Perhaps overshadowed by “Terminator 2” at the time, “Point Break” is nevertheless regarded as a 1990s action classic, and the first big hit by Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow. But for all its strengths, “Point Break” is sorely lacking in one of the most important departments of any high-octane surfer dude action movie: scenes featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers’ frontman Anthony Kiedis getting beat up.
Sure, it had some, arguably more than most movies of the era, and that’s what makes “Point Break” stand the test of time. Unfortunately, Bigelow’s less-is-more approach to Keidis’s violence buried its importance, and by the time other filmmakers realized that seeing the RHCP frontman beaten to a pulp was the secret sauce that made this film endure, the insufferable actor had aged out of shit-kicked-out-of roles.
These are our top scenes that, while exciting, were ultimately missed opportunities at normalizing Keidis-violence in film:
1. Surfer Nazi fist fight
Yes, “Point Break” does feature one scene where Anthony Kiedis gets the shit kicked out of him. And yes, this is the single best thing about the film. As the nazi surfer gang square up on agent Johnny Utah, Bodhi steps in to turn the tide. All the Nazis then have their butts kicked, including the one played by Kiedis. While it’s always rewarding to see the world’s most annoying vocalist being brutally manhandled, we can’t help but feel it would have been even better with a few more minutes of Kiedis kicking.
2. Nazi HQ raid
Later in the film, as Johnny Utah starts to think the nazi surfers are the infamous ex-presidents bank robbers, he sets up a raid of their headquarters. Several of the nazi surfers are either killed or wounded in this great scene, and Anthony Kiedis’ character hilariously takes a gunshot to the foot. But why isn’t Kiedis shot in the other foot too? Or at least dragged outside and pummeled by the backup crew? Frankly, when you set up a potentially lethal lawn mower and don’t wind up shoving Anthony Kiedis into it head-first, you’ve made a dramaturgical error.
3. Night surf / love on the beach
In this scene, the undercover Utah makes love to Tyler on the beach, and they fall asleep in each other’s arms. Right here, as Johnny and Tyler kiss by the fire, things would have gone from great to god-tier if Bodhi and the rest of the gang had featured in the background, as black silhouettes, kicking the shit out of Anthony Kiedis, playfully imitating his vocals from “Blood Sugar Sex Magic” all the while.
4. Recounting Bodhi’s day
As Johnny Utah (spoiler alert) starts to suspect Bodhi of the robberies, he follows him around for a day. At some point here, it would have been nice to see at least a brief beatdown of Anthony Kiedis. Frankly, it would have added a compelling intrigue if Utah were to witness Bodhi beating Kiedis during his daily rounds and say to himself, “Maybe I was wrong, maybe Bodhi isn’t the bad guy, maybe he’s just a really solid dude.”
5. One last wave
As the film draws to a close, Johnny Utah finds Bodhi in stormy Australia. A fight ensues, and Utah eventually manages to handcuff himself to Bodhi. As local police arrive, Bodhi realizes the game’s up and asks Utah for one last favor: to let him go out into the stormy waters and (presumably) die on his own terms. Utah obliges, and Bodhi disappears into the sea. Here, as the film ends, is a missed opportunity. Instead of rolling the credits against a black background as usual, why not roll them over B-roll Johnny Utah rag dolling Anthony Kiedis? Or maybe a series of outtakes and bloopers from the film, all featuring Anthony Kiedis being slapped around, kicked, and beaten by the rest of the cast?
We can only speculate as to what impact increased Kiedis violence in “Point Break” would have had on ‘90s cinema, but one thing is for sure — it would NOT have been a waste of time.