UHD Review Purple Rain UHD Review (1 Viewer)

[Neil Middlemiss]

Purple Rain, the loosely autobiographic movie with Prince in his debut acting performance, is special. A showcase for Prince’s musical talents and those of his band, The Revolution, there’s an alluring dreamlike quality to the narrative, with darker moments reportedly inspired by Prince’s real life. Besides Prince, a magnetic, musical genius of a man as gifted as he was mysterious, the music is the star. Winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score, the fusion of Rock and R&B was delicious. Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2024, Warner Bros. brings the celebrated film to 4K with stunning results. The film and this 4K presentation are highly recommended.



Purple Rain (1984)



Released: 27 Jul 1984
Rated: R
Runtime: 111 min




Director: Albert Magnoli
Genre: Drama, Music, Romance



Cast: Prince, Apollonia Kotero, Morris Day...

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[FincherFan]

not that i ever read any existence of deleted or cut scenes, i always wondered if they would ever add them as bonus material. this being the 4th or 5th (was there a laserdisc? i’m sure i would’ve bought it then) version on home video, i guess not.
the footage seen in the When Doves Cry video always lead me to believe there was a lot more sex that was cut out unfortunately.
nevertheless, as a lifelong fan, i’ve literally been waiting 40 years since my first trip to the Egyptian on Hollywood Blvd.

 

[JoshZ]

this being the 4th or 5th (was there a laserdisc? i’m sure i would’ve bought it then)

Released initially on Laserdisc sometime in 1984 with analog audio:

LaserDisc Database - Purple Rain [11398LV] on LD LaserDisc

LDDb.com - The LaserDisc Database - Collections, Wishlists, Marketplace of obsolete and niche video formats (LD/CED/VHD/D-VHS/HD DVD)

www.lddb.com

Laser reissued (date unclear) with PCM digital audio:

LaserDisc Database - Purple Rain [11398] on LD LaserDisc

LDDb.com - The LaserDisc Database - Collections, Wishlists, Marketplace of obsolete and niche video formats (LD/CED/VHD/D-VHS/HD DVD)

www.lddb.com

Both were 4:3 open-matte. According to the Douglas Pratt Laser Video Disc Companion book: "The picture is fairly good and the stereo is overpowering in all the right ways." He doesn't get any more technical than that for this one.

Also released in Japan. Undoubtedly the same transfer, but with Japanese subtitles in the picture:

LaserDisc Database - Purple Rain [08JL-61398] on LD LaserDisc

LDDb.com - The LaserDisc Database - Collections, Wishlists, Marketplace of obsolete and niche video formats (LD/CED/VHD/D-VHS/HD DVD)

www.lddb.com

 

[FincherFan]

Released initially on Laserdisc sometime in 1984 with analog audio:

LaserDisc Database - Purple Rain [11398LV] on LD LaserDisc

LDDb.com - The LaserDisc Database - Collections, Wishlists, Marketplace of obsolete and niche video formats (LD/CED/VHD/D-VHS/HD DVD)

www.lddb.com

Laser reissued (date unclear) with PCM digital audio:

LaserDisc Database - Purple Rain [11398] on LD LaserDisc

LDDb.com - The LaserDisc Database - Collections, Wishlists, Marketplace of obsolete and niche video formats (LD/CED/VHD/D-VHS/HD DVD)

www.lddb.com

Both were 4:3 open-matte. According to the Douglas Pratt Laser Video Disc Companion book: "The picture is fairly good and the stereo is overpowering in all the right ways." He doesn't get any more technical than that for this one.

Also released in Japan. Undoubtedly the same transfer, but with Japanese subtitles in the picture:

LaserDisc Database - Purple Rain [08JL-61398] on LD LaserDisc

LDDb.com - The LaserDisc Database - Collections, Wishlists, Marketplace of obsolete and niche video formats (LD/CED/VHD/D-VHS/HD DVD)

www.lddb.com

4x3, ugh. that's probably why.

