Purple Rain (1984) The film itself is a tight production that was well aware of the acting limitations of the musicians involved. Prince himself is monosyllabic and “mysterious” but pulls it off with his mind-boggingly charisma-fuelled stage renditions of tracks such as Let’s Go Crazy and Darling Nikki and every dart of his doe-like eyes. Of course, the burgeoning appeal of MTV and the music video surely helped with the film’s success (When Doves Cry seemed to be on constant repeat in the mid-80s) but the broad appeal of the story – rival groups, a smattering of comedy, disgruntled band members and love (not to mention sex), saw Purple Rain hit the jackpot. Fact fans, and cynics, may want to note that the film took in almost ten times as much as it cost to produce, won an Oscar, and the accompanying album is still the world’s biggest selling soundtrack. Not a bad achievement at all. Under The Cherry Moon (1986) On the cast front, you have the overwhelming force that is Steven Berkoff (Beverly Hills Cop), who replaced an equally gregarious actor, Terence Stamp (Superman II), after he walked off the project (not the only person to do so). His performance, and it is a performance, is huge. The Berk-a-tron is clearly having a good time, but does treat Cherry Moon rather like one of his one-man shows (not neccessarily a negative, it should be said). Also bolstering the cast was the now familiar Kristin Scott Thomas (Four Weddings And A Funeral, The English Patient). The actress has been very dismissive of the film since, but Thomas portrays the spoilt rich daughter with some aplomb. Most oddly, though, is the appearance of Victor Spinetti (A Hard Day’s Night) who shows that Prince does indeed have a whimsical sense of humour. The talent doesn’t end there. Madonna video director Mary Lambert (the controversial Like A Prayer and iconic Material Girl are just two of her contributions), helmed the project to begin with until, you guessed it, she walked off – leaving Prince in charge. As a side-note, Lambert is now directing such excellent TV fodder as Mega Python Vs Gatoroid (starring 80s teen sensations Tiffany and Deborah Gibson). But there’s more: taking director of photography duties on Cherry Moon was none other than longtime Scorsese collaborator, Michael Ballhaus (though at that point the German lensman had only worked on a couple of movies with the New York director). The Color Of Money would be released the same year, and his career would go on from strength to strength with diverse films like Goodfellas, Air Force One and Quiz Show. It has to be said, Under The Cherry Moon does look utterly beautiful. If Purple Rain was a product of its time, then Under The Cherry Moon is doubly so. It’s rife with material wealth, the hunt for money and possessions and meaningless sexual conquests (although good old love shines through in the end, cough). It’s almost like Wall Street on the French coast (which is odd, as it predates the Oliver Stone flick by just over a year). Under The Cherry Moon may not be as good as its soundtrack, but it has charm and style – something akin to the man himself, and a trait missing from most movies at the multiplex. Sign O’ The Times (1988) Regardless of how he achieved them, the results are phenomenal, as Prince cracks his way through the immense 1987 double-album, lifting some rather mediocre tracks (by his standards at least) into the realm of the sublime. His energy as a performer is bewildering, using the stage and his band to create a showpiece like no other. Sadly for Prince, his success in the US was beginning to wane. European audiences were lapping his post-Purple Rain output but Americans seemed less enamoured. Sign O’ the Times was an attempt to reinvigorate the same-titled album, but failed, as only critics seemed to appreciate the artistry of the Minneapolis-based funker. Graffiti Bridge (1990) I won’t waste your time with this one. It’s an absolute stinker with no redeeming features whatsoever. Even the soundtrack is as poor as the acting. The sequel to his first foray into cinema, Purple Rain, was to be his last – and it’s not difficult to see why. Something interesting about Graffiti Bridge? It stars Ingrid Chavez, who co-wrote the aforementioned Madonna’s Justify My Love with Lenny Kravitz. Yup, that’s the most interesting thing about the movie. Not content with his own films, in 1989 Prince also gave us the soundtrack for Tim Burton’s Batman (not the score, it should be added), notching up even more hit singles with tunes like Batdance (featuring heavy use of dialogue and sounds from the film – a most unusual pop single at the time) and Partyman. Ever the giver, he also supplied some new songs (and some oldies) for Spike Lee’s mess Girl 6 (notable for cameos from Madonna, Quentin Tarantino and Halle Berry). In the short space of six years, Prince starred in four films, directed three and produced a string of multi-million selling albums (as well as doing his day job of musical genius and performing world tours). A noteworthy film career at least, no? Follow Den Of Geek on Twitter right here. And be our Facebook chum here.