Point Break is the 210th episode of Screen Junkies comedy series Honest Trailers. It was written by Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr, Dan Murrell and Andy Signore. It was narrated by Jon Bailey as Epic Voice Guy. It parodies the 1991 American action-crime thriller Point Break. It was published on August 1, 2017, to coincide with the theatrical release of director Kathryn Bigelow's film Detroit. It is 4 minutes 36 seconds long. It has been viewed over 2.6 million times.
Watch Honest Trailers - Point Break on YouTube
"The best movie about bank-robbing surfers ever made, and also, the only movie about bank-robbing surfers ever made." ~ Honest Trailers - Point Break
Script[]
Before Kathryn Bigelow tackled gritty dramas about the Iraq War (The Hurt Locker), the hunt for Bin Laden (Zero Dark Thirty), and the Detroit race riots (Detroit), she was cranking out the best movie about bank-robbing surfers ever made, and also, the only movie about bank-robbing surfers ever made.
Point Break
When the Sun is out, and the surf is up, the streets of L.A. are hot with crime; now, the Ex-Presidents are robbing every bank in town, and the only way to stop them... is to hit the beach and catch some waves!
Utah: --the FBI is going to pay me to learn to surf?
God, I love the 90's...
(montage comparing scenes from the film to The Fast and the Furious) Ride along as a blank-faced cop falls in with a charismatic adrenaline junkie, who's secretly committing crimes, and dates a waitress with a personal connection to his target; but The Fast and Furious didn't totally rip this off, because in Fast, they drink Coronas, where in Point Break, they drink... also Coronas. (zooms in on Grommet holding a Corona bottle) Okay, somebody owes someone money.
Utah: Yeah. Definitely.
Keanu Reeves is... Johnny Utah, undercover agent and famous college athlete.
Bodhi: This is Johnny Utah. Ohio State Buckeyes, all conference, remember?
Wait, what? That's like sending Tim Tebow to bust a gang of rollerbladers... which I would also be totally into. (shows Tim Tebow's face pasted over James Caan's Jonathan E. in Rollerball (1975)) Watch Reeves move on from dumb roles like Ted "Theodore" Logan...
Mr. Ryan (Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure): Who was Joan of Arc?
Ted "Theodore" Logan: Noah's wife?
Class: (laughs)
...to a guy who's pretending to be dumb like Ted "Theodore" Logan...
Utah: Saved your life, bro.
...but also seems to be just as dumb as Ted "Theodore" Logan, even when he's not undercover.
Utah: (to Harp) Take your hands off me right now.
Oh, Keanu, you still had so much to learn, like "don't kick a dog" (shows Utah kicking a dog that was tossed at him); John Wick would kill you for that, brah.
Patrick Swayze shines as the badass beach blonde bank-robbing Buddha, Bodhi; when he and Johnny Utah fall hard for each other, he'll kidnap the girl who gets in the way, and crank the passion to 11, as this bromance heats up... to the extreme.
Bodhi: (to Utah) I'm, uh... having some people over at my house tonight, if you wanna come. / Let's do it. / We are gonna ride this all the way, Johnny, you and me. So let's go. / --damn, you are one radical son of a bitch!
(shows Utah aiming a gun at Bodhi while they both stare into each other's eyes)
Bodhi: I know it's hard for you, Johnny. I know you want me so bad, it's like acid in your mouth.
Hell yeah, I want you in my mouth! Er, I mean, hell yeah, I want to... go surfing?
Thrill at supporting performances by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (shows Anthony Kiedis as Tone), the mean boss from Scrubs...
Harp: --YOU BOTHER ME!
...Tom Fricking Sizemore (shows Sizemore as DEA Agent Deets), and a ranting, unhinged performance by Gary Busey, that we should've recognized as the cry for help that it was.
Pappas: I was taking shrapnel in Khe Sanh, while you were crapping in your hands and rubbing it on your face!
Hmm, I wonder if any of that was even in the script...
Pappas: (laughing) Oh.
Strap in as Kathryn Bigelow shows the boys how it's done, displaying her mastery of high-stakes heist scenes, accurate use of surfer lingo...
Bodhi: Howdy, brah.
Utah: Brah. Brah...
Bodhi: --don't worry about it, brah. / --I can't do it, brah.
