Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Abysmal- even by Prince's standards, 15 Oct 2004
So here's the 411: your name is Prince, and at the moment you are one of the world's biggest musical stars. You've sold millions around the world, and even had a box-office smash of a film. But that was the 80's. And now it is 1990. So what are you gonna do? The answer is simple: make another film, which is written, directed AND produced by yours truly. Take some singers, extras and a couple of good ideas and slam it together. Isn't that GREAT! No, it's not. Graffiti Bridge is quite simply the worst of the 3 films that Prince has done, and is also one of the most annoying. The basic premise of the film is a sequel to 1985's Purple Rain- The Kid (aka Prince), the ever-annoying Morris Day and even-more-annoying Tricky are back. But this time, they each have their own club, and are fighting for control of the "Glam Slam" club. Ingrid Chavez stars as Apollonia's "replacement", the frankly indecipherable Aura (yes, as kooky as her name suggests). With Prince at the helm, the pacing of the film suffers- the musical sequences are too short, whilst the gloriously gloopy "dramatic scenes" are exceedingly long. And what of the stars themselves? Prince, reprising his role as The Kid has somehow transformed himself from the spunky, funky rock-n-roller in Purple Rain to some sort of long-haired messiah, whilst Morris Day remains exceedingly irritating. Whilst his humour and wit made Purple Rain just oh-so-much better, second time around he's become boring- even his chilli munching at the start of the film doesn't spice up his character. Ingrid Chavez's Aura isn't particularly bad, it's just that she seems overwhelmed when next to messiah or chill-breath. Her singing isn't too bad, but when placed next to Mavis Staples she seems ridiculously out of place; Staples herself steals the final scenes from Prince, but even she is defeated by the ultimate nemesis- a rubbish script. Jerome Benton made a good sidekick in Under The Cherry Moon, but in this film he just becomes a pawn to the bad scripting and direction. The DVD adds little to the film itself- it's a few music videos, which only serve to highlight the values of the soundtrack on it's own. As the film stands, it hasn't improved with age, and buyers are strongly recommended to seek out it's predecessors instead.
|
|
|
2.0 out of 5 stars
Oh dear..., 5 Mar 2009
Soon after it begins, the film reveals its terrible secret: written and directed by Prince, and starring him in the lead role. Oh dear... I'm sure he had great hopes for this, but sadly the end result isn't very good at all.
A positive thing: some of the songs are great, the companion album being unfairly maligned over the years probably because of the film, and everybody seems to be having a lovely time. That said, it was clearly all filmed indoors (even the outdoor scenes), and all of the sets are laughably artificial. Of course, the acting is universally dismal too, and the script is packed with spiritual hokum.
Worth a look, if only to watch it through your fingers and then laugh afterwards.
Buy "Purple Rain" instead.
|
|
|
5.0 out of 5 stars
A funky light-hearted film, 6 Oct 2007
This is the sequal to Purple Rain, it's 6 years later and The Time are still annoying Prince who writes imaginary letters to his desceased father looking for answers.
Purple Rain, although great, was quite a heavy film so this is a funky light hearted relief from that. The music is completely different from the first film and is mostly funk and soul, which shows how much Prince's music changes almost with every album.
People may be surprised and put off at first with this film because unlike Purple Rain being a real drama set in minneapolis, this film's streets and scenes were mostly constructed in his Paisley Park studios and look quite unreal at times with the fake lighting etc. Like a comic book.
But I love this different approach. Variety is the spice of life and Prince demonstrates that in his movies as well as his music.
Also this is a much more spiritual movie than the first one. Prince is searching for spiritual answers and writes the questions in graffiti on his wall. He comes across the mysterious Aura who tries to tell him the truth.
I understand that this may go over some people's heads so they may rate it lower, but I'm spiritual so I like this!
I also understand others views that the acting wasn't as dramatic and serious as Purple Rain, but it wan't supposed to be! Like I said this is a good light-hearted break from that. And lots of funky music to enjoy with it!
|
|
|
|
![Graffiti Bridge [DVD] [1990]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510YRBC1KJL._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![Purple Rain [DVD] [1984]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41R2A0NRZML._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![Under The Cherry Moon [1986] [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51B51VJ65SL._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![Prince - Sign 'O' The Times [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HZBF2DXVL._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![Under The Cherry Moon [1986] [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51B51VJ65SL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
![Purple Rain [DVD] [1984]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41R2A0NRZML._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
![Prince - Sign 'O' The Times [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HZBF2DXVL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
![Prince - Diamonds And Pearls [DVD] [1992]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51gTt9PGjTL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
![Prince - Live At The Aladdin - Las Vegas [DVD] [2003]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51e-H7DGcbL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
