The Ongoing Success of Purple Rain
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Purple Rain 20th Anniversary DVD Two-Disc Special Edition (2004)
Special Features
- Digitally remastered widescreen presentation
- All-new documentary on the Minneapolis music scene
- All-new documentary on the making of the movie and the m usic
including commentary by Director/co-writer/editor Albert Magnoli,
Producer Robert Cavallo, and Cinematographer Donald Thorin
- All-new documentary on the impact of the movie and music on Pop Culture
- 8 Music Videos: Let's go Crazy, Purple Rain, take me with u, When Doves Cry,
I Would Die 4 U/Baby I'm a Star, Jungle Love, The Bird, Sex Shooter
- The 1984 MTV Premiere Party in Hollywood
Editorial Review by Michael Mikesell
Whether you're hot for extras or simply after a Purple Rain release that does justice to the film, this special edition is the one to spring for. The movie appears in its original widescreen dimension (optimized for widescreen viewing), and its picture is dynamic and grain-free, letting the film's luscious, meticulously patterned colors shine through.
Running commentary from director/co-writer/editor Albert Magnoli, producer Robert Cavallo, and cinematographer Donald Thorin highlights both the challenges overcome to make the film and the wonders of working with a musician as prolific and as brilliant as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.
Disc 2 offers three short documentaries drawing from contemporary interviews with the filmmakers, the management of First Avenue (the Minneapolis club where Prince began his rise to fame), and members of Prince's former band, The Revolution (including Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman).
Footage from MTV's premiere party is notable for the absence of a single worthwhile utterance from any of the party's celebrity attendees, but MTV's flip side saves the day: Eight music videos from Prince, the Time, and Apollonia 6. Sizzling, post-film performances of "Take Me with U" and "I Would Die 4 U/Baby I'm a Star" both feature extended instrumental jams and exciting looks at the real-life Revolution's Purple Rain tour.
The only thing missing is movie outtakes, many of which are referenced in Magnoli's commentary. Still, this otherwise definitive Purple Rain is a sumptuous feast for eyes and ears.
© 2023 4seasons Photography. All rights reserved.
Oct 2019 Twin Cities Film Fest - 35th Anniversary of Purple Rain - Interview with Director Albert Magnoli (Jon Foss) Oct 2019 Twin Cities Film Fest - 35th Anniversary of Purple Rain - Interview with Director Albert Magnoli (The Jason Show) Oct 2019 Twin Cities Film Fest - 35th Anniversary of Purple Rain - Screening + Q&A with Director Albert Magnoli + Bobby Z Oct 2019 Twin Cities Film Fest - 35th Anniversary of Purple Rain -
Albert Magnoli honored with 2019 North Star Award For Excellence
10-26-2019 Twin Cities Film Fest - 35th Anniversary of Purple Rain - Interview with Director Albert Magnoli (Sun Sailor) 10-25-2019 Twin Cities Film Fest - 35th Anniversary of Purple Rain - Interview with Director Albert Magnoli (MPR News) 10-24-2019 Twin Cities Film Fest - 35th Anniversary of Purple Rain - Interview with Director Albert Magnoli (MSP Mag) 10-24-2019 Twin Cities Film Fest - 35th Anniversary of Purple Rain - Interview w/ Dir. Albert Magnoli (Jill Riley, The Current)
