one of my absolute favorites!

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Loved this movie as a child and an adult. As a child, I viewed Prince's character as the hero. As an adult, not so much. Now, I see the Kid as the bad guy and Morris as the hero! First story line of Appolonia, a broke young singer, coming to Minneapolis from New Orleans to find a gig. The Kid did not help her or at least offer her a place in his group. Instead, he says that doesn't want her in his life that way and he just wants to be her boyfriend. Dude, help her out! The first thing Morris does is offer her a job singing!Next story line, the Kid is upset about his parents fighting at home. OK but you're grown! Move your grown ass out your parents' basement! Morris has his own place!Next story line, the bands are competing at the club. The Kid is late for rehearsals, skips business meetings, and is dismissive to artistic contributions from his bandmates. Morris is creating a new band, attending meetings, and doing what it takes on the business side to try and be a star. I'm sorry but the Kid is doing everything wrong! Still love the movie and the music, though!

I remember this when it first came out and I went with some friends. Dear god it was so bad. The script sucked and the acting was beyond terrible. This got one star from me for the costumes and set. Other than that it was just bad, lol! At the time I saw the movie I was not a fan of Prince. I am still not a fan. To this day I cannot believe I sat through the whole movie.The story is about the struggle to rise above all the crap the world throws at us so that we can become who we are. It's difficult to believe in yourself when you have terrible parents. The story could have been better written and I think that the actors were just really terrible at their jobs. Even if the script were better, you'd still need people that could act and these people couldn't. The music I didn't really care for. I've never been a Prince fan and have always found him to be completely over-rated not just as an actor but as a musician. Did you see him on Opera? Remember that he told everyone about the birth of his baby and even had pictures? Then it turned out that the baby was dead and he was showing pictures of himself with his dead baby. How messed up is that? If you are a fan of his music then you will most likely enjoy this movie because it's full of it.

A musician who goes by the name of "The Kid" (Prince) lives in a poor neighborhood of Minneapolis with his dysfunctional parents and makes ends meet by performing at a local nightclub. One night he meets a beautiful singer from New Orleans named "Apollonia" (Apollonia Kotero) who is also trying to make her mark in the music business. Although they begin a romantic relationship it becomes strained due to her ambition, his possessiveness and the lecherous interest in her by the Kid's main musical rival, "Morris" (Morris Day). Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that, despite the rather corny plot and the uneven acting, this movie was still entertaining for the most part. I especially liked the comedic role between Morris and his sidekick "Jerome" (Jerome Benton). Likewise, some of the music was pretty good and the presence of Apollonia certainly didn't hurt the scenery in any way either. In any case, while it certainly wasn't perfect, this movie—along with the album of the same name—was instrumental in advancing the music of Prince to a worldwide audience and I recommend this film to all of those who might be interested.

I just started reading the book Let's Go Crazy by Alan Light on the making of Purple Rain and it got me remembering the film itself. I was in high school when it first came out in theaters, but because I wasn't allowed to see R rated films at the time, I ended up seeing it about a year later via pirated cable. Looking back now, I have to say that the film was no masterpiece by any means, but it was overall entertaining. There were some things that came to my mind as I was reading the book.Prince as The Kid was the least convincing actor of the bunch. Yet the film revolved around him. Watching his wooden acting, it's no wonder why he rarely did interviews.Honestly I wanted to see more of Morris Day and Jerome Benton. For two members of The Time with no prior acting experience, they both killed it with their timing, their delivery, and most of all, their chemistry. The Password scene is classic. Is it bad that I wanted to see more of them and less of The Kid? Apollonia Kotero was passable when she shared the screen with Morris Day, but with Prince, I really felt bad for her. The slap, the near-rape scene, the Lake Minnetonka scene. Jesus H. Christ, talk about suffering for your art. She deserved a medal for all she had to endure.The soundtrack is still a classic after all these years, but the film itself really didn't age well at all. What really surprises me is the sexism in the film. Not so much the lingerie because Madonna was dressing similar back then, but scenes like the throwing that girl in the dumpster scene was really disturbing. I guess at the time I saw this back in the '80s, domestic violence was not a hot topic anyone talked about. But you think about it now and you realize that if they tried to make this film today, social media would be in a real tizzy over it.I don't know if I would recommend anyone that is not familiar with Prince to see the movie. I guess if they try to understand that 1984 was a different era and not to take it too seriously, it can be enjoyable. Otherwise I would just recommend just getting the soundtrack and also get The Time's Ice Cream Castle which includes the two songs they perform in the movie, Jungle Love and The Bird.