For all those who are interested, here's the review of the new 'Purple Rain', 'Under The Cherry Moon' & 'Graffiti Bridge' DVDs...


Cine 'o' The Times

Repackaged for the digital age, Prince's celluloid adventures show a star being born, then overreaching, and finally falling flat on his face. By Manish Agarwal




Purple Rain - 4/5
Under The Cherry Moon - 3/5
Graffiti Bridge - 1/5


For such a flamboyant and prolific artist, Prince has been under-represented on DVD. Fans have had to make do with two post-iconic concert sets ('Rave Un2 The Year 2000', 'Live At The Aladdin Las Vegas').

The 20th anniversary edition of 'Purple Rain' is a welcome corrective. His diminutive majesty's cinematic debut was a semi-autobiographical tale about struggling Minneapolis musician The Kid (himself, coyly enigmatic), who has to overcome a turbulent home life and rival band leader Morris Day (frontman with The Time, fabulously brazen). The latter also has designs on our ruffle-shirted hero's girlfriend (sometimes Prince protegee Apollonia Kotero). It's a full-deck of dramatic cliches, but any narrative shortcoming is outweighed by the epochal performance scenes: an ecstatic 'Let's Go Crazy', 'Darling Nikki's' feral raunch, that emotional tsunami of a title track.

This double-disc reissue adds a directo's commetary, eight promo videos, and a compellingly banal MTV broadcast from the 1984 premiere, where Eddie Murphy and Little Richard rubbed padded shoulders with Pee Wee Herman and 'Weird' Al Yankovic. There are also three new documentaries: a diligent 'making of'; a short on the project's impact; and an affectonate piece about First Avenue, the real-life rock club which featured in the movie. It's a fittingly lavish treatment for what remsins Prince's commercial zenith - the soundtrack that topped the US album chart for 24 weeks.

Two years later, the workaholic polymath both drected and starred in 'Under The Cherry Moon', a black-and-white romantoc comedy set on the French Riviera. He ca,ps it up as an ivory-tinkling gigolo whose moral compass is spun by young heiress Kristin Scott Thomas (making her feature debut). Throw in a ludicrous turn by Steven Berkoff and you've got one bizarre '80's relic gilded with tunes from the exquisite 'Parade' LP.

The songs off 1990's 'Graffiti Bridge' hold up quite well but, plotwise, this pseudo-spiritual flop was a tedious sequel to 'Purple Rain', with The Kid and Morris Day now at loggerheads over a venue they each own half of. For completists only, who should note that all three films can be had as a specially priced box-set. Even so, you have to as why 'Graffiti Bridge' has been rescued from the vaults, when the classic 'Sign 'O' The Times' tour film is still languishing in VHS limbo.
[Edited 10/15/04 7:52am]

good point!
I have never seen the SOTT tour film and desperately
want to...

They can keep Graffiti Bridge

gb got one star too many.

Handclapsfingasnapz said: