Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: July 12, 1991
7.7
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Generally favorable reviews based on 173 Ratings
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136
Mixed:
25
Negative:
12
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6
BaudimMay 30, 2016
Will always be better than any remake, the actors are good, some lines are cheesy but it's a 90's action movie. It's part of the package. Overall a good movie especially for people nostalgic of this genre.
2 of 2 users found this helpful20
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7
The3AcademySinsApr 8, 2019
The ultimate over-the-top cult action movie, Point Break is chock full of great practical action sequences and some surprisingly good acting. The surfer vibe in this movie is something to behold.
2 of 2 users found this helpful20
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6
FrenziedPanda99Jan 20, 2016
Not bad but not great.. Altough i enjoyed watching Swayze in this movie................................................................................
4 of 5 users found this helpful41
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7
marcmyworksJul 4, 2017
This film is hilarious in how over the top each of the characters act. It really feels like an early Michael Bay film, but with the worst FBI agents in history. Overall a classic action flick for its original take on bank robbing surfers.
3 of 4 users found this helpful31
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10
TheDude-Oct 25, 2015
Point Break is a great action film with stunning practical action sequences that are exciting to watch with characters and dialogue that is very memorable
10/10
6 of 9 users found this helpful63
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8
MovieMasterEddyApr 9, 2016
"You trying to tell me the F.B.I.'s going to pay me to learn to surf?"

Yes, dude, that's exactly what his superiors are trying to tell Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves), a clean-cut rookie officer with a secret flair for being bodacious. In
"You trying to tell me the F.B.I.'s going to pay me to learn to surf?"

Yes, dude, that's exactly what his superiors are trying to tell Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves), a clean-cut rookie officer with a secret flair for being bodacious. In "Point Break," Johnny happens to be available when a gang of bank robbers leaves behind a surfboard-wax sample (in a footprint), some beach-related toxins (in a strand of hair) and photographic evidence of a tan line (in a surveillance camera shot of one masked robber delivering a kind of humorous message by dropping his pants).

Hey, heavy evidence. This turns out to be one of those beach bum-cosmic high armed robberies with which Southern California F.B.I. agents are no doubt constantly plagued. And Johnny turns out to be the perfect candidate for the job of surfing detective. He looks good in a wet suit. He figures out how to extract information from a nice-looking female surf expert (Lori Petty). Pretty soon he is showing up at the office saying things like "Caught my first tube this morning, sir." He totes his surfboard with him to prove the point.

"Catch a wave and you're sitting on top of the world," as the Beach Boys put it in more innocent times. But the surf culture represented in "Point Break" is much more far-reaching and diffuse, in the manner of something left out too long in the sun. It is principally embodied by Bodhi (Patrick Swayze), which is short for Bodhisattva, which is Sanskrit for "being of wisdom" and therefore of no relevance here. Bodhi, who has a cult following among the kind of people who like to re-enact their finest surfing moments at parties, speaks a fluid line of Zen wavethink as he encourages acolytes to accept the water's energy and observes, "It's not tragic to die doing what you love." Among the things Bodhi loves are skydiving, extra-risky surfing and possibly even chancier pursuits.

Just as she did in "Blue Steel," the director Kathryn Bigelow observes the peculiar complicity that develops between a law officer and a seductive criminal. And once again Ms. Bigelow moves so fast and so far with this idea that her film (with a screenplay by W. Peter Iliff) eventually spins out of control. But "Point Break," though it's anything but watertight where plotting is concerned, again reveals Ms. Bigelow's real talents as a director of fast-paced, high-adrenaline action. Whenever the flakiness of "Point Break" threatens to become lulling, Ms. Bigelow wakes up her audience with a formidable jolt.

Among the film's especially energetic sequences are a furious two-man chase on foot through a heavily populated neighborhood, shot vigorously with a hand-held camera; sustained and amazing sky-diving scenes guaranteed to make the palms sweat, and a police raid on a house that becomes a wild melee and turns a lawnmower into a potentially deadly weapon. This last episode, and others like it, prove definitively that testosterone-crazed movie violence is by no means the sole province of male directors.

Ms. Bigelow also gives many of the film's conversational scenes a crisp, punchy momentum and a lot of energy. A lot of the snap comes, surprisingly, from Mr. Reeves, who displays considerable discipline and range. He moves easily between the buttoned-down demeanor that suits a police procedural story and the loose-jointed manner of his comic roles.

Especially fiery and scene-stealing is Gary Busey, as the gruff Nick Nolte-style wild man who is Johnny's F.B.I. partner and foil. Mr. Swayze, more tranquil, is best when showing off his proficiency for glamorous athletics and least good when taking the screenplay seriously. When another character says, of Mr. Swayze's Bodhi, "He's got this gift for blankness," the thought seems all too true.

