Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Screenplay: W. Peter Iliff
Starring: Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey
Country: United States
Running Time: 122 mins
Year: 1991
Kathryn Bigelow is one of the unsung heroes of the action genre. Blue Steel, The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty and of course, Point Break are staples of the action and thriller genres and it’s no surprise why. Bigelow’s focus on characters over pure spectacle, while still delivering high-octane thrills along the way have made her beloved by most film fans out there. Still, it feels like her name isn’t brought up anywhere near as much as it should be when it comes to best action directors out there and it’s a shame. My favourite film of hers, Point Break, made its UHD debut last year in the States, thanks to Shout! Studios and Icon Home Entertainment are porting their release over here in the UK, with a few extra physical goodies for fans to own. I requested a screener for Point Break to see if the film still holds up and to check out the UHD presentation.
The film’s narrative follows Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Utah, a fresh face to the FBI who’s known for his past as a quarterback for an Ohio football team (the American kind). After a colleague’s hunch that a series of notorious bank robbers are surfers, Utah goes undercover as a newbie surfer and forms a bond with a surfing group who may be the very robbers he’s after.
To say that Point Break is a 1990s action staple would be slightly underselling it. It grossed almost four times its original budget, got its own remake in the mid 2010s, was the inspiration behind The Fast and the Furious franchise, is a crucial plot-point in Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz and that’s just a few examples of the many ways the film has remained relevant all of these years. It’s a blast to watch, with Reeves’ junior agent having a rebellious attitude, Patrick Swayze’s Bodhi being a likeable ‘antagonist’ of sorts, and focusing on the compelling relationship between the two leads that works better than it has any right to.
The action’s excellent too, as you’d expect from Bigelow, with phenomenal sound design that I’d argue is up there with the ranks of Michael Mann’s Heat, one of the best foot chases in movie history and an impressive series of practical stunts to boot. It’s a hell of a time and I’m beyond happy to say that it still holds up well, thirty three years later. It’s a classic for a reason and thanks to the UHD release being ported over here in the UK, there’s a good chance an entirely new audience will discover the film for the first time which makes me just as happy.
If you haven’t seen it, Bigelow’s Point Break offers all of the thrills, all of the Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze that one could possibly ask for, one of the defining bromances in action cinema and a healthy dose of skydiving and surfing as the cherry on top. In short, it rocks.
Film: 
Point Break released on Special Collector’s Edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray August 5th. I viewed the UHD disc, which seems to be similar, if not identical to last year’s Shout! Studios UHD release. The transfer is pretty good, although it’s far from one of the best transfers out there. My last viewing of the film was on the old Warner Blu-ray, which I used to own and from memory, it’s a noticeable upgrade but isn’t reference quality. Audio wise, there’s two tracks to choose from, an English DTS MA 5.1 and an English DTS MA 2.0 track. I viewed it with the 5.1 track but tested the 2.0 and both sound pretty good too. The following extras are included:
Additional Scenes
It’s Make or Break
Ride the Wave
Adrenaline Junkies
On Location: Malibu
Stills Gallery
Trailer
PLUS exclusive, limited edition poster and art cards
Unfortunately, I was only sent the UHD disc to review and none of the extras are included on the disc and they’re instead relegated to the Blu-ray. However, outside of the physical extras like the poster and art cards, they seem to be identical to earlier Blu-ray releases. If you’ve owned Point Break on physical media before, you should know what to expect.
While the UHD disc isn’t an all-timer, it’s still worth picking up if you’re a fan of the film and want to see it look the best it ever has on home media. Recommended for fans of action-thrillers.
Disc/Packaging:
Point Break is on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD and digital on demand 5 August from Icon Film Distribution
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