'What's Love Got to Do With It' Movie: How to Watch Angela Bassett's Iconic Portrayal of Tina Turner
Tina Turner's life was dramatized in the 1993 film What's Love Got to Do With It, which earned Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne Oscar nominations. Bassett was among the many stars to pay tribute to Turner, who died on Wednesday at 83. Bassett's performance as the singer is considered her breakthrough and earned her a Golden Globe Award. The movie is readily available to watch but is unfortunately not on a subscription streaming service at this time.
What's Love Got to Do With It is available to rent digitally at Google Play, YouTube, Vudu, the Microsoft Store, RedBox, DirecTV, Amazon Video, and Apple TV, according to JustWatch. The movie can also be bought digitally at Apple TV, the Microsoft Store, DirecTV, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play, Amazon Video and AMC on Demand. Disney, which produced the film under its Touchstone Pictures label, has never released the movie on Blu-ray, but it is available on DVD.
The movie was written by Kate Lanier and directed by Brian Gibson. Lanier's script was based on Turner's 1986 memoir I, Tina, which Turner co-wrote with Kurt Loder. What's Love Got to Do With It tracks Turner's life from the moment she was born in Tennessee, through her marriage to the abusive Ike Turner, and concluding with her early 1980s comeback. Although the film took dramatic liberties with aspects of Turner's life story, it earned positive reviews and was a box office hit. Bassett and Fishburne were singled out for their performances and earned Oscar nominations in the Best Actress and Best Actor categories.
In 2018, Turner told Oprah Winfrey she could never finish the film. "I watched a little bit of it, but I didn't finish it because that was not how things went," Turner said at the time. "Oprah, I didn't realize they would change the details so much." She felt the jukebox musical about her life, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, was a more authentic portrayal of her story, telling Winfrey it was "how things actually were." Still, Bassett inducted Turner into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.
"How do we say farewell to a woman who owned her pain and trauma and used it as a means to help change the world?" Bassett wrote in her tribute Wednesday. "Through her courage in telling her story, her commitment to stay the course in her life, no matter the sacrifice, and her determination to carve out a space in rock and roll for herself and for others who look like her, Tina Turner showed others who lived in fear what a beautiful future filled with love, compassion, and freedom should look like."
According to Bassett, Turner's last words to her were praise for her performance. "You never mimicked me. Instead, you reached deep into your soul, found your inner Tina, and showed her to the world," Turner said, Bassett recalled.
"I shall hold these words close to my heart for the rest of my days. I am honored to have known Tina Turner," Bassett continued. "I am humbled to have helped show her to the world. So on today, while we mourn the loss of this iconic voice and presence, she gave us more than we could have ever asked. She gave us her whole self. And Tina Turner is a gift that that will always be 'simply the best.' Angels sing thee to thy rest...Queen."