Breakin' (1984)

Simply A Masterpiece

Redundant and unnecessary.

Boring

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

This has to be one of the biggest critic proof movies ever made.It's the epitome of the eighties, you could put this in a time capsule, and simply write 'the eighties' on it, and it would define the decade.Storywise, it stinks. It's the rich versus the poor, classical dance versus something that would make MC Hammer blush.Lucinda Dickey plays a waitress come dancer who meets two very different people and guess what? They can dance.But they are ignored because it's too unethical for the traditional people.So we have some amazing training montages and wondrous dancing with mops.It all adds up to nothing, but there is something really great about this film, that could brighten anyones day up.If you cannot comprehend predictability, the 'good' guys win..Amazing music, fantastic dancing, and crushingly bad acting equals one of the biggest guilty pleasures of the eighties.And Van Damme doesn't even utter a line....

Woeful, and blatant, attempt to cash in on the "Breakdance" craze that swept the western world in the early to mid-eighties.The script (from Allen DeBevoise, Gerald Scaife and Charles Parker) is a terrible "Flashdance" clone with street dancers Adolfo Quinones and Michael Chambers trying to get their big break on the stage, and show the world what they can do, with the help of classically trained hoofer Lucinda Dickey. The only thing worth watching is the dancing itself, with some well choreographed pieces blending easily with the natural 'breakin' talent.There is absolutely no acting prowess on show, and director Joel Silberg would be well advised to stick to putting up the money for someone else to run things. For something a little more down to earth and closer to reality, try "Beat Street". Music was penned by Gary Remal and Michael Boyd.Sunday, August 18, 1996 - Video

"Breakin" was the west coast version of "Beat Street". "Breakin" came complete with pop-locking, break dancing, battling, trash talking, rapping, and oh yeah... terrible outfits; all of the elements that made the 80's endearing to some and loathsome to others. Unlike "Beat Street", "Breakin'" explored what would happen when street dancing actually mixed with traditional theater/stage dancing. Break dancers, Ozone (Adolfo Quinones) and Turbo (Michael Chambers) are regular urban street dancers just practicing for the next battle until they meet Kelly (Lucinda Dickey) a performing arts dancer. What happens when street dancing mixes with performing arts dancing? This is where the separation occurs between the purists (on either side) and the non-purists. The purists for both street dancing and performing arts dancing abhorred the adulteration of their style of dance, where as the non-purists adored the mixing of the two. Personally, to this day I can't decide which side of the fence I'm on. But either way, I was entertained. I've liked this movie for years, and will always like it for the sheer entertainment value. The acting wasn't that great nor was the script and the story wasn't much better, but they kept everything simple enough where it wouldn't draw too many jeers, and then there was dancin' and battlin'. This also happened to be the first screen siting of legendary rapper turned actor Ice-T.

When you look back on the eighties break dancing and graffiti movies there are a handful of movies that should be a required viewing. If you want to see a bad break dancing movie, then check out Breakin. What makes this movie so bad is the fact that is just really missed the mark of capturing the essence of breaking. It was more of an attempt to crossover to a larger audience outside of the urban community. It may have succeeded reaching a larger audience but it really does not connect with the hardcore breaking audience.If you are looking for good 80's Hip Hop movies check out Beat Street, Wild Style, Krush Groove, Berry Gordy's Last dragon and please leave this on the shelf.Without being politically correct this movie is really gay. the gayest part has to be John Claude Van Damme in the opening scene wearing some tight black spandex.