 

[Malcolm R]

Not a huge Prince fan, but did blind buy the older blu ray at Big Lots a couple years back. Will have to watch that sometime to see if I want to upgrade.

 

[Wayne Klein]

Great concert sequences, Morris Day and The Time are funny but Prince has an underwhelming screen presence beyond his concert scenes. I still enjoy it for that. The writing is rather weak.

 

[Wayne_j]

I got this last Tuesday and it looked and sounded great.

 

[Jeff F.]

Went to see this my freshman year in college during finals to give myself a break, and to this day it is the only film I ever fell asleep to in a movie theater. I haven't seen it since. Wonder if I should give it another try all these years later.

 

[Wayne_j]

Went to see this my freshman year in college during finals to give myself a break, and to this day it is the only film I ever fell asleep to in a movie theater. I haven't seen it since. Wonder if I should give it another try all these years later.

You might have been too tired due to studying for your finals. The musical performances are incredible.

 

[JoshZ]

You might have been too tired due to studying for your finals. The musical performances are incredible.

To be fair, everything in between the musical performances is less than incredible.

 

[titch]

To be fair, everything in between the musical performances is less than incredible.

Well, there are those who worshipped at the temple of His Royal Purpleness (consider me one of them - and it does look like Neil is another). For us, we don't really care that the movie is a bit incoherent. And that The Purple Imp doesn't quite have the acting chops of a Cary Grant. But he does have an astonishing screen presence, even when he's not shredding on stage. We don't really give a toss that the film as a whole runs through a bog-standard basic plot outline, written by a bunch of run-of-the-mill writers and directed by a hack for hire, on the orders of manager Bob Cavallo. Easy to see why Purple Rain catapulted Mr Prince to megastardom, on his charisma alone.

I'm willing to wager that Neil is also one of those, who relishes the unadulterated Prince-ness of the subsequent effort, the rather bonkers Under the Cherry Moon - a wonderful so-bad-it's good bomb. That one Prince had complete creative control over and I find it more fascinating to watch. I revisit it more often than I do Purple Rain or Sign 'O' The Times. Graffiti Bridge - life's too short.

 

[FincherFan]

Well, there are those who worshipped at the temple of His Royal Purpleness (consider me one of them - and it does look like Neil is another). For us, we don't really care that the movie is a bit incoherent. And that The Purple Imp doesn't quite have the acting chops of a Cary Grant. But he does have an astonishing screen presence, even when he's not shredding on stage. We don't really give a toss that the film as a whole runs through a bog-standard basic plot outline, written by a bunch of run-of-the-mill writers and directed by a hack for hire, on the orders of manager Bob Cavallo. Easy to see why Purple Rain catapulted Mr Prince to megastardom, on his charisma alone.

I'm willing to wager that Neil is also one of those, who relishes the unadulterated Prince-ness of the subsequent effort, the rather bonkers Under the Cherry Moon - a wonderful so-bad-it's good bomb. That one Prince had complete creative control over and I find it more fascinating to watch. I revisit it more often than I do Purple Rain or Sign 'O' The Times. Graffiti Bridge - life's too short.

Thank You

 

[Robert Crawford]

I watched the Purple Rain 4K/UHD this evening and it brought me back to 1984, when I watched it for the first time in a movie theater. Not a great movie with weak acting and script. However, the music was great while Morris Day and Jerome Benton provided some funny moments in the film. Regarding the 4K/UHD, visually it looked really good while the soundtrack was outstanding too.

 

[battlebeast]

I watched the Purple Rain 4K/UHD this evening and it brought me back to 1984, when I watched it for the first time in a movie theater. Not a great movie with weak acting and script. However, the music was great while Morris Day and Jerome Benton provided some funny moments in the film. Regarding the 4K/UHD, visually it looked really good while the soundtrack was outstanding too.

The music was amazing, and Prince Deserved the Oscar. But he should have been nominated, at least, for best song (When Doves Cry), As well.