JP h
This is THE breakdancing movie to me. HIGHLY underated so much so movies after it like "Body Rock" bit the whole concept and imitation is the highest form of flattery.
It works so well because all the "actors" were DANCERS 1st. REAL SKILLS over acting is ALWAYS best. This movie captures the spirit of breaking in so many ways. Lucinda Dickey captures the innocence of someone just learning and enamoured with the dance, and Shaba Doo really encapsulates that ahole Crazy Legs type of hardcore person trying to guard the art from outsiders.
It really captures those types of people, which were many in breaking as most triedt to "keep it real," and that concept really doesn't exist in today's society anymore. People just bite and fake and do whatever to get by on image, not skills. ORIGINALLY, all the aspects of hip hop were about creativity and skills from rappers and DJs battling to breakers/dancers, not so much anymore. It's all about looks now and fitting that look. Meanwhile in this film Lucinda Dickey was able to use her dance and gymnastics pretty much how breakers then and today have, mixing it with breaking. She had a HUGE learning curve to just learn breaking in a few weeks, which makes no sense as I did it for YEARS and it wasn't for several until it really came together for me. So big props to her and of course all the cast for breaking
I LOVE that the "love story" is SECONDARY to the breaking, which is atypical for an 80s flick. There is no STUPID LAME 80s makeout scene. The romance between Kelly and Ozone is there but it isn't and it makes sense in the characters' world because Ozone/Shabba Doo is an angry artist who is incapable of love, and I'm sure Lucinda/Kelly could've sensed that so it wouldn't make sense for a deep romance to exist between the characters tho there is something like a shared respect and a possibility of a romantic relationship but it just isn't there, SO DANCE is where both of those characters put their passion. And I LOVE that. It's about the dance and art in the movie 1st.
Great skills, fun to watch, decent story, and Lucinda Dickey is a skilled BABE from heaven! Awesome movie, and I'm glad she got to star in it and have fun as a dancer who came to Hollywood to make it, it was her dream come true.
I love that she thinks only people care about Ozone and Turbo, they were great as typical breakdancers, but let's face it, it's ALWAYS about the underdog and outsiders and we're always on their side because we've all been there b4. Kudos to Lucinda Dickey for taking on the role, which from all accounts Shabba Doo made it hard for her, and most poeple wouldn't sign up for a part 2 AND 3, which Lucinda Dickey had done.
I wish they would've made a Breakin 3 cuz who knows how it would've been.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
11/10/24
Full Review
timmy b
For Hip Hop Headz & Dancers in general, this Film is mad prolific. The Style, Soundtrack & especially the Dance is way Dope.
It sits as a legendary classic in the Hip Hop zeitgeist.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
08/12/24
Full Review
isa e
good dancing, terrible dialog, van damme in a onesie, lucinda dickey cannot act.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
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 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/06/23
Full Review
Audience Member
https://youtu.be/0V1jNdl03dY
Rated 5/5 Stars •
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 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/15/23
Full Review
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