Point Break is returning to cinemas this November

Point Break, the cult action thriller from 1991, starring Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves, directed by Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow (THE HURT LOCKER, ZERO DARK THIRTY) returns to the big screen this year, newly restored in 4K and re-released by BFI Distribution in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on 8 November 2024.

The film is the centrepiece of ART OF ACTION, presented by the BFI Film Audience Network (BFI FAN) using funds from the National Lottery, which takes place at cinemas across the UK from October-December 2024. The BFI season celebrating the artistry of real action choreography that has kept film audiences on the edge of their seats since the early days will have an Extended Run of POINT BREAK at BFI Southbank, and two performances at BFI IMAX, the UK’s biggest screen, on Saturday 9 November and Monday 11 November.

POINT BREAK is the film that gave Keanu Reeves his first action role, a precursor to his future starring roles in SPEED and THE MATRIX and JOHN WICK franchises. Considerable time was spent by the actors preparing for their very physical roles, which involved doing their own surfing and some stunt work. Patrick Swayze was a classically trained dancer whose athletic background included gymnastics, swimming and diving. An accomplished sky diver, he did all his own skydiving stunts. The spectacular skydiving sequences included some falls that had never been seen before on film.

In this quintessential 90s-style big-budget thriller, director Kathryn Bigelow brilliantly utilises the physical prowess of her two leads to tell the story of an FBI agent drawn in to a cat-and-mouse game with a surfing bank robber. Working with his partner’s hunch that a spate of bank robberies are being committed by a tight-knit gang of surfers, undercover agent Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) infiltrates the California surfing fraternity to uncover the identity of the ‘Ex-Presidents’, who commit heists while wearing facemasks of Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jimmy Carter. But Johnny comes under the charismatic spell of Bodhi (Patrick Swayze), a free-style philosopher obsessed with extreme sports, becoming hooked on the adrenaline-rush of a life on the edge. Gary Busey is Johnny’s seasoned partner Pappas and Lori Petty is Tyler, a young bar worker who gets caught up in Johnny and Bodhi’s dangerous game. Racing from one fast-paced and technically dazzling set piece to the next, with action unfolding on the surf, in the sky and through the streets of LA, Kathryn Bigelow simultaneously relishes and deconstructs the tropes of the ‘bromantic’ action spectacular. It’s a visually dazzling and heady ride.

Kathryn Bigelow directed POINT BREAK from a screenplay by W. Peter Iliff based on an original story by Rick King and W. Peter Iliff. Produced by Peter Abrams and Robert L. Levy, the executive producer was James Cameron.

When the film was made, Patrick Swayze had recently starred in the smash hit GHOST, having risen to international stardom in 1987’s DIRTY DANCING. He had already starred in THE OUTSIDERS, RED DAWN and ROAD HOUSE. Keanu Reeves had been seen in RIVER’S EDGE and hits including BILL & TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, DANGEROUS LIAISONS and PARENTHOOD. Gary Busey was an Academy Award nominee for THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY and Lori Petty had recently appeared in CADILLAC MAN.

Kathryn Bigelow went on to become the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Director with THE HURT LOCKER in 2010.