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 5 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 | breasts | androgyny | skinny dipping | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

A few days before the premiere, Prince had a nightmare that Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert despised the film, with Ebert ripping the film apart. He said, "I dreamed those two guys on the TV were reviewing the movie and that fat guy was tearing me up!" Siskel and Ebert both loved the film in their reviews.

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Goofs

Morris and Apollonia's conversation in the car outside of the club is dubbed over Morris talking to Jerome.

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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 Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time: Episode #1.4 (2020)

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Soundtracks

Purple Rain
Words and Music by Prince
Performed by Prince and the Revolution
© 1984 Controversy Music

User Reviews

An invaluable piece of eighties culture

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.

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:

$70,261,906

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