Kathryn Bigelow’s cult film
After making the excellent thriller Blue Steel (1990), Kathryn Bigelow has taken on another action film. A cult work of the 90s whose influence on cinema is undeniable. We are obviously talking about Breaking point (1991)which highlights surfing as well as skydiving and male friendship in a context of robberies. The film is set in Los Angeles, where a gang nicknamed the “former presidents” has committed numerous robberies. The FBI’s only lead is this the members of this gang are said to be surfers!
Johnny Utah, who has just entered the service, is then sent to investigate. To get closer to the surfers, he himself will learn the discipline from Tyler, a surfer with whom he falls in love. The latter is also the ex-girlfriend of Bodhi Salver, a mysterious surfer, leader of the band…
Brought by Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves, Breaking point It is one of the films that we always associate with the two actors. Both have made their characters Bodhi Salver and Johnny Utah legendary. And several sequences remain in memory. Like the robbery scene, which we think of when we see the masks worn by the criminals The city or the Joker’s accomplices The Dark Knight. But also Jonnhy’s Search for Bodhi which ends with the policeman unable to shoot his friend and preferring to empty his magazine into the sky. A parodied scene The City of Fear (1994) and Warm Fuzz (2007).
This chase sequence is also a great example of Kathryn Bigelow’s directorial skills. A pure moment of action punctuated by the use of a handheld camera, as energetic as the protagonists as they move between the houses of a Los Angeles neighborhood.
Fast and furious : an unofficial remake
The other movie we think of when we watch it again Breaking pointAND Fast and furious (2001)The first work of the saga is an unofficial remake from the feature film by Kathryn Bigelow. The similarities are numerous, starting with the bond between the two protagonists. Dominic Toretto is a robber, not of a bank, but of freight trucks. And instead of surfing, he excels at driving cars and participating in illegal races. Opposite him, Brian O’Conner is the policeman who must approach him. Something made possible thanks to Mia, Dominic’s sister (and not his ex) who quickly falls under his spell.
We therefore find in Fast and furious the complex friendship between the policeman and the criminal, as in the case in Breaking point. However, Toretto and Bodhi have different characters, and we notice a different fate for the two characters. In Fast and furiousa final showdown between Dominic and Brian ends with the FBI agent letting the robber go. In Breaking pointJohnny lets Bodhi go, but towards a guaranteed deathheading towards a giant wave.
Breaking point it’s an eco-friendly film
In 2015, an official remake of Breaking point has been released on screens. The opportunity for First question Edgar Ramirez (Bodhi) on the notion of remakes in Hollywood and the connections between them Fast and furious and the work of Kathryn Bigelow. For him there was no doubt:
Fast and Furious was the first remake of Point Break. They just didn’t call it Point Break! That’s why Fast and Furious is such a great franchise, because it’s based on a great story. We call it Point Break because we have Bodhi and Johnny Utah, but the structure is the same in Fast: instead of being surfers, they’re illegally racing cars. And it works perfectly! In both cases, it’s about guys outside the system fighting against the established order. There are a thousand ways to reinterpret Point Break.
In his column on FranceInterFrederick Sigrist also introduced Fast and furious like a remake of Breaking pointhighlighting all the similarities, but also underlining a notable difference in Bodhi’s intentions. The latter “don’t rob banks to get rich, but to escape the system and fund his search for the biggest waves on the planetThe relationship with nature is in fact very present in Breaking pointwhere, ironically, Fast and furious focuses on big cars.
Let’s say that Point Break is perhaps one of the first films to casually show ecological activism. How ironic then to see that the only thing that Fast and Furious did not hide from Point Break was the questioning of our dependence on fossil fuels, and on the contrary made it the heart of its story!
Source: Cine Serie
Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.
