After a lengthy absence, Caught On Tape returns with a vengeance! And to add to the intensity of this return, I have selected an intense video for your viewing pleasure. And when it comes to intense music videos, it doesn't get much better than Ratt's 1991 single, 'Nobody Rides for Free,' from the Point Break soundtrack.
Now, the video itself isn't especially original. Like most soundtrack singles, it features the band performing, and intermixes this with clips from the movie. However, the key difference between this video and all those others is that the movie is POINT BREAK and the band is RATT.
I was first introduced to this high-powered, surfer-cop action flick more than a dozen years ago, and have seen it numerous times in the years since. It's one of those movies that my father would sit and watch anytime he came across it on TV, no matter what point in the movie it was at. That's a statement I can't make about many movies.
Point Break is a tale of a cop who goes undercover as a surfer to catch a group of thrill-seeking bank robbers who dress up like ex-U.S. presidents. Patrick Swayze makes a standout appearance here, and Keanu Reeves fits his role to perfection. Swayze even did some of his own stunts for the movie's skydiving sequences. And as if all this wasn't enough to get your heart thumping, the soundtrack accentuates the excitement. Marking a time right before the decline of hair metal and the rise of grunge, Ratt's contribution to the soundtrack was exactly what any action audience could have asked for: a pumped-up rock anthem. With the high popularity of bands such as Guns n' Roses during this time, Ratt's loud-yet-catchy, 'Nobody Rides for Free' helped the movie stick in our hearts for years to come. Surf's up!
2 comments:
Keanu Reeves + Patrick Swayze + Ratt = Bodacious
There is something cerebral about action movies that becomes visceral and you are observant that adding the sound pulls both together. For an old jock, losing his hearing and hair, just feeling the pulse of the soundtrack can be enough to take you back to thinking that anything is still possible. Thanks for remembering - and oh, for the movie cd!
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