VHS Opening/Closing: RAIN MAN (1989, Warner, British) · 3:32pm Oct 18th, 2016
Tape opens with a warning read out loud accompanied by a reading of a heretofore unheard of Reward screen; the latter sounds like it could've been published here in Arizona during the 19th century! (the blue screen and font are the same ones used on the warning screens of Canadian Warner releases.) Then it cuts to a plain Warner Home Video Cheesy Shield logo - for some reason, the various bylines it had over the years were never used in the UK. After a BBFC card there is an announcement that actor Dustin Hoffman would provide a special message at the end of the film. The MGM/UA-United Artists logo combo follows.
Sure enough, at the end of the tape, we DO get Hoffman's message . . . which is shortly followed by a repeat of the warning/"Reward" screen from earlier.
Rain Man is a 1988 American road comedy-drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish young wheeler-dealer, Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise), who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), an autistic savant, of whose existence Charlie was unaware. Charlie is left only his father's car and his collection of rose bushes. In addition to the two leads, Valeria Golino stars as Charlie's girlfriend, Susanna. Morrow created the character of Raymond after meeting Kim Peek, a real-life savant; his characterization was based on both Peek and Bill Sackter, a good friend of Morrow who was the subject of Bill, an earlier film that Morrow wrote.
Rain Man received overwhelmingly positive reviews, praising Hoffman's role and the wit and sophistication of the screenplay, and was the highest-grossing film of 1988. The film won four Oscars at the 61st Academy Awards (March 1989), including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Hoffman. Its crew received an additional four nominations. The film also won the Golden Bear at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival.
