Rider on the Rain - aka La passager de la pluie [Blu-ray]

The cover art for the Blu-Ray makes it look like a romance. The interior art makes it look like an action film. Actually, “Rider on the Rain”is a mystery, almost in the format of a “Columbo” episode. In the first 20 minutes or so we see a young woman kill a man, and dispose of his body. Than Bronson shows up. He’s investigating the case, but it’s not clear why. Was he a cohort of the victim? Is he out for revenge? Is he looking for the bagful of stolen money the victim had (which the girl knew nothing about)? All very intriguing, and it plays to a satisfying conclusion.Of course, Bronson is more of a two-fisted investigator than Columbo ever was, and has one fight scene where he really gets to show his stuff. But that’s about it as far as action goes. The movie is more of a cat-and-mouse game than a slugfest.Marlene Jobert is delightful as “the mouse.” I understand that she’s very popular in France, and they’re lucky to have her.KL Studiocanal has done an outstanding job bringing out Bronson’s French films on Blu-Ray, and this one is no exception. The package includes both the English language version of the film and the French language version (with subtitles). They’re both worth watching.They shot the dialogue scenes twice—with the actors speaking their dialogue in both French and English, so there’s no problem with mismatched dubbing.For the French language version, Bronson’s dialogue was dubbed by an American actor living in France—so the character speaks French with an American accent (not that I could tell).As my high school French teacher would say, “Magnifique!”

I here from people often who like Charles Bronson movies, however, except for maybe Once Upon A Time In the West, they seem to be only familiar with his state side films, such as of course Death Wish and The Mechanic, you ask them about his other European films they don't seem to really know, and what really got me was when some people have there top ten Bronson films, they don't seem to know about this one.What Death Wish did for Bronson in 1974, Rider On The Rain did for him in 1970 in France, and the rest of Europe. and that some ten films or so earlier. The following year he was voted by the Golden Globe people as the most popular actor in the world, though he was not in the top ten in the USA. Rider On the Rain strangely did win best foreign film in 1971 at the Golden Globes, but did not propel Bronson to any stardom in the US. Here he shows that he could be a real romantic lead, though he is really not in a romance. It is also sad that he could not be in many other films like this, or that of all people, Alfred Hitchcock, though winding down his career, really did not team up with Bronson, as this film is somewhat like a Hitchcock film.the disc itself in okey. There is the English language version, 114 minutes, and the French version 118 minutes. the French version is a lot better picture wise, as some on the picture wise seem to be a bit faded occasionally. Sadly, though it is mentioned, the filmed two versions when we see them speaking, once in English and once in French, with Bronson actually learning his words phonetically. Sad though they could not use his voice in French, perhaps it would have been embarrassing for him. A big laugh is when on the French version, we do here his character speaking English, and of course it is not Bronson's voice.the audio commentary is informative, and surprising with which American actor they were thinking of having in the movie besides Bronson, and certainly not as machine who is still alive today and on television, and in his 80's. Sadly though I would like to have learned a bit more about the shoot, and how Bronson got along with people on this movie, as I have heard some found him odd, and not very friendly. Too bad also he did not do another movie with Rene Clement the director, or Marlene Joubert the female lead. It would be also great if the film had some more extras, hearing Bronson speak French, or other possible interviews with people who worked on the movie. I believe Joubert did something like that earlier during the making of this film in France. Recommended, but I maybe some one out there like Powerhouse.UK could make a better Blue ray.

