Breakin'

PG

Released May 4, 1984

1 hr. 27 min.

Musical

List

33%

9 Reviews

Tomatometer

73%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Kelly (Lucinda Dickey) is a classically trained jazz dancer who's tired of warding off her amorous teacher and hungry for a new outlet. When she befriends street dancers Ozone (Adolfo "Shabba-Doo" Quinones) and Turbo (Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers), she's blown away by their unique and original moves. She soon volunteers to help them defeat a rival group of street dancers, learning break-dancing skills along the way and sharing some moves of her own.

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isa e

good dancing, terrible dialog, van damme in a onesie, lucinda dickey cannot act.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

06/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Whether you know this movie as Breakin', Breakdance the Movie or Break Street '84, this film was inspired by a documentary named Breakin' ‘n' Enterin', which told the true story of the talent at the Los Angeles hip hop club Radio-Tron, which included Ice-T and Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers, both of whom appear here. Menahem Golan's daughter saw breakdancers perform in Venice Beach and was so excited that her enthusiasm inspired him to rush this movie into theaters, hoping to beat Beat Street. This would not be the last time that Golan was in a mad rush to get a dance-themed movie on screens before anyone else. Kelly "Special K" Bennett (Lucinda Dickey, a Cannon all-star who is also in this film's sequel and the magical Ninja 3: The Domination) is training to be a dancer under the direction of Franco (Ben Lokey). To help keep her inspired, her friend Adam (Phineas Newborn III) introduces her to Orlando "Ozone" Barco (Adolfo "Shabba Doo" Quiñones) and Tony "Turbo" Ainley (Chambers), two breakdancers who are self-trained and have their own unique style unlike anything she's seen in dance school. Kelly is met with disdain by everyone when she attempts to bring their energy into the world of dance. And then Franco gets way too intimate with her, so she quits training and becomes a breakdancer, upsetting the rich side of her life but fulfilling her spirit as she and the newly formed T.K.O. Crew defeat other dance teams like Electro Rock and her manager James Wilcox (Christopher McDonald, who I will always just call Shooter McGavin) starts seeing dollar signs. Can Kelly unite art and the street? Of course, the story is very basic. But it's the sheer joy of seeing this dance on screen, the amazing soundtrack — which has everyone from Rufus and Chaka Khan, Kraftwerk, Art of Noise, Hot Streak and Ollie & Jerry — and the time capsule 80s nature of this movie that make it a winner. Somehow, Cannon would top it with the sequel, somehow, someway. Critics were all over this movie's lack of a story, but who cares? We're here for the music and the dancing choereographed by West Side Story dancer Jamie Rogers. It's also one of the rare times when Cannon was making the trend instead of trying to be part of one. Israeli director Joel Silberg went from this movie to a spiritual third film in the series, Rappin', as well as Lambada, which was choreographed by Shabba-Doo. That movie — and its competition The Forbidden Dance — is a story we'll get to soon. Breakin' is the final Cannon film production released by MGM/UA — to find out why, check out Bolero — which made Cannon become its own distribution company again. I wonder if MGM/UA had second thoughts, because Cannon turned this $1.2 million dollar movie into $38.7 million dollars at the box office. Breakin' opened at number one and even outgrossed Sixteen Candles, which played on two hundred more screens in their first week. Also, you probaby already know that this is Jean Claude Van Damme's first movie appearance. He's on the beach dancing next to Michel Qissi, who would be his rival Tong Po in Kickboxer. We should all aspire to the same joy that Van Damme has in this scene.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

https://youtu.be/0V1jNdl03dY

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Movie making is an art form and thus there is only opinion and personal preference. I'm more interested in interviewing and analysing those critics that have slated this movie than reading their negative reviews because anyone born outside the living sensation of the 1980s has a pass on movies like these but those that lived that period and negatively slate this, then one can throw more adjectives at them than the other way around. Of course this isn't a masterpiece in movie making. Far from it... What it is, is a typical 80s movie a-la Footloose or Flashdance. It's in those realms of those in society that don't exactly fit in for whatever reason and with breaking the mould they give a story of relative success. Something that today is very difficult indeed. The soundtrack is top notch with that iconic Chaka Khan "Ain't Nobody" amongst other great period tunes. The story is simple and just there to make you feel good and lightly enjoy almost an hour and a half of your day. Plus, breakdancing was all the rage during that period and very apt. I know, I was spinning on my back too!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

kevin c

Alright this is definitely not something I ever had interest in when it came out in the mid 80's, and now that I've seen it, my instincts as a teenager were right on the money. Lucinda Dickey stars as a jazz dancer who teams up with a couple of breakdancers to form a street dancing trio. I liked Lucinda, as well as was surprised by some of the cameos like Ice T and Jean Claude Van Damme, but the rest was completely uninteresting other than the horrible fashion.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The best dance movie !

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

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Joel Silberg

Director

Lucinda Dickey

Kelly

Adolfo Quinones

Ozone

Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers

Turbo

Ben Lokey

Franco

Christopher McDonald

James

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Breakin': Official Clip - Get My Boogie Down

2:54

Breakin': Official Clip - Breakin' at Venice Beach

2:23

Breakin': Official Clip - Electro Rock vs. Turbo & Ozone

2:49

Breakin': Official Clip - Turbo Teaches Kids Breakin'

1:14

Breakin': Official Clip - Street Sweepin' & Breakin'

2:11

Breakin': Official Clip - James Comes to the Dance

1:12

Breakin': Official Clip - There's No Stopping Us

3:50

Breakin': Official Clip - Street Dancing Won't Get You to Broadway

1:44

Breakin': Official Clip - That's Dancing, Kelly

1:44

Breakin': Official Clip - Ice-T Raps

2:24

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29%

67%

Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo

20%

79%

Salsa

57%

83%

Beat Street

0%

54%

Roller Boogie

69%

75%

Yentl

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Nell Minow

Movie Mom

Rated: 2/5

Oct 2, 2004

Full Review

Sean Collier

Box Office Prophets

When Turbo and Ozone are left alone to dance (which happens far too infrequently), Breakin' comes alive. Oddly, the problem here is not enough dancing.

Rated: 6/10

Jul 3, 2020

Full Review

Diego Galán

El Pais (Spain)

Its development and characters are clumsy. It all seems to indicate that Breakin' is more the product of fandom than of professionalism. [Full Review in Spanish]

Feb 7, 2020

Full Review

Kevin Carr

7M Pictures

the movie has a certain entertainment value, especially considering its place in cinema history

Rated: 3/5

Apr 27, 2015

Full Review

Pablo Villaça

Cinema em Cena

Ruim a ponto de ser divertido, um produto tpico dos anos 80; uma verdadeira cpsula do tempo. Que, diga-se de passagem, jamais deveria ser aberta.

Rated: 1/5

Nov 25, 2006

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Aug 10, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

Kelly (Lucinda Dickey) is a classically trained jazz dancer who's tired of warding off her amorous teacher and hungry for a new outlet. When she befriends street dancers Ozone (Adolfo "Shabba-Doo" Quinones) and Turbo (Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers), she's blown away by their unique and original moves. She soon volunteers to help them defeat a rival group of street dancers, learning break-dancing skills along the way and sharing some moves of her own.

Director: Joel Silberg
Executive Producer: Yoram Globus, Menahem Golan
Screenwriter: Allen DeBevoise, Charles Parker, Gerald Scaife
Distributor: Cannon Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp.
Production Co: Cannon Group
Rating: PG
Genre: Musical
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 4, 1984, Wide
Release Date (DVD): Aug 5, 2003
Sound Mix: Surround