Purple Rain 4K UHD Review
Great soundtrack. Not so great movie.
Written by William Blinn and Albert Magnoli, 1984’s “Purple Rain” is a rock musical drama that revolves around The Kid (Prince) and his band The Revolution. On stage, The Kid is a talented pop rock star who frequents the hip First Avenue club. Off stage, he has a poor home life, an abusive father and he tends to treat his bandmates like crap. One night, he encounters a sexy young woman named Apollonia who has just rolled into Minneapolis looking to make it as a singer. The Kid and Apollonia hit it off, but their relationship is threatened by The Kid’s toxic behavior which may also derail his music career. There’s also a subplot involving a rival band at First Avenue called The Time whose singer also has eyes for Apollonia.
Director Albert Magnoli’s “Purple Rain” is a tale of 2 movies. Off stage, the movie is a puzzling drama in which the purple motorcycle riding The Kid is generally a terrible human being. Yes, he was screwed up and had a traumatic home life, but it’s hard to root for this character when he mistreats his bandmates, physically hurts Apollonia, acts entirely selfish, and is generally an awful person for a majority of the runtime. Add in Prince’s poor acting, cheesy montages, and groan worthy comedic bits (“What?”) and it’s all a bit of a rough ride.
On stage, however, “Purple Rain” is an entirely different beast. It’s no secret that the film boasts one of the best soundtracks of all-time and seeing hits like “Let’s Go Crazy,” “Jungle Love,” “When Doves Cry,” and the title track being performed on stage in the movie is nothing short of electric. The late pop rock star had such a stage presence and was a master of the guitar. The soulful and emotional performance of “Purple Rain” is easily the highlight of the entire film and makes you wish the rest of the movie was on the same level.
Video/Audio
Presentation: 1.85:1 2160p. How does it look? Fans can expect a really nice upgrade in which the colors pop.
Audio Track: 5.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? The soundtrack is positively divine in 5.1.
Extras:
* Digital copy
* Commentary by Robert Cavallo, Albert Magnoli and Donald E. Thorin.
* Music videos for “Let’s Go Crazy,” “Take Me With U,” “When Doves Cry,” “I Would Die 4 U/Baby I’m A Star,” “Purple Rain,” “Jungle Love,” “The Bird,” and “Sex Shooter.”
* “First Avenue: The Road To Pop Royalty”- A featurette on the famous Minneapolis club Prince played at.
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