My Review of "Beat Street"

Beat Street is an 80's movie about hip hop in the Bronx at that time. Although it isn't marketed as such, this movie really is a musical. I think a lot of the charm of this movie comes from the musical and dance elements. The story is pretty rudimentary and the acting isn't the best. You're really here for the historical context and the players that were involved with this project.

The movie starts off with the introduction of a small crew of friends. They're setting up a party in an abandoned building in the south Bronx. This crew consists of Kenny (the musical genius), Ramon (the visual artist), Lee (the kid who breakdances) and Chollie (the manager of the group). Together, they set up parties and try to make a name for themselves.

It kind of looks hopeless since they live in such a low income neighborhood. Each of them are dreamers and have a romantic notion that they will someday make it in their respective art. Nothing really goes on in a lot of the movie. We see talent in the Bronx that probably hasn't been seen anywhere else. In a sense, this is the audience's exploration into hip hop culture at the time. It's pretty fascinating because from stories I've heard this is technically historically accurate. They use a lot of the big players of the time as part of the movie to help build the legitimacy of the movie as well.

This movie doesn't really have any sort of plot point until we see there's a rival graffiti artist that is destroying Ramon's street art. At this same time we get introduced to Tracy who becomes Kenny's romantic interest for the movie. She comes from an affluent background and this causes some friction within their relationship.

Again this movie is more about the music and environment. It's kind of a blast from the past that only some people can appreciate. Those that are interested into hip hop's history will love this movie because of the fashions, the art, the music and the dancing. Although, there is an element of fusion in this movie where they add some 80's era modern art to this mix. There are some African music/dance elements that get added in because of Tracy's art school background. There is also some gospel elements closer to the end as well.

Those that are into the breakdance culture will really appreciate the fact that a lot of the prominent dancers of the time were featured in here. They are doing very old school moves and this is at its core the foundation of what breaking was all about back in the day. It's a historical blast from the past for people to really dive into the environment and mental process of how things were back in the day.

That can be probably said for the musical acts as well. There are a lot of musical acts that were popular back in the day that are probably forgotten today. This movie is able to remind us who they are and what made them so great. I loved some of the musical selections in this movie. Some of the songs I've forgotten for quite some time.

As for the movie itself it isn't that great of a movie. The plot is weak and the acting is quite poor. You're really here to see a snapshot of history. It's great to see how things were at the time and how people conducted themselves. This movie will forever be one of the movies I go back to simply because of the breakdancing.

Overall, I had a great time with this movie but I tended to rewatch strictly the breakdance videos and the DJ set where Kenny is trying to impress the Roxy manager with his DJ skills. As a movie I probably wouldn't watch this through from start to finish that often. As a movie I unfortunately have to give this one a 5.5 out of 10. That being said I'll still revisit this movie strictly for those aforementioned scenes.