Mr. Iliff's screenplay includes some egregious silliness and a long string of false endings, but occasionally it sounds the kind of tough-guy note that gets one's attention. "It's been paper targets up till today, huh?" says the more experienced F.B.I. man (Mr. Busey) to the rookie (Mr. Reeves) after the latter's first kill. "It's no different, Johnny. Just a little more to clean up."
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3 of 5 users found this helpful32
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7
EpicLadySpongeJan 25, 2016
This > 2015 remake. Period...... and another period. For 1991's greatest hits, this was never one.... which was sad. It's still a good original for you guys to enjoy.
2 of 5 users found this helpful23
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4
amheretojudgeApr 23, 2018
you're a real blue flame special..

Point Break It may have a fresh approach with some interesting twists and turns to a typical buddy cop movie but having said that it lacks enough concrete material to feed the audience for around 2
you're a real blue flame special..

Point Break

It may have a fresh approach with some interesting twists and turns to a typical buddy cop movie but having said that it lacks enough concrete material to feed the audience for around 2 complete hours. Kathryn Bigelow; an acclaimed director, would execute such a feature comes as a bit shock for it barely seeks attention from the audience no matter how much "used formula" it might use. Keanu Reeves did not seem at its best and unfortunately wasn't supported strongly by the cast like Patrick Swayze and Lori Petty. Point Break might work for a younger audience that seeks a typical popcorn fun time but beyond that their barely is something to explore in it on terms of craft.
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2 of 5 users found this helpful23
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8
HeisenburgerMar 20, 2017
Jaxon said, "It was a good movie and I liked the masks they wore. I want one." - Jaxon There was cool surfing as well, that was cool. The cool surfing was cool.
1 of 3 users found this helpful12
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8
MrMickeyRichJan 28, 2016
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. (Minor Spoilers) Point Break follows FBI agent Johnny Utah as he tries to go undercover to stop the bank robbers known as the ex presidents. He goes undercover by participating in Surfing and other extreme sports but as he gets deeper undercover the more he gets attached to the robbers.
Point Break is an extremely fun movie with adrenaline pumping action that is filmed beautifully. All the characters are great fun but the villian is the best Bodhi.
Bodhi is the leader of the robbers despite his crimes however he manages to become the guy you can't help but like and you really see a genuine friendship blossom between him and Johnny. This makes it harder for Johnny and you see the conflict in him as he tries to take them down. All the other characters do seem a bit 2d and are very forgetable and the ending feels a bit tagged on. Overall though great movies one of Keanu's best.
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0 of 3 users found this helpful03
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8
TheMovieSceneJun 18, 2016
"You trying to tell me the F.B.I.'s going to pay me to learn to surf?"

Yes, dude, that's exactly what his superiors are trying to tell Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves), a clean-cut rookie officer with a secret flair for being bodacious. In
"You trying to tell me the F.B.I.'s going to pay me to learn to surf?"

Yes, dude, that's exactly what his superiors are trying to tell Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves), a clean-cut rookie officer with a secret flair for being bodacious. In "Point Break," Johnny happens to be available when a gang of bank robbers leaves behind a surfboard-wax sample (in a footprint), some beach-related toxins (in a strand of hair) and photographic evidence of a tan line (in a surveillance camera shot of one masked robber delivering a kind of humorous message by dropping his pants).

Hey, heavy evidence. This turns out to be one of those beach bum-cosmic high armed robberies with which Southern California F.B.I. agents are no doubt constantly plagued. And Johnny turns out to be the perfect candidate for the job of surfing detective. He looks good in a wet suit. He figures out how to extract information from a nice-looking female surf expert (Lori Petty). Pretty soon he is showing up at the office saying things like "Caught my first tube this morning, sir." He totes his surfboard with him to prove the point.

"Catch a wave and you're sitting on top of the world," as the Beach Boys put it in more innocent times. But the surf culture represented in "Point Break" is much more far-reaching and diffuse, in the manner of something left out too long in the sun. It is principally embodied by Bodhi (Patrick Swayze), which is short for Bodhisattva, which is Sanskrit for "being of wisdom" and therefore of no relevance here. Bodhi, who has a cult following among the kind of people who like to re-enact their finest surfing moments at parties, speaks a fluid line of Zen wavethink as he encourages acolytes to accept the water's energy and observes, "It's not tragic to die doing what you love." Among the things Bodhi loves are skydiving, extra-risky surfing and possibly even chancier pursuits.

