Review of Point Break

Introduction

Up until last week, I hadn`t seen this film for well over 10 years, when it was on TV. Since then, however, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright paid homage to it in `Hot Fuzz` and so bought it when I saw it for under a fiver.

In 1991 the big hitters were `The Silence of the Lambs`, `Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves` and `Terminator 2`, which all cleaned up at the box office. Keanu Reeves was not the A-lister he is now, mostly being known for playing `Ted` in `Bill and Ted`s Excellent Adventures`, so casting him as a rookie FBI agent was bold. Patrick Swayze was an established romantic lead having starred in `Dirty Dancing` and `Ghost` and was therefore cast against type, playing Bodhi, the surfing bank-robber living on the edge. Gary Busey was a reliable character actor who had previously worked with director Kathryn Bigelow on her student film `The Set-Up` and plays the hard-nosed FBI agent perfectly. Like Reeves, Bigelow`s career was in the ascendancy after directing the brilliant 1987 vampire film `Near Dark` and was clearly trusted to make another action genre movie, after `Blue Steel` the previous year.

The premise of `Point Break` is a fairly typical one: a rookie cop goes undercover to infiltrate a gang, to crack the case, but finds himself more involved than he, or anyone else, bargained for.

This review is of the 2003 re-release and not the original disc released in 2000.

Video

The 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer is far from great, and compared to other films made at around the same time and released on DVD the same year, the surface grain and slight softness is a disappointment. However, the surfing scenes and skydiving look terrific and are beautifully shot.

Audio

Action movies really shouldn`t come with just a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack, but this does, so the omission of a 5.1 mix is a black mark.

There are no subtitles, which is a surprise, as the original release had a plethora of them.

Features

Only a trailer, but one that contains a deleted scene!

Conclusion

I would never have bought this DVD if it wasn`t for `Hot Fuzz`, (nor would I have a Japanese `Peace Lily` in my bedroom!) so my thanks go to Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg for piquing my interest in this fine `buddy` movie.

Keanu Reeves will never be compared to Marlon Brando or Robert De Nero, but he is perfectly fine here, playing well opposite both Gary Busey and Patrick Swayze and his relationship with Tyler (Lori Petty) has real chemistry. If I could draw a spurious analogy to `Rules of the Game`, a film I respect more than enjoy, `Point Break` is one of those films I enjoy rather than respect.

In terms of `undercover cop` movies, it`s not up there with `Donnie Brasco` or `The Departed`, but as an adrenaline rush of an action film, at 15 years old, it stands the test of time very well, and far better than other action films of the same year such as `Double Impact`.

This is a `bare-bones` disc, so if you`re a big fan, other regions have 5.1 soundtracks in DTS or Dolby, deleted scenes, stills gallery and trailers, but if you just want to watch the film without commercial breaks interrupting the flow, you won`t have to break the bank to buy it.