Review of Point Break

Introduction

Point Break is the ultimate boy’s adrenaline movie. Keanu Reeves plays the FBI agent sucked into a world of ‘surf dudes’ in an attempt to crack a gang of bank robbers before they quit town at the end of the season. Patrick Swayze plays a wonderful role opposite Reeves as the ringleader of the gang the spiritual Bodhie.

"It`s your basic dog psychology...Fear causes hesitation, and hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true."

Video

The video quality of this disc has become a hotly contested topic. Some camps are sorely disappointed with the picture, while others have extolled the virtues of the anamorphic transfer. (I spotted one review in Australia that deemed the picture "reference quality" !!) I appreciate that these are both Region 4 reviews, but as far as I`m aware, Fox mastered the same disc for both R4 and R2.

My take on the picture is this - it looks a little old. At first blush I was disappointed. When I first saw the picture, it made me think that the film was older than it actually is. Perhaps it was an 80`s film, and could be forgiven it`s softness. However, when I checked, I realised that Point Break was released in 1991. Surely by then, film making was up to scratch ? Nevertheless, the picture on this disc is soft, and the colours can look washed out. This weakness appears to be entirely down to the original material.

Perhaps there is no-longer a pristine print of this film available, or perhaps the quality was never that good in the first place. There is some evidence of film grain, and I also saw the odd hair line running vertically down the screen. I think it`s fair to say that the actual transfer is very good. There are no hints of MPEG smearing or artefacts. The DVD itself is very competent in producing the picture.

The picture quality does raise it`s game for some scenes, including the skydiving scenes. As the ex-presidents and Utah speed towards the sea, the definition is good, and the colour comes into it`s own. Sadly though, the experience is short-lived.
In conclusion then, this is a useful 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer, but the picture comes out looking a little soft and washed out. The negative review above said this was the worst disc the reviewer had ever seen. I can certainly refute that. This isn`t the worst disc out there, it`s just not as good as others. That said, the picture is still far better than any VHS copy I`ve seen, and is very watchable. Just don`t think of using it as demo material.

Audio

Hmmmm... Warning bells immediately go of when the packaging states "Dolby 2.0". Again, the question is asked - is this film really THAT old ?! Sure enough, the original theater print was 2.0, and the soundtrack has not been remixed for this DVD release. Thankfully, the sound does it`s job very well. Although lacking the full placement and dynamic range of a newer 5.1 mix, the audio copes well with a range of sounds such as gunshots, music and crashing waves. Some of the surfing scenes are particularly well dealt with. There is good use of the mono surround for a 2.0 track, and plenty of bass to keep things churning along.

Features

This is another `stripped` Fox release. With only a very grainy nearly full screen theatrical trailer, there`s not much to keep extras fans happy on this disc. I am NOT inclined to call chapter selection an extra ! See my Speed review for my comments on such discs, and especially their pricing.I`m sorry Fox, but it`s hard for the consumer to swallow paying £20 (RRP) for an old back catalogue title (that most fans will have on VHS already) where you`ve obviously put the minimum effort into it`s production. The process seems to me to be: - take poor original copy- take old stereo soundtrack - do nothing to improve either or add value- create two static graphics screens (menu and scene access) - master onto DVD - sell at premium price.

I must add one little extra point, which I don`t think has ever been pointed out before (it`s not on IMDB or any Point Break fans sites). On the theatrical trailer there is a scene which does not feature in the film ! It looks fascinating from a plot development point of view too. It shows Bodhi and Johnny in Bodhi`s van. Johnny fires the long pistol which Bodhi uses for the bank raids out of the window, and Bodhi says to him "This is gonna be a great day Johnny". This was quite a revelation to me, and surely proves that there is some extra footage left on the edit room floor. Sadly, Point Break being the minority film it is, I doubt it is high up the list for re-release as a feature-packed special edition !There is a good selection of subtitles - Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Portuguese, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Icelandic and English for the hard of hearing.

Conclusion

What can I say ? I enjoyed watching this disc. I think that`s the important thing to consider when finally rating a new release. Region 2/4 also benefits from the fact that this movie is not even available in the US - an unusual situation indeed ! The only previous release was on imported Japanese R2, and I presume that that particular disc would have been NTSC, and not even carried a menu (like Leon).

While the picture is a bit soft, and the audio is limited by it`s very nature, the package is still a tight one. The film is fun, and the softness of the picture is not so bad that it distracts from the enjoyment on-screen. The audio quality is also better than could be expected, and succeeds in drawing the viewer in. Generally, this disc provides a very enjoyable presentation of this film. Shame about the price and the extras though.