OK guys, so figured I would try and get one last post in this month before August comes round and this one is a revisit of a film I've looked at quite a few times and watched it last night, so figured I would update the post for it again. So, the film in question is Point Break, the 1991 action classic starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze.
So, after 35 years, let's take a look at this one and see how it fairs...
And the usual warning is coming up...
PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
STORY
So, the film begins with rookie FBI agent
Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) who is assigned along with his veteran partner,
Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey) to investigate a series of bank robberies.
The
robbers themselves are dressed up wearing masks of four former
presidents, Ronald Regan, Richard Nixon, Lindon B. Johnson and Jimmy
Carter and they nickname themselves the "ex-presidents".
Pappas has a
theory
that the ex-presidents are in fact surfers (due to video footage of one
of them dropping their trousers to moon revealing a "tan line" across
their ass,
which would be associated with surfers!) and Utah decides to go with his
theory and infiltrates a small surfing community. Utah however has no
idea how to surf and nearly drowns out at sea on his first day
but he is rescued by a female surfer, Tyler (Lori Petty). Johnny then
runs her plates and finds her arrest sheet and history and uses her
parents deaths in a plane accident as angle to get to her. Johnny then
tells Tyler that he wants to learn to surf although Tyler initially
refuses, Johnny lies and tells her his parents died in a car crash, which makes
her reluctantly accept.
Johnny eventually manages to
get the hang of surfing through Tyler's help and he soon meets the leader
of a local surfing gang, Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) and when he reveals he
was a former quarterback in football, Bodhi's crew accept Johnny, who
begins to get drawn into their world. Utah also follows the lead of a
clue which might lead them to the robbers as he and Pappas set up a raid
on another gang of surfers, who turn out not to be the ex-presidents
and it turns out instead they have accidentally ruined a DEA undercover
operation in the process, which incurs the wrath of Utah and Pappa's
superior, FBI Agent Harp (John C. McGinley).
The next day however
Johnny, who by now has become romantically involved with Tyler receives
an early wake-up visit from Bodhi and they go out for surf, however as
Utah walks along the beach he sees Bodhi and his crew out surfing, one
of whom moons (i.e. drops his shorts!) in the same style as the bank
robber did in one of the video tapes taken from the bank robbery at the start of the film. It then
dawns on Utah that Bodhi's gang are the ex-presidents and he tells
Pappas of his suspicions as he tailed Bodhi to find that he was scoping a
bank.
The next day Utah and Pappas steak out outside
the bank and right enough they see the ex-presidents leave the bank,
with Utah and Pappas giving chase, Utah eventually chases the robber
wearing the Reagan mask on foot through a neighbourhood. As Utah chases
after the robber he accidentally slips down an aquaduct and injures
his knee in the process, as the robber gains distance, Utah takes out
his gun and aims at the robber but can't bring himself to pull the
trigger and fires his gun into the air instead, yelling in frustration.
Later that night Bodhi and his gang reveal that they are indeed the
ex-presidents, but Bodhi's motivation was to rebel against the system
and not to gain profit. With Bodhi's gang scared and wanting out, Bodhi
refuses to back down and he insists that he knows what to do with
Johnny. Meanwhile Tyler discovers that Johnny is in fact an FBI agent
as
she finds his badge and gun in his apartment, furious with Johnny for
lying, Tyler runs out on him.
The next morning Bodhi turns up at Johnny's front
door and insists he goes skydiving with his gang, which Johnny reluctantly
obliges, but in doing so, he get's a real kick out of it and bonds with the group during the dive. After they land
Bodhi takes Johnny into a van and plays a tape showing Tyler tied up to a
chair with one of Bodhi's gang, Rosie (Lee Tergesen) holding a knife to her throat.
Bodhi reveals that he knows that Utah is an FBI agent, and tells him
that Tyler will be fine as long as he gets a certain place in time
first, and he forces Utah to go along on their last robbery with them,
which brings the film toward its hectic climax....
THOUGHTS
Even at 35 years onward, Point Break is still a very enjoyable action thriller and
while it is at times somewhat cheesy in its depiction of the surfer
community and of the robbers it nonetheless has plenty of high octane
action that keeps an audience gripped. The
relationship between Utah and Bodhi also helps drive the film's story
pretty well as Utah is sucked into the world of surfing and he is drawn
to Bodhi's charisma, and in the end even as Utah pursues Bodhi so
relentlessly, he at the end of the film still has a lot of respect for
him. And the film certainly says a lot for adrenaline junkies and the
rush and
the need for it, and even shows how fanatical Bodhi's crew are as they
even willing to die to find that ultimate rush (or killer rush being
more like it!).
