Film #3: The Johnny Utah (Point Break)
Point Break is one of my favorite movies of all-time. There’s no ironic hipster bullshit behind this, it is straight-up, 100% pure love for this action flick. I didn’t name the site after this movie for nothing.
As the tagline states, the film is a pure adrenaline ride. It’s got breathtaking and pulse-pounding action sequences, including one of the best chase sequences ever caught on film. I’ll put the foot chase scene in this movie up against The French Connection everyday of the week and twice on Sunday. It’s also got some killer surf and sky-diving sequences. I mean some of the shots here are breahtakingly gorgeous. Oh, and you get a pre-fame Anthony Keidis cameo too. Score.
The plot of the film is also really well-done. Now, give me a second here. Push aside the forced romance between Utah (Reeves) and Tyler (Lori Petty) and some of Bodhi’s (Patrick Swayze) zen talk, and you’ve got a great cat-and-mouse/man living two lives flick.
Seriously, accept the early 90s day-glo gnarly-isms and paper thin romance (director Kathryn Bigelow has gone on record saying she hated directing any of the romantic scenes in the movie) and you’ll find yourself immersed in the high intensity bank heists, Gary Busey’s highly quotable lines and enough action scenes to have you stoked for the film’s two hour (or so) run.
Utah…gimme two!
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Bill Bodkin is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of Pop-Break. He can be read weekly on Trailer Tuesday and Singles Party, weekly reviews on Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Hannibal, Law & Order: SVU and regular contributions throughout the week with reviews and interviews. His goal is to write 500 stories this year. He is a graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in Journalism & English and currently works in the world of political polling. He’s the reason there’s so much wrestling on the site and is beyond excited to be a Dad this coming December. Follow him on Twitter: @PopBreakDotCom
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