Just as she did in "Blue Steel," the director Kathryn Bigelow observes the peculiar complicity that develops between a law officer and a seductive criminal. And once again Ms. Bigelow moves so fast and so far with this idea that her film (with a screenplay by W. Peter Iliff) eventually spins out of control. But "Point Break," though it's anything but watertight where plotting is concerned, again reveals Ms. Bigelow's real talents as a director of fast-paced, high-adrenaline action. Whenever the flakiness of "Point Break" threatens to become lulling, Ms. Bigelow wakes up her audience with a formidable jolt.

Among the film's especially energetic sequences are a furious two-man chase on foot through a heavily populated neighborhood, shot vigorously with a hand-held camera; sustained and amazing sky-diving scenes guaranteed to make the palms sweat, and a police raid on a house that becomes a wild melee and turns a lawnmower into a potentially deadly weapon. This last episode, and others like it, prove definitively that testosterone-crazed movie violence is by no means the sole province of male directors.

Ms. Bigelow also gives many of the film's conversational scenes a crisp, punchy momentum and a lot of energy. A lot of the snap comes, surprisingly, from Mr. Reeves, who displays considerable discipline and range. He moves easily between the buttoned-down demeanor that suits a police procedural story and the loose-jointed manner of his comic roles.

Especially fiery and scene-stealing is Gary Busey, as the gruff Nick Nolte-style wild man who is Johnny's F.B.I. partner and foil. Mr. Swayze, more tranquil, is best when showing off his proficiency for glamorous athletics and least good when taking the screenplay seriously. When another character says, of Mr. Swayze's Bodhi, "He's got this gift for blankness," the thought seems all too true.

Mr. Iliff's screenplay includes some egregious silliness and a long string of false endings, but occasionally it sounds the kind of tough-guy note that gets one's attention. "It's been paper targets up till today, huh?" says the more experienced F.B.I. man (Mr. Busey) to the rookie (Mr. Reeves) after the latter's first kill. "It's no different, Johnny. Just a little more to clean up."
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0 of 2 users found this helpful02
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8
CameMay 27, 2019
Point Break is one of those 90s action movies that a movie buff needs to watch. I mean who wouldn't ? It's Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze !
0 of 1 users found this helpful01
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7
matteodreddyDec 13, 2020
beautiful and brilliant,good story and script,acting is good,interesting to watch,cool finale too
0 of 1 users found this helpful01
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8
FadeBlackJan 26, 2022
Surprised this doesn't get better reviews. A truly great movie with a message of freedom that most people secretly wish for but are not brave enough to aim for. Extremely fun as well.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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5
gracjanskiJan 23, 2021
Dont expect any intelligent movie here. The story has many illogical scenes and many very "cool" scenes. Also some action scenes were ridiculous. So it is just entertaining for the masses.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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8
SolInvictaFeb 22, 2016
The definition of a cult classic. Point Break takes your standard heist plot and elevates it with fleshed out characters, unique motivations, exciting action sequences, and one of the more captivating hero-antagonist relationships betweenThe definition of a cult classic. Point Break takes your standard heist plot and elevates it with fleshed out characters, unique motivations, exciting action sequences, and one of the more captivating hero-antagonist relationships between Utah and Bodhi. Expand
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8
BroyaxJul 9, 2020
Cela fait bien plusieurs fois que je le revois et s'il n'est certainement pas exempt de défauts, Point Break supporte le poids des ans avec aplomb, sans faillir : il est toujours aussi spectaculaire et réalisé à une époque où l'ordinateur neCela fait bien plusieurs fois que je le revois et s'il n'est certainement pas exempt de défauts, Point Break supporte le poids des ans avec aplomb, sans faillir : il est toujours aussi spectaculaire et réalisé à une époque où l'ordinateur ne s'occupait pas de (presque) tout, loin de là ! on en est que plus admiratif et les magnifiques plans ici et là nous font ressentir l'adrénaline de ces surfeurs fous furieux, braqueurs de banques à leurs heures perdues...

La réalisation est dans l'ensemble très solide, même si elle s'égare assez souvent, un peu trop souvent sans doute dans le secouage des caméras un brin agitées... à moins que ce ne soit l'inverse : l'agitation de caméras légèrement secouées mais rien de bien méchant, on est loin (heureusement) très loin des grosses merdes de films d'action "modernes" en la matière ! et pourtant parallèlement ou comme en opposition, Katryn Bigelow nous offre des ralentis dans les vagues et même quelque plan-séquence au commissariat ! elle aime, je crois, les contrastes...

Un autre grief concerne le scénario, plutôt solide lui aussi, sauf dans le grand final qui laisse pantois d'incrédulité... la cohérence s'en trouve discutée et s'avère discutable... mais quel rôle pour Patrick Swayze en tout cas, qui distribue ici des mandales de charisme à la ronde même si cette espèce de gourou de la planche raconte en fait n'importe quoi, perdu et embrouillé dans son trip de surfeur rebelle ! c'en est quasiment comique, à l'insu de son plein gré bien sûr...