07-26-2019 Purple Rain Director Gets Deep About Working With Prince: ‘How Is It You Just Told My Life Story?’ (Variety) 08-07-2017 Prince’s Sign 'O' The Times: celebrating 30 years of genius (GQ) 05-07-2017 The Director of Purple Rain , Albert Magnoli, Honors Prince With Memories (updated) (Huff Post) 12-08-2016 Prince’s closest Friends share their best Prince Stories (GQ) 08-29-2016 Purple Rain at the Academy (Hudlin Entertainment) 05-06-2016 The Director of Purple Rain, Albert Magnoli, Honors Prince With Memories (Huff Post) 04-29-2016 Oral History: Prince's Life, as told by the People who knew him best (Star Tribune) 04-28-2016 Prince was a diminutive giant who revolutionized pop music (Ch. Riemenschneider+Jon Bream, Star Tribune) 04-22-2016 Why Prince was Headteacher at Superstar School (GQ) 04-22-2016 Purple Rain Director writes heartfelt tribute to Prince: 'Travel well, friend' (Entertainment Weekly) 04-22-2016 Re-watching Purple Rain After 30 Years (Forbes) 04-22-2016 Prince’s Silly, Sexy Purple Rain : A Cinematic Soap Opera for All Time (The Daily Beast) 04-21-2016 Prince's movie legacy: Will there ever be another like Purple Rain ? (Los Angeles Times) 04-21-2016 Read Purple Rain Director’s Heartbreaking Sendoff to ‘Friend’ Prince (The Wrap) 04-21-2016 Flashback: Purple Rain Director Albert Magnoli Reflects on Iconic Film (Yahoo) 05-04-2015 Six Sexy Feminist Reasons Why Sexy Feminists Should Love Sexy Prince (xojane) 01-01-2015 Speed Read: The Juiciest Bits From the History of Purple Rain (The Daily Beast) 12-24-2014 All Possibilities: The Purple Rain Story (7:19 min) (NPR interview with Alan Light) 12-09-2014 Let's go crazy: Inside the making of Purple Rain (The Verge, Alan Light) 12-04-2014 Thirty years on, how Purple Rain made Prince a superstar (The National) 11-29-2014 Inside the unlikely making of Purple Rain (New York Post) 11-28-2014 Filmmaker Albert Magnoli Merged Movies and Music in Purple Rain (Below the Line) 08-15-2014 Purple Rain Outdoor Movie Screening at the Autry in Los Angeles
08-12-2014 Purple Rain at 30: The Companion Piece to Prince’s Masterpiece (CoC) 07-26-2014 Purple Rain at 30: Why It’s the Musical That Defined the ’80s (Variety) 07-26-2014 10 things you didn’t know about Purple Rain (New York Post) 07-26-2014 Purple Rain Taught Me How To Be In A Band (NPR music) 07-25-2014 Interview by Robert Cashill, Biography.com - Purple Rain 30th Anniversary: Director Albert Magnoli Remembers His Rock Music Classic
07-25-2014 Purple Rain at 30: Preview the Definitive Book on Prince's Hit Film (Rolling Stone) An exclusive excerpt from Alan Light's "Let's Go Crazy"
Book "Let's Go Crazy: Prince and the Making of Purple Rain" 07-25-2014 First Avenue retrospective: Prince's Purple Rain film turns 30 (MPR news podcast) 07-25-2014 Purple Rain Director Albert Magnoli Looks Back on Film's 30th Anniversary (Yahoo) 07-25-2014 Purple Rain movie a great concert film with Minnesota roots (Pioneer Press) 06-29-2014 Prince Celebrates Purple Rain Anniversary With Apollonia Kotero (Rolling Stone) 06-26-2014 Purple Rain (1984) as Quality Cinema (Steven Cohen's 365 Days of Reviews) 06-25-2014 Bobby Z shares his Purple Rain memories on the album’s 30th anniversary (The Current) 06-24-2014 Prince's Purple Rain at 30: Classic Track-by-Track Album Review (Billboard) 06-19-2014 Purple Rain Still Reigns At 30 (rogerebert.com) 05-20-2014 Purple Rain highlights influence on local music scene: Reunion Interview (KARE11) 05-15-2014 Winning It All: Prince's Purple Rain Revisited (The Quietus) Epic Album Review 05-01-2014 Celebrating 30 Years Of Purple Rain (The Dawn Experience - TDX) (Prince & Associated Artists Fan Forum - St. Paul Peterson Blog)