And at the time of the production,
neither Reeves, Swayze or Petty hadn't any real surfing experience and
they ended being taught by a surfing instructor over a two month period
with Swayze and Reeves both being drawn towards surfing, and Reeves who
continued to keep it up as a hobby afterwards. Most of the surfing was done by professionals however and the cast mostly did basic surfs. It was also later
revealed that Swayze did his own aerial stunts during the skydiving
scenes, as well as during the fight scenes and of course surfing, and
Swayze himself felt that he had a strong kinship with Bodhi's character
as the wild guy.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains strong language and spoilers!!)
Moving onto the film's performances
things are mainly pretty good here.
And to start off with Keanu Reeves, who while he is
not the best actor in the world, does give a good account of himself
here as the ambitious young FBI rookie, Johnny Utah, who gets drawn into the world of
surfing and makes a connection with the surfing gang leader, Bodhi.
Reeves also has his share of good scenes also get's some good dialogue as he delivers plenty of glib one
liners.
And Keanu's notable scenes include the one where Johnny has it out with Pappas to find out what his theory on the ex-presidents are but Pappas is reluctant to tell him. So, Johnny says "Right, if you can't solve it with your years of experience, its impossible to conceive I might have something to offer, right? Well, maybe I can do better than some over the hill burnout!" which angers Pappas who says "Watch your mouth!". Johnny then teases Pappas more "Maybe you should retire and get some renta-kill job, tell Nam stories!" which infuriates Pappas who grabs Johnny by the jacket and he shouts "Listen you little shit, I was taking shrapnel in Khe Sahn, when you were crapping in your hands and rubbing it IN YOUR FACE!!".
Johnny then asks him "You mad?!"
and Pappas yells "YEAH!!" and Johnny shouts back "Good and mad??!" and
Pappas yells "YEAH!!". Johnny then yells back "Its feels good like your
still alive, doesn't it?!" and Pappas yells again "YEAH!!" and Johnny
yells "Well since you're still alive and not in the box just yet, why
don't you tell me your theory and we can go and GET THESE GUYS!!!".
Pappas then sighs and says "OK hotshot! You wanna nail robbers and be a
big hero?" and Johnny grins and says "Definitely!" and Pappas "OK, so
here it is...the ex-presidents are surfers!". Johnny looks at him
sceptically and asks "Surfers?" and Pappas confirms "Surfers!".
Then there is the scene that even takes the piss out of his character Ted, from Bill and
Ted's Excellent Adventure, when he scopes out surfers on a beach and
tries to get a hair sample from one of them and pulls off a piece of
hair by saying to the guy "Watch out, you've got a big sucker going
right for your ear!" and tears off a piece of the guy's hair and says
"Saved your life, bro, close one!".
Also after he get's
chewed out by
his superior, FBI Agent Harp who says "Now has any one of you got
anything even remotely interesting to tell me???!" and Reeves
sarcastically replies "I got my first tube this morning... sir!" (a tube
being surfers term that refers to a tunnel like shaped wave, which
surfers can ride in the middle of).
Then there is the scene where Utah discovers that Bodhi has had Tyler kidnapped and he is
forced to go along with Bodhi and his crew as they carry out their last robbery and he angrily says to
Bodhi who wants Utah to go into the bank with them "Bodhi this is your
fucking wake up call, man! I'm am an F....B....I agent!!!".
Another good scene is when Utah turns up at near the end at the airfield
to negotiate with Bodhi to try and find out where Tyler is being held.
And as Bodhi is not prepared to really listen to him, Utah says
regarding the botched robbery where Bodhi (SPOILER) is forced to kill an
off-duty cop, "The guy you killed was an off-duty cop! They'll nail
your wherever you land! There's a new thing called radar! Maybe you've
heard of it!".
And Utah continues saying to Bodhi "I know you, man,
when shit goes down, you won't back down! They'll have to burn your ass
to the ground!" and Bodhi says "Yeah? And shit happens!" and Utah says
"Look, you've got a deathwish a want to ride to glory?! Fine, but don't
take Tyler with you! I'm begging you! Tell me where she is and I'll
walk away!". And Bodhi looks almost convinced and says "You'll walk
away?" and Utah says "I walk away!" and Bodhi says "That is beautiful,
Johnny!" but they are interrupted by Roach opening fire on Pappas from
afar and a quick gunfight ensues.
