20 facts you might not know about 'Point Break'

It took Point Break a while to get going. It was almost made in 1986 with Ridley Scott directing. Johnny Depp, Charlie Sheen, and Val Kilmer were among those considered for the role of Johnny Utah. However, it ended up not getting made and sat on the shelf for a few years.

Rick King, who shares "story by" credit, had read a piece in the L.A. Weekly about how Los Angeles was the bank robbery capital of the United States. As King relayed to Hidden Films in 2013, he was at the beach with the piece in his head when he began to think up the idea of a gang of surfers who also rob banks on the side. This was the earliest germ of Point Break. The idea of L.A. as the bank robbery capital of America also played a role in the film Heat, which began life as a failed TV pilot in 1989. 

Ridley Scott would have been a great director for Point Break, but instead, it went to a rising star. Kathryn Bigelow ended up being pegged to direct the film. Bigelow later made history as the first woman to win Best Director at the Academy Awards. At the time, she was also married to some guy named James Cameron. The two have said they worked together on the script, though neither of them is a credited screenwriter.

Johnny Utah is a distinct name for a character, but is it a good movie title? For a while, Point Break was going to be called “Johnny Utah.” Since that title didn’t say what the movie was about and didn’t reference surfing, they changed the title to “Riders on the Storm.” Then, they thought that would put people in mind of the Doors' song of the same name that had nothing to do with the movie. Finally, they landed on Point Break.

Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, and Lori Petty went to Hawaii to get surfing lessons from Dennis Jarvis, a professional surfer. None of them were experts, but they had different levels of inexperience. "Patrick said he’d been on a board a couple of times, Keanu definitely hadn’t surfed before, and Lori had never been in the ocean in her life," Jarvis told Entertainment Weekly.

Swayze liked to do his own stunts, whether it involved fighting or driving. On Point Break, he took things to the next level. Swayze did his own skydiving, making 55 jumps during the production. The actor also did his own surfing stunts, which led to his cracking four of his ribs.

Keanu hadn’t surfed before Point Break, but the experience stuck with him. Maybe because, unlike Swayze, he didn’t crack any ribs. After filming the movie, Keanu took up surfing as a hobby.

Keanu observed FBI agents in Los Angeles to prepare for his role. On top of that, he tapped into his character’s past as a football player. Reeves went down to UCLA to work with the school’s quarterback coaches to brush up on his gridiron skills.

Swayze liked doing his stunts, but he also had a career to navigate. When Bodhi is wearing the Ronald Reagan mask and being chased, that was Swayze’s stunt double. The actor wasn’t being lazy. He was in Europe promoting Ghost.

When it comes to Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flea is the one known more for his acting work. Maybe that’s just because of The Big Lebowski. However, he’s not the only band member who has tried his hand at acting. Anthony Kiedis plays the role of “Tone” in Point Break.

Bigelow was big on fight choreography, but Kiedis reportedly didn’t make it to rehearsals for the big fight scene that his character is in. Hey, he was the frontman of a massively popular band. The story goes that, since Kiedis couldn’t show up to choreograph the fight, they decided to have his character get knocked out immediately by one punch.

Johnny Utah is an Eff Bee Aye agent, but he’s also a former quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Later, in the football movie The Replacements, Reeves’ character Shane Falco also played quarterback for the Buckeyes in college.

Johnny and Bodhi spend a lot of time on the water. Previously, they had spent plenty of time on frozen water. Both appear in the 1986 hockey film Youngblood. Reeves had been a hockey player as a kid before focusing his attention on acting.

Bodhi and his gang are notable for wearing rubber masks of former U.S. Presidents when they rob banks. The masks in question represent LBJ, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan. That may have been a bit of a tipoff about the course of events. The gang members die chronologically based on when those four were President.

The action at the film’s climax takes place at Bells Beach, a famous surfing spot in Australia. However, the movie didn’t actually go down there to shoot. Instead, they shot in Cannon Beach, Oregon.

Swayze and Reeves were burgeoning stars in 1991. Ghost had come out the year prior, and Reeves had the Bill & Ted movies in his filmography, which probably helped bolster Point Break. However, it wasn’t necessarily a massive success. Off of a budget of $24 million, Point Break made $83.5 million worldwide. It has become more popular in the intervening years, giving it a bit of “cult hit” status.

Point Break opened second in the domestic box office. That’s good! The movie that finished ahead of it? Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which was in its second weekend. The director of that movie? None other than Cameron, Bigelow’s husband at the time.

Point Break has been referenced in movies from Hot Fuzz to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There was a recurring bit in the MCU of Tony Stark referring to Thor as “Point Break.” There was also a popular cult theater show called “Point Break Live!” where the hook was an audience member would play the role of Johnny Utah.

Mythbusters was a popular TV show that tested myths ranging from urban legends to questionable movie scenes. In one episode, they tackled the big skydiving scene in Point Break. They busted the idea that Bodhi and Johnny could have had a conversation in free fall or free fall for a full 90 seconds. However, Johnny could have caught up with Bodhi by streamlining his body to fight air resistance.

In 2015, they decided to give remaking Point Break a shot. The film didn’t have a big-name cast, with Edgar Ramirez playing Bodhi and Luke Bracey playing Johnny Utah. Even so, the movie cost $105 million to make and only pulled in $133.7 million at the box office. It got bad reviews critically, becoming a forgotten flop.