Some completely missed the mark
A lot of rain falls in Sam Mendes' crime drama, and it's towards the end of the film that mob boss John Rooney (Paul Newman) comes to terms with his fate during a torrential downpour.
Claudia Cardinale as Laura Califatti gets an unseasonal southern California soaking in this erotic comedy, which costars Tony Curtis.
Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn) joins the US Army and immediately regrets the decision, especially when paratrooper training means marching in the rain at night.
Molly McKay (Elisabeth Shue), an intelligent 20-something, lives with autism. In one memorable scene from this romantic comedy-drama, Molly dashes out in the pouring rain in a display of free-spirited self-expression.
The pivotal storm scene in 'Lord Jim' features a distraught Peter O'Toole as the titular character preparing to abandon what he and the crew believe is an unseaworthy ship. But it's a rash decision, and costs Lord Jim dear as he is later discredited as a coward.
Much of Ridley Scott's stylish crime thriller takes place in Tokyo, and while plenty of rain falls on the two protagonists, Nick Conkin (Michael Douglas) and Charlie Vincent (Andy Garcia), the "black rain" in the film refers to that which fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki as radioactive soot after the nuclear bombings of 1945.
As his life starts to unravel around him, Dustin Hoffman's Benjamin Braddock seeks solace with Elaine and arrives at her house soaked to the skin. But it's Mrs. Robinson who answers the door, and she's just found out about Benjamin's relationship with her daughter.
The "Perfect Storm of 1991" is the real star of this biographical drama, which stars George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg (pictured). And boy, does it rain some along the way!
The film's title is a play on words, as Sandra Bullock and Ben Affleck hook up in the middle of a hurricane and despite seemingly polar opposite personalities, find each other attractive.
Italian actress Silvana Mangano as peasant rice worker Silvana endures a beating in the pouring rain in a scene from this classic drama directed by Giuseppe De Santis, a filmmaker known for his ardent support for social reform.
Sources: (AccuWeather) (History) (Japan Times)
See also: Bet you didn't know these movies were shot in Italy!
Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) standing with hands outstretched in a torrential downpour as he relishes freedom after escaping from prison is the single most enduring dramatic image from 'The Shawshank Redemption.'
Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) ends up sodden in a scene from 'My Fair Lady.' Another hilarious scene in the film involves Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) trying to teach Eliza "proper English" by making her recite the sentence, "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain."
'In Cold Blood,' adapted from Truman Capote's book, features a scene where Perry Smith (Robert Blake) is hauled away by law enforcement officers in falling drizzle under a leaden sky, which helps make the picture even bleaker than it already is.
The scene where trucks laden with volatile nitro-glycerine attempt to cross a fragile suspension bridge while being battered by wind and rain is one of the key moments in William Friedkin's excellent remake of 1953's 'The Wages of Fear.'
Endless rain and monstrous flooding is the reason why Noah built the Ark, saving not only his own family but mankind itself and all land animals. Russell Crowe does a pretty good job in keeping up with appearances.
The celebrated assassin scene set in Amsterdam during a relentless downpour and the subsequent chase after the killer through a sea of umbrellas is one of Alfred Hitchcock's most memorable set pieces.
The closing scene of this black comedy starring Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann takes place during heavy rain and brings the curtain down on one of Britain's most celebrated cult movies of recent years.
The first film had the protagonists battling howling winds. In this sequel, a crack Marine unit has to brave driving rain before breaking into a facility housing humans on the very same planet Ripley first encountered the alien. Guess what's waiting for them inside?
"It can't rain all the time," says Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) in this cult superhero film. But the precipitation pauses only occasionally as Draven steps a soggy path of revenge. Infamously, Lee was accidentally shot on set during filming, and later died in hospital.
The saturated outdoors clinch enjoyed by Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams is the defining image of this romantic drama.
A terrible rainstorm catches up with Deputy US Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner as the two lawmen investigate a missing patient on sinister Shutter Island. The inclement weather rarely lets up and keeps them from leaving.
Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) gets caught, quite literally, in a rain shower while on the beach. He moves out from under it. The rain burst follows him before the heavens open up. You couldn't make it up, could you?
The definitive rain movie and featuring one of the most famous dance sequences in cinema history, 'Singin' in the Rain' stars Gene Kelly as the umbrella-wielding Donald Lockwood, who splashes around in the wet in a carefully choreographed set piece that's now considered iconic.
It doesn't stop raining throughout this action thriller, which stars Christian Slater and Morgan Freeman. In fact, as the tension mounts, water levels rise to alarmingly high levels.
"... lost in time, like tears… in… rain," laments replicant Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) after he has spared the life of Deckard (Harrison Ford) in the final moments of Ridley Scott's rain-soaked science fiction classic.
Steven Spielberg's masterful dino romp includes the now famous scene where an angry Tyrannosaurus rex overturns a tour vehicle during a violent storm and attacks the occupants.
The final epic battle scene of Akira Kurosawa’s cinematic masterpiece takes place in grueling conditions, with rain and mud providing a truly realistic backdrop as the samurai clash in almost monsoon conditions.
Rain can be a nuisance. Wet weather can dampen any occasion, and when the heavens open all you can do is pop open umbrellas or dash indoors. But there's no denying a heavy downpour can work wonders in cinema, which is why filmmakers often rely upon a deluge to create heightened drama, a sense of foreboding, and impending disaster.
Click through and take a look at these soaking-wet movie stars.
Dripping wet dramas: movies with iconic rain scenes
Movies that feature rain and heavy downpours
MOVIES Films
Rain can be a nuisance. Wet weather can dampen any occasion, and when the heavens open all you can do is pop open umbrellas or dash indoors. But there's no denying a heavy downpour can work wonders in cinema, which is why filmmakers often rely upon a deluge to create heightened drama, a sense of foreboding, and impending disaster.
Click through and take a look at these soaking-wet movie stars.