Kathryn Bigelow’s Point Break has long been one of my cinematic blind-spots. It’s practically impossible not to recognise iconic scenes and lines – not least the long-aped shot of Keanu Reeves firing up into the sky, as immortalised by Hot Fuzz. That is, up until this new 4K restoration from Icon Film Distribution released. While I’ve certainly seen more impressive remasters, it’s no doubt a great way to watch a film that has aged gracefully in the decades since it released.
Keanu Reeves stars as Johnny Utah, a former football player turned FBI agent newly assigned to the bank robbery division. Alongside his animated supervisor Pappas (Gary Busey), he investigates a slew of heists perpetrated by crooks wearing rubber masks of former presidents – a hunt that takes him to the depths of the ocean and peaks of airborne planes.
It’s a premise that feels so typically nineties that it’s hard to see how it could ever be pulled off today – proven in part by the lacklustre 2015 remake. So much of Point Break‘s texture comes thanks to its time period, just creeping out of 80s extravagance with endless beach sports, floppy long hair, and bouncy music. It’s an aesthetic that Bigelow absolutely nails, truly incomparable in its granular examination of surfing culture and tying it to a high-octane undercover sting.
It’s hard not to watch Point Break and immediately see how its DNA has bled into countless blockbusters in the years since. The opening bank heist, laced with quips from the masked presidents, is hugely evocative of Joker’s mob bank heist in The Dark Knight, and the way Bigelow shoots the water-based surfing scenes immediately drew me to Avatar: The Way of Water. It’s a film that, warts and all, has clearly had a huge influence on action filmmaking, and has aged much more gracefully than a lot of its early-nineties contemporaries.
Perhaps what stood out most was just how magnetic Gary Busey is in the cynical yet ceaselessly animated supervisor role. He’s genuinely brilliant, breathing a lot of life into a mentor-mentee dynamic that Keanu Reeves struggles to contribute towards. While he’s gone on to do great things since, Reeves is certainly weak here: flat line deliveries, a lack of any enthusiasm, and completely overawed by the supporting characters that lap up the camera’s gaze. Both Busey and Patrick Swayze are fantastic, with the latter’s complex antagonist Bodhi being both irresistibly charming and weirdly attached to Utah.
When it comes to 90s action, it’s hard to think of many better films than Point Break. Bigelow’s direction is the star here, knowing exactly when to ramp up the set pieces and when to focus on personal stakes and emotional beats. There isn’t another action film quite like this, with so many set pieces that remain utterly gripping so many years later – even if the very last fist-fight felt a bit redundant and emotionally void.
In terms of this 4K restoration, this clean-up of Point Break certainly doesn’t feel as impressive as the recent Malcolm X re-release. The image quality feels about the same as a regular Blu-Ray or HD stream, with a lot of graininess still present. It’s tough to recommend an upgrade if you’ve already got the regular Blu-Ray, which is a shame.
But that doesn’t detract from the sheer high-octane thrill of Point Break, a true 90s action thriller with adrenaline running through its DNA. Action filmmaking simply isn’t like this any more, layering dense character dynamics and wholly unique set pieces for a rollercoaster that doesn’t really have one easy comparison point. If you’ve yet to ride the wave of Point Break, there’s no better time than now.
★★★★
Point Break is on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD and digital on demand August 5, 2024 from Icon Film Distribution.
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