.....P O I N T.....B R E A K.....

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While shooting the romantic comedy "Ghost", Patrick Swayze made a conscious choice to go as far away from the leading man type role as he could, and thus, before "Ghost" even complete filming, he signed on the dotted line to star as "Bodhi", the "Zen-Guru-like Adrenaline Junkie" surfer in "Riders on the Storm". Prior to release, the title was changed to "Point Break".

Some of my favorite quotes from "Point Break" are:

  • "Little hand says it's time to rock and roll" - Bodhi before a bank robbery
  • "Surfing's the source; it'll change your life" - Little Kid to Johnny when he buys his gear
  • "It's a state of mind; it's that place where you lose yourself and find yourself" - Bodhi to Johnny re: what surfing is all about
  • "If you want the ultimate, you got to be willing to pay the ultimate price. It's not tragic to die doing what you love." - Bodhi re: the 50 year storm at Bells Beach
  • "I've got to be losing it" - Johnny after his first sky dive and landing in the ocean
  • "Fear causes hesitation and hesitation will cause your worse fears to come true" - Bodhi to Johnny as they prepare to rob a bank
  • "He's not coming back" - Johnny to the very upset police after he lets "Bodhi" go


"He's an adrenaline junkie. He's a guy who lives for the moment. And in a way, doing this role is an opportunity for me to sort that adrenaline-junkie stuff out of my life. ... What I'd like to try to bring out with this guy is, he's written very spiritual, very Zen, very enlightened, yet I think there's more underneath. ....He lives to find that moment where, if he doesn't pull it off, he'll die." Patrick to Chantal on "Good Morning America" 11-29-90


"If I was doing the leading man role, I wouldn't get the chance to do the Bodhi...Since I wasn't in the position to have to carry the film, I could go off the wall and go wild with hair and scars, be a little bit crazy and a little bit sane, a little bit charming and a little bit scary. It just gave me a chance to stretch my wings a bit more." Patrick to James Ryan (Entertainment News Wire) 7-3-91


Chantal: Patrick, that scene, where you and Keanu jump out of a plane and land on each other, was that really you?

Patrick: Absolutely. There's no special effects that can do that. They would have cut away from my face. We knew that would sort of blow people away when there's no joke about it. It doesn't cut back to his face and then cut to some guy falling through air. .... You see me fall out of that plane at 12,000 feet.

Chantal: Does that make you brave or insane?

Patrick: Both. That's been my problem. They called me "Crazy Swayze" growing up.

From "Good Morning America" 7-8-91


Some Interesting Tidbits

Lori Petty was quoted in a Marilyn Beck column on 8-14-90 saying "Our trainers has us all on diets - no red meats, no fats -- and running, surfing and working out every day at Gold's Gym."
Though most of the film was shot in Oahu and Malibu, a week's worth of retakes (and a new ending) was shot in Wheeler, Oregon in June 1991. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the small town of 340 was disappointed when they found out that Patrick wouldn't be there as his scenes were being filmed at Indian Beach. The Mayor of Wheeler, however, did manage to play an extra in the movie (he was a fisherman).
"Point Break" opened July 12, 1991.
The action movie was the first to be done under the Largo Entertainment venture which had begun in August 1989, and has always been deemed one of their major successes.
During the bank robberies pulled by the surfer bandits, the 4 wore presidential masks including Ronald Reagan ("Bodhi"), Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson.
"Point Break" began filming on July 9,1990.
Patrick, Keanu Reeves and Lori Petty were under the surfing guidance of Dennis Jarvis, a one-time world-class surfer who noted by the end of the shoot, "On the whole, I think all the actors got into the spirit of surfing, and it's the spirit that kind of pulls you in."
Location filming for non-surf scenes included the LAPD Academy, Edwards Air Force Base, the Santa Monica airport, and various homes in Santa Monica and Palos Verdes, as well Los Angeles banks no longer open; however, reports the production company, so realistic were the banking scenes that nearby residents and passersby thought the banks had reopened.
James Cameron was the executive producer on "Point Break", which took 3 years from its original concept before it finally began shooting on that July date.

"Point Break" co-stars Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey and Lori Petty; was directed by Katheryn Bigelow; and was produced by Peter Abrams and Robert L. Levy. The aerial coordinator was Kevin Donnelly. Matt Archibold was Patrick's surfing double.


"Point Break" grossed approximately $43 million in the theaters, and another $20 in video revenue. Part of the success was Keanu who won the 1992 MTV Movie Award for Most Desireable Male.


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  • Point Break Review by Frank Maloney

  • The Point Break Pipeline aka: The Vortex

  • Point Break page by Nelson

  • Keanu's Point Break Page

    Thanks to Judy Koppany who generously donated a bunch of scans from "Point Break" from which the scenic pictures featured on this page were taken. Judy --- thanks again ever so much!

    Some basic facts about "Point Break"

    • Released July 12, 1991
    Domestic Box Office: $40,516,810
    122 Minutes, Rated R, from Fox
    Filmed in: Oregon (Wheeler Oregon, Ecola State Park)

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    Page Last Updated 11/25/00