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Purple Rain

EMAILPRINTWarner Bros. Pictures

Purple Rain reviews
45
9.0 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 8 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 3 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama  |  Musical  |  Romance

Written by: William Blinn
Albert Magnoli

Directed by: Albert Magnoli

Release Date:
Theatrical: July 27, 1984
DVD: June 25, 1997

Running Time: 111 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R

Starring Prince, Apollonia Kotero, Morris Day, Olga Karlato, and Clarence Williams III

The Kid (Prince) fights for his music career and the affections of Apollonia (Kotero) with a rival musician (Day) in Minneapolis.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

80

Variety Cynthia Kirk

Playing a character rooted in his own background, and surrounded by the real-life members of his Minneapolis-based musical 'family,' rock star Prince makes an impressive feature film debut in Purple Rain, a rousing contemporary addition to the classic backstage musical genre.

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75

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Fresh music and silly dialogue - those aspects of Purple Rain haven't changed over the years. [Review of re-release]

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60

The New York Times Vincent Canby

However, like many album covers, Purple Rain, though sometimes arresting to look at, is a cardboard come-on to the record it contains.

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50

TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)

If you like Prince's music, you'll love this movie. If not, stay away.

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50

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The pop-music star Prince makes his movie debut in this bizarre drama about a rock singer with a troubled career and a miserable home life.

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40

Empire Ian Nathan

A fairly dappy and overlong attempt to turn Prince the then emergent rock-funk superstar into a movie star.

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30

Chicago Reader Dave Kehr

The project would have been much more palatable as a TV special; as it stands, it's just another symptom of the American cinema's addiction to facile mythmaking.

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25

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jay Scott

Purple Rain is not a revolution. It's not even a good movie. What it is, is a cosmic letdown. [27 Jul 1984]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jennifer gave it a7:
Love Purple Rain. The acting is very bad in most parts but Prince gives a great performance. Watch this movie for the music and great performances by Prince and the Revolution.

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