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Wild Style

Play trailer Poster for Wild Style R 1983 1h 22m Musical Play Trailer Watchlist
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90% Tomatometer 21 Reviews 87% Popcornmeter 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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Wild Style

Critics Reviews

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Sara Cardace New York Magazine/Vulture 11/10/2008
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. Go to Full Review
Derek Malcolm London Evening Standard 08/10/2007
2/5
A poorly-acted shambles. Go to Full Review
Sukhdev Sandhu Daily Telegraph (UK) 08/10/2007
It's great to see again this bolt of ghetto joy, a kind of updated West Side Story, that shows hip-hop as a living, breathing expression of cultural resistance rather than a crunky, cheerless set of cruddy grunts and boasts from which to make money. Go to Full Review
Farah Cheded A Good Movie To Watch 12/02/2023
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. Go to Full Review
Sabrina McFarland Common Sense Media 08/14/2023
4/5
Director Charlie Ahearn shares a feel-good collaboration of the early days of hip-hop and graffiti artistry in New York City. Go to Full Review
Sean Burns WBUR’s Arts & Culture 07/24/2021
Few films are blessed with the sense of discovery captured in these ramshackle reels. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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JP h 10/15/2024 It's a fun little look into grafitti life and bombing. The central message was timeless, otherwise I'd give it 2 stars. It's about not being selfish and just helping others shine, and the main character has to realize his role, that it's not all about him even if he's 1 of the most skilled artists. He's just part of the atmosphere of things and helping the show and in the big picture the evolution of hip hop to what it would become, SADLY, but still it is what it is and it's the right advice to be happy. Lay back and be cool and happy with what you have even if the skills you have aren't very valued like Van Gogh during his time See more Torin F @nonlinearize 04/19/2023 It may not be a great movie, but WILD STYLE is undoubtedly an incredible cultural and historical artifact. See more 06/08/2017 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. See more 07/20/2016 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. See more 05/23/2014 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. See more 10/16/2013 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. =) See more Read all reviews
Wild Style

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Movie Info

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