And lastly there is the scene where Johnny finally catches up with Bodhi
in Australia at Bells beach, where he is waiting to ride out the 50 year
storm. And Johnny walks up to Bodhi and throws his Ronald Regan mask
down infront of him on the beach and asks him "Lose something, bruh?!"
and without looking, Bodhi says "Special agent Utah. I knew I could
count on you!".
And Utah tells Bodhi "You've gotta go down! People trusted you and they died" and Bodhi says "Yeah, it went bad, real bad! Life sure has a sick sense of humour, doesn't it?". And Utah says to him "Look, Bodhi, you're gonna have to come back with me" but Bodhi just laughs and says "Sorry, my friend!" and Utah starts fighting Bodhi and as the two of them struggle, Utah manages to latch a handcuff on Bodhi's wrist.
And Utah smiles and says "I told them! You'd go quietly!" and Bodhi
enraged shouts "NO!!! There's no way I can handle a cage, man!" and
Utah says "I don't care! You gotta go down! Its gotta be that way!".
But in the end (SPOILER!!!) Utah decides to let Bodhi go and surf the
lethal waves, knowing he most likely will not survive them and Bodhi
pleads with Utah "Come on, compadre. This is what my whole life has
been about, Johnny. Come on!" and Utah looks at the ferociously huge
waves and Bodhi angrily shouts "COME ON!!" and Utah finally relents and
uncuffs Bodhi and tells him "Vaya con dios" (Spanish for "Go with God")
and let's him go.
And just as the Aussie police arrive and one cop
(with a ridiculously bad Australian accent no less!) shouts at Utah
"What the fuck, Utah! You let him go!!" and Utah says "No, I didn't" and
he looks out at Bodhi surfing the huge waves and he is soon consumed by
them. And the cop says "We'll get him when he comes back in!" and Utah
walks away saying "He's not coming back". And in his final moment, Johnny looks at his FBI badge,
now disillusioned with his job, he throws it into the ocean.
Patrick
Swazye is excellent as Bodhi, the charismatic gang leader who is more
into the spiritual side of surfing and life in general! Swayze plays
Bodhi pretty much as an almost spaced out guru, who get's his thrills
out of adrenaline rushes such as robbing a bank, skydiving or surfing,
but also develops special connection with Utah as the film progresses.
Swayze as Bodhi has some good scenes such as when he is about to a
bank at the start of the film, wearing his Ronald Reagen mask he says
"The little hand says its time to rock and roll!". Also in the first
bank robbery scene he has some good lines such as "Hello helllo hello
ladies and gentlemen we are the ex-presidents! We need just a few
minutes of your time, and we've been screwing you for years for a few
more minutes shouldn't matter, should it???!". And as they are about to
leave the bank he turns to the customers and says "Thank you very much
ladies and gentlemen and please don't forget to vote!!".
Another good scene is where the rival surfing gang beat up Johnny and Bodhi stops them and shouts "Back off he's with me!" and one of the gang says "Kiss my ass, Bodhi!" and Bodhi warns him "Back off, Warchild, seriously!" and they let him go. And after Bodhi and Johnny kick the gang's asses they make to leave and Bodhi tells them "This is stimulating but we're out of here!" and he tells Johnny quietly "Go on, keep walking" as they move.
And this is followed with Bodhi and
Johnny walking together and Johnny asks him "Who are those guys?" and
Bodhi says "Nazi assholes! The big one you dropped is Bunker Weiss, and
the other one is Warchild aka Lupton Pitman! And the other two I dunno".
Johnny asks "What's their program?" and Bodhi says "Their heads are
wired wrong and they are into some bad shit" and Johnny asks "Ilegal
shit?" and Bodhi says "I dunno, that's not what I mean, they only live
to get radical. They have any understanding of the sea, so they'll never
get the spiritual side of it". Johnny then asks "You aren't gonna start
chanting are you?" and Bodhi laughs and says "I might!". Bodhi then
asks Johnny "You never figured out the waves have you? Its that place
where you find yourself and lose yourself. I say you with those guys,
you're a pitbull! You didn't hesitate and they didn't back you down an
inch and that is very rare in this world!".
