Beat Street (1984)

Judging this movie as a movie is wrong This is not just a movie it's a guide book You can't realise the impact that this film had in lives of teenagers outside US Only if you are a 14 year old in a cinema watching the battle in Roxy with eyes and mouth open wide you can understand it ( I was ) , ok has some corny scenes and some bad acting . WHO CARED ? No one did and no one will This is a worldwide introduction to Hip Hop

Beat Street was always the film you watched back in the 80's if you took Hip Hop and Break Dancing seriously and wanted a better idea of how this new wave of music was infecting the youth culture at the time. Oh how we laughed at those who thought Electric Bogaloo was the film to watch,if you hadn't seen this, you didn't know anything.Beat Street as a film in its own right is something of a rare gem and still stands up today, despite a really weak performance from Rae Dawn Chong,the rest of the performances from mostly non or inexperienced actors are raw and real. The plot, such as it is revolves around two brothers, KK a DJ, Lee a dancer and their close friends who are all hustling with the new movement of dance, music and graffiti art to make their marks in the run down impoverished Bronx of New York. Thrown into this story is something of a rather flimsy love plot involving the older brother (Guy Davis) and a dance from the local arts school, where it seems only the rich kids go. What is more interesting is the relationship between talented artist Ramo (John Chardliet, shame he didn't do more acting) and his girlfriend and mother of his young child,(Santiago, excellent in anything she is in) as they struggle to make ends meet while he strains to retain his title of the spray can king. At the time this was made it was seen by many as a fictionalised version of the documentary Wild Style, the films almost go hand in hand. In the latter an artist called 'Cap' always sprayed over everyones work, just for the hell of it. Here someone called 'Spit' does the same, ultimately with Tragic results.The film features the dance groups of the time, Rocky Steady Crew and New City Breakers, as well as Africa Bambata, Doug E Fresh, Grandmater Mel and the Furious Five and others. It is gritty, rough around the edges, but has a charm and is often funny and touching. The ending with the concert and mesh of styles and music of the time is a really rewarding sequence which I have watched many times. Anyone who looks at this film dismissively is really missing the point. It was an attempt to counter point god awful films like Breakdance 1 and 2, to show a more realistic depiction of the types of kids who were involved in this music and culture at the time (Most of them in the film actually were) and though the film enjoyed some success it left many of its participants wondering at the end, what happens now? What indeed? It almost feels as if the film was the last cry of a generation that became fragmented and lost its way just before drug culture impacted so heavily on communities.Beat Street played out of competition at the Cannes festival in 1984, which that year found Paris / Texas scooping up all the awards, but as an impact on youth culture on an international stage that film cannot claim to have even a fraction of the influence that Beat Street did, especially behind the iron curtain where pirate copies were being sold for as much as 100 dollars. Sometimes it feels as if it were criminally overlooked, not least of all, by Cannes. Anyone who doubts its impact only needs to go and look at Art and Hip Hop in France, and you will find many of its influences orginate from this film. It was a voice for a time that many over looked, but those interested in the beginnings of Hip Hop should seek this out. As a statement on musical culture given voice through a drama, in this way, this film has not been equalled.

I just wanna say that amongst all the so-called classic hiphop films Ive seen like Wild Style, KrushGroove, Breakin', Style Wars etc... IMO BEAT STREET is the best amongst the others. Whenever I ask other people about which is their fave, then it seems that BEAT STREET pops out the most. But still, its the lowest ranked of all. 4.3 is just a punch "under the belt" (If say, 5 points is the belt). I love the music performances, the breakdancing makes me wanna spin, RAMO makes me wanna throw a piece...c'mon, its a classic!!!

When released in 1984, Beat Street was one of the best hip hop themed films released at the time. The movie gets a 10 just for combining all of the elements of hip hop which are the mc,dj, graff and b-boy. The soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard.