Review of Purple Rain (1984) by Steven S — 29 Apr 2016

In the early years the network was hungry for content. Certain artists such as Prince, Michael Jackson and Madonna were quick to use videos to pump up album sales. Purple Rain takes the pop music video one step by making a full length movie with a music video feel.

The movie is made up of a cast of around 20 individuals with little to no acting experience. This type of film takes so many risks that it could easily fall flat on it's face, and yet it manages to fly.

The undertones of the movie such as violence against women were shown but not ever really addressed. I guess swallowing your pride and singing a trio of good songs at the end fixes everything.

Now that Prince is gone the movie gets elevated to cult status. It's a solid movie and a throwback to a simpler time. The music in and of itself lifts this movie at least one letter grade.