And then there is the scene where Bohdi reveals his willingness to
sacrifice his life to do what he
loves the most in doing his surfing and he wishes to surf at Bells Beach
in Australia, where an alleged 50 year storm is set to come around. And
Bodhi tells his gang and Johnny "And it when it comes it will turn
itself into the biggest surf this planet has ever seen and I will be
there!". But then he says "If you want the ultimate,
you've gotta pay the ultimate price. Its not tragic to die doing the
thing you love."
Another good scene is when the gang discuss what
to do with Johnny after they discover he is an FBI agent when Johnny
chased them at the scene of a robbery. So, Bodhi tells his gang "This
was never about the money, this was about us against the system. That
system that kills the human spirit. We stand for something. We are here
to show those guys that are inching their way on the freeways in their
metal coffins that the human sprit is still alive!". And as his gang
look at him, Bodhi asks them "So you trust me?" and they all nod and
Bodhi smiles and says "Then don't worry about this guy, I know exactly
what to do with him".
Then there is the scene where Bodhi plays Utah the tape of Tyler tied up
screaming "Fuck you!" at the camera while she is being held captive by
Rosie (Lee Tergesen) and Bodhi turns off the tape and says "She is a
wild one, isn't she, special agent Utah?". And all of a sudden Utah
grabs hold of Bodhi and slams him against the inside of the truck and
shouts "You're a fuckin dead man!!" but Bodhi pleads with Utah to hear
him out, which he does. And Bodhi warns Utah "But if I don't make it to
Rosie by 3pm, he will get her like a pig and try not to get any on
shoes. So I guess that makes us partners, as we both need to get me
where I need to go" and Utah then says "We're wasting time!" and Bodhi
just smiles and says "Oohh, that's what I love you about you, Johnny!
You are just as sharp as a razor!".
Then we have the following scene where Bodhi and his gang get dressed up
as the ex-presidents as they drive to rob their last bank. And Bodhi
says to Utah re Tyler's kidnapping "All I'm asking for is 90 seconds of
your life, Johnny. That's a small price to pay for someone who loves
you. She does you know. Its not her style to fall so hard, I don't
think she did with me". Bodhi then throws the president masks to his
crew and he says to Utah "Well, Johnny....looks like you don't get to be
president!" and he puts on his Ronald Regan mask.
Another good scene worth mentioning comes when Bodhi forces Utah to join
him on the plane as Bodhi prepares to do his skydive to reunited with
Rosie. And just as Bodhi is about to do his jump he says to Utah "I
know its hard for you, Johnny. I know you want me so bad it's like acid
in your mouth. But, not this time!" and Bodhi chucks his gun aside and
says to Utah "Adios amigo!" and he jumps out the plane, leaving Utah
furious, who simply decides to go after Bodhi and he grabs the gun and
shouts "FUCK IT!!" and dives out the plane.
Then in the next scene, Utah dives through the sky and catches up with
Bodhi and holds him at gunpoint and tries to force him to pull the chord
on the parachute but Bodhi defiantly says "Nah, you pull it!". And
after they finally land, they writhe around painfully as Bodhi attempts
to get up he says to Utah "Goddamn! You are one radical son
of a bitch!". And as Bodhi moves away from Utah, who has injured his
knee again he says to him "That knee again, huh? Too bad. Looks like
this time you won't be getting your man. This game we both lose!". And
as Bodhi reunites with Rosie, who let's Tyler go, just before Bodhi
drives off he shouts to Johnny "Yo, Johnny! I'll see you in the next
life!".
WARNING: BIG SPOILER COMING UP RE: THE END OF THE FILM!
And last of all is the scene where Johnny finally tracks Bodhi down to Bells Beach in Australia where await his final surf and date with destiny. So, in the scene the two men fight each other and even though Bodhi gains the upper hand, Johnny manages to cuff him.
So, in the
scene, Bodhi yells "NO!!! There's no way I can handle a cage, man!" and
Johnny tells him "I don't care! You gotta go down! Its gotta be that
way!". So, Bodhi after a long pause smiles and says "OK, man! OK, I'm
screwed! I'll go to jail and I'll pay and Johnny Utah gets his guy!
You're gonna be a big hero now. Good for you". However, Bodhi then
pleads with Johnny "But look at it, Johnny. LOOK AT IT!!! This is a once
in a lifetime opportunity, man! Let me have just one wave before you
take me in! One wave! Where am I gonna go man?! Cliffs on both sides,
I'm not gonna paddle to New Zealand! My whole life has been about this
moment, Johnny. Come on, compadre! Come on". Johnny however just stares
at Bodhi as he thinks it over and Bodhi yells "COME ON!!" and Johnny
relents and uncuffs Bodhi and tells him "Vaya con dias!" and Bodhi
smiles and walks off to surf one last time.
