Review of Purple Rain (1984) by Alex M — 04 Nov 2016

I watched Purple Rain when it was first released in 1984. I was 17 years old at the time and what I recall of my first viewing of the movie was that while the acting was weak and the plot was pretty basic, the music had the entire theatre transfixed from the opening "Let's Go Crazy" to the final song "Baby I'm a Star". The energy in the theatre was incredible and the buzz, as I left the theatre, was palpable.

I read that Eric Clapton was in a "downward spiral with drink and drugs" before he saw Purple Rain in a Canadian movie theatre and it hit him like a bolt of lightning. He went back to his hotel and wrote "Holy Mother". After Prince's death, Eric Clapton called Prince "A True Genius". That was the impact of this movie for many and the accompanying album was the soundtrack of the year in 1984. It topped the Billboard chart for the last 22 weeks of the year and sold more than 9 million copies. It also won the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture.

If you're looking for great acting, an original story, and great production value, look somewhere else. If you want to get a feel for what 1984 looked and sounded like with a semi-autobiographical story about Prince's rise to superstardom, then you should check out Purple Rain.