Point Break (1991)

An F.B.I. Agent goes undercover to catch a gang of surfers who may be bank robbers.

Director:

Kathryn Bigelow

Writers:

Rick King (story), W. Peter Iliff (story)

Stars:

Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Swayze	...	Bodhi
Keanu Reeves	...	Johnny Utah
Gary Busey	...	Pappas
Lori Petty	...	Tyler
John C. McGinley	...	Ben Harp (as John McGinley)
James Le Gros	...	Roach
John Philbin	...	Nathanial
Bojesse Christopher	...	Grommet
Julian Reyes	...	Alvarez
Daniel Beer	...	Babbit
Chris Pedersen	...	Bunker
Vincent Klyn	...	Warchild
Anthony Kiedis	...	Tone
Dave Olson	...	Archbold
Lee Tergesen	...	Rosie

Storyline

In Los Angeles, California, a gang of bank robbers call themselves The Ex-Presidents. commit their crimes while wearing masks of ex-Presidents Reagan, Carter, Nixon, and Johnson. The F.B.I. believes that the members of the gang could be surfers, and send young Agent Johnny Utah undercover at the beach to mix with the surfers and gather information. Utah meets surfer Bodhi, and gets drawn into the lifestyle of his new friend.

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Plot Keywords:

surfer | bank robbery | title directed by female | male bonding | undercover | 

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Taglines:

27 banks in three years. Anything to catch the perfect wave!

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and brief nudity

Details

Country:

Japan USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 July 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Johnny Utah

Filming Locations:

Neptune's Net - 42505 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$24,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$43,218,387

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$97,000,000, 31 December 1991

Company Credits

Production Co:

Largo Entertainment,JVC Entertainment Networks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby SR (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Deluxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

For many of the surfing scenes, Patrick Swayze refused to use a stunt double, as he never had one for fight scenes or car chases.

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Goofs

In the final skydiving scene of the film, Bodhi tells the pilot to climb to an altitude of 4,000ft to get his injured buddy, Roach, to a "safe jump altitude". The average free fall takes 50 to 60 seconds from roughly 13,000ft. 4,000 ft is still considered a safe jumping altitude but would require immediate deployment of the parachute, also known as a "hop and pop". It would take roughly 26 seconds to hit the ground from 4,000ft. 10 seconds for the first 1,000 ft and 5.5 seconds for every additional 1,000 ft. Of course, you would want to be under canopy by 1000 ft, reducing the free-fall time by another 5-6 seconds.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Shooting Instructor: [Agent Utah finishes his gun range test] 100%, Utah. Good job!

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Connections

Referenced in Tosh.0: Surfer Fail (2011)

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Soundtracks

7 and 7 Is
Performed by Liquid Jesus
Produced by Todd Rigione
Co-Produced by John Hanlon
Written by Arthur Lee
Courtesy of MCA Records, Inc.

User Reviews

Tragic story about the homoerotic relationship between an FBI agent and a surfer in LA.

Good directing and crisp editing can't save this mindless overwrought film. Keanu Reeves is his reliably wooden self as an FBI agent who maybe likes Patrick Swayze's bank robber/surfer character a little too much. I love Reeves line to Swayze near the end, 'You crossed the line. People trusted you and they died.' (sic) I'd add: 'And oh yeah, you broke the law a lot, terrorized a lot of innocent people, murdered a cop, kidnapped and almost had my girl killed and you've been generally an insufferable, pompous megalomaniac.' Then I'd have shot him in the knee and arrested him. But that's just me. Reeves lets him surf off into oblivion because the movie is really about the love/hate relationship between these two space cases.

All that aside, the story and dialogue is all nonsense and the acting ranges from adequate to bad tho Busey almost succeeds in making a character you could give a damn about. A nice film to look at but not to listen to.