Gary Busey is also really good as
Utah's veteran FBI partner, Pappas, who comes up with the surfer theory
for the ex-presidents. Busey who is no stranger to being manic (and
let's face it in real life he does have more than one screw loose!)
plays Pappas with a hyperactive quality (or at least a bloated agent who
has had one coffee too many and a few doughnuts!) and he quickly
develops a good rapport with Utah.
Busey also get's plenty of good moments, such as when he argues with
Utah who goads him by saying he is an
"over the hill burnout" and he Pappas replies "Listen you snot nosed
little shit! I was taking hits in Khe Sang, while you were still
crapping in your hands and rubbing it in your face!". And Utah shouts
back "Well since you're not quite in the box yet, why don't you tell me
this great theory of yours and we'll go get the guys!!". And Pappas
sighs and says "OK, hotshot! You wanna nail the robbers and be a big
hero?" and Utah says "Definitely!" and Pappas says "Definitely! Then
here it is....the ex-presidents are surfers!" and Utah looks at him
incredulously and says "Surfers???" and Pappas says "Surfers!".
And also
in the scene where Utah tells Pappas about his theory of trying to get a
hair sample from surfers to try and locate the beach where the
ex-presidents might surf. So, Johnny says to Pappas "If we can get a
hair sample from one of these surfers, we can find out which break the
ex-presidents surf" and he leans toward Pappas and asks "So, are you
buying this?" and
Pappas says "No. But let's do it anyway! It will bug the shit out of
Harp!".
And also in the scene when he confronts Utah over not
shooting
Bodhi and he says to him "Johnny, I wanna see you in my office right
now!". So, they go into Pappas's office and Pappas tells Johnny "I want
you to know something. When you shoot, you don't miss" and Johnny says
"I missed" and Pappas irritated tells Johnny "No, I believe you're
either scared or your getting too goddamn
close to this surfing guru buddy of yours!" And Pappas leans into
Johnny's face and says to him "I don't believe your scared!" and then
tells Johnny "I want you to go
home and get some rest you look like hammered shit! And if I see
something resembling your boy, I'll beep you. Now go home!".
And also later
when he says to Harp "Let me tell you something, Harp. I've been in
this bureau while you were still popping zits on your funny face and
jacking off to the lingerie section of the Sears catalogue!". And in
the scene Pappas continues "And in all these years I've learned
something you still haven't got!" and Harp scornfully says "Yeah? Why
don't you astonish me, shitface?!" and Pappas then punches Harp,
knocking him to the floor saying "Respect for my elders! Plain and
simple!".
Lori Petty also makes a good impression as Utah's
love interest, Tyler Endicott, and she is quite defensive and obnoxious
at first as she
grudgingly saves Utah from drowning and she insults him and his crap
surfboard. So, Tyler drags Johnny to shore, she shouts at him "Crazy son
of a bitch! You wanna kill yourself, go do it someplace else!" and she
looks at his surfboard and says "Look at this pigboard piece of shit!
You've got no
business out here whatsoever!". Tyle then heads back out to surf and
Johnny calls after her saying "Hey my
name's Johnny Utah!" and she says "Who cares???!" as she paddles into
the water.
Then there is the scene where Johnny meets Tyler again
where she works at a diner and she looks irritably at him and asks
"What do you want?" and Johnny says "Shrimp and fries" and Tyler says
"No, I mean what are you doing here?!". Johnny then asks her "I need you
to teach me how to surf. I'm serious!" and Tyler says "I can see that
you're serious. Forget it! Stick to tennis!". Johnny however manages to
persuade as he tells a fake story about how his life goals were wrong as
he did what his parents wanted him to do but they died in a car wreck.
So, Tyler sighs and says "Alright. Tomorrow, here, 6 am. If you are one
minute, I am gone! Listen, stud, I didn't take you on to raise, so I'll
teach you a few things and after you're gonna be on your own, okay?".
Then there is the scene at Bodhi's party where Bodhi admits to willing
to die for his thrill ride lifestyle as does the rest of his gang and
Tyer get's up and says "There's too much testosterone here!" and walks
off and Johnny follows her. So, as Johnny finds her inside Bodhi's house
she says to him "I hope you aren't buying into all
this bonzai bullshit like the rest of Bodhi's moonies". And Johnny
asks her "What are
you talking about?" and Tyler says to him "You've got the kamikaze look,
Johnny, I've seen it. And Bodhi can smell it a mile away. He'll take
you to the edge and past it."
