Breakin'

Breakin', released as Breakdance: The Movie in some countries, is a 1984 breakdancing-themed film directed by Joel Silberg. The film setting was inspired by a German documentary entitled Breakin' and Enterin' set in the Los Angeles multi-racial hip hop club Radiotron, based out of Macarthur Park in Los Angeles. Many of the artists and dancers, including Ice-T (who makes his movie debut as a club MC) and Boogaloo Shrimp, went straight from Breakin' and Enterin' to star in Breakin'. Ice-T has stated he considers the film and his own performance in it to be "wack".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakin%27

I just viewed an old tape of "Breakin'" last night. It's been 17 years since I first viewed it at the movies. However, I can't believe the powerful effect it still has on me. Yes, admittedly, the plot is not original, the screenplay is truly by-the-numbers, and the acting is generally amateurish. Yet, in spite of these shortcomings, the movie is still catchy, sincere, and engrossing. That's because of the talented stars who really love what they do, namely, breakdancing and "poppin' and lockin'," along with the stimulating, get-on-your-feet dance music.

This movie is like a time capsule of the 80s, with hints of the future. Moreover, I still find it to be inspirational, motivational, and hypnotic. Looking at these streetdancers and the jazz dancer go after their dreams with sheer determination, talent, and grit makes me want to jump up and do the same thing! Yes, I'm nearly fifty, but looking at this movie gave me another shot of adrenalin to do what I need to do in my daily life. "Ain't no stoppin' us" is the endless musical mantra in "Breakin'"...nothing stopped the dancers, and nothing's going to stop me, either. Watch "Breakin'" for yourself, and you'll see what I mean. 9/10 Rating.
zach-27
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086998/reviews?ref_=tt_urv

now lovingly restored on DVD and it's a treat; amazing original breakdancing scenes from Los Angeles, riotously colourful wardrobes, an incredibly high quality 80s electro/freestyle soundtrack, and all played out with such beautiful innocence and sincerity
William Bennett
http://williambennett.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/fillmore-discos-69.html

There are going to be several street dancing movies this summer and “Breakin’” is the first one, sweet and high-spirited and with three dancers who are so good they deserve a better screenplay. This is really two movies: A stiff and awkward story, interrupted by dance sequences of astonishing grace and power.

The story, alas, is predictable from beginning to end. We meet Kelly, a young Los Angeles dancer (Lucinda Dickey) who is the student of a hateful choreographer. Through a friend she meets a couple of break-dancers on the boardwalk at Venice. They have a concept of dancing that’s totally different from hers; while she polishes technique, they turn up the volume on their ghetto blasters and lose themselves in the joy of street dancing. She likes them, dances with them, and they form a team.

The fact is, there’s a movie here somewhere. Dickey has a wonderfully fresh presence and a level-headed likeability, and she can dance (we will, I think, hear a lot more from her). Chambers and Quinones are two of the more original movie characters in a long time. I’ll bet an interesting documentary could have been made about how these three performers met, how they learned to work together, how the street dancers taught their moves to the traditionally trained Dickey, and how they got along offscreen. Those subjects supply the fictional plot of this movie – but the script is too amateurish and the direction too clumsy to take advantage of the great material.

You like street dancing? This is a great movie, if you can manage to ignore about two-thirds of it.
Roger Ebert
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/breakin-1984 

In the movie Breakin‘, when Turbo’s moon walk sweeps the sidewalk to Kraftwerk’s “Tour de France”, cinematic history was made. That scene will be noted in the annals of time as the greatest two minutes in cinema ever, forever, until the end of time.

Greatest two minutes of cinematic history, AKA Turbo broom scene:




Breakin‘ has everything a good movie should have; leather gloves, moon walking, nice butts in tights, electro music, a guy with no legs doing the windmill and Ice mutha fuckin T. Breakin’ literally broke the mold when they came up with that insanely awesome movie formula.

This is real break dancing -not this bullshit “so you think you can dance” kinda break dancing that we see so much of in today’s society. This is breakin’ back when it was more punk rock than punk rock, with ripped T-shirts, leather, studs, spray paint and took place in the streets. To sum it up I will quote the illustrious Bar-Kays it was a “Freak show, baby, baby on the dance floor… They’re wearin’ miniskirts and camisoles, tight leather pants or nothing at all… Guys with guys, chicks with chicks, it really doesn’t matter they just do it for the kicks”. Those are words to live by my friends.

Which brings me to my last point of proof that this is one of, if not thee best movie of all time. The sound track is insanely good. I had this 12′ growing up and it largely inspired my entire music making process. The music in the movie is proper Electro, back when that term was used to describe artist who made people dance to their unique brand of electronic funk, not this new bastardization of that term by EDM dicks with mouse masks; seriously, fuck those guys.

The soundtrack features amazing bands like the Bar-Kays, Kraftwerk, The Art of Noise and Hot Streak. The jewel of the sound-track and the movie is Ice-T and the Glove’s amazing 808 and 303 acid bass line, hip-hop monster “Reckless”.
SINS
http://mishkanyc.com/bloglin/2013/05/21/pop-it-to-lock-it-break-it-to-make-it-breakin-1984/