Rayting:
6.5/
10 19.7K votes
Language: English
Release date: 6 September 1984
A young musician, tormented by an abusive situation at home, must contend with a rival singer, a burgeoning romance, and his own dissatisfied band, as his star begins to rise.
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User Reviews
The above quote is quite possibly the most uncomfortably awkward line in any movie I've seen, and just about sums up this film. Prince's musical ability and swagger is undeniable, but those who are unfamiliar with Prince's music and concert presence won't receive the purest essence of what the movie tries to accomplish.
The concert footage in the film is hindered in certain spots--you can tell that he's not completely in his element as he goes for certain poses while playing his songs. There are parts though, where his true form shines through his performances on stage, and that's when he ceases to be an actor--he's simply being Prince. As the storyline develops Prince stumbles along, muttering the atrocious dialogue provided for him in a monotonous low tone. His confidence is nowhere to be found, and that's one of his defining characteristics.
Without spoiling anything, the storyline has a lot to do with Prince's relationship with his dad (or lack thereof). However, this is where the movie struggles the most. The relationship they have is very one-dimensional, and never really goes anywhere. The lackluster screenplay and acting make it nearly impossible to care about his daddy problems, and half the time, the moments of the plot that are supposed to be really heavy just don't provoke any feelings at all. You might catch yourself laughing during a scene, and then say: "Oh, right. That was supposed to be sad".
I can't say I recommend this to anyone, not even Prince fans. If you're a Prince fan, then you'd be better off re-watching his half-time show at the Superbowl. If you're unfamiliar with Prince, this movie would just put a bad taste in your mouth, and that would be a damn shame. 2/5
Fmovies: There are good movies, there are bad movies and then there is this, which makes "Grease 2" look like "West Side Story" and should be the go-to movie critics use when explaining to musicians with overactive egos why it's a bad idea to pretend to be an actor when one is not.
Finding a starting place for criticism is as hard as limiting the criticism to an amount that would fit into a single review. As a lead, Prince only is believable when on stage -- which is, of course, where he belongs, not trying to play the part of a tortured musical savant.
Prince's method of walking deserves its own special criticism, as he seems to move from step to step as if trying to plan the next flip of his hair or fluff of his coat. Never mind the fact that he is not likable in his role as protagonist.
The supporting cast is plenty awful in their own right. Poor Clarence Williams III almost buckles under the weight of trying to carry this collection of drama school dropouts from scene to scene. Things get so bad that some reviewers actually seem to think Morris Day and Jerome Benton can act; more accurately, they simply stink less than what surrounds them.
This movie is clearly just a vehicle for the ego-absorbed Prince to preen and sneer his way through badly-written, badly-directed and poorly-lit material. The best part of the movie are clearly the songs, and if you take this movie as one long music video, perhaps it works. But unless you like watching a good musician who happens to be a hack actor spend a couple of hours trying to overcome Short Man's Syndrome on film, skip this and watch something else.
It seemed as though the year 1984 was anything but the Orwellian nightmare it was calculated to be with George Orwell's science fiction novel!! 1984 turned out to be one of the happiest times in American history!! The upsurge in the economy, and a reemergence in basic American values, cultivated an idealistic aura of resumed innocence which was viewed by the American people with a very auspicious disposition!! There have been many ersatz renditions of classic movies in the past, but, the originals are almost always considered superior!! "Purple Rain" is such a movie in this category!! Made in 1984, "Purple Rain" provided a doggerel of eighties, happy-go-lucky quality music, which they incorporated into the making of this excellent film!! Certain artifacts indicative of the eighties are indeed classics!! Screwball comedies, neon accented clothing, and of course, the music!! Eighties music is considered by experts to be the best decade for music in American history!! Set in Minneapolis, "Purple Rain" accommodated the use of naive entertainment with the changing times of the city. When I was a little kid, I lived in Minneapolis for about eight months, back then, the non-white population was under 3%!! By 1984, African Americans had made some in roads into Minneapolis, and, thus, they established a firmly embedded culture of their own as well!! The movie "Purple Rain" evokes an eighties style clothing, and music ensemble, which effortlessly captivated the movie audience!! I loved the music to "Purple Rain", and, the innovative approach this film takes to confrontational success, is indeed, brilliant!! See this movie if you have not seen it already!! Prince became an eighties icon with this masterpiece!! For a short time, he dated Kim Bassinger, he must be doing something right!! "Purple Rain" put Prince on the map!! This film gets my emphatically assertive verdict of THUMBS UP!!!!
Purple Rain fmovies. Ok, so it may not be the award-winning "movie of the year" type-film (apart from the brilliant soundtrack that I think won a few awards), but it is a really great film about 'The Kid' (Prince / O( take your pick) and the happenings around him living in Minneapolis, playing his music. The music is absolutely superb, in my opinion you HAVE to own this soundtrack, it is truly a classic and sums up the eighties sounds and feel in a wonderful fashion. And the movie itself plays out a nice plot, it's worth seeing over and over again, espeically if you like Prince / O (which I do) of course.
When I first saw this video in the video store, I didn't know what to make of it, being from Prince and all. Being an adventurous soul, I rented it anyway. Good decision! From the very first synthesizer-soaked note of "Let's Go Crazy," this movie takes hold of your attention, and doesn't let go until the ending credits. All the music has that '80s new-wave synthesizer sound goin' for it, but hey, it's an '80s movie! Besides, Prince's songs have a timeless quality that cannot be ignored. Some people may have their opinions of the Purple One, and I understand, but as for me, I think he's awesome! The movie as a whole is cool, with great performances by Morris Day and the Time, Apollonia (Sex Shooter) 6, and of course, Prince and The Revolution. Check this one out on a rainy afternoon!
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.