And lastly there is the
scene (SPOILER!!) where she finds out he is an FBI agent and he
tells her he lied about his parents. And in the scene, Tyler fires a
shot at a bed pillow where Johnny, prompting him to leap up and Tyler
yells "A lawyer??!! You lied to me!" and she throws his FBI ID down at
him. Tyler then points the gun at Johnny and shouts "I bet you lied
about everything! I bet you lied about your parents! Just tell me if
you're parents died in a car accident, Johnny? DID THEY??!!". Johnny
finally admits "My parents are alive and live in Colubmus, Ohio. I work
bank robbery and I need you for the guys but after that..." and Lori
cuts him off and shouts "FUCK YOU!! Don't you
have a soul?!" and she drops the gun in disgust and says quietly
"Goddamn you to hell"
and runs out.
John C. McGinley is also
great in his role as the arrogant FBI agent, Harp, who takes a real dislike to Utah throughout the film.
And his first scene is really good one where Johnny and Harp walk together as Harp fills him in on what his department. And Harp tells Johnny "I know you might be the hotshot back in training room but out here you have absolutely no experience in the field. You know nothing! In fact you know less than nothing! If you knew the fact that you don't know nothing that would be something but you don't!".
So, as he
finishes his spiel, Harp asks Johnny "Special agent Utah, are you
receiving my signal?!" and Johnny, having taken a doughnut says cockily
"Zero distortion, sir! I love these things". So, Harp laughs and tells
Johnny "I see
you're a real blue flame special, son. Young dumb and full of cum, I
know! But
what I don't know is how you got assigned out here with us. I mean
hell, I
guess we must just have ourselves an asshole shortage, huh?" and he
winks at Utah and walks away
with Utah saying to himself quietly "Not so far".
Also McGinley's best line in
the film comes when he berates Utah and Pappas for their lack of
progress in the case with Utah in undercover surfer gear and a big
surfboard in Harp's office. And Harp says "Special agent Utah. This is
not some job flipping burgers at the local drive in. Yes the surfboard
bothers me, yes you're whole goddamn approach to this case bothers me,
and
yes YOU BOTHER ME!! And over the last two weeks you have produced
exactly SQUAT! SQUAT!!". Harp then continues shouting "And in the
meantime, the ex-presidents have robbed three more banks!! Now for
Christ sakes, has either one of you got anything even remotely
interesting to tell me!!" and Utah says "I got my first tube this
morning, sir!" (a surfing term of course!).
And last of all is the scene where Harp has Johnny arrested at the scene of the ex-president's final robbery and Pappas turns up to see him. So, as Pappas turns up and says about Johnny, who has been cuffed "Can we take those cuffs off him?!" Harp yells "Leave em on! You're partner's an accesory to murder, Pappas. Three people are dead. One's a police officer!" and he grabs Johnny and shows him the dead police officer "There! How does that sit in your stomach?!" and Johnny angrily says to Harp "Take your hands off me right now!".
Pappas then grabs Harp
aside and says "Harp, look at me! Look at me! Don't ride him in with a
blank and white like some punk, let ME ride him in!". Harp takes a
moment and then scornfully says to Pappas "Yeah, sure Angelo, why not?!
That's why I put you two screw-ups together in the first place, you
deserve each other! You're just as bad as he is...only you're a little
slower, little fatter and more pathetic! Christ, its like the blind
leading the blind with you!". Pappas then angrily puts Harp in his place
and says "And after all these years I still have something you haven't
got!" and Harp asks "Oh yeah? Why don't you astonish me, shit face?!".
So, Pappas turns and punches Harp right in the face and he goes down on
the floor and Pappas tells him "Respect for my elders! Plain and
simple!".
Tom Sizemore also gives a brief but good account of
himself
as an agent working for the DEA who's cover is blown when Utah and
Pappas raid the wrong surfers.
And Sizemore who is always good with explosive dialogue delives another bit of stern dialogue to Utah when he says to them regarding his hair "You think I like this hair, man?! You think I like these clothes?! My wife wants me to move out to Ramada!". And he continues angrily "I've been working on these fuckers for THREE MONTHS!! THREE MONTHS!! Now I've got them playing the wheel of fortune, so I can find out who their suppliers are and you fucking cowboys show up!". And he asks Johnny "All I wanna know smart guy, how could these guys have robbed the 3rd National bank on August 2nd, when they were Fort fuckin Lauderdale on August 2nd, how did you figure that one out?!". The agent then shoves the packet of coke right at Johnny and says "You fuckin jerks!" and storms off leaving Johnny frustrated.
