Salsa (1988)

Great Film overall

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Me and my sister rented this from a video store many years ago and loved it so much we wore the tape out!! When we managed to get it on DVD many years later we were over the moon!! A film that cheers me up every time I watch it, sure it's cheesy but it's great! Amazing dancing, amazing soundtrack, overall a totally feel good movie! I have and will watch this film over and over again. This film will make you want to dance, happy and really connect and like the cast, cheesy as I say but I love it! So nice to see as well that the main leads got married after this and are still together now. The soundtrack is amazing and will have you alone at home dancing alone pretending you are a salsa queen! :- )

I'm not kidding, I believe it can be scientifically proved that if you prick a hole in this flick, it will collapse as the air goes out of it. There is no plot. What hint of one that there is, has been carelessly recycled from far superior pictures; honestly, why is this even a movie? The reason it was made is clear: The dancing and the tunes, both of which are reasonably plentiful in this(and I am not at all the person to ask if it's any good, but presumably so, since it was the basis for putting this thing together to begin with). Why not merely do, I don't know, music videos or something? They had nothing to tell, there is no actual point to this, it is literally all assembled around aforementioned focus, and this *shows*, in the worst kind of way. The editing and cinematography are completely standard, at best. We get an utterly intolerable(well, all of them are, he's the strongest offender, though) main character, a Michael Jackson wanna-be, no charisma, he's just got moves, and his Elvis is irritating. This is about some contest, and do you really care? He wants to be world-famous at it... is that like the Hispanic version of being a basket player or a rapper? This doesn't have a single funny moment to be found in the 100 slow, dull, painful minutes that it lasts. There's unconvincing romance. Also, eye-candy for the two genders. If this is somehow cheaper to rent than a set of salsa instruction DVDs or something, I guess its existence is slightly validated. There is a little mild to moderate language and suggestive material in this. I recommend this solely to those who aren't interested in, or expect, any value from it that relates to the medium of film. 1/10

Salsa is excellent for anybody that loves Puerto Rico, Salsa, or just hearing awesome music. This was my absolute favorite movie as a kid. Being Puerto Rican, all of the aspects of the culture made me excited. I always wished that I could have someone that loves me the way the two in the movie loved each other. I even had a little crush on Kenny . .. .who I can't believe died in 1998!!! I mean how the heck did I not notice!!! Anyway, this movie is very highly recommended. The music is absolutely unbelievable, and you'll just find yourself wanting to just get up and dance while watching it. Whenever I recommend Salsa to friends today, they just fall in love with it.

I first watched this in the cinema when I was a dreamy 15 year old, i'm 33 now and still loving it!....I recommend it for those who love a dance movie with a great soundtrack...and for teenage girls!...but most of all for the beautiful Rodney Harvey who sadly is no longer with us, it's no Dirty Dancing but enjoyable just the same. Rodney is so handsome it takes your breath away it's such a shame that he died so young, he definitely keeps you watching. The talented Robby Rosa plays the lead along with writing and singing some of the songs on the soundtrack. The girls are lovely too, real life sisters Angela and Magali Alvarado, Angela is still married to Rosa after meeting on the set and falling in love whilst making the film, that in itself is sweet.....I have given this an 8/10 mainly for Rodney! Enjoy.....Janey