Utah: Lose something, brah?
...and, for some reason, a world full of really... hazy... interiors. I mean, seriously; why is every room in Point Break full of haze?
So buckle up for an adrenaline-soaked thrill ride, featuring lines you'll be quoting for decades...
Pappas: Utah? Get me two.
Utah: I am an FBI agent!
...actors who overwhelm you with charm and charisma, and a premise so stupid, only the dumbest movie studio would ever try to recreate that campy magic again. (montage comparing scenes from the film to the 2015 remake) Yeah, I'm just going to pretend that never happened.
Starring: An F.B.I. Agent (Keanu Reeves as FBI Agent Johnny Utah); Patrick Wavesy (Patrick Swayze as Bodhi "Bodhisattva"); Manic Pixie Tank Girl (Lori Petty as Tyler Ann Endicott); Scary Busey (Gary Busey as FBI Agent Angelo Pappas); The Requisite Angry Police Chief (John C. McGinley as FBI Director Ben Harp); and Flip Flop Dippa Donka on a Surfboard (Anthony Kiedis as Tone).
Donnie Brahsco
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Honest title for Point Break - Donnie Brahsco. Titles designed by Robert Holtby.
Say what you will about their music, but the Red Hot Chili Peppers have randomly been in some of the best movies ever. (shows Anthony Kiedis as Tone in this film, Flea as Kieffer in The Big Lebowski, and Chad Smith lookalike Will Ferrell as Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby)
Trivia[]
Honest Commentary - Point Break (1991)
- The writers considered making this Honest Trailer a vault episode, which is when they make the video appear like it was written and produced in the year the movie was released. Head writer Spencer Gilbert wrote 2 versions of the script - one from a 1991 perspective, the other from a 2017 perspective. Other vault episodes include Captain America (1990), Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Top Gun and Rocky IV.
- The writers wanted to make this Honest Trailer because they thought many people didn't realize that Academy-award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow had directed this cheesy action film.
- The writers agreed the action is very well directed in this film.
- Screen Junkies have also produced several Honest Trailers for many 1990's movies including Con Air, Speed, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Hook, Mortal Kombat, Super Mario Bros., Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie, Space Jam, Batman Forever, Fight Club, The Matrix, The Lion King, Toy Story, Forrest Gump, Jurassic Park and others. See list of Honest Trailers for many more.
Watch the full Honest Trailer Commentary on YouTube
Reception[]
Honest Trailers - Point Break has a 98.3% approval rating from YouTube viewers. Screen Rant described the Honest Trailer takes a "witty and incisive direction in mocking/praising the quintessential '90s movie," and wrote that Screen Junkies "reminds how Point Break was absolutely a film that caught the zeitgeist at the time." Screen Rant appreciated that Screen Junkies "gives praise where it's due and highlights Bigelow's accomplished filming of the heist sequences and action set pieces." Slash Film said the Honest Trailer was "fun" and said they were glad "someone finally pointed out how unnecessarily hazy the interiors of almost every scene in Point Break are." Distracify praised Screen Junkies' take for highlighting "all the things you remember and love from the past, presented to you in the harsh light of today." Slate's review was more lukewarm, noting that the Honest Trailer "doesn’t really make any jokes that haven’t been made about Point Break." However, Slate did concede that while Screen Junkies does "pick on low-hanging fruit," it's exceedingly difficult to find a "fresh way to skewer an almost three decades-old movie about bank heists and surfboarding."
Production credits[]
Video thumbnail for Honest Trailers - Point Break
Voiceover Narration by Jon Bailey
Title design by Robert Holtby
Series Created by Andy Signore & Brett Weiner
Executive Producer - Andy Signore
Producers - Dan Murrell, Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr, Michael Bolton, Christina Kline
Written by Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr, Dan Murrell & Andy Signore
Edited by Kevin Williamsen and TJ Nordaker
External links []
- ‘Point Break’ Honest Trailer: The Only Movie About Bank Robbing Surfers Ever Made - Slash Film article
- Point Break Honest Trailer: Keanu Is a Surfer Brah - Screen Rant article
- Take A Walk Down Memory Lane With This 'Point Break' Honest Trailer - Distractify article
- The Honest Trailer for Point Break Is Here, Brah - Slate article