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.
The Production: 4.5/5
“That ain’t Lake Minnetonka.”
The Kid leads a dual life. He is a performer of remarkable talent at the First Avenue club, entertaining crowds with his unique fusion of R&B, Rock, and Pop. At home, he is the son of an abusive father and a terrified mother. Yet, at all times, he is a distant, isolated, and troubled soul who lives for music, using it as a form of expression, escape, and a way to communicate, vent, and reach out to the world.
One fateful night, The Kid spots the stunning Apollonia in the club, seeking employment, and is instantly captivated, her image dominating his every thought. Meanwhile, a rival performer, the self-assured ladies’ man Morris (Morris Day), exploits Apollonia’s and The Kid’s feelings for his own gain, setting the stage for a complex love triangle.
Prince plays The Kid for the first time in Purple Rain, a critically and commercially popular musical sensation from 1984. He would reprise his Kid character in 1990’s ‘Graffiti Bridge,’ but never with the same passion and energy. The film was written by William Blinn and Albert Magnoli, with Magnoli making his directorial debut. It’s not just a film, it’s a remarkably engaging tale that will keep you hooked. While unpolished and filled with many excesses the 1980s offered, it offered a rich and lively musical soundtrack provided by Prince and the Revolution, elevating the film to appealing heights.
Prince is quite the surprise in this film. His brooding character, balanced with his effervescent on-stage persona, is capably portrayed, conveying a mysteriousness and isolated intrigue with finely honed sexiness and confidence. We are not explicitly aware of his goals or motivations for much of the film but become invested in him anyway. His love interest in the movie, Apollonia (her real name), is every bit as ’80s as her surroundings, with big hair rivaled only by Prince’s and a Broadway-style portrayal that was never strong but fit the role and film. Morris Day exudes all the traits of a self-absorbed playboy caricature, overdone but enjoyable in the context of the film. His banter with his sidekick Jerome (played by Jerome Benton) gives the film most of its humor. Clarence Williams III is also notable for his mean performance as The Kid’s father.
Prince’s persona of the ultra-cool, unsolved puzzle of a man gives the film its voice through dynamic stage performances of fantastic songs. Watching the Kid pour his everything into the invigorating stage productions provides a well-crafted counterbalance to the person he is at home, dealing with the reality of his brutal, violent, and lonely existence.
What I enjoyed the most about Purple Rain was using Prince’s wildly original and unique music as the emotion in the film, using it to speak volumes and blending it with the story superbly. Songs are well positioned throughout the film, popping up with rhythmic persistence, almost set to a metronome, cushioning heavy dialogue and dramatic scenes.
Purple Rain was a revolution for Prince in the mid-1980s and a well-earned one at that. It featured now-legendary songs, an energetic performance from the man himself, and a story that allowed us to become invested in him and his musical vision. It has earned itself a place in the list of the most influential movies in pop culture.
The world has become less interesting since Prince passed away on April 21, 2016. The more you learn about him, the more mysterious and alluring he becomes. He was a true performer—enigmatic, theatrical, wickedly gifted, and oozed sex appeal. His influence saturates this appealing, melodramatic, masterfully musical film.
Video: 5/5
3D Rating: NA
For the film’s 40th anniversary release, Purple Rain was restored digitally from an 8K scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative, and the results are striking. Excellent detail from the clean, damage-free image with light grain structure offers a pleasing experience. The colors are rich – all the blues, purples, reds, and green, while black levels are deep, and the High Dynamic Range grading tightens the colors. The film is framed in its original theatrical presentation ratio of 1.85:1.
Our friends over at The Digital Bits call out the heightened difference between the small handful of moments where the Workprint was in play (which it has been for all releases) due to a lab mishap causing the original negatives to be lost and the rest of the film. While they may stand out a little more, this release accurately represents how this film can and should look given that history.
Audio: 4.5/5
In addition to making the film look great, Warner’s made it sound better than it has on home video before. Offering a new dynamic DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and the original DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo, the mix is a delight of precision and clarity. Bass is more robust, the fronts have expressive spread during the stage performances, and dialogue is issue-free. By returning to the original audio elements, this improved, lossless track delivers in all the ways this film needs. When Prince plucks Apollonia from Morris in the rainy alley, and they speed away on his bike, the audio bounces around, knocking between the surrounds, exemplifying the vastly superior nature of this offering.
Special Features: 3.5/5
A smaller collection of special features from previous releases.
Commentary by Director Albert Magnoli, Producer Robert Cavallo, and Cinematographer Donald E Thorin. A reasonably comprehensive commentary covering the creation of the movie’s neon palette, the choreography of shots, and working with Prince. It was also interesting to hear about the conditions under which the filming took place, temperatures that dropped low enough to freeze the generator’s fuel.
They recall how the film was lit, locations were transformed, and the movie was edited together, including how certain controversial scenes (the lady in the dumpster) were fought for and, in some cases, compromised to satisfy Warner Brothers at the time. It was interesting to hear them discuss Prince and his approach, which is a disciplined and professional nature that allowed the filmmakers to capture sequences with Prince, only needing to perform a couple of takes.
First Avenue: The Road to Pop Royalty (12:23): DJs, Journalists, members of The Revolution, and others pay homage to the Minneapolis Club location, First Avenue. The movie used the club, but it had long been a popular live music events location.
Music Videos for:
- Let’s Go Crazy – (4:05)
- Take Me With U – (4:54)
- When Doves Cry – (5:59)
- I Would Die 4 U / Baby I’m A Star – (17:53)
- Purple Rain – (7:06)
- Jungle Love – (3:28)
- The Bird – (3:50)
- Sex Shooter – (4:41)
Overall: 4.5/5
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.
Neil has been a member of the Home Theater Forum reviewing staff since 2007, approaching a thousand reviews and interviews with actors, directors, writers, stunt performers, producers and more in that time. A senior communications manager and podcast host with a Fortune 500 company by day, Neil lives in the Charlotte, NC area with his wife and son, serves on the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Charlotte Board of Directors, and has a passion for film scores, with a collection in the thousands.
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