Rain Man Blu-ray Review


It seems hard to believe now, but there was once a time when Tom Cruise was better known for making good movies than jumping on couches and being a crazy scientologist. Rain Man is undoubtedly the best film from those long-lost times. With a brilliant performance from Dustin Hoffman and a poignant story, it is still just as good today as it was in 1988. Now that it is being released on Blu Ray, old fans of Rain Man can re-visit their favorite looking better than ever and several new fans will get the chance to enjoy the film for the first time.

Cruise plays the central character of the film, Charlie Babbit. He’s pretty much the biggest jerk you can ever imagine and is running some sort of car business that I’m pretty sure is illegal. He finds out that his father has passed away so he goes home for the funeral in Cincinnati. Charlie hasn’t spoken to his father since he was 16 and doesn’t seem to care about his death – he’s more concerned with inheriting the estate. But when the will is read, the money has been left to a mysterious beneficiary! Charlie can’t let the issue rest so he tracks down the mystery man only to discover that it his older brother Raymond.

Raymond, played by Dustin Hoffman, is an autistic savant meaning that he can do brilliant mathematic calculations in his head, remember large amounts of information, and count items just by looking at them. But he is unable to function in normal society and remains tied to his routines and the world in his head, unable to make real social connections. His father institutionalized Raymond as a boy and then failed to tell Charlie about his existence. So when Charlie discovers him now, he becomes even more enraged and kidnaps Raymond in an attempt to get half of the inheritance. But as the Babbit brothers drive across the country to Los Angeles, they discover a true bond between them. Charlie, who has never had a meaningful relationship with anyone in his life, finds that having a brother is better than any possible inheritance. Raymond’s disability keeps him from that sort of monumental growth, but he does learn to trust his brother and care for him in his own special way, which is quite a big step for him!

Rain Man won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1988 and it was most definitely deserving of the honor. The story takes it’s time developing the characters and that careful approach really pays off. By the end of the film, I truly cared about both characters – even the jerk Charlie. And while everyone knows that Hoffman’s portrayal of Raymond is nothing short of amazing (he won the Oscar for Best Actor), it’s a shame that Cruise wasn’t also recognized for his performance. The nuance he uses to transform Charlie from an “a**-hole” to a loving brother is remarkable. Raymond remains the same throughout the film but Charlie is constantly evolving and Cruise allows us to see that process. It really is the combination of Hoffman and Cruise that takes Rain Man from good movie to great movie.

Another wonderful feature of Rain Man is that it helps raise awareness about autism and other similar developmental disabilities. This is especially important today as the diagnosed cases of autism are skyrocketing – although most autistic kids aren’t as brilliant as Raymond! Still it teaches the important message that the bond between siblings is unbreakable – even if one might be a little bit different. At its core, Rain Man is a story about true love triumphing over all things and you’ve always got to love a story like that!


Rain Man arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG4-AVC encode framed at 1.85:1. For a movie that’s more than two decades old it certainly holds its ground pretty good. Colors are bright and livid during day time shots. Black levels are stable, but some crushing can be seen. Detailing is noticeable, but not striking. The darker scenes do tend to overwhelm the picture and drive some of the details out which is a bummer. It is evident that DNR was used throughout as well as some edge enhancement, but it’s not as bad as you may think. The usage of these two techniques actually helped the picture. This is the best Rain Man will look for quite some time.


Rain Man arrives on Blu-ray with a 5.1 English DTS-HD Master Audio lossless track. Again, the film is 23 years old so don’t expect your home theater to be put to a test. The dialogue is clean through most of the movie, but it is hard to hear sometimes. The score fills the entire soundstage very smoothly. The pans are balanced and the LFE offers some minimal support. In a nutshell, the track does a good job considering its age. Rain Man sounds good on Blu-ray or at least as good as it gets for now.


The Blu Ray disc includes three audio commentaries, 2 featurettes and a deleted scene. There is quite a bit of material and it is all very good. However, I would have liked less audio commentary and more featurettes.

Audio Commentary by Director Barry Levinson – Levinson has several good insights into the film. What’s really interesting is that he was the fourth person to take over the directing of Rain Man. I’m sure that numbers one through three are a little bit disappointed that they didn’t stick with the project!

Audio Commentary by Writer Barry Morrow – This was my favorite of the three audio commentaries. Morrow was inspired to write the story after meeting a real-life Rain Man. As the man with the “real” story, it’s quite interesting to hear Morrow’s take on the film.

Audio Commentary by Writer Ronald Bass – Bass did have quite a few nuggets of information about the film but by this point I was a little bit tired of listening to audio commentaries! I actually would have liked to see the three combined into one.

The Journey of Rain Man Featurette – This is a standard “making of” feature. Most of the information presented here is also covered in the audio commentaries. I did think it was a little strange that neither Tom Cruise nor Dustin Hoffman were featured.

Lifting the Fog: A Look at the Mysteries of Autism Featurette – This piece not only provides information about autism and autistic savants but it also lets us meet several real life autistic savants, including the man who served as Dustin Hoffman’s main inspiration for Raymond. I enjoyed this special feature the most and would highly recommend watching it.

Deleted Scene – Here we get to see Raymond visiting a convenience store and buying some Cheetos. It didn’t add anything to the plot but it is a really good scene and I would have liked it if it had remained in the film.

Theatrical Trailer


Rain Man is still as relevant today as it was 20 years ago. It’s humorous, poignant, and heart wrenching all at the same time. And although the Blu-ray doesn’t update the cheesy 80’s fashions and music, it still manages to look good. Technically speaking the Blu-ray offers a visible upgrade from the last DVD version that was released and the audio has received a much needed upgrade too. I recommend this disc for everyone. Go out and get it now!