When this French film came out in 1970 it was a hit with both critics and audiences. It made a major star out of Charles Bronson. I don’t remember what I thought of it then, but now, 40 years later, I was astounded as to how implausible and ludicrous the whole thing is, and mind you, I’m a René Clément fan.Set-up: A woman (Jobert) is raped while her pilot husband is away. She shoots the assailant in self defense and throws the corpse over a cliff (the action takes place in the south of France). A menacing stranger (Bronson) shows up with questions.Well, the American major Bronson plays is not only unorthodox in his questioning methods, he’s downright as loony as the rapist he’s after. The victim Marlene Jobert plays makes no sense at all unless she’s an utter masochist: everyone in the cast slaps her around and she takes it. And to be even more picky, at one point Bronson takes off his shirt, parades his physique around and, instead of putting on a pullover or a T-Shirt, he puts on the same shirt he took off. What was that about? Was it in his contract to have an obligatory beefcake scene, a colonel stationed in Germany with a perfect tan right out of Malibu Beach? Why didn’t the rape victim call the police (she knew them personally) and tell them the truth: that she killed the rapist in self-defense. They would have believed her, and if the husband was a jealous and unfaithful prick, a divorce would have been a nice alternative instead of begging him to take her with him on his next flight. And why did the major keep his identity secret from her, instead of coming on like a Mafia goon? Nothing made sense. It’s all a hall of mirrors for its own sake. Give me “Midsomer Murders” any day.The cast is rounded out by Gabriele Tinti (the hunky gardener who compares abs with Kim Novak in “Lylah Clare”) as the bully husband, and Corinne Marchand (the seemingly doomed leading lady in Agnes Varda’s “Cleo From 5 To 7"). Looking fantastic a decade later, in “Rider” she plays a classy Lesbian madam (is there any other kind in the movies?) who puts the make on Jobert (cliché, cliché) for no apparent reason - she has, after all, a gorgeous companion in tow. Also in the cast, a dubbed Jill Ireland (I guess it was also in Bronson's contract that his wife be included in the cast) as the daffy friend who admits to an affair with Joberts' husband. She gets slapped by the irate wife (twice), but not the unfaithful husband - he gets hugged at the end!There is the seed of a good yarn here, but too much time is devoted to Euro-hot-air pretenses, it all comes off like minor Chabrol, and what little suspense there could have been totally evaporates after the terrifying rape scene.This “Special Edition” includes both the dubbed American version and the original French version, which runs two minutes longer. I suspect the American version shows a shorter rape scene, but I didn’t bother to check. The blu-ray is sharp and with beautiful subtle color. And that’s about as positive as I can get about this total misfire. For Bronson fans, stick to “Death Wish” and “The Mechanic” And for better Clément thrillers, try out “Purple Noon” or “Joy House”. Two Stars because KL provides the two versions.

Finally, the best disc version of this move.

This is the third copy of "Rider On The Rain" I have purchased over the last few years and I am happy to say that the quality is very, very good. The first copy I bought must have been an ex super 8 airline print projected onto a wall and shot onto VHS through an old camcorder. The copy was colourless, soft in focus, jitter and weave, dirty and croped beyond belief, wow in the sound track not to mention much of the film was missing.The second copy I recently bought was transferred full screen and marginally better, but still bits missing. This new transfer by Studiocanal is 16 x 9 (1.78:1) anamorphic and appears to be the full English version. As a bonus you get the French version which is a slightly different cutting probably to hide the fact that Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland don't talk "Frog Speak," and even that is worth a look at. The French version is 113 minutes whereas the English version is 109 minutes. I didn't check the running times, but that's what the cover says.Highly recommended show full of excitement and a nice twist at the end with spendid performances by Charles and Marlene and "Boy Oh Boy", is Marlene a Spunk. Ladies, lock your doors and windows when you take a bath!

"Rider On The Rain" is a good Charles Bronson Movie not a great one. His Movies in Europa during the 70s are his most interesting. In my opinion his best is "Adieu l'ami" / (Farewell Friend, Honor among Friends) with Alain Delon. "Rider On The Rain" is entertaining but confusing. It has some visual interesting ideas but since most of the time we get to see just two good actors at play. The supporting cast doesn't really drives the story forward and is just there to give the whole movie more Color and Depth. I am not sure if the script was meant for the theater because the story could have easily played on the stage.If you are a fan don't expect to much action. Otherwise I found this movie OK.

This film doesn't really have much of a plot instead it concentrates on keeping the viewer guessing from the off. Twenty minutes in, Bronson appears on the scene. His character is a bit of a post-modern concoction - an almost omniscient avenger-type who will play cat and mouse with his prey to the end. What his ultimate motives are and the unorthodox measures he seems prepared to take to get what he wants are really no more than a smokescreen for the twists and jousts of the plot. However, Bronson seems to be enjoying himself and Ms Jobert is good in the central role. French directors have always loved the bleakness and romance of film noir, and René Clement, despite having won two Best Foreign Film Acaacemy Awards, is probably now best known for his 1959 film, Plein Soleil (Purple Noon), an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 'The Talented Mr Ripley'. This film however is not a patch on that work.

The film was quite a good story, a bit different than Charles Bronsons other films, maybe a bit complicated, but quite interesting in terms of the location used in the film and Charles Bronson being more brutal than in other films, bit of a personality change while also being protective to the woman he had got involved with after her ordeal with murdering the man who raped her and after she killed him, but was being protective for his own needs to do with money. I guess I would have wanted to know a bit more about the story to get a better understanding, but the product description which showed the storyline was quite helpful, I think it's just a film that you would have to watch a few times to get in to it, but all the same not a bad film.