Troy (Leon Isaac Kennedy) leads the tough street gang and rock band (!) called the Royal Rockers. Locked up one night after a brawl, they are heard by a record CEO (Michael Ansara) who is in the drunk tank and get offered a shot at the big time in a talent contest. As an added bonus, Troy begins to fall for the CEO's daughter Brooke (Janine Turner in her first lead), which the record exec doesn't approve of.
Shot as Cry of the City in Miami during 1984, this could easily have been Breakin' 3. Unfortunately for producer-writer-lead Kennedy, the film sat on the shelf for nearly two years before New World picked it up in November 1985 and put it in theaters in early 1986. Kennedy contends on his site that the studio cut down his masterpiece, but I'm not quite sure this could be considered that in any form. Truth is by the time this came out the breakdancing craze was pretty much dead. The film is pretty schizophrenic in nature - you have one moment where the band is performing a goofy song and the next they are engaged in violent gang activity. Perhaps the most interesting thing about it is that it was financed by former mafia kingpin Michael Franzese. This would be the penultimate leading role for Kennedy, who was best know for the Penitentiary series (he ended his leading man career with part three after this). Musical cameos include Kurtis Blow, The Fat Boys, Harry Wayne Casey (the K. C. of K. C. and the Sunshine Band), and Smokey Robinson. And because I know you are dying to know - yes, the band wins the talent contest.
