Wild Style

R

Released Sep 16, 1983

1h 22m

Musical

List

90%

Tomatometer

21 Reviews

87%

Audience Score

2,500+ Ratings

South Bronx graffiti artist Shy Zoro is commissioned to paint a backdrop for a rap/break-dance concert.

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Peacock

Prime Video

Rent Wild Style on Prime Video, or buy it on Prime Video.

Melissa Anderson

Time Out

Rated: 5/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Sara Cardace

New York Magazine/Vulture

Charlie Ahearn's groundbreaking film about hip-hop, graffiti, break dancing, and rap in eighties New York celebrates its 25th anniversary with a new 35-mm. print.

Nov 10, 2008

Full Review

Derek Malcolm

London Evening Standard

A poorly-acted shambles.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 10, 2007

Full Review

Farah Cheded

A Good Movie To Watch

Brilliantly capturing the freewheeling spirit of NYC’s hip-hop scene, this is a time capsule that never feels dusty thanks to the appropriately off-the-cuff filmmaking.

Dec 2, 2023

Full Review

Sabrina McFarland

Common Sense Media

Director Charlie Ahearn shares a feel-good collaboration of the early days of hip-hop and graffiti artistry in New York City.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 14, 2023

Full Review

Sean Burns

WBUR’s Arts & Culture

Few films are blessed with the sense of discovery captured in these ramshackle reels.

Jul 24, 2021

Full Review

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Torin F

It may not be a great movie, but WILD STYLE is undoubtedly an incredible cultural and historical artifact.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is a classic look at early rap, graffiti and breakdance culture in NYC, told from a slightly fictionalized perspective. We follow actual graffiti artist Lee Quinones as Zoro, who spends his nights creating art on the sides of subway cars and his issues with friends who want to make art for *gasp* ACTUAL MONEY instead of just passion. Great stuff and well worth the wait, I'm pleased to cross this one off the list of shame. Recommended.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A docudrama about the early NY hip hop scene where folks essentially play themselves in a loose narrative about a graffiti artist reaching for success in his field. The acting is strictly amateur level, but the real draw here is some amazing musical performances by a bunch of seminal artists. If you're into any aspect of this culture, soaking up the extremely authentic street level ambiance is entertaining enough to carry you through a bit of patchy acting.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Watched w/ C. Can see how it gave distribution of hip hop culture to a wider audience. Some generally fun scenes and great style. Good vibes throughout, but poor acting and narrative.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A hip hop classic joint! This movie is great and has a classic story for back in the day. I highly recommend anyone into rap and hip hop check out this classic joint. It's about romance, the hip hop culture, & the love of rap music with an extremely positive vibe. This classic still stands the test of time. =)

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Pivotal film to knowing what real true Hip Hop is about before it broke into the mainstream and was used to misguide today's youth from being smart independent thinkers.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

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Charlie Ahearn

Director

"Lee" George Quinones

Raymond

Lady Pink

Rose

Grandmaster Flash

Self

Patti Astor

Virginia

Andrew Witten

Z-Roc

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Synopsis

South Bronx graffiti artist Shy Zoro is commissioned to paint a backdrop for a rap/break-dance concert.

Director: Charlie Ahearn
Screenwriter: Charlie Ahearn
Distributor: First Run, Rhino Entertainment Company [us]
Production Co: Wild Style
Rating: R
Genre: Musical
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 16, 1983, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Runtime: 1h 22m
Sound Mix: Mono

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