• Release Date: 2007-07-24
• Genre: Romance
• Artist Name: Apollonia, Jerome Benton, Morris Day, Olga Karlatos, Billy Sparks, Clarence Williams III, Prince
• Director: Albert Magnoli
• AMG Rating:
• MPAA Rating: R
• Category: Feature Films
• Cautions: Violence, Adult Situations, Nudity, Adult Language, Profanity
• Year: 1984
• Running Time: 113
• Movie Country of Origin: USA
• Available Language: English
• Subtitles: Eng/Fre/Spa
  

Purple Rain, the first starring film for Prince, is the story of an arrogant, young black singer, born and raised in Minneapolis, who reaches the pinnacle of stardom. The dramatic complications include "The Kid's" (Prince) miserable home life, where he suffers the brutalities of his father (well played by Clarence Williams III) and the youth's efforts to win the love of the beautiful Apollonia. Despite the misogynistic undercurrents in Purple Rain, the film's biggest fans were young women. Gorgeously photographed by Donald Thorin, Purple Rain is essentially a glorified music video, highlighted by a catalogue of Prince's hits, including I Would Die 4 U, When Doves Cry and Let's Go Crazy; the score deservedly won an Academy Award and a Grammy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Drama, Romance

Ladder to the Top, Musician's Life

Quirky, Sexy, Slick, Stylized, Flashy, Atmospheric

DVD Features

• Commentary by director Albert Magnoli, producer Robert Cavallo and cinematographer Donald E. Thorin
• First Avenue: The road to pop royalty - Visit the nightclub where Prince started
• Purple Rain backstage pass: Behind the scenes
• Riffs, ruffles and a revolution: The impact and influence of Purple Rain
• MTV Premiere Party original broadcast
• 8 music videos: Let's Go Crazy, Take Me With U, When Doves Crry, I Would Die 4 U/Baby I'm a Star, Puple Rain, Jungle Love, The Bird and Sex Shooter
• Prince movies trailer gallery

DVD Chapters

• Disc #1 -- Purple Rain
• 1. Chapter 1
• 2. Chapter 2
• 3. Chapter 3
• 4. Chapter 4
• 5. Chapter 5
• 6. Chapter 6
• 7. Chapter 7
• 8. Chapter 8
• 9. Chapter 9
• 10. Chapter 10
• 11. Chapter 11
• 12. Chapter 12
• 13. Chapter 13
• 14. Chapter 14
• 15. Chapter 15
• 16. Chapter 16
• 17. Chapter 17
• 18. Chapter 18
• 19. Chapter 19
• 20. Chapter 20
• 21. Chapter 21
• 22. Chapter 22
• 23. Chapter 23
• 24. Chapter 24
• 25. Chapter 25
• 26. Chapter 26
• 27. Chapter 27
• 38. Chapter 28

• 1984--Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Prince-Nominee
• 1984--Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Prince-Winner

Review

What doesn't matter about this semi-autobiographical musical drama is that it is pretentious, misogynistic, ludicrous, and dumb. What does matter is that it is very entertaining and features an absolutely terrific musical score, one of the few to cop both an Oscar and a Grammy. Prince is the star and performs most of the songs, but the film's highlight is a delightful comic performance by Morris Day (whose group, The Time, does "Jungle Love" and "The Bird") as Prince's rival. Day steals every scene in which he appears with a cackling, tongue-in-cheek hubris that is a perfect antidote to Prince's pompous self-importance. Basically a fast-moving, carefully crafted music video, Purple Rain is fun despite its flaws. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi