Big Picture Big Sound

The Film

It is nearly impossible to fathom today the impact that Purple Rain had on popular culture upon its release -- women in purple lingerie, poseur musical acts on the radio claiming to be from Minnesota, making their best attempts at imitating the "Minneapolis Sound." Perhaps one of the biggest and least talked about impacts of Purple Rain is that you had a black Rock artist, with top billing in his own film, in wide release across the nation.  Prince crossed over all racial boundaries to reach huge blockbuster success -- not only at the box office, but also at the record stores (yeah, remember those?). When you watch the making-of featurette on Purple Rain, it really puts into perspective just what a feat that was at the time. We tend to think of Prince today as this larger-than-life figure looming over the popular music landscape, but back then he was just another black artist with a film that no studio wanted to touch. Hardly anyone believed that such a film could be marketed successfully -- particularly not in the U.S.

But here we are, nearly 25 years down the road, and Warner had the wherewithal to pick the film up and distribute it, and I'm sure they are quite happy that they did, in retrospect. Purple Rain won both a Grammy and an Academy Award for Original Song Score, and grossed nearly $70 million in the U.S. alone. That's a lot, considering it only cost a few million to make the film to begin with.

The film is a semi-autobiographical telling of Prince's rise to success. Yes, the acting is campy, the dialogue is clumsy and mostly serves to get in the way of the wonderful musical performances, but there is still some depth to the story. The struggles of "The Kid" to get out from the domestic violence of his household, as well as coming to terms with his father's destructive habits, and trying not to follow in his footsteps. It shows a young man fighting for his individuality and artistic integrity, but yes, most of all it showcases a brilliant Rock musician in his prime, full of energy and ideas. It was the perfect film for the so-called "MTV Generation" with its brilliant musical numbers, lighting effects and quick edits. The way the songs serve not only as background music, but actually aid in telling the story -- it all fits together perfectly.

The Time's Morris Day and Jerome Benton are the definite scene stealers, offering much needed comedic relief; the perfect antidote to Prince's more serious and sexually charged Kid. It is also the "battle" scenes between The Time and The Revolution that offer the most fun for the viewer. The energy level of the performers is astounding. The acts were truly at their prime back in 1984 and it is easy to tell from watching this film.

For any true Prince fan or for any fan of Rock music in general, you owe it to yourself to see this now iconic and classic film of the Rock-movie genre. It has stood the test of time, in my opinion, and will continue to do so. It features some of the strongest music Prince ever composed and recorded; electrifying performances are wonderfully filmed. If you are a Prince fan and you never had a chance to catch him in concert, then this is the next best thing, trust me.


The Picture

Presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 in a 1080p/24 high definition VC-1 encoding, the picture quality on Purple Rain is spotty at best.  Grain is sometimes excessive and sometimes nonexistent. For example, in the "Take Me with you" daytime outing scene in which Apollonia purifies herself in what turns out not to be the waters of Lake Minnetonka, there is hardly any grain present, but in the numerous dark scenes in The Kid's home, for example, grain is rampant.

Black levels are also varied, with blacks sometimes appearing perfectly balanced and inky and at other times shadows appear washed out and grey. Contrast is fine and flesh tones look natural, but detail is lacking. There is an overall softness that permeates the transfer, particularly in background images where the most detail is lost and softness is most noticeable. There are also some spots where some low-level, slow moving compression artifacts and slight posterization are vaguely noticeable, such as on some flat background surfaces.


The Sound

English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless and English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks are offered on this release. I listened to the lossless TrueHD soundtrack for review purposes.  The 5.1 mix for Purple Rain was mixed across the front three channels and the surround channels were used strictly for ambience. In my opinion, the mix sounded more like it was reprocessed into 5.1 rather than it being an actual discrete 5.1 mix. With that being said, the dialogue was always clear and audible, and the music sounded excellent with ample amounts of low frequency giving the various performance sequences a good solid feel to them. High frequencies weren't tweaked, so there was no listener fatigue. In fact, the soundtrack on this Blu-ray sounds better than the same music on the film's currently available CD soundtrack.


The Extras

Warner have provided quite a bit of supplements on this release, but in typical fashion for the studio, none of them are in high definition.  With that point aside, I'm certain that Prince fans will find much to appreciate in the abundance of extras offered on this release.

Below is a list of included features:

1. Audio commentary by director Albert Magnoli, producer Robert Cavallo and  cinematographer Donald E. Thorin.
2. The featurettes:
   • First Avenue: The Road to Pop Royalty (1.78:1; 480i/p), about the famous Minneapolis Rock club where Prince performed as an up and coming artist and where other famous and now successful native Minnesotan musical acts first made their mark, such as The Replacements, Soul Asylum, and Hüsker Dü.  It is also served as the venue where the musical performances for Purple Rain were filmed.
   • Purple Rain Backstage Pass: Behind the Scenes (1.78:1; 480i/p), is a "making-of" featurette featuring interviews with the director and members of The Revolution, including Wendy and Lisa.
   • Riffs, Ruffles, and a Revolution: The Impact of Purple Rain (1.78:1; 480i/p), explores the influence of Purple Rain on music, fashion, and popular culture, particularly in the 1980's.
3. "MTV Premiere Party" (4:3; 480i/p), MTV's 1984 coverage of the opening night of Purple Rain. A "red carpet affair" with celebrities such as Eddie Murphy, Pee-Wee Herman and Stevie Nicks.
4.  Five Prince music videos from Purple Rain, two videos from The Time and one from Apollonia 6; eight music videos total in 4:3; 480i/p.
5. Three theatrical trailers for Prince's movies:
   • Purple Rain
   • Under the Cherry Moon
   • Graffiti Bridge

Final Thoughts

Purple Rain stands as one of the most classic Rock films ever made. Although the picture quality on this disc falls far short of any sort of reference material and the 5.1 mix also leaves much to be desired, this is still by far greatly superior to the current DVD release and the best way to experience this MTV-era musical gem.

Where to Buy:

• Purple Rain on Blu-ray Disc (Amazon.com)

Product Details

• Actors: Prince, Apollonia Kotero, Morris Day, etc.
• Audio/Languages: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region ABC
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R 
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• Blu-ray Disc Release Date: July 24, 2007
• Run Time: 114 minutes
• List Price: $28.99
• Extras:
  • Commentary by director Albert Magnoli, producer Robert Cavallo and Cinematographer Donald E. Thorin
  • First Avenue: The Road to Pop Royalty: Visit the Nightclub Where Prince Started
  • Purple Rain Backstage Pass: Behind the Scene
  • Riffs, Ruffles and a Revolution: The Impact of Purple Rain
  • MTV Premiere Part: Original Broadcast
  • 8 Music Videos
  • Prince Movie Trailers