Taking The Jump With Point Break

POINT BREAK (Blu-ray)
Warner Home Video

Release date: September 12th, 2011
Certificate (UK): 18
Running time: 117 minutes

Year of production: 1991

Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writer: W. Peter Iliff

Cast: Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey, Lori Petty

A Keanu Reeves film in the late 80’s and early 90’s were generally a hit or miss affair.

While we loved him as the adorable but dumb teen in Parenthood (1989) and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) and in art house movies like My Own Private Idaho (1991) and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993), a lot of us cringed with his turn as Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) and attempts at Shakespear in Much Ado About Nothing (1992).

Thankfully though, it was Point Break which planted him firmly in our minds as an action star in the 1990′s, leading onto those iconic roles in Speed (1994) and The Matrix Trilogy (1999 – 2003).

Keanu plays Johnny Utah, a rookie who goes undercover to infiltrate a group of surfers who might be tied to a string of armed robberies disguised as former presidents Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter. Tyler Endicott (Lori Petty) is the feisty surfer girl who helps him learn how to surf although she knows nothing about his real job. Inevitably the pair become romantically involved and Johnny will end up risking everything to save her.

Bodhi (Patrick Swayze), the leader of the surfing gang is a free spirit who enjoys the magnetic pull of the ocean, but he’s also the leader of the Ex-Presidents. As Johnny becomes friends with him, the two of them realise they have much in common and it’s not long before they’re skydiving together as well. When Johnny’s suspicions are confirmed, his cover is eventually blown and he’s forced to take part in a robbery that leaves a cop dead and him holding the gun.

The plot in Point Break not only thickens but solidifies as the action intensifies. There’s a lot of character development as we find out more about Johnny and Bodhi and what makes them tick as well as their mutual respect for each other despite being on opposite ends of the law. Everything fits really well here and we even have the FBI partner, Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey), whom Johnny gets off to a rocky start with but eventually learns to work with.

The film moves to the beat of conflict and resolve continuously. The stakes are raised higher and higher until the payoff at the end, which although is not an entirely happy one, is still a great one and fits the era that it was made in when we had movies like Thelma and Louise and Terminator 2: Judgment Day with intense stories, huge amounts of action and equally memorable endings.

Warner’s Blu-ray release marks the film’s 20th anniversary and the picture quality looks fine to me. Colours aren’t too saturated and the grain isn’t that noticeable as on some HD conversations.

There’s a good amount of special features on there too including deleted scenes and some vintage featurettes.