Purple Rain

Not terribly different from many of the 1930s-era "backstage musicals," Purple Rain sports a contrived plotline that sees Prince (in the film referred to only as The Kid) battling rival musician Morris Day for the affections of new-in-town beauty Apollonia and a shot at stardom through a secure spot on the bill at legendary Minneapolis club First Avenue. A secondary narrative thread concerns The Kid's violent home life and his attempts to protect his mother from his raging, abusive father. Anyone looking for nuance and subtlety won't find it in the acting or the direction, but Prince's stage presence is commanding, and the musical numbers are electrifying. The Academy Award winning song score (irrefutably one of the best rock albums of the 1980s) and Prince's enigmatic, magnetic personality are undoubtedly the chief components in Purple Rain's sturdy cult, but for viewers of the right age, the youthful angst, flip attitude, and bold sexuality of the film will prove to be irresistibly attractive.

My girlfriends and I went out last night to our local theater's retro night. They show movies like pulp fiction, blade runner, and others for five dollars.

We went out to have dinner and some drinks and caught the 8:00 pm showing of Purple Rain. Never been much of a Prince fan, but little by little WE ALL got sucked into the quirky and freaky world that he painted in this movie. We absolutely enjoyed it and came out of the movie singing Baby I'm a Star and Take me with you,,,etc. etc.

We went to another dance/bar because we were hyped up to dance after this movie but we were quickly reminded that that quality of music doesn't exist within our generation so we made a made dash to some local stores to try to find the DVD. We were going to literally get it and go home and PARTY with the movie again. No stores were open but WALMART so we step in their and didn't find the DVD but found the soundtrack. We stayed out til 3:00 am driving around downtown in my girlfriends convertible blasting that whole soundtrack to whoever would listen.

All I have to say is that the movie made Prince 4 new 20 year old fans! We all wished we were teens during that era. My god you 30 somethings are so lucky. Prince, Madonna, U2, Sting, The Police. The music was so good back then.

Well I just want to share this story to all the original fans out there. I found the DVD @ borders and will be buying more of his music SOON.

Might Not Know it Now, But Baby I tell ya I'm A STAR!

Of course this review is oh 37 years after the movie came out. Saw this movie at a New Years party '84 to '85 - many of the songs were already in heavy rotation on the radio, but tying the music to the truly Amazing artist and his quasi-autobio really put a new spin on things. The mere thought of someone living in such humble circumstances creating music never heard before, a look never seen before, alone, from his parent's basement to the big screen was jaw dropping for this 18 year old. That was the 80's, a time of boundary-less optimism, all things are possible attitude. Why? Because it was true!! This movie could not be more perfectly timed than to come out in the midst of one of the most glorious times in human history not to mention American hx. Sure, there some serious cheese in this flick but that's now part of its charm. Don't mess with imperfection.

You can debate Prince's acting talent, or even his choice to parody his own life in this film. There is no debate about his musical talent either then or now. He seems like a shadowy has-been twenty years later, but the music remains relevant and fantastic.

Having lived through the hype of this movie (graduated high school in'85) I can tell you that there was nothing bigger at the time. From Tipper Gore (Al's wife) trying to censor "Little Nikki" and every thing else under the sun via the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center) to every "Air Band" at the time impersonating Prince, it was the absolute hottest thing out. For a few weeks at least, Prince was bigger than Madonna and Michael Jackson.

We all waited for the film and were soooooo excited when it premiered. It didn't disappoint. EVERYONE was caught up. I was an MTV junkie at the time(they actually played music then....all the time)Prince played at least once or twice an hour. I must qualify this commentary by saying that, at that time, my favorites were Billy Idol, Oingo Boingo, The Fixx, Flock of Seagulls and others in the Punk/ New Wave genre' The music of Prince at the time transcended all types and styles. One of the reasons that some of it seems so cheesy and contrite now is that it was SOOOOOOOO big then. All the things that remind you of the 80's were iconic then. It was mainstream and it seems like a cliché' now. It got so popular that it became ridiculous. It's like the rappin' Granny commercial for Wendy's Hamburgers.

It looks stupid now because EVERYONE was caught up in it (sadly, kind of like a bizarre purple macarena or something. Anyway, I hope this gave you all a little insight.

An overall score of 6.5 is generous, it's so bad. But I dare you not to carry on watching. Mesmerizing in it's nostalgic beauty yet, obviously, hugely flawed in every way you'd judge a film without a global popstar in the starring role. Think Labyrinth and Moonwalker, except this is much thinner on the story front and laughable as far as acting goes. But so addictive.

The main attraction is the music, of course. Purple Rain is an iconic album. It's one of those films that is so bad it's good, before that became a genre in itself. Prince was always his own man and it shows in how this film is put together but 6.5 on IMDb usually means a divisive film with huge merits in either acting, direction, story or soundtrack. This film only has the soundtrack....but you still need to watch.