En contrepoint, un tout jeune Keanu Reeves, un peu juste ici, qui a l'air d'un vrai gamin mais qui garde les pieds sur terre ou tente de les garder et finalement une amitié, une estime réciproque entre les deux hommes qui fait penser à l'histoire de Heat : deux protagonistes si semblables opposés par les circonstances et leurs choix de vie... avec ou contre la société !

Quoi qu'il en soit, quelle ambiance dans ce polar décidément pas comme les autres, un peu dingue et dont l'originalité n'a pas pris une ride...
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10
Deckard2Jan 31, 2022
UTAH!........MAKE IT TWO!

Full disclosure, I love this movie. It is one of my favourite movies of all time and is essential viewing for anyone that likes, bank robberies, surfing, Keanu, Swayze, epic bromances, The Fast and the Furious (they
UTAH!........MAKE IT TWO!

Full disclosure, I love this movie. It is one of my favourite movies of all time and is essential viewing for anyone that likes, bank robberies, surfing, Keanu, Swayze, epic bromances, The Fast and the Furious (they stole the plot), Gary Busey, John C McGinley chewing the scenery, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers (cameo appearance)....the list goes on.

The plot.....well.....let me tell you. Keanu Reeves is Johnny Utah, a new post graduate super cop who is tasked under the tutelage of Gary Busey to infiltrate a crack team of bank robbers who he theorises are possibly surfers. This leads Keanu into the world of zen master/surfing guru/samurai leader Patrick Swayze who takes him under his wing and teaches him the ways of the ocean whilst Keanu tries to figure out who the hell keeps robbing these banks whilst falling for a surfer girl played here by the perfectly cast Lori Petty.

The film oozes 90's cool. Swayzes sheer magnetism shines throughout which is remarkable for a character that arguably doesn't have that much screen time. Keanu here is also on top form playing a straight laced cop remembering at this point he is straight off the back of Bill and Ted and plays the ying to Patrick Swayzes yang perfectly. A shout out goes to John C McGinley who manages to chew every scene he is in and Gary Busey being on cracking form as Keanus detective unhinged mentor. Kathryn Bigelow has always been one of my favourite directors and would go on to direct such wartime epics as The Hurt Locker, but for me this stands out as probably her best work and is lifted up by a brilliant score from Mark Isham that perfectly suits the almost dream like quality this film achieves in places.

This is a film that manages to get you invested and believe that a bunch of surfer bros are the potential masterminds of several bank heists. It includes endlessly quotable dialogue, outstanding stunt scenes that still astound today (the aerial stunt work is still outstanding) and revolves around an epic bromance for the ages. As far as bank robbery films go, they rarely get better than this.
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5
LegitSaltDec 9, 2018
Point Break is a 90s action movie directed by James Cameron's wife, Kathryn Bigelow (Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty). With big names like Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze backing it, it certainly has the makings for a great movie.Point Break is a 90s action movie directed by James Cameron's wife, Kathryn Bigelow (Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty). With big names like Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze backing it, it certainly has the makings for a great movie. Unfortunately, it is not as great as one would have anticipated. The first thing that came to my attention was that Keanu Reeves' line delivery sounded like he was stoned and had never seen the lines before. It seemed as if he had just come off from shooting Bill and Ted. There were some cool action scenes, especially the one with the lawnmower, albeit it felt like a bit of a rehash of the woodchipper scene from Fargo. The movie was also quite a cliche in many regards, but maybe that's just other movies copying it. The undercover cop as a 90s surfer dude lost its novelty quick but was certainly unique. As an action movie, its fine, nothing really all that new. Some of the character moments felt out of line or underdeveloped. This movie is nothing all too new, but it is also nothing egregious. Overall, this works competently as an action film, and check it out of you enjoy John Wick or the James Bond franchise. Expand
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7
NickTheCritickMar 27, 2022
Tough i have some problems with Keanu Reeves acting and tough i didn't like the last 15 minutes of the film (because they feel way too contrived) i must say that this is, still today, a good movie. An action movie that never ages. I thinkTough i have some problems with Keanu Reeves acting and tough i didn't like the last 15 minutes of the film (because they feel way too contrived) i must say that this is, still today, a good movie. An action movie that never ages. I think this is not the best Bigelow's movie. She is a director that I really like and in my opinion she directed even better movies than this. Expand
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9
ryan726Sep 7, 2023
Point Break is almost perfect. Bigelow nails it with this one. Great story, great action, FANTASTIC actors. One of my favorites of all time.
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