Purple Rain (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.

Director:

Albert Magnoli

Writers:

Albert Magnoli, William Blinn

Stars:

Prince, Apollonia Kotero, Morris Day

Won 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Prince	...	The Kid
Apollonia Kotero	...	Apollonia
Morris Day	...	Morris
Olga Karlatos	...	Mother
Clarence Williams III	...	Father
Jerome Benton	...	Jerome
Billy Sparks	...	Billy
Jill Jones	...	Jill
Charles Huntsberry	...	Chick
Dez Dickerson	...	Dez
Brenda Bennett	...	Brenda
Susan Moonsie	...	Susan (as Susan)
Sandra Claire Gershman	...	Beautiful Babe
Kim Upsher	...	Kim
Alan Leeds	...	Stage Hand

Storyline

A young man with a talent for music has begun a career with much promise. He meets an aspiring singer, Apollonia, and finds that talent alone isn't all that he needs. A complicated tale of his repeating his father's self destructive behavior, losing Apollonia to another singer (Morris Day), and his coming to grips with his own connection to other people ensues.

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Plot Keywords:

singer | female frontal nudity | androgyny | skinny dipping | nipples | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original screenplay, found on various websites, contained an extremely explicit sex scene between Vanity and The Kid during the "ride of rage" sequence. It's unknown if the scene was actually filmed when Apollonia replaced Vanity as the leading lady. This adds to the mystery of a long-rumored early edit of Purple Rain that was given an X rating by the MPAA.

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Goofs

When Prince is doing ventriloquism backstage, he's clearly not saying anything.

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Quotes

[first lines]
First Avenue M.C.: Ladies and gentlemen... The Revolution!

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Crazy Credits

"May u live 2 see the dawn"

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Alternate Versions

Network TV versions omit the song "Baby, I'm a Star", and simply have it playing over the end credits.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Martin Short/Gabrielle Union/Mary J. Blige (2014)

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Soundtracks

I Would Die 4 U
Words and Music by Prince
Performed by Prince and the Revolution
© 1984 Controversy Music

User Reviews

I love this movie!

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 July 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Purple Rain

Filming Locations:

752 South Main Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,766,201, 29 July 1984

Gross USA:

$70,261,052

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$70,262,694

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Purple Films, Water

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1