that you're outmatched is pitch-perfect, and George Clooney plays it with Connery's same weary knowingness.

But Deliberately slow-burn. Long stretches of conversation and driving with minimal action. Requires patience.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang2005

A Los Angeles murder mystery where nothing is what it seems and the detective is constantly one step behind people with better resources. Sharp, funny, and genuinely twisty in its plotting.

But The tone is aggressively postmodern and sarcastic. If you want sincerity, you won't find it here.

L.A. Confidential1997

Mid-century LA corruption with cops who realize their department is the real enemy. Like Rising Sun, it's about discovering the cover-up is deeper than the crime, and institutional power protects itself first.

But Brutal and cynical about law enforcement. Not interested in letting anyone off the hook for anything.

The Insider1999

A whistleblower thriller where a man unravels corporate duplicity and discovers the system will destroy you before it admits wrongdoing. The paranoia and moral exhaustion match Rising Sun's worldview.

But Nearly three hours of men in rooms having tense conversations. Deliberately unglamorous, which some find tedious.

Body of Lies2008

CIA operatives navigating cultural terrain and institutional pressure while investigating terrorism. Similar structure: boots on the ground versus power centers pulling strings from above, similar distrust of everyone.

But Post-9/11 geopolitical thriller that can feel didactic. The moral certainty undercuts some of the ambiguity Rising Sun maintains.

Memories of Murder2003

Both films are suspicious of institutional power and cultural translation—but where Rising Sun is a thriller about cover-ups, Memories of Murder is a tragedy about systemic failure. It shows what happens when the machinery works exactly as designed.

A South Korean serial-killer procedural where detectives operate in institutional chaos and cultural fog, unable to trust information or each other. Methodical, urgent, and genuinely unsettling about how easily the wrong person hangs.

But Grim and protracted. The final act is deliberately ambiguous in a way that frustrates neat resolution. Some will feel it's unfair to the audience.

Mulholland Drive2001

Rising Sun is a procedural that discovers the system is rigged; Mulholland Drive is a fever dream that suggests there is no system at all, just competing fictions. One investigates corruption. The other investigates whether investigation is possible.

A Los Angeles mystery where nothing coheres, every explanation dissolves, and the real story is about power, desire, and who gets to survive in the system. Infuriating and hypnotic in equal measure.

But Deliberately incoherent. The narrative doesn't resolve itself into sense, and Lynchian dream-logic will alienate anyone looking for answers. Requires active interpretation and willingness to never be certain.