04-29-2014 What might emerge from Prince's vault of unreleased music? (Jon Bream) 04-28-2014 CINEMA JUKEBOX series: Purple Rain , 1984, at Coolidge Theatre 04-18-2014 Prince Plans Purple Rain Reissue and New Studio Album (SPIN) 04-17-2014 Revisiting Purple Rain 's Original Reviews (New York Village Voice) 04-16-2014 Purple Rain, 1984, and the importance of artistic transcendency (cinapse) 04-11-2014 Do You Want Him? : Purple Rain's Pure Performance (Todd Gilchrist) 02-23-2014 White Night Melbourne: Purple Rain (Photos by j_pang) 02-15-2014 19th Annual Johns Hopkins Film Festival - Special Screening of Purple Rain 01-20-2014 Prince's Film Purple Rain to Be Remade by Tuareg Musicians (Pitchfork) 01-15-2014 A Tuareg Remake Of Purple Rain Starring Mdou Moctar (okayafrica.) 11-12-2013 Purple Rain : How the Movie and the Music Influenced Popular Culture (Soul Train) 09-13-2013 Outdoor Movie Night! How to create your own Backyard Purple Rain Screening Party (Studio 34) 08-02-2013 Film Review: Purple Rain , 1984 (Forever Cinematic) 03-07-2013 Prince's Purple Rain , Sex and Misogyny: A Contemporary Perspective (Drowned in Sound) 09-02-2012 Chapter 85: In Which I Discuss a Purple Rain Sing-a-Long (Look Ma, No Agent!) 08-31-2012 Film Review: Purple Rain , 1984, Albert Magnoli (Junta Juleil's Culture Shock) 06-11-2012 Cruel Summer: Purple Rain , 1984 (Indie Wire) 04-30-2012 Book Review: Music on Film: Purple Rain by John Kenneth Muir A behind-the-scenes look at one of the greatest music films ever made (Cinema Sentries)
04-13-2012 Book Review: Purple Rain : Music on Film by John Kenneth Muir (BC - blogcritics) How A Terrible Script for Prince's Purple Rain Became The Best Rock Musical Ever Made (Movieline)
03-08-2012 Four Reasons Why Purple Rain (1984) Endures (Onstage & Backstage) 01-30-2012 Film Review: Purple Rain , 1984 (The Film Connoisseur) 11-28-2011 Minnesota Historical Society - Collections Up Close: Purple Rain 10-29-2011 LoftCinema: Let's Go Crazy - The Purple Rain Sing-A-Long! 08-09-2011 Movies We Like: Purple Rain (Amoeba Music) 10-30-2010 The film that changed my life: Michael Kenneth Williams - Purple Rain , Albert Magnoli, 1984 (The Guardian) 10-19-2010 Fashion & Film: Purple Rain (Parsons Paris School of Art & Design) 05-30-2010 CINESPIA: Purple Rain Outdoor Screening Event (Photos by Kelly Lee Barrett) 08-11-2009 The Sexy Androgyny of Prince and Purple Rain (Huffington Post) 07-31-2009 Purple afterglow: 25 years ago, film and soundtrack turned Prince into a megastar (PopMatters) 07-28-2009 25th Anniversary of Purple Rain (and some little known facts) (Wendy & Lisa) 07-27-2009 Happy Birthday, Purple Rain (Rhythmic Soul) 07-00-2009 Purple Rain : The Oral History - 25th Anniversary Special (SPIN) Print Issue only - No Official Online Version 06-25-2009 Some ?uestlove thoughts on Purple Rain (Brian Raftery) 06-11-2009 Spin goes crazy with Purple Rain tribute album (Reuters) June 2009 Let’s Go Crazy: Celebrating 25 Years of Purple Rain (PopMatters Special) 09-01-2008 The Cannon of Feminist Cinema: Purple Rain (Next Waiving) 08-25-2008 Ride the Machine: Prince's bike in the film Purple Rain (thenewcaferacersociety.com) 01-31-2008 The Purple Rain Coffee Shop in Breda, Netherlands (Photo by Sicco2007) 01-09-2008 Minnesota Historical Society Museum - Prince's purple suit from the movie Purple Rain 08-20-2007 Film Review: Purple Rain ,1984 / Musical-Drama (Qwipster's Movie Reviews) 2004 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Tribute to George Harrison: Prince, Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, Jeff Lynne and others perform "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
09-03-1984 Prince Got the Girl in Purple Rain , but Movie Rival Morris Day Is Stealing Some of His Thunder (People) July 1984 Purple Rain - A Collection of Reviews from various Publications 07-27-1984 Premiere of Purple Rain at Mann's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California, with MTV (film by Tony Blass) Purple Rain (1984) Warner Bros.
