History Film / PointBreak

There are two different films series named ''Point Break''.

[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/point_break_movie_poster_cropped_3549.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250: "100 percent pure adrenaline"]]

->''"You trying to tell me the F.B.I.'s going to pay me to learn to surf?" ''
-->-- '''Johnny Utah''' (Creator/KeanuReeves)

''Point Break'' is a 1991 action film directed by Creator/KathrynBigelow and starring Creator/KeanuReeves, Creator/PatrickSwayze and Creator/GaryBusey. The title refers to the surfing term point break.

The film was a box office success upon its release, and it has since gathered a cult following. The film also contains notable celebrity cameos including Music/RedHotChiliPeppers front man Anthony Kiedis. There is a stage adaptation, ''Point Break LIVE!'', in which the role of Johnny Utah is cast from the audience moments before the show starts in order to maintain the [[DullSurprise "authenticity" of the role]].

In this action/crime-drama, Reeves stars as Johnny Utah, an FBI agent whose background consists of having served as a quarterback for Ohio State. Johnny and his partner Angelo Pappas, (Gary Busey) are assigned to investigate a string of bank robberies in the Los Angeles area committed by a gang nicknamed the "Ex-Presidents", due to their use of masks of former presidents during said robberies. Their investigation leads them to a group of surfers led by Bodhi (Patrick Swayze), an adrenaline-junkie who would do anything for a cheap thrill... perhaps even rob banks.

Johnny falls fast for Bodhi's ex-girlfriend Tyler (Lori Petty), who he convinces to teach him how to surf. Johnny begins to suspect Bodhi of involvement with the robberies performed by the ex-presidents, but at the same time becomes addicted to his adrenaline charged, thrill seeking lifestyle. In the end he is so immersed in the extreme sports that he has a difficult choice to make: friends or duty?

A remake is currently in development and set for a Christmas 2015 release. It will star Luke Bracey as Johnny Utah and Edgar Ramirez as Bodhi.

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!! This Movie Contains Examples Of:

