Warner Bros. Catalog # B0002CTSUO Release Year August 24, 2004 DVD Length 95 Mins. Date/Venue Graffiti Bridge Movie 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen Source NTSC Menu YES Quality EX++ |
DVD
Graffiti Bridge Movie
EXTRAS: "New Power Generation", "The Question of U", "Thieves in the Temple" and "Round and Round" Videos. These videos are all presented in full screen format with 2.0 sound. There is also a theatrical trailer.
Comments
Mike's Comments(rates this release
3.75/5.0)
Prince is back, playing the role of "The Kid" with Morris Day reprising his
role as the arch nemesis. Both musicians now operate separate nightclubs in
the "Seven Corners" area. Morris owns all but one club, The Glam Slam which
is co-owned by Morris and The Kid. Morris doesn't play nice and tries to
intimidate The Kid into selling his half of the club. Part of the appeal of
"Purple Rain" was that Prince was playing the underdog. In "Graffiti
Bridge", he continues to play second fiddle to Morris and his band "The
Time". The Kid is having trouble consistently selling out his club and is
starting to lose faith in himself. Enter Ingrid Chavez as Aura. Aura is an
angel-like figure who speaks in poet dialogue. The Kid allows her into his
heart as she tries to make him understand that good things will happen for
him. Along the way Aura seems to be playing both Morris and The Kid against
each other, and they both fall for her. This was Ingrid Chavez's first and
only movie – watching it you'll understand why.
"Graffiti Bridge" really plays like one long music video, with performances
by Prince, Morris Day and The Time, Mavis Staples, George Clinton and a
young Tevin Campbell. The main issue with this movie is that the acting is
horrible and the story is extremely silly. The climax is totally ridiculous
and you really don't like any of the characters or care what happens to
them. As a musician Prince is without peer, but since he
wrote/directed/acted in this movie, the blame for this failure falls on his
shoulders. "Graffiti Bridge" tanked at the box office and a lot of people
came out of the theaters wondering what they just watched.
There are some redeeming qualities to this movie however, the main one being
the music. Prince is a musical genius and "Graffiti Bridge" was one of his
most underrated CD's. Morris Day and The Time are great on stage and their
showmanship is awesome. Also the natural talent of Morris Day as a comic
performer is present – too bad he never really did anything else. His back
and forth banter with front man Jerome Benton is classic.
How Does it Look? - "Graffiti Bridge" looks like a 15 year old movie. The
lighting is horrible and the images are very soft. The movie is presented in
1.85:1 widescreen format. Apparently the entire film was filmed on one big
set and looks very cheesy, almost like a circus.
How Does it Sound? - I'm disappointed with Warner's 2.0 mix of this movie.
The music is awesome and I would have loved to hear it in 5.1 sound. The mix
between the dialogue and music scenes are completely off as well – dialogue
comes from the center channel, but the vocals from the performances tend to
sound more multi-channeled. This makes the music performances seems very
fake.
Final Thoughts - The acting is bad, the sets are bad and plot is just silly.
HOWEVER, most Prince fans will want this movie for their collection and
should go ahead and add it. I'd have to say that the casual fan should
probably just rent it. Most everyone will enjoy the soundtrack!
Copyright 2008 UG2P