Purple Rain (HD-DVD)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: B- Film: B-
Just as
Prince was becoming a big music sensation, he and Warner Bros. decided to do
more than a Music Video or expensive, expanded Video, but a feature film. Many thought it would be another bad film
with music and bomb like so many other duds, but Albert Magnoli directed the
project and Purple Rain became one
of the few really good music films of the 1980s. The soundtrack was a huge hit, Michael
Jackson was left in the dust and Prince gained new credibility no one expected.
As “The
Kid”, Prince plays a rebellious, isolated, unhappy youth who is also very
talented with his music, but is not being heard. In the surreal world of the film, he must
fight people on all fronts bringing him and the world around him down. He falls for one woman (Apollonia Kotero) who
inspires him and changes his life, giving him a whole new reason to resist and
go for what he wants to go for. Though
somewhat formulaic, the film is done with energy that keeps it from being more
than just a 1980s time capsule. Yes, the
music is decent, but this is almost a Backstage Musical but is even more a
soundtrack driven non-Musical from a time when Music Video killed Musicals and
is one of the better ones from the cycle.
It does
not have the “some assembly required” feel of Flashdance, Footloose or
even Top Gun, as the film uses Rock
aesthetics to go with Prince’s new style of Funk & Soul that broke as much
grounds for Soul Music and African Americans in the business as Jackson ever
had. It lands up being a one-of-a-kind
music film that would never be repeated, which is why it is always a popular
back catalog title.
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image comes from the new master used for the
standard DVD-Video reissue, but that unfortunately does not improve much in
this version, which looks odd the way the GoodFellas
upgrade did. There is just something off
about it, as if HD was not full understood or considered when the master was
being made. Donald E. Thorn’s
cinematography was better on 35mm than this from the detail down to the fine
use of color and shadow.
As for
the sound, the new DVD set had a Dolby Digital 5.1 upgrade and this version
pumps that up to Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 and even adds Dolby TrueHD 5.1, but
that remix was very problematic and it makes for a disappointing remix in the
higher formats as well as the same sound master is being used. Like Terminator
3, I was hoping when Warner redid them for HD that they would make new
sound masters. In both cases, disaster! Sure, Purple
Rain was originally released only in old analog Dolby A-type sound with its
dated, limited fidelity, but the soundtrack (by Prince and composer Michel
Colombier) was exceptionally recorded and if the Bond films from the 1960s can
sound better in DTS than this film in TrueHD, you know this can be much better.
All the
extras from the DVD set are here, including 10 Music Videos for the various
hits, a set of trailers to all the films Prince made for Warner Bros., the
original MTV Premiere Party broadcast
for the film, Purple Rain Backstage Pass:
Behind The Scenes, First Avenue: The
Road To Pop Royalty showing one of the first places Prince ever played, Riffs, Ruffles & A Revolution: The
Impact & Influence Of Purple Rain and a feature length audio commentary
by Magnoli, Thorin and Producer Robert Cavallo.
Sadly,
Prince tried a few more films with Warner, including a sequel to this film, but
nothing ever worked out. Then he had his
falling out with Warner and moved on to other great albums with and without new
major labels. His Videos even continue
to be good, but we may never see him do another feature film again.
- Nicholas Sheffo
