Plot
An FBI agent goes undercover to catch a gang of bank robbers who may be surfers.

Release Year: 1991

Rating: 6.9/10 (51,062 voted)

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Stars: Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey

Storyline
In the coastal town of Los Angeles, 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.

Writers: Rick King, W. Peter Iliff

Cast:
Patrick Swayze - Bodhi
Keanu Reeves - Johnny Utah
Gary Busey - Pappas
Lori Petty - Tyler
John C. McGinley - Ben Harp (as John McGinley)
James LeGros - Roach (as James Le Gros)
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

Taglines: 100% Pure Adrenaline.

Release Date: 12 July 1991

Filming Locations: Beryl Street & N. Catalina Avenue, Redondo Beach, California, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $24,000,000 (estimated)

Gross: $97,000,000 (Worldwide) (1991)

Runtime: 120 min

Trivia:
In her DVD commentary for her movie Strange Days, director Kathryn Bigelow describes filming the foot chase scenes in Point Break using a stripped-down, hand-held 35mm camera nicknamed the "Pogo-Cam". The camera weighed 18 pounds and was equipped with gyro-stabilizer borrowed from a Steadicam. A wire loop on top of the camera gave Steadicam operator 'James Muro' a rough idea of what was in the frame as he followed the actors at breakneck speed.

Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: At the gas station, before Bohdi lights the getaway car on fire, he soaks the gas station attendant with gasoline from a gasoline hose and then tells him to go away. When the attendant is filmed running away he is completely dry.

Quotes:
Ben Harp: Do you think that taxpayers would like it Utah, if they knew that they were paying a federal agent to surf and pick up girls?
Johnny Utah: Babes.
Ben Harp: I beg your pardon?
Johnny Utah: The correct term is Babes, sir.

An under-rated classic

Rating:

Point Break is one of those films that everybody loves, but that nobody actually talks about all that often. It is a film that if you mention it in conversation, everyone else around is bound to say how much they enjoyed it.

The film's two main assets are unexpected ones, in the form of the direction and the script. The direction by Kathryn Bigelow is nothing short of excellent. Her handling of the action and suspense scenes is exciting and riveting. The two sky-diving scenes are brilliant as is the foot chase through the streets (and houses) of the city. The script, by W. Peter Illif, is also very good and the best thing about the film. The plot is multi-layered and has an original relationship between the hero and the villain. The way the story resolves itself and the ultimate resolutions is excellent, by the standards of most Hollywood action films.

This film deserves to be remembered as one of the better actioners of the nineties, not up there with Die Hard 2/3 or Speed, but better than 90% of the action junk made nowadays. At least this film has a plot.

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