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Prince
The Kid
Patricia Kotero
Apollonia
Morris Day
Morris
Olga Karlatos
Mother
Clarence Williams III
Father
Jerome Benton
Jerome
Billy Sparks
Billy
Kim Upsher
Kim
Lisa Coleman
Lisa - The Revolution
Wendy Melvoin
Wendy - The Revolution
Bobby Z Rivkin
Bobby Z. - The Revolution
Matt Fink
Dr. Fink - The Revolution
Brown Mark
Brown Mark - The Revolution
Garry Johnson
Jellybean - The Time
Mark Cardenas
Mark - The Time
Gerald Hubbard Jr.
Gerry - The Time
Paul Peterson
Paul - The Time
Jesse Johnson
Jesse - The Time
Susan Moonsie
Susan
Brenda Bennett
Brenda
Alan Leeds
Stage Hand
Dez Dickerson
Dez
Claire Gershman
Beautiful Babe
Israel Gordon
Taste MC
Charles Huntsberry
Chick
Jill Jones
Jill
Albert Magnoli
Director, Screenwriter, Editor
William Blinn
Screenwriter
Robert Cavallo
Producer
Steve Fargnoli
Producer
Joseph Ruffalo
Producer
Donald Thorin
Cinematographer
Michel Colombier
Composer (Film Score)
Prince
Songwriter
John L. Nelson
Songwriter
James Beshears
Sound Editor
Bruce Bisenz
Sound Mixer
Ward Preston
Production Designer
Anne McCulley
Set Designer
Marie France
Costume Designer
Richard Arrington
Makeup
David Graham
Casting
Al Jones
Stunts
Purple Rain: 20th Anniversary DVD Special
April 3, 2011: An ArcLight Cinemas Facebook Special
Albert Magnoli Answers Fan Questions About Purple Rain
Original Review of Purple Rain by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert
Watch Video here (fast-forward to 08:40) Purple Rain ranks #5 in Gene Siskel's Top 10 Films of 1984 and #10 in
Roger Ebert's Top 10 Films of 1984
Must-Read Reviews by Scott P. Collins
May 12, 2017: THE REVOLUTION at the Barrymore Theater in Madison, Wisconsin April 18, 2014: Savage Cinema's Favorite Movies: Purple Rain June 2, 2014: A MapQuest Exclusive!!
- Writer, Director, Producer -
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D A R K H A R B O R P I C T U R E S
*** APRIL 21, 2016 - PRINCE PASSES AWAY AT AGE 57 ***
May 5, 2016: Albert Magnoli, Writer/Director/Editor of Purple Rain remembers Prince . Insightful Interview by Cody Cain published at Salon.com and Huffington Post
Special Purple Rain Screening and Panel Discussion with Writer/Director/Editor Albert Magnoli, Producer Bob Cavallo, Actors Apollonia Kotero, Jill Jones and Jerome Benton, and
Costume Designer Marie France. Hosts: Reggie Hudlin and Marcus Miller
Part of "The Black Movie Soundtrack II" Produced in cooperation with A.M.P.A.S.®
Producer/Director Reginald Hudlin and Grammy Winner Marcus Miller
Host Craig Robinson, featuring the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra