POINT BREAK: 4K UHD Blu-ray (2oth Century-Fox/Largo, 1991) Shout! Factory

I miss Patrick Swayze – not only as an actor, but the man, for his genuineness, sensitivity, but most of all – his compassion; all, virtues that emanated from the screen with the added verve of his megawatt sex appeal as a Hollywood he-man and hunk du jour. There really was nothing like him in the late 80’s. There really has not been anyone to come even close since. We lost Patrick far too early to pancreatic cancer in 2009, age 57. And while Swayze’s looks had, by then, departed him, his infectious personality and ‘never say die’ desire to beat the disease was, until those terrible final moments, paramount among his endearing qualities. Swayze came to us first as the big-haired stud, then as the ambitious go-getting star, and finally, fully exposed as the all-around solid citizen, unaffected by the wiles of Hollywood or his celebrity status. That Hollywood tried to manipulate this image to suit its marketable end – namely, make even more money off Swayze’s ‘hunk’ quality rather than his built-in persona – was, in hindsight, to their own misfortune as the actor’s range was more easily distilled into playing the righteous leading man.

Swayze doesn’t really get to do that in Kathryn Bigelow’s Point Break (1991), probably one reasons the picture was never to emerge as the hopeful blockbuster. Because the Patrick Swayze we get here is shorn of his usual gallantry, his tresses bleached/streaked blonde, the screenplay making every opportunity to dumb down his intuitive intelligence in favor of a cowabunga surfer dude’s ‘what me worry’ attitude, further obfuscated by miscasting him as the villain of the piece. So, it really is saying a lot of Swayze, that despite this working against type and nature, to be upstaged by Keanu Reeve’s cocky and virtuous FBI man, Johnny Utah, he instead, manages from under the sea foam of Point Break as the guy we root for nonetheless, and, towards whom we have the most empathy.  Apathy is about the only emotion Reeves’ arrogant G-man is owed. Based on a story by Rick King and W. Peter Illiff, Point Break is a rather turgid crime/actioner, since to have gained cult status. Originally bought by Columbia Studios, the project languished for a brief period, was then green lit, then canceled, leaving producer, Peter Abrams to watch in disbelief as his already half-constructed sets were slated for the wrecking ball. Enter executive producer, James Cameron and his professional partner, Kathryn Bigelow with a decided interest and a very lucrative deal at 2oth Century-Fox. Together, this triumvirate of creative minds began to re-conceive Point Break as a high-octane summer blockbuster, heavily to delve into the Californian subculture of hardcore surfers and their ‘beach bunny’ groupies.

Given the formidable roster of talent behind Point Break, the final results are curiously out of whack. Fresh from his megawatt success in Dirty Dancing (1987) Patrick Swayze’s lightning career hit a snag with 1989’s Roadhouse, a shameless guilty pleasure in which Swayze is poured into his outfits and flexes and fights his way as Dalton, a tough-as-nails bouncer. He rebounded with Ghost (1990), today, most fondly remembered for helping co-star, Demi Moore erotically fondle a wet piece of clay. In Point Break, Swayze is surf junkie, Bodhi, sporting that ‘moon doggy’ glow and haircut with, decidedly, a death wish. Together with his band of cronies, Bodhi robs banks in his spare time to pay for their adrenaline rushes on the waves. The hit squad’s gimmick is they sport masks of former presidents, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson while looting in the greater Los Angeles area. Meanwhile at the FBI, Agent Pappas (Gary Busey) has a hunch the timeline of the robberies coincides with high tide. Ergo, the robbers belong to that rare sect who worship the waves as a sort of warped religious experience. Pappas does not have much luck convincing his superior, the foul-mouthed and utterly arrogant, Ben Harp (John C. McGinley). But newbie, Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves), primed and arrogant, sincerely believes Pappas’ theory bears further investigation.

Utah takes to the beach but is a complete failure on his first attempt to cut an impressive figure in the water. Nearly drowning, Utah is saved by Tyler (Lori Petty), a surfer chick who works at a seaside greasy spoon. Cribbing from the FBI’s dossier on Tyler – to reveal Tyler lost her parents in a plane crash - Utah feeds Tyler a line about wanting to learn to surf after his parents died in a car wreck. Understandably moved by his story, Tyler introduces Utah to Bodhi. A mutual – if rather bizarre – respect blossoms. Tyler and Utah become lovers. Bodhi introduces Utah to surfing’s counterculture. Unfortunately, Utah learns too late Bodhi is his man. Having already figured out Utah is a federal agent (Utah is fairly transparent in his ‘undercover’ work), Bodhi forces Utah to take part in their next bank robbery or Tyler will die. The robbery goes bad and a few of Bodhi’s men are picked off in the confrontation with police. Suspecting Utah has gone to the other side, Harp places him under arrest. However, Pappas frees Utah and together the two make for a showdown with Bodhi at the airport where Pappas is murdered by one of Bodhi’s men, Roach (James LeGros) but not before Pappas also fatal wounds Roach – very ‘eye for an eye’. Indeed, the whole of Point Break has a very ‘Old Testament’ vibe. Bodhi forces Utah into a getaway plane. After flying over Mexico, Bodhi, Roach and Johnny parachute into the desert. Bodhi frees Tyler to be with Utah before escaping to relative safety. Having previously told Utah of ‘the ultimate storm’ – a set of ideal surfing conditions along the Australian coast – Utah bides his time to make his arrest. However, at the last minute, Bodhi convinces Utah to let him have one more ‘ride’ on the waves. Realizing Bodhi is asking for permission to commit suicide, Utah releases him from custody to meet his fate at the end of the ultimate adrenaline rush, but on his own terms.

