Rising Sun [Blu-ray]

A Los Angeles special liaison officer (Wesley Snipes) is called in to investigate the murder of a call-girl in the boardroom of a Japanese corporation. Accompanied by a detective with unusual knowledge of the Japanese culture (Sean Connery), the two men must unravel the mystery behind the murder by entering an underground "shadow world" of futuristic technology, ancient ways and confusing loyalties.

Author Michael Crichton and director Philip Kaufman had a falling-out over the script for this film, based on Crichton's best-selling novel (which was controversial for its take on the Japanese invasion of American business in the early '90s). Kaufman ultimately won, doing an above-average job creating a murder mystery based on the culture clash between Los Angeles cops and Japanese multinational business interests. When a prostitute is murdered at the opening of a new L.A. headquarters for a Japanese company, detective Wesley Snipes is forced to call upon retired cop (and Japanophile) Sean Connery to help solve the murder. But he runs into obstruction from the Japanese, as well as a high-tech cover-up, while having to deal with anti-Japanese sentiments from people on his own team. Intriguing if overlong. --Marshall Fine