Purple Rain
40th Anniversary 4K review by Bobby Blakey
There is no denying that the late Prince is one of the greatest musicians of all time. The man had a voice and vibe all his on that entertained and mesmerized audiences for years. In 1984 he looked to take on Hollywood as well with his highly autobiographical film Purple Rain co-starring Apollonia Kotero, Morris Day, Olga Karlatos and Clarence Williams III from Tango & Cash and Street Knight director Albert Magnoli. Now the film is getting the 4K treatment to celebrate its 40th anniversary.
Purple Rain follows headstrong vulnerable young musician The Kid who struggles with his own inner demons and with his alcoholic father who beats his mother. But the madness infects his music, fueling a sound that transforms the struggling young rocker into a star.
While I love Prince’s music, I have never been a fan of this foray into films. I hadn’t watched this one in years, but I do remember it being miles better than Under The Cherry Moon. The film has received some big acclaim in the film archive legacy, but diving back into it for the first time in years I had mixed feelings on the end result.
The soundtrack is obviously fantastic, bringing some of Prince’s most iconic songs to the world and the performances from him and Morris Day and the Time are the highlight of the entire film. The story itself is a bit all over the place and not all that well executed. A strong musician he is, but a actor Prince is not. He does fine as himself here, but there are some laughable moments in his execution at times especially one moment that gets me every time where he is supposed to be angry looking for his father and does a full-on Prince spin in the moment. Funny
enough I assume that would be exactly how he would have really done that too.
While not every moment works for me, I do give Prince props for going all in and pulling some great emotional moments out when needed even if it doesn’t hit as powerful as when he expresses them in song. I think the biggest reason I had issues with connecting to the film is the believability of the set up. I get the rock star on the verge of becoming a massive star, but he is basically the Prince we already know throughout the film, living with his parents like he is a teenager, but running around looking 30. It needed some sort of layering to evolve to that place for it to really work in my opinion, but I also get they were just trying to showcase Prince and that is about it.
No matter how I feel about the film there is no doubt it has legions of fans and has become a major part of the legacy of the iconic Prince. This new 4K looks great bringing the gritty tone of the musical to a more vibrant palate and worthy of the man that carried it on his shoulders.
In addition to the film, this new release offers up all the previously released bonus content including commentary, music videos, featurette and more. Step onto the stage with Prince, Apollonia 6 and Morris Day and the Time with Purple Rain 40th Anniversary Edition on 4K available now for the first time ever from Warner Bros Discovery Home Entertainment.