Last of all its worth mentioning the performance of the Red Hot Chili Pepper's lead singer, Anthony Keidis who
appears in the film as one of the Nazi surfer gang members, Tone. And
Keidis's two most notable scenes in the film are when the Nazi surfers
confront Utah on the beach after he accidentally knocks into one of them
while surfing. And as the gang surround Utah and he says to them "I
know. This is where you tell me that locals rule and the yuppie insects
like me shouldn't be breaking your waves, right?" and Tone says to him
"That would be a waste of time!".
And later on there is
of course the scene where Utah and Pappas raid the Nazi gang's hideout. So, in the scene, Tone tries to calm Bunker down as they see the FBI outside and Tone says "Chill the fuck out man, its nothing!" and Bunker angrily shouts "Will you shut the fuck up??!". So, as they spot more out back Tone suddenly panics and says "Oh shit! Shit! We're fucked!!". Then shortly after, as the gang are taken down one by one, Tone tries to run through the house one of the agent, Alvarez, opens the
door behind him, causing Tone to shoot himself in the foot and he screams in agony!
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
Getting
onto the director
Kathryn Bigelow (who also directed Strange Days, Near Dark and The Hurt
Locker) who does an excellent job here, proving to be one of few female
directors known for directing Hollywood action films. Bigelow herself had to overcome a lot of hurdles to get the film made and also fought hard for Keanu Reeve's casting. Bigelow also co-wrote the film with her then husband, and writer/director, James Cameron, which went under many re-writes.
Bigelow also
skillfully paces out the action and the bank robberies, car chases, sky
diving and surfing scenes are all done really well and you do get a
sense of the adrenaline rush the characters are getting. Bigelow also brilliantly directs the big foot chase scene with Utah chasing Bodhi on foot
through a neighbourhood as a hand held camera follows them, which is often lauded as one of the best chase sequences in cinema history.
As for the music it features a pretty good score by Mark Isham which
is a mixture of synthesizers and orchestral compositions and it is
pretty well suited to the tone of the film. It also features a notable
and memorable track during the scene where Utah goes sky diving with
Bodhi and his crew, which is quite an atmospheric track that really
captures the scene itself pretty well.
In addition to
Isham's score the film also features tracks from various different
artists such as Jimi Hendrix who's track "If 6 was 9" is used, Public
image Ltd "Criminal", Ice-T's "Original gangster", Wire Train's "I will
not fall" and Sheryl Crow's "Hundreds of tears" and the last song of the film "Nobody rides for free" by the metal band Ratt. So overall the film
has a pretty good soundtrack.
FLAWS (Warning may feature spoilers!)
So getting onto the flaws, does Point Break have
some worth mentioning??? Well yeah it does.
And to kick off while it is very entertaining it is also
quite cheesy at times and one scene that sticks in my mind that is
really silly is when Bodhi and his gang playball American football with
Utah, as it just seems a bit macho and naff. And what is even more daft
about that scene is that Utah isn't even formerly introduced to Bodhi
and his crew until Bodhi twigs who he is himself, realising that Utah
was once a quarterback football player! I mean they meet the guy and play football with him and don't even ask him his name??!! Perhaps Johnny told them his first name but it seems bizarre that it took until Johnny tackled Bodhi in the water before they got to that bit.
It also has to be said that Bodhi as a character is also up his own ass and while he has the charisma to
engage his gang and Utah, he is also somewhat delusional and lives in
his own dreamworld. And Swayze's corniest line in the film comes when
Bodhi says to his gang "What's the matter with you guys? This was never about the money, this
was about us against the system. That system that kills the human
spirit. We stand for something. We are here to show those guys that are
inching their way on the freeways in their metal coffins that the human
sprit is still alive!". Shut up, Bodhi!
It also seems
strange that such an inexperienced FBI agent as Utah would be put on a
high profile case in the first place, as he is just signed up with his
older partner in Pappas and off they go! But then again perhaps that's how it
works down there! ;-). I also think its a bit silly how Utah and Pappas
suss out that the ex-presidents are surfers purely from videotape
footage of one of the robber's mooning their ass! So the case was in a
way eventually unravelled thanks to an ass! Literally! Well that and a
ponytail hair from one of the other robbers, so an ass hair and a
ponytail was the ex-president's undoing!