* AcousticLicense: Bohdi and Johnny Utah have a conversation in freefall.
* AffablyEvil: Bodhi in spades
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Invoked. Bodhi secures Johnny's help in making his getaway by showing him footage of his girlfriend in the custody of a PsychoForHire.
* AntiVillain: Many people see Bohdi as this.
* AwesomeMcCoolName: Johnny Utah. WordOfGod says that they wanted to give him a memorable name similar to football legend Johnny Unitas.
* BattleInTheRain: The final fight between Johnny and Bodhi.
* BecomingTheMask: Johnny Utah pretends to be an extreme sports enthusiast to try and find out who the Ex-Presidents are, but after learning how to surf and skydive he really does come to love extreme sports.
* {{BFG}}: Bodhi's Freedom Arms Model 83 revolver, chambered in .454 Casull (a cartridge with almost TWICE the muzzle energy of a .44 Magnum).
* BigNo: Shouted by Johnny Utah when [[spoiler: he sees Pappas being shot in the back with a shotgun.]]
** Also Bodhi when [[spoiler: Johnny has him handcuffed on the beach at the end and realizes he can't make an easy escape]]
* BolivianArmyEnding: [[spoiler:Bodhi goes off to surf the "50 Year Storm", with his death all but guaranteed, and even if he does somehow manage to survive, the FBI is waiting for him at the beach. The film shows Bodhi being swallowed up by the waves, but never confirms his ultimate fate.]]
* ClusterFBomb
* TheComicallySerious: Meta-example. Part of the film's charm is that it plays such a ridiculous premise straight without a sense of irony or self-awareness.
* DaChief: Supervising Agent Ben Harp.
* DefiantToTheEnd: Roach.
* {{Determinator}}: Johnny, who manages to successfully track Bodhi's whereabouts after his escape, chasing him through Mexico, South America, Sumatra, Fiji and finally Australia.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: The drug-dealing surfer thugs whom Utah initially suspects of being the Ex-Presidents.
* DonutMessWithACop: In the scene where Utah arrives at his new posting, he pinches a donut in passing out of a box on one of his new colleague's desks.
* DownLADrain: Utah chases one of the "Ex-President" bank robbers on foot, ending with him injuring his knee after jumping into the viaduct and his quarry getting away.
* ExtremeSportExcusePlot: A very well-known example.
* FiringInTheAirALot: The scene where Utah empties his gun into the air instead of shooting Bodhi. This was referenced in ''Film/HotFuzz''.
* FullFrontalAssault: During the raid on the Surf Thugs' house, one of the FBI agents is attacked by a naked woman who had been taking a shower when the raid began.
* GameBreakingInjury: Utah's old football injury.
* GoneHorriblyWrong: The last bank robbery.
* GoodIsNotNice: Johnny Utah.
* HandCannon: Bodhi's main weapon is a Freedom Arms Model 83 [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolver]] in the [[{{Hellsing}} .454 Casull]].
* HeroBall: Utah has it chained to his ankle the whole time.
* HollywoodSkydiving: ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'' found that you almost certainly can't hold a conversation while freefalling, but Utah could conceivably have caught up with a Bodhi by streamlining his body(though not necessarily at that altitude).
** Most of the skydiving WAS real however, including all the shots of Swayze, an experienced skydiver who made ''55 jumps for the film''.
** It is not a good idea to deliberately make a landing on water when solid earth is nearby.
* ImColdSoCold: [[spoiler: What Roach says before Bodhi drops him off the plane bleeding to death and then leaves him for dead after he impacts to the ground]].
** And {{lampshaded}} by Utah, who reminds Bodhi that [[spoiler: Roach]] feels cold because he's suffering severe blood loss and needs help.
* ItsRainingMen: Plenty of parachuting, with some hair-raising last-minute deployments.
* JohnnyMcCoolname: Johnny Utah himself.
* KarmaHoudini: Bodhi. His final fate is ambiguous, but Utah still let him go either way.
* KickTheDog: Inverted. During a chase scene, Bodhi throws a dog at Johnny to slow him down. Johnny gives the dog a hard enough kick to send it flying away from him.
* KnifeNut: Subverted by [[spoiler:Rosie, who is revealed to get killed in a knife fight in Mexico]].
* LargeHam: John C. [=McGinley=] as Supervising Agent Ben Harp.
* NixonMask: This movie started the whole thing.
* OhCrap: When Johnny realizes Bodhi is Reagan - and Bodhi realizes Johnny is an FBI agent.
** Bodhi, when Johnny throws the Reagan mask at Bodhi's feet in Australia, saying ''Lost something, brah?''.
* OlderSidekick: Angelo Pappas, although Johnny is technically his junior partner
* OneHandedShotgunPump: Johnny Utah does one during the firing range sequence at the beginning of the film.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: The "Aussie" couldn't quite master the accent.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "'''I am an Eff! Bee! Eeye! ''Agent''!!'''"
* PsychoForHire: Rosie.
* PyrrhicVictory: Bodhi's entire scheme to [[spoiler:rob a bank's vault and force Johnny to assist him]] backfires spectacularly when [[spoiler:nearly his entire crew ends up getting killed in the process]]. As Bodhi makes his escape with the money, he remarks that both he and Johnny lose.
* RedHerring: the movie gives us a thuggish crew of surfers who Johnny initially suspects may be the Ex-Presidents. Bodhi saves him from getting beat up by them. When they bust them, it turns out that they were actually drug dealers, not thieves (and the deep cover DEA agent who was with them is pissed that the FBI ruined his operation). Of course, it's later revealed that Bodhi and his crew are the actual Ex-Presidents
* RedOniBlueOni: Bodhi's red to Johnny's blue.
* RevolversAreJustBetter: Bodhi uses a Freedom Arms Model 83 revolver when robbing the bank and uses it on an off-duty cop by shooting him point blank in the heart.
* RightBehindMe: In the scene where Utah and Pappas first meet, Utah arrives just as Pappas is complaining about the new partner he's been assigned. He plays along and commiserates a bit before introducing himself.
* SuicideBySea: Bodhi paddles out to sea on his surfboard one last time to catch a once-in-a-lifetime wave. The area is surrounded by police and he will be arrested when he gets back to shore. It is fairly clear to the audience that he does not intend to come back.
* SympathyForTheDevil: Utah and Bodhi.
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: A ninety-second shouting match in free-fall? [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons That's unpossible]]!
* TechnicalPacifist: Bodhi.
* TotallyRadical: The film is more or less adored for it's NarmCharm qualities.
* WasItReallyWorthIt: Johnny to Roach, when the latter is bleeding to death in the airplane
* WouldntHitAGirl: Bodhi. (Rosie [[WouldHitAGirl would]]).

* WasItWorthOfIt: Johnny to Roach, when he is bleeding to death in the airplane

* WouldntHitAGirl: Bodhi.

* {{Determinator}}: Johnny, who manages to successfully track Bodhi's whereabouts after his escape, chasing him through Mexico, South America, Sumatra and finally Australia.

* ImColdSoCold: [[spoiler: What Roach says before Bhodi drops him off the plane bleeding to death and then leaves him for dead after he impacts to the ground]].

* KnifeNut: Subverted by Rosie, who is revealed to get killed in a knife fight in Mexico.

A remake is currently in development and set for a 2015 release. It will star Luke Bracey as Johnny Utah and Edgar Ramirez as Bodhi.

''Point Break'' is a 1991 action film directed by Creator/KathrynBigelow and starring Creator/KeanuReeves, Creator/PatrickSwayze and Gary Busey. The title refers to the surfing term point break.

Johnny falls fast for Bodhi's ex-girlfriend Tyler (Lori Petty), who he convinces to teach him how to surf. Johnny begins to suspect Bodhi of involvement with the robberies performed by the ex-presidents, but at the same time becomes addicted to his adrenaline charged, thrill seeking lifestyle.

* FiringInTheAirALot: The scene where Utah empties his gun into the air instead of shooting Bodhi. This was referenced in ''HotFuzz''.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: This film was made during the early days of the 1990s extreme sports craze, during which the public (especially young people) became more interested in sports like skateboarding, snowboarding, skydiving, and mountain biking. The increased interest in extreme sports during the 90s would later give birth to the X Games and Winter X Games.

A remake is currently in development and set for a 2015 release. It will star Luke Bracey as Johnny Utah and Gerard Butler as Bodhi.