Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Purple Rain Blu-ray Movie Review

The Artist Formerly Known as "The Kid"

Reviewed by Michael Reuben October 5, 2016

Purple Rain is a landmark in the life and work of Prince, the protean artist whose sudden death earlier this year at age 57 ended a prolific career spanning forty years. In the summer of 1984, the release of the film and soundtrack album blasted the already popular musician into superstardom. Succeeding years brought many unusual turns—including a protracted dispute with Warner Music, during which Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable glyph and appeared in public with "Slave" written on his cheek—but Purple Rain captures him at a turning point when all of his considerable gifts seemed to coalesce. The nine tracks on the Purple Rain soundtrack form a musical tapestry as memorable and unique as any pop album you can name (and yes, that includes Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band). They won Prince a well-deserved Oscar for creating a song score that not only supported the film but also provided much of its narrative and emotional content.

Warner previously released Purple Rain on Blu-ray in 2007, when the format was in its infancy. For its three-film Prince Movie Collection, the studio has newly transferred the film with results that I suspect will divide its many fans. For further discussion, see the "Video" section below. (Also, note that each film in the Collection is available separately.)

Purple Rain is part bio-pic, part concert film and part music video, with a large helping of family melodrama and romantic rivalry. My colleague Casey Broadwater reviewed the first Blu-ray release, and his feature writeup can be found here. My estimation of the film is higher (and I have scored it accordingly), but Casey's description is apt. I suspect that one's evaluation of Purple Rain largely depends on how one perceives (or, in my case, remembers) the Eighties, because the film is something of a time capsule for that colorful and riotous decade, just as Saturday Night Fever captured essential qualities of the Seventies.

Purple Rain Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Purple Rain's cinematographer, Donald E. Thorin, passed away this year, after a long and varied career that included An Officer and a Gentleman, Midnight Run and the remake of Shaft. Purple Rain was a low-budget film from which the studio expected little, which freed the production to shoot guerilla-style in real locations, but without the benefit of glossy studio lighting The musical performances at Minneapolis' First Avenue club were shot live on stage with multiple cameras, and no attempt was made to add a Hollywood sheen to the smoky atmosphere and hot washes of colored light. The shooting conditions helped Thorin and director Albert Magnoli capture the vibrant energy of the Twin Cities' exploding music scene, but it also yielded a rough and gritty image that presents challenges in the translation from film to Blu-ray. Both onstage and off, most of Purple Rain takes place at night and/or in dark interiors, taxing the capabilities of the era's slower film stocks. No matter how carefully Purple Rain is transferred and mastered, the image cannot show more detail than was initially captured on film.

The 2007 Blu-ray was derived from an earlier HD master initially prepared for DVD, and while it's not a bad presentation, it does reflect the mastering philosophy of its era. Light grain reduction was applied; the image was slightly windowboxed to compensate for overscan; and the palette was downshifted toward the cooler end of the spectrum, dampening reds and accentuating blues. For this new 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray, Warner's Motion Picture Imaging has created a new scan from an IP (at 2K), which has been color-corrected using an answer print as a guide. The result may not have yielded a significant increase in detail, but in scene after scene, the new Blu-ray reveals superior contrast, a more natural grain structure and a warmer palette that accentuates the film's rainbow of colors, especially in the musical performances.

Screenshots don't capture the entire perceptual experience of watching a moving picture, but in an attempt to illustrate some of the differences in the new Blu-ray, the extra screenshots accompanying this review (beginning at no. 6) present a series of comparative frames, with the new Blu-ray first, followed by the 2007 disc. To repeat: The new Blu-ray shots come first. In most instances, the 2007 captures are readily identifiable by the thin black bars at left and right. Due to limitations in the capture procedure used by Blu-ray.com reviewers, it isn't possible to match frames exactly, but I've tried to come as close as possible. (The screenshots accompanying the 2007 review are not a reliable reference, because different equipment was used back then.)

The 2007 Blu-ray of Purple Rain was mastered on a BD-25 with an average bitrate of 17.36 Mbps, using the VC-1 codec. Warner has placed the new, AVC-encoded version on a BD-50 with an average bitrate of 34.99 Mbps. To my eye, comparing both discs in motion, the new version represents a clear upgrade, although neither "blows the other one out of the water" (to use a favorite catchphrase from the Blu-ray.com forums).

Purple Rain Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Purple Rain was released to theaters in Dolby Stereo, which was remixed in 5.1 for the film's 2004 DVD. That 5.1 mix appeared on the 2007 Blu-ray in a choice of either Dolby Digital or lossless Dolby TrueHD. For the new Blu-ray, the 5.1 track has been re-encoded in lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1. With some minor differences, the description in my former colleague's review of the previous Blu-ray's audio applies, but, at least to my ear, the new disc's soundtrack isn't as "hot" as its predecessor's, so that the sound is better balanced overall. The track remains front-oriented, which is true to the original, and the dialogue is mostly clear and well-prioritized, with an occasional line buried in the mix. Having repeatedly experienced Purple Rain in multiple incarnations, including its original theatrical release, I am confident that this Blu-ray's track fairly reproduces the theatrical experience, which is the primary reason for my higher audio score.

Purple Rain Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The new edition of Purple Rain carries over all of the extras from the 2007 disc, with the exception of trailers for Under the Cherry Moon and Graffiti Bridge, which now appear on their respective discs. Purple Rain's trailer has been remastered in 1080p. For a list and description of the extras, please consult the previous review. Special mention should be made of the music videos, which are frequently dropped in later editions but have been dutifully included here.

Purple Rain Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Purple Rain captured a pop prodigy in all his youthful exuberance at a peak career moment. As a devoted Prince fan, even before Purple Rain, I cannot help but hold a deep affection for the film, which retains a peculiar power despite obvious flaws. Warner's initial Blu-ray wasn't bad, but the new version is a more vivid and faithful experience and highly recommended.