So if it wasn't for that
robber (who was Roach) mooning his ass and for
the surfers having ponytails they would have gotten away with it scot
free!! Plus Roach decided to moon his ass again while surfing later in the film, which get's them rumbled AGAIN! In fact, Roach basically sunk the whole crew by doing this and Bodhi really should have told him to cut it out.
And another issue I have is the whole
sub-plot of Utah and Pappas doing a raid on the wrong surfing gang only
to find an undercover DEA agent was already on the gang's case. Now
surely to God if this man was an undercover FBI agent they would have checked with
the other departments of the FBI that someone was already working on the
case of this gang in the first place!! But instead Utah and Pappas are
allowed to go ahead with the raid and screw things up but realistically
this is something that should have been checked by their superior,
Harp, before it even went ahead!
I also
found the whole concept of Utah still bonding with Bodhi and his crew
and going for a sky dive AFTER finding out they are in fact the ex-presidents
was a bit daft to say the least! I mean its almost like after they
share the amazing experience of skydiving and bonding together as they
do it, is enough for Utah to let things slide!
But of course in the end
Bodhi brings it all crashing down to earth when he shows Utah the tape
of Lori tied up and being held at knifepoint. Now that I can almost buy
that bit
but the whole bonding experience before it just makes it all that more
stupid! It would have made more sense for Bodhi just to try and summon
Utah to drive along with him to the van to show him the video rather
than go through a whole elaborate skydirve in the first place! But I guess Bodhi did the sky dive to gain Utah's trust before landing him
in it.
There is also some inconsistency in continuity where Johnny is supposed to have injured his leg and we see him limp in some scenes but in others he doesn't limp at all. As an example, we see Johnny limp when Bodhi drops by to take him skydiving and then also after he exits the van when Bodhi shows him the blackmail video of Tyler. However during the bank robbery, we never see Johnny limp nor do we see him limp when he confronts Bodhi at the airfield as he even runs over to Angelo with ease after he is shot. So, there is definitely some continuity issues with Johnny's injury to be found here.
I also found it a bit
silly how during their last robbery that Bodhi suddenly wants his guys
to rob the vault of the bank when they should know full well that it
burns more time and increases the risks of them being caught. Even
Bodhi's man, Roach says that its a bad idea and they never go to the
vault, so why start now and we see how it all turns out as a result! I
guess greed got the better of Bodhi in that moment but it was still a
pretty dumb decision.
Then we have the ridiculous moment where Utah jumps out of the plane after Bodhi, who already dived out wearing his parachute, only for Utah to catch up with him and hold a gun to his head and threaten him to pull the rip chord but Bodhi refuses to and insists that Utah do it and Utah pulls it out just at the last second before they impact and land on the ground! Now there is no way in hell they would have survived the impact with Utah having opened the parachute maybe just merely maybe a few hundred feet from the ground! And in this case in reality they would have been what Bodhi said just before they landed "meat waffles!" instead!
Its also very unrealistic that Johnny could have even been
able to skydive out the plane after Bodhi WIHOUT wearing a parachute
pack on his back! However, there is a known form of skydiving known as
banzai diving, where a diver will jump out of their plane without their
chute and it is thrown out to them and there has been some incidents of
skydivers surviving without a parachute but these are very rare I'd
imagine.
And last of all I find it bizarre how the FBI would allow Utah to stay
on the case to find Bodhi when he had in fact been framed earlier by
Bodhi and his gang for robbery and arrested by Harp. I guess Utah
either has amazing powers of persuasion that let him stay on the case or
maybe he cut a deal with them to capture Bodhi and then after that his
career would be over, which might have been possible given that we see
Johnny throw his badge away at the end.
Anyway so that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So
to sum up, Point Break is still a very entertaining action film that
is packed with some exciting action sequences and some good performances
from the lead cast, particularly Swayze and Busey and even if Reeves
struggles with the film's more dramatic moments at times (his ridiculous "No!!" line delivery and "I am an F...B...I agent!!" being a case in point).
The film however of course is pretty ridiculous and cheesy aswell as over the top at times and its whole plot is far from solid and is simply more fantasy than anything else and is hardly realistic. But if you can forgive all this then there is still much to enjoy with Point Break and after 35 years its still worth checking out.
And I will give Point Break:
8.9 out of 10
So, that's it for this one guys and I will be back soon with another post next month.
Until then its bye for now!
