I happen to have five DVDs of Point Break to give away, but more about that in a few ‘grafs. [As of 1:30 PM PST, the contest is closed, DKH]

Point Break is, of course the surfin’ and bank robbin’ movie from 1991 starring Keanu Reeves, and directed by Kathryn Bigelow. It’s famous for many things. One is that it constitutes a woman directing a very male oriented action film. Another is that the film marked Reeves’s entry into the big Hollywood films, “betraying” his past roles as a sensitive and angst ridden teen or a hapless slacker type by becoming — what the fuck? — an FBI agent. Also, this is the film in which the bank robbers wear masks of former presidents. And another claim to fame is that one almost always says “Point Blank” instead of the real title.

But seeing the film again in its new special edition DVD release is a reminder that, despite its various small flaws, it’s a fun movie, with great surf footage. A weird blend of Big Wednesday and Dog Day Afternoon, it stars Reeves as, yes, Johnny Utah, a new agent assigned to the robbery division of the L.A. FBI. Teamed up with wizened old wild man FBI Agent Angelo Pappas, played by Gary Busey in just the way you would want, part of a large funny cast that includes John C. McGinley, James LeGros, Tom Sizemore, and of course Patrick Swayze as Bodhi, the philosophical extreme surfer-sky diver-bank robber.

One of the film’s flaws is Lori Petty as Utah’s surfing mentor, while he’s undercover looking for the bank robbers, since Utah and Pappas have determined, thanks to some pre-CSI ruminations, that the Ex-Presidents are surfers. I don’t know if Petty is miscast, or if it’s her character who is unpleasant or if it’s just Petty who is unappealing. In any case, PB is a great drive in movie, a little thin on substance and plot but rich in character actors, action, and simple drive in imperatives.

This DVD supplants an earlier disc from 2002, whose only supplement was as a short making of featurette. This disc, the “pure adrenaline edition, has deleted scenes (eight very fuzzy video tapes adding about three additional minutes to the movie, made up mostly of quips and bits of dialogue), four making ofs (the 23-minute detailed retrospective making of “It’s Make Or Break,” in which almost everyone participates, the six minute “Ride The Wave” and five minute “Adrenaline Junkies,” both about surfing, and the six minute “On Location: Malibu,” in which two of the minor ex-Presidents revisit the sand), a stills gallery, and three trailers.

[As of 1:30 PM PST, the contest is closed, DKH] To get the a free Point Break DVD, be one of the first five people to write to dkholmcontests@mac.com. Please include your full mailing address. I won’t be able to write back to respondents other than the first five, so if you hear back from that email address, you have won.

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