posted
Two great movies that both came out in 1984.
I love this movie, and it has some great examples of street dancing back in the 80's. It is definitely worth checking out. Instead of fight scenes there are dance offs too which is classic stuff. The TKO crew had great dancers such as Adolfo 'Shabba-Doo' Quiñones who plays Ozone and Michael 'Boogaloo Shrimp' Chambers as Turbo. It also has great appearances from Christopher 'Shooter McGavin' McDonald, as well as very early performances from Tracy 'Iceberg' Marrow (Ice-T). TKO's rivalry is Electro Rock featuring Bruno 'Pop N' Taco' Falcon and Timothy 'Poppin Pete' Solomon. I don't know if it is just me but I always felt that 'Pop N' Taco' was the best dancer in the movie. I have heard rumours over the years that he taught Michael Jackson alot of moves personally, but never found a reliable source to authenticate this.
Beat Street has old school written all over it and had a major influence on breakdancers, DJ's, MC's aswell as Graffiti artists - I am sure alot more trains would have been 'bombed' after this came out. As well as Breakin' this movie is not known for its strong story but is a great movie due to what I have mentioned. The movie features an entourage of funk. The Rock Steady Crew, who also appeared in Wild Style, Style Wars and Flashdance along with The New York City Breakers. DJ Jazzy Jay, Kool Moe Dee (who is the godfather of rap IMO) and the rest of The Treacherous Three who perform Santa's rap (Great scene BTW) along with Doug E. Fresh who was one of the pioneers of beat boxing. Grandmaster Melle Mel also appeared who probably had one of the greatest influences on rap. He actually wrote 'The Message' for which Grandmaster Flash basically receives credit for.
These two movies influenced so many people, and I am wondering if these movies influenced any of you directly or whether you enjoyed the films. I personally am just a big fan of the movies.
It is hard to say which is better, but I'll put it like this as far as influence goes I would say that Beat Street wins. As far as which is the better movie and has better breakdancing, I would have to go with Breakin'
Your thoughts:
* If you like these, it is worth checking out Wild Style and Style Wars that just slightly pre-date these two.
Posts: 2586 | From: Defrauding the company from abroad | Registered: Jan 2010 | Site Updates: 24
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posted
My younger brother was a big time break dancer back in the day so we went to see both of these movies. I enjoyed them both. Breakin' didn't have much of a plot but was fun and set is SoCal which was always a plus for me. Beat Street was better dramatically and was more gritty. I hated the ending however. That whole New Years Eve "celebration" at the Roxy was weak and I thought it brought down the movie.
Both are good movies however and I even like Breakin' 2 Electric Boogaloo which was even more ridiculous!!
Posts: 294 | From: Arizona | Registered: Mar 2007 | Site Updates: 0
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posted
Yeah the ending was a bit weird and left a bit of unfinished business I thought.
Spits shouldda had the c..rap beaten out of him and Ramo should have gone on.
I am not really a fan of Breakin' 2 but it is great to see that other people like these movies.
I would have liked to have got involved in all of this stuff as a kid but my old man would have wrung my neck if I was involved in any of that stuff, plus the breakdancing scene wasn't really as big anywhere other than the USA although it did branch out all over the world incrementally.
Posts: 2586 | From: Defrauding the company from abroad | Registered: Jan 2010 | Site Updates: 24
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Valley Dated Julie From 'Valley Girl' (allegedly!)
Member # 1322
My favorite scene is when Ozone and Turbo teach Kelly how to breakdance to the tune "Ain't Nobody" by Rufus and Chaka Khan. There are more than a few people reading this right now.. saying I've heard this more than once.
Also, the scene at the dance studio where the TKO Crew improvise to "99 and 1/2" is brilliant as well.
Breakin' 2 is a fun movie and nobody can deny that Turbo's ceiling dance was an incredible scene, but overall Breakin' 2 lacked in certain areas in comparison to the original.
Plus, when you get this:
there isn't much left to say!
As far as "Beat Street" .. I want to like it more than I do. I'm a huge fan of dance flicks and the music talent on screen in "Beat Street" is amazing, but as was mentioned above.. the ending left me not really feeling it.
[ 27. February 2011, 11:09: Message edited by: Valley ]
Posts: 7845 | From: Smiling and glancing in awe in the back of a limo | Registered: Mar 2003 | Site Updates: 22
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Liked Breakin, loved Beat Street. I may have an east coast bias (Jersey boy), at the time these movies came out I was heavy into Breakin and Beat Street just hit it on the money.
To date I can still do windmills, I am known for doing them at all of my friends weddings, going on 39 and I can still bust'em out.
"My rap's too slick/togues too slick/I got gallant talent like a magic trick"
"You better eat your eggs before I break your legs"
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