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Point Break
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Kathryn Bigelow
Produced by	James Cameron Peter Abrams Robert L. Levy
Written by	W. Peter Iliff
Starring	Patrick Swayze Keanu Reeves Gary Busey Lori Petty John C. McGinley James LeGros
Music by	Mark Isham
Cinematography	Donald Peterman
Editing by	Howard L. Smith
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	July 12, 1991
Running time	120 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$24,000,000 (estimated)
Gross revenue	$97,000,000 (Worldwide)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Point Break is a 1991 action film starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, and directed by Kathryn Bigelow. The title refers to the surfing term point break.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Cast 3 Reception 4 Inspiration from Point Break 5 The Ex-Presidents 6 Special Edition DVD 7 External links

Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves), is an FBI agent and former Ohio State quarterback who, with his partner Pappas (Gary Busey), is investigating a string of bank robberies. Suspecting a connection between the bank robbers, known as the Ex-Presidents because they use masks of former US presidents, and local surfers, Utah goes undercover to infiltrate the surfing community. Knowing little of the lifestyle, Utah convinces surfer Tyler (Lori Petty) to mentor him.

In the process, Utah develops a complex relationship with Bodhi (Patrick Swayze), the charismatic leader of a gang of surfers who accept Utah into their midst. While Utah goes undercover in the hope of finding the bank robbers, he finds himself increasingly attracted to their adrenaline-charged lifestyle.

The Bodhi/Utah dynamic gets more complicated as Utah begins to zero in on Bodhi as the likely ringleader of the Ex-Presidents. Utah learns that Bodhi and his gang rob banks in order to fund their lifestyle, and as a form of rebellion against a social system that they believe "kills the human spirit". This creates an internal struggle for Utah, as his fondness for Bodhi and the lifestyle he epitomizes conflicts with his duty and responsibility as an FBI agent.

By the end of the film, Utah is so absorbed by this lifestyle that he refuses to arrest Bodhi and instead lets him seek his own death surfing the giant waves of Bells Beach, Australia.

• Patrick Swayze as Bodhi
• Keanu Reeves as Johnny Utah
• Gary Busey as Pappas
• Lori Petty as Tyler
• John C. McGinley as Ben Harp
• James LeGros as Roach
• John Philbin as Nathanial
• Bojesse Christopher as Grommet
• Lee Tergesen as Rosie
• Tom Sizemore as Deets

Upon release it was a considerable success in 1991, with competition from Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. With a budget of $24 million, it grossed $45 million in the USA, and $105 million worldwide.

Kathryn Bigelow's work positively altered perceptions of female directors in the action film genre, and the film's success helped establish Keanu Reeves as a future action star, from Point Break to Speed to The Matrix.

At the 1992 MTV Movie Awards, Point Break was nominated for 3 awards including Most Desirable Male (Keanu Reeves), Most Desirable Male (Patrick Swayze), and Best Action Sequence for the second jump from the plane, when Utah jumps out of a plane to catch Bohdi and rescue Tyler. Utah catches up with Bodhi and holds a gun to his head. However, Bodhi refuses to pull the rip cord and Utah must decide between dropping his gun (so he can hold on and pull the rip cord) or letting the two fall to the ground.

The movie has even inspired a piece of cult theater, Point Break Live!, which features a new, unrehearsed "Keanu" picked at random from the viewing audience, and reading all of his (or her) lines from cue-cards for the duration of the show.

The movie was listed in the book "The Movies of the 90's".

Point Break was listed in the VH1 show I Love the 90s on the episode 1991. Many celebrities, including Dominic Monaghan, Maroon 5, Mo Rocca, Michael Ian Black, Hal Sparks & Jackass's Chris Pontius, commented about the movie and why it deserved to be included in the episode. As Hal Sparks says "We never saw Bodhi die... I smell a sequel, Point Break 2 – Paddling Out". The use of the term "Paddling Out" drew suspicions that a possible sequel could involve Bodhi "Paddling Out" to New Zealand (as reinforced by his quote in the film).

Michael J. Nelson, who regularly mocked the acting abilities of Reeves and Swayze on Mystery Science Theater 3000, has produced a Rifftrax audio commentary for Point Break.

The scene in which Utah jumps after Bodhi without a parachute was ranked seventh in Empire magazine's Top 10 Crazy Action Sequences.

• In the French film Brice de Nice certain scenes are part spoof of and part homage to Point Break. The film portrays the experiences of Brice, a young man from Nice. Although Brice claims to be a great surfer and owns a board, he does not know how to surf (for there are no waves in the Mediterranean Sea). Brice shows fanatical worship for the movie, which is possibly the sole inspiration for his surfer persona. He is shown watching Point Break several times during the film, and knows every line by heart. Brice also gets inspired from Point Break in order to rob a bank with the help of a Jacques Chirac mask. The climax of his adoration occurs when, late in the movie, upon losing consciousness after a bad spill (and finally realizing that he can't surf), he is visited by an apparition of Bodhi himself, telling him not to give up.

• The action/comedy British film Hot Fuzz has PC Danny Butterman showing his new partner, Sergeant Nicholas Angel a double bill of the films Point Break & Bad Boys II. Butterman, amazed to have a big city cop in a small village, is asking Angel questions about being a police officer in the city, he asks the question "Have you ever fired your gun in the air and gone 'Aaaarrrggghhh'?" similar to how Johnny reacts in Point Break. Later in the film, when faced with shooting his father, Butterman shoots into the air wildly whilst screaming. During the Hot Fuzztival held at the Prince Charles's Cinema in Leicester Square London on the June 10, 2007, Point Break is one of 4 films selected by the director of Hot Fuzz for viewing by an audience of cinema lovers with introduction by Nick Frost who plays Butterman along with director Edgar Wright.

Point Break's Ex-Presidents were parodied in the 2005 film Domino with a group of thieves dressed as and known as The First Ladies. A reference to the film was also made in the Family Guy episode "Ready Willing and Disabled" where a man in a Jimmy Carter mask steals a jar of money and Joe and Lois try to figure out which Keanu Reeves movie it was where the crooks wore President masks before Joe goes after him.

In the French film Brice de Nice, the surfer protagonist lives his life by the film, and tries to rob a bank with a mask of the French President, Jacques Chirac.

In the 2005 film Fun with Dick and Jane, the title characters commit a robbery wearing masks of former President and First Lady Bill and Hillary Clinton. Note that at the time Point Break was released, Bill Clinton had yet to be elected President of the United States which came a year later.

The Asian film Fulltime Killer also references Point Break when one of the main characters wears a Clinton Mask in a video store. The girl comments on it and the movie Point Break (in which the movie poster is in the background) and wonders who is under the mask. Later in the movie he assassinates someone wearing the mask.

In the Italian movie Tre uomini e una gamba, the three lead roles, played by comedy trio Aldo, Giovanni e Giacomo, try at some point to steal a wooden leg wearing masks of the Italian ex-presidents Sandro Pertini, Francesco Cossiga and Oscar Luigi Scalfaro.

In the animated comedy Code Monkeys, the characters Dave and Jerry try to rob a bank wearing masks of Alexander Haig and Henry Kissinger, respectivley.

On October 3, 2006 a special edition of Point Break became available on Region 1 DVD. Fox Home Entertainment has given it the name, Point Break: Pure Adrenaline Edition.

• Point Break at the Internet Movie Database
• Point Break at Rotten Tomatoes

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