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(More customer reviews)It's time to put your headband and parachute pants on and break out those Grandmaster Flash records for the holy breakdancing trilogy of films. These movies were made pre-Gangsta rap when disputes were settled either on the dance floor or on the mic. Breakin', its sequel, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, and Beat Street were all released in 1984 and are a fantastic time capsule of their times in all of their cheesy (and in one case not so cheesy) glory.
Looking at it now, Breakin', with its laughably cheesy dialogue ("Blond, brunette - if they're looking for hair why don't they look for gorillas?"), horribly dated `80s fashion (skinny ties! headbands! parachute pants!) and wooden acting, is a harmless, cartoony look at a more innocent time. And let's be honest, that is part of the film's charm.
After the surprise success of the first Breakin' movie a sequel was quickly rushed into production and the result is Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (great title, btw). Special K, Ozone and Turbo are back and this time out our heroes have come together to save an inner city community centre from a greedy developer who wants to knock it down and put up a shopping centre. They have 30 days to raise $200,000.
Beat Street is the East Coast answer to Breakin' that was grittier, edgier and therefore not as successful but definitely more authentic. Shot on the dirty, grungy, pre-Giuliani streets of New York City, it follows Kenny (Davis), an up-and-coming rapper/DJ who is buddies with Ramon (Chardiet), a gifted graffiti artist who uses the subways and sides of buildings as his canvas.
Unlike Breakin', this is how the hip hop scene really looked and sounded back in the day. Parties take place in the basements of burnt-out buildings in the slums of the city. These guys are all young, poor and hungry to make it out of the ghetto anyway they can. Beat Street also trumps Breakin' in the number of cameos by pioneers of the genre, featuring the likes of DJ Kool Herc, Kool Mo Dee, Doug E. Fresh, Afrika Bambaataa and Melle Mel. This also results in a great soundtrack that shows many of the influences on early hip hop: calypso, salsa, jazz-all thrown into the mix.
Beat Street is everything that the Breakin' films aren't: gritty, cold, gray with characters that swear and even die. It is a fascinating example of the polar ends of the spectrum and this box set collects all three movies for one to immerse themselves in early '80s culture.
MGM has basically repackaged these three movies and so we have Breakin' and Breakin' 2 presented in crappy pan and scan with nothing more than a trailer as an extra. Beat Street can be seen either, pan and scanned or widescreen with a trailer included.
Included exclusively with this box set is a DVD of extras. Sadly, they have almost nothing directly to do with the three films which is a big disappointment. Surely, they could have gotten Shabba Doo and Boogaloo Shrimp back for some new extras? What's Rae Dawn Chong done lately? And where's the deleted scene of Kadeem Hardison cut from Beat Street?
Instead, the focus is on the hip hop culture itself. First up, is "The Culture of Hip Hop" which traces the genre's origins. There is a surprising lack of commentary from celebrity pioneers like DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and others. Instead, more obscure (to those not in the know) people talk about the basic elements of hip hop and b-boy culture.
"The Elements of Hip Hop" breaks it down into four components: graffiti, DJing, breakin' and MCing. This is a pretty decent introduction to the basic components of the culture and a nice companion piece to the first featurette.
"Beat Street Battle: Rock Steady Crew vs. New York City Breakers" is the only extra that has anything to do with the films in the set and it is just a scene lifted from Beat Street.
"Shout Outs" is basically a montage of people who were interviewed in the first two featurettes giving thanks to all the people who inspired and supported them over the years.
Also included is a music video for "Will Not Be Destroyed" by the Living Legends with loads of nice breakdancing footage.
Finally, there are small galleries with stills from each of the three movies from the set.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Breakin' Collection (Breakin' / Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo / Beat Street) (1984)
BREAKIN COLLECTION - DVD Movie
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