Breakin'

A true b-movie classic... pop and lock it, baby. Everything about this movie is funny watching it today. The wardrobes are awesome. They're so bad that they're good. The acting is so stilted and straight that you can't help but dig it, and the storyline is very predictable, but somehow does the job, and gets you to remain interested in the story in a 80's kind of way. This whole film is almost camp now. But the Break dancing is off the chain... Breaking 2 - Electric Boogaloo is even better! I'm surprised movies used to be this simple? Amazing how times and movies change, seems like usually for the better if you're looking at it from a modern sensibility. It's dated, but totally cool and fun to watch with friends...

The plot is simple, the acting is spare, but the dancing, which is the whole reason for the show, is exceptional and still fresh after 20 years. If you love dancing, give a view. If you love dancing, it won't disappoint you.

Formula dance movie with the distinctly '80s flavor of break dancing added to it. Aspiring jazz dancer Kelly (Lucinda Dickey) teams up with two street dancers, Ozone (Adolfo Quinones) and Turbo (Michael Chambers). They prepare for the inevitable "big audition," as well as dealing with Kelly's villainous former dance instructor and a rival street dance crew. The tension with the rival crew named Electro Rock provides for the movie's most unintentionally hilarious scenes. It's hard to take that crap seriously. Several dangling plot lines are left unresolved, which shows you how much attention was paid to the script. Turbo has a dance number with a broom where you can see the wires attached to the broom handle, which shows how much attention was paid to direction. Objectively, it's a bad movie but not without its charms. Corny in the extreme but some genuinely entertaining moments, as well as some laughs to be had at its expense.

Breakin' is one of the movies that put hip-hop on the map. It turned disco into a new form of enjoyment. During the early 80s disco faded and from 1981 thru 1983 music groups introduced funk and techno type beats. At that time there was no specific dance to these songs. But I guess a couple of guys from the Bronx created a new dance that interested thousands of people in the metropolitan area. There was graffiti in the subway that displayed a urban form of art. The big boom boxes (large am/fm cassette radios) that young guys carry along the street. This was all hip-hop. The movie just inspired urban youth to do something creative with their talent. Though sadly it quickly sudsided by the beginning of 85'.

Way better than it has a right to be, this well photographed and charming 80s fable takes us back to a simpler time, with the dawn of the break dancing phase, and a great soundtrack. For those who lived this era, want to learn about this era, or just enjoy fun 80s nostalgia, this is recommended. The dancing scenes are often spectacular.