''Breakin''' (also known as ''Breakdance'' in the United Kingdom and ''Break Street '84'' in other regions) is a 1984 American

breakdancing Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Nuyorican, Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City. Breakdancing consist ...

-themed

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

film directed by

Joel Silberg Joel Silberg (; 30 March 1927 – 18 February 2013) was a film, television and stage director and screenwriter in Israel and the United States. He made films in Israel including so-