Reviewed by Johnny McNair 

Twentieth Century Fox – 122 minutes – 1991 – Rated R – 1080p Widescreen 2.35:1 – DTS HD 5.1 Lossless Audio  

“One hundred percent pure adrenaline,” was the tagline for the 1991 action film, Point Break starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze. Point Break was not a box office hit when it was released, but found a huge audience on home video and is now often referred to as one of the best action 90’s films. Anyone who has seen the film Hot Fuzz, will totally understand all the Point Break in-jokes, like screaming and firing shots up into the air. Point Break makes its high-definition debut on Blu-ray from Fox Home Entertainment ready to give you “100%.”

THE MOVIE

Keanu Reeves stars as Johnny Utah, a rookie FBI agent who is paired with an older renegade partner (Gary Busey), and together they must solve a case involving bank robbers who dress up as former Presidents. When clues indicate that they must be surfers (because the robberies only occur during surf season), Utah goes undercover as a surfer to infiltrate the suspects. Utah latches onto the leader of a pack of surfers, Bodhi, played by Patrick Swayze, and the men bond. But when Bodhi discovers that Utah is an undercover officer, Utah has to decide whether to arrest the man he’s befriended, jeopardizing his job or just walk away. What ensues is a series of action scenes on the ground and in the air, putting the ‘E’ in extreme and 100% pure adrenaline.

Why does a film with such a silly premise still have a hold on audiences almost 17 years later? Because it’s so damn fun, that’s why. The dialogue is bad, the action is over the top, and there’s not one believable moment in it. Directed by Katheryn Bigelow, this film would have been un-watchable if it were not for the way she handled the pacing and the situations. Being that she is one of the only female action directors around, she pulls so many tricks out of her hat that you want to watch the film again and again. The film had such an impact that the idea was borrowed again ten years later with the original Fast and the Furious movie, which is EXACTLY the same premise, substituting street racers for surfers, and Vin Diesel playing the leader of the pact, while Paul Walker plays the cop attempting to infiltrate them.

The adrenaline hook is what makes you forgive anything in this film that is outrageous. From start to finish the film keeps moving, and doesn’t stop. In it’s two hour running time you get bank robberies, car chases, foot chases, shoot outs, sky diving, and of course lots of surfing. Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze have a good chemistry together on screen. You actually like these guys, which is another enticing thing about the film. The supporting cast that includes Lori Petty as a tomboy surfer, and John C. McGinley as an FBI agent also perform their parts well in that action film ‘background character’ way that adds to the mix.

Yeah, most people laugh when they think about Point Break, but everyone has seen it for some reason or another, which says a lot about the staying power of the film. There are always rumors about a possible sequel to the film with both Reeves and Swayze reprising their roles, and if this were to occur there would definitely be an audience for it. Point Break is not the best buddy action film, but it is the coolest. All action fans will add this Blu-ray to their collection without question, and those seeing Point Break for the first time may be converted.

VIDEO

Point Break is presented in full 1080p with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and though it looks good, it’s not a major leap over the DVD version. There is a lot of grain on the disc, particularly in the night scenes. The daylight scenes look sharp, but the colors are not as bright as they could have been. This is in no way Blu-ray show off material, because for some reason the transfer looks dated. It’s acceptable, but lacks that extra eye candy you’d expect.

AUDIO

Offering a DTS-HD Lossless 5.1 audio mix makes up for its image quality, giving you the explosives sounds you’d expect from an action film. Dialogue (even though it’s corny) is mastered nicely to stand out over the background effects, and you can hear the surfboards cutting through the waves in the surfing scenes. During the parachute sequence with Utah and Bodhi, just listen to how the wind whips your speakers as they descend. It won’t hold up against the sound mix for a current film, but for a 17 year old movie, you will not be disappointed.

EXTRAS

The features from the special edition DVD have been ported over to the Blu-ray and are all in standard definition. There’s really nothing special about the features, but it’s better a little than nothing at all. But it would have been great if an audio commentary by Kathryn Bigelow were also included.

‘It’s Make or Break’ runs about 25 minutes discussing the origins of the movie, and how the script floated around for a while with the title Johnny Utah, and how various stars were attached before Keanu Reeves, including Johnny Depp. Interviews with the stars (mainly archival) and the filmmakers are included, and though it’s short, it sells the movie.

‘Ride the Wave’ is 6 minutes, and mainly talks about how the stars learned to surf for the movie.

‘Adrenaline Junkies’ also 6 minutes, goes into the films major action sequences on land, sea, and air.

‘On Location: Malibu’ is an 8 minute piece showing the spots Point Break was filmed.

There are ten minutes of deleted scenes, which are actually extended scenes from what was seen in the film. There’s nothing much to see here.

Trailers for the film as well as some stills fill out the rest of the extras, but overall none of these features are worth a second look.

BOTTOM LINE

Point Break is a guilty pleasure for those of us who understand the genius of Keanu Reeve’s acting style. Long before he uttered “whoa” in The Matrix, and hung under a bus in Speed, Point Break was the first film that Keanu flexed his action muscles. As a Blu-ray it will not stand out as a must have in terms of its high-definition image, but if you’re a fan of this film, you’re going to get it anyway. Maybe strong Blu-ray sales will spark new interest for a Point Break sequel, but with Keanu in his mid 40’s and Swayze in his mid 50’s, would they still be able to give us 100% full adrenaline?

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie: 3.5

Video: 3.0

Sound: 3.5

Extras: 3.0

Bottom Line: 3.5