Point Break is hardly a perfect entertainment. Its super-charged action sequences are buttressed by some lethally boring melodrama that pivot on a flawed romance between Utah and Tyler. The surfing subculture narrative spirals into a seemingly endless sequence of drug parties and touch football, expertly photographed by Donald Peterman and back lit by bonfires. Alas, the screen teems with angry, self-loathing men on testosterone overdrive, playing too fast and loose with their own self-preservation. This premise wears itself out about midway through the plot, leaving the audience to over-indulge on one mindless action set-up after the next to pad out the remainder of the run-time. Swayze’s Bodhi is, nominally, the most evolved character in the piece. But again, it’s Swayze’s built-in charisma that sells the character. W. Peter Iliff’s screenplay would much rather relegate Bodhi to the cardboard cutout strain of cinema goons. And that’s another problem. The audience has come to root for Patrick Swayze. And he’s the bad guy!  

Yet, this is where Swayze unequivocally illustrates, he has charisma-plus to win our hearts, even as his character becomes more despicably ruthless and self-absorbed. Conversely, Keanu Reeves’ – whom we should be encouraging to get his man, devolves into a stick figure with no soul. His Johnny Utah is about as leaden and stultified as movie heroes get. Reeves’ appeal has always escaped me. He appears to be reading his lines as though looking at them in reverse in a mirror, or with the benefit of cue cards just out of range, and, invisible sticky notes MacTac-ed to his forehead. There is nothing going on behind Reeves’ eyes. Ironically, this would better inform his similar casting in 1994’s Speed – Reeves, butch and buffed, playing opposite a more enigmatic co-star, Sandra Bullock. There is a thin layer of big-dumb-male/chest-thumping chemistry between Bodhi and Utah at the outset of their forced friendship in Point Break. But once Bodhi gets on to Utah’s true motivations in befriending him, the stock-in-trade acrimony between the cliché ‘hunter vs. the hunted’ takes over. Yet, even this turns to chalk. Reeves is just too self-involved to carry the part. He appears far more concerned with which side of his taut body will photograph better and make the most of that Hollywood/masculinized close-up, rather than concentrating on how performance alone might otherwise convey this, plus actual personality to make us want to care about Utah’s conflict of interest and plight in bringing a career criminal to justice.   In the final analysis, Point Break commits a cardinal sin for a thriller – merely to zoom along on the ether and aftermath of some expertly staged action sequences, but with little connective tissue to make us care about what happens to these characters.

Shout! Factory is the recipient of Point Break’s home video debut in 4K. So, how does it look? Solid, though unremarkable. This likely has something to do with the fact this 4K was sourced from an interpositive. Why an original camera negative was not consulted (as, surely, one survives), remains a mystery; or perhaps, an oversight due to sheer laziness to acquire the best possible source material for this UHD upgrade. Largo Media, the company actually responsible for the production (Fox was only the distributor) folded some years ago, its catalog to be absorbed with mixed blessings. Interestingly, the Fox logo that once preceded everything is absent from Shout!'s 4K and Blu-ray. Rights issue?!? Not sure. Point Break favors a color palette bathed in azure and cobalt. These are faithfully reproduced. Even the darkest action sequences unearth remarkable clarity. Curiously, some of the location work shot under optimal daylight conditions does not fare nearly as well. Go figure. There is a softness that creeps in, and not in keeping with the artistic choices made by cinematographer, Donald Peterson. It’s just odd, and disappointing. Because there is NO good reason for ANY movie of this vintage not to appear optimally pristine and razor-sharp in 4K. There has been no upgrade to the audio. Two options: a 2.0 DTS, replicating the theatrical experience, and, the 5.1 DTS created for 2oth Century-Fox’s homegrown Blu-ray release from 2008. Either adequately represents the soundtrack. Shout! ports over all the goodies Fox produced for its DVD and Blu-rays: featurettes - ‘It’s Make or Break’, ‘Ride the Wave’, ‘Adrenaline Junkies’ and ‘On Location: Malibu.’ There are also several, very brief, deleted scenes (not remastered), a stills gallery and theatrical trailer. Bottom line: Point Break is an ill-conceived actioner. We pull for Patrick Swayze’s alter ego as the baddie and just wish Keanu Reeves’ narcissistic lawman would take a bath in the Pacific. Male eye candy run amok. The 4K is good, but not reference quality – a shame. Judge and buy accordingly.

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

2.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

4

EXTRAS

3