It's hard to believe today, after Speed, and four Matrix movies, and four John Wick movies,
but there was a time when Keanu Reeves was not considered viable as an action star,
especially after his portrayal of lovable time traveling doofus Ted Theodore Logan
in Bill Ted's Excellent Adventure. But that perception radically changed in 1991.
With the adrenaline extravaganza, Point Brick, which featured Reeves as an FBI agent. I am an
FBI agent! Hot on the trail of some bank robbing surfers led by none other than
Patrick Swayze. But how exactly did this preposterous combination ever reach the
beach? Grab your board and catch a wave as we find out what the f k happened to this movie.
The idea for Point Break first surfaced in the mind of filmmaker Rick King,
after he saw a newspaper article declaring Los Angeles as the bank robbing capital of America,
thanks to the getaway convenience provided by the city's numerous freeways. Shortly after,
while in Malibu learning to surf, FBI agent who goes undercover in the world of surfing,
and suddenly he had what seemed like the perfect plot.
The assignment then went to Peter Eiliff, who received 6,
000 to expand the concept to feature length. Between waiting tables, Eiliff cranked out three
drafts, adding noteworthy details like the robbers ex president masks and their leader's Buddhist
sentiments. In 1986, the script, then simply titled Johnny Utah, sold to Columbia Pictures.
Ridley Scott came on board to direct, and the project picked up speed. Charlie Sheen,
fresh off Platoon, was originally set to play the lead, but after some delays on the project,
Ferris Bueller himself, Matthew Broderick, was instead attached to the role of Utah,
and Rockford Files star James Garner was expected to play cranky veteran agent Pappas.
But then, wipeout. There was a major shakeup at the studio. Ridley Scott
departed the project. Sets that had been built for months were deconstructed in a
day. Surfing FBI agent Johnny Utah was suddenly adrift. The project was left treading water for
years before it floated into the hands of noted ocean enthusiast James Cameron,
who passed it along to his wife at the time, Catherine Bigelow.
Bigelow, who was influenced by filmmakers like Peckinpah,
had established herself as a talented director with the stylish vampire horror
movie Near Dark. And she was looking for a project to follow her Jamie Lee Curtis
cop thriller Blue Steel. She envisioned the story as a wet western and was drawn to its
unorthodox depiction of lawmen and criminals and how one could be seduced to cross the line.
Cameron would executive produce the movie and along with Bigelow performed an uncredited rewrite
to improve the pacing, turbocharge the action, and strengthen the female protagonist. Bigelow
wanted impressive action, but also for audiences to be emotionally involved in the characters.
The project would be the first for Larry Gordon's production company, Largo Entertainment, and the
completed movie would be released by 20th Century Fox, the home of Cameron's Aliens and The Abyss.
To play the lead role of eager but vulnerable football hero turned FBI agent Johnny Utah,
the studio wanted a hot young actor like Val Kilmer, Johnny Depp, or Charlie Sheen again.
But Bigelow was fixated on Keanu Reeves and was even so certain of his potential
as an action star that she considered quitting the project if he wasn't cast.
The producers were concerned with the choice and even James Cameron later admitted he wasn't
entirely convinced at the time. But ultimately the director got her way, helping place the actor
on a path to to A List Action Superstardom. Patrick Swayze, who was already on the A List
after the smash hit Dirty Dancing, said he was originally approached for the Utah role,
but was only ever interested in playing Bodhi, the spiritual ringleader of the mask wearing bandits.
Swayze was attracted to the dynamic between the protagonist and antagonist. Which he
described as quote, a love story between two men. I know it's hard for you Johnny,
I know you want me so bad it's like ass in your mouth.
The movie would actually not be his first time sharing the screen with Keanu Reeves,
who had made his feature debut on Swayze's hockey team in the 1986 sports drama Youngblood.
The original script characterized Johnny's romantic interest as a stereotypical blonde
California beach babe, which was also what the studio wanted. After auditioning dozens
of actresses to play brash surfer girl, Tyler, Bigelow selected Lori Petty for her
athleticism and spunky attitude, as well as her effortless screen chemistry with Reeves.
For Johnny's irascible older partner, Angelo Pappas,
the eccentric agent with unconventional theories and a fondness for meatball sandwiches. Utah!
The role would be played by Gary Busey at perhaps his Gary Busey est.
The project was given a 24 million budget and would go before cameras in July of
1990 under the working title, Riders on the Storm.
But before Bigelow could call action, she needed her cast fully prepared for
all that action. Reeves hit the gym to pack on muscle, learned firearm training with the LAPD,
and worked on Johnny's moves with UCLA football quarterback coaches. Gary Busey
described Reeves as a fresh piece of clay that Bigelow molded into an action hero.
Reeves also spent time with the FBI getting pointers on chasing bank robbers, although
the actual FBI agent assigned to the Keanu case would later claim that none of his advice
To get ready for the movie's critical surfing scenes,
the three leads trained with self proclaimed surf doctor of Hollywood, Dennis Jarvis,
who had his work cut out for him. Swayze and Reeves had little or no experience,
but Midwesterner Lori Petty had never even been in the ocean in her life. Despite his
grace as a dancer, Swayze called the challenge of riding the waves, quote, a humbling experience,
and endured some cracked ribs from the learning process to punctuate his point.
Swayze had no misgivings about dropping out of a plane, and, seemingly sharing Bodhi's mindset,
passionately embraced skydiving during production, and he convinced crew and
cast members, even Gary Busey, to join him on his many weekend jumps. Of course, ultimately,
the producers learned of the potentially dangerous extracurricular activities and
pulled the ripcord on Swayze's fun, demanding that he stop skydiving recreationally, but with
the concession that he would be able to personally perform a jump on film at the end of production.
Some of the final scenes shot for the movie were Bodhi plummeting backwards out of the plane Adios,
amigo! and performing aerial acrobatics in freefall. Swayze was puzzled that he had to
battle insurance companies about engaging in the statistically safe sport of skydiving,
and yet they were apparently cool with the actor, quote, getting my brains pounded in by
the biggest surf on the planet, which he claimed nearly ended his life on several occasions.
As for the rest of the exhilarating skydiving scenes, they were performed by professional
stuntmen and skydivers. The close ups were achieved by attaching the actors
on telescoping arms suspended above large wind machines, which seems uncomfortable but at least
much less likely to result in colliding with the ground at terminal velocity.
Bigelow also wanted her actors to perform as much of their own on screen fights as possible,
so stunt coordinator Glenn Wilder held weekend sessions to practice and choreograph the
fisticuffs. When Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis didn't show up,
Wilder informed him that unless he participated,
he would be getting knocked the f out by the first punch during the scuffle with Bodhi and Johnny,
which prompted Kiedis to then faithfully attend all further training sessions.
did share one misfortune with his screen alter ego. His own dreams of playing professional
hockey were put on the bench due to an injury during his teens. Ironically,
while filming the beach football scene, it was Swayze who suffered a knee injury. Yeah,
I got my knee folded back about 90 degrees the wrong way.
According to his stunt double, Swayze's leg swelled up to triple the size of a normal knee,
but the actor just had the on set doctor drain the fluid so he could continue shooting. Sounds like
Swayze's even tougher than Dalton. Pain don't hurt. Swayze did get spared from the movie's
memorable and frantic alley chase, an innovative sequence before the days of drones and GoPros.
To capture the chaotic footrace at speed, Bigelow and cinematographer Donald Peterman
developed the PogoCam, a gyro stabilized snorkel lens camera on a long pole to get up close and
personal in tight quarters. Reeves performed much of the punishing pursuit himself. But
under that Ronald Reagan mask was actually stunt double Scott Wilder, as Swayze was
otherwise occupied on a European promotional tour for that summer's hit movie, Ghost.
With the logistical and physical challenges of all the movie's heart pounding action, it was,
ironically, one of the more mundane moments that would prove particularly frustrating to
capture. The opening one shot steadicam walk and talk with Utah receiving a tongue lashing
from his new supervisor was an endless string of flubbed lines and timing and technical errors.
McGinley said the sequence took an entire day and nearly 50 takes to finally get right. Special
Agent Utah, are you receiving my signal? Zero distortion, sir. For the finale, when Johnny
eventually catches up to fugitive Bodhi pondering the monstrous waves of Bell's Beach, Australia,
This was actually a reshoot done in Oregon, months after principal photography had wrapped.
Reeves had grown out his hair for Bill and Ted's bogus journey, and Swayze had
chopped his locks for City of God. But the styles conveniently suited the characters,
as Utah had become a renegade in the agency, and Bodhi would have logically changed his
appearance in hiding. The colossal killer wave itself was captured in Waimea Bay in Hawaii,
and pro surfer Derek Dorner paddled out to perform Bodhi's final plunge.
Dorner said it was the first time anyone had asked him to purposely wipe out, but at least he did end
up receiving a Guinness World Record. for the biggest wave ever bodysurfed. By all accounts,
everyone involved had a blast making the film and the cast and crew had nothing but
praise for the meticulous and humanizing approach of director Catherine Bigelow,
who Reeves described as a female Utah in her motivation and strong will.
Swayze noted that having a woman directing an action movie brought an intimacy and a
deeper level of truth to what otherwise could have been standard macho material.
20th Century Fox released the R rated movie, now sporting the surf appropriate title Point Break,
on July 12, 1991. The movie opened with 8.
5 million to land in fourth place behind Boys in the Hood,
the re issue of Disney's 101 Dalmatians, and, coincidentally, Bigelow's soon to be ex husband,
James Cameron's blockbuster sequel, Terminator 2, which had opened the
previous week. Despite getting drowned by critics at the time, Point Break stuck
around theaters long enough to collect 43 million domestic and 83 million worldwide.
As we know, from there, the movie's unique blend of drama, absurdity,
and adrenaline addiction influenced countless action movies that followed and had an enduring
pop culture legacy. Getting referenced in everything from Edgar Wright's Hot
Fuzz to Marvel's The Avengers. No hard feelings, Point Break. That means win.
Made in the days before digital face replacement and CGI stuntmen, the movie's many grounded but
invigorating sequences have justified Point Break's inclusion on numerous lists of all
time great action classics. There have been several attempts at more Point Break,
a sequel shortly after the movie's initial success was considered but swiftly abandoned.
Another aborted attempt in 2008 with speed director Jan de Bont would have
featured a new hero chasing a group of ex presidents copycats. A 2015 remake
with Edgar Ramirez and Luke Bracey was a critical wipeout and failed to thrill
audiences. The movie has also been honored by the long running stage show Point Break Live.
which would cast a random audience member as Utah with his lines read from cue cards. Original
screenwriter Peter Iliff also hasn't given up, recently conjuring an as yet unproduced sequel
following Johnny Utah's daughter, an undercover FBI agent, trying to solve the mystery of her
missing dad. Director Catherine Bigelow continued mixing emotion and impactful action, and although
she hit a few bumps on the road after point break, she would go on to win Oscars for the Hurt Locker
and zero dark 30 Nu Reeves now at the height of his fame has publicly declared that point.
Break changed his life as further evidenced by a diverse career that has spanned more than three
decades since. Sadly, we lost Patrick Swayze to pancreatic cancer in 2009. But for many fans,
Point Break remains not just his most iconic role, but one of the best action movies of all time.