Rifftrax Expects Us To Pay To See Point Break Riffed? Sure!

 

This movie has been a source for MST and Rifftrax riffs, featuring two movie heartthrobs from the 1990s. 
This week, Rifftrax took on the original 1991 version of Point Break, where Keanu Reeves as an FBI agent hopes to surf his way into breaking up a robbery gang led by Patrick Swayze.

Instead of broadcasting from Nashville, the Rifftrax gang did the show from the State Theater in Minneapolis, site of the MST reunion eight years ago. It was packed to the brim, and the crowd really enjoyed the story of how an ex-quarterback hoped to be Eliot Ness. While that may be interesting, Gary Busey steals this show as the hot-headed Pappas. John C. McGinley of Scrubs was also fun as a really stiff FBI supervisor.

The plot, of course, is about how Reeves, as Johnny Utah, takes on a gang of robbers known as the Ex-Presidents because of their masks. He finds out they're also surfers, and tries to infiltrate them. Using a waitress (Lori Petty) who happens to know one of the robbers, he first has to learn how to surf...and has to ask her to help out. He eventually meets Bodhi, played by Patrick Swayze. Utah gets sucked into the surfing culture, but still has to prove Bodhi is the bank robber.
The real fun is towards the end, when Bodhi figures out who Utah is, and forces the agent to be in one of the robberies. The chase scene with Reeves and Swayze is also classic. What other chase includes home invasions?
The ending is also a bit out there, where Bodhi begs to ride a special wave in Australia before he's carted away. It's kind of weird, but with two classic leading men, it's a fun cult classic.

It's fairly impressive that Rifftrax got their hands on this movie, which was directed by Kathryn Bigelow and was executive produced by her then-husband James Cameron. That's the power of Kickstarter, even though they also got Ladyhawke and Super Mario Brothers without it.

The riffs came fast and furious (is that movie next?), with some that were fairly topical. They remarked how odd it was that Keanu was cast as an FBI agent, but also mocked his and Swayze's movies. They still swooned a bit towards Swayze, considering he inspired a special Christmas carol.  

Now, it's riff time:

Pappas mocks Utah without seeing him...then meets him
No, I wanted the other excellent adventurer

The Ex-Presidents rob a bank
This is what presidential elections have become now

"Too much testosterone around here"
Opposite of a Maroon 5 concert

A surfer slugs Utah
That's for Johnny Mnemonic (four years later?)

Pappas points a gun and says "Speak into the microphone, squid brain"
That would be a great name for the Joe Rogan podcast

There were also riffs on Courtney Love, The Golden Girls, Capri Sun, Spirit Airlines and a certain Australian America is still trying to forget.

The live show is expected to be available to everyone sometime this fall, and should be a very popular feature. In the meantime, Rifftrax has some good features like a Bill Rebane movie (?), a disaster movie where people get sweaty before they die, and a rock and roll movie about a girl trying to get to the prom. See them at rifftrax.com

I! AM! ANOTHER! RIFFTRAX! LIVE! EVENT! THAT! NEEDS! MONEY!

 

And here we go again. 
This week, Rifftrax started its annual pledge drive to fund the mocking of a cheesy movie.
This year, though, it's a REAL movie, with people we've heard of...even an Oscar winner.
What's next, Speed? Speed 2, maybe?
Hey, if they managed to get Ladyhawke a while ago...

The movie is Point Break, where a rookie FBI agent who used to be a college quarterback has to find bank robbers who wear masks and surf. The main plot is that Johnny admires (kinda) Bohdi, the leader of the gang, but has to arrest the guy. Naturally, it's been used as a riff on MST3K a few times, but it's a big get. You get massive amounts of Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey when he was coherent, and Patrick Dempsey. Also, it's directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who's a professional and an Oscar winner. That's almost unheard of in Rifftrax movies. It's the anti-RAD. 

There's also working hard to hit their goal of 350 thousand dollars, which should be reached fairly quickly. The gang will be on The Mads Are Back as the post-movie guests, almost like they're on late-night TV. It's also the first time since Jack-O that it's a taped event rather than a live show. They will have the show from the State Theater in Minneapolis two weeks before it's shown on August 8 and 13. It's still a minor point because a riff show is a riff show, live or not. 

Again, the gang should hit their goal before they're on TMAB, but the real fun happens afterwards. We get the offer of "ten shorts for a dollar" plus stretch goals. That means mp3s of big movies, but the fun is predicting which ones. Ten bucks says Wonka is next if not inevitable. Dune 2 may be too good to pass up. Madame Web may be another story.

Anyway, fans can contribute and get neat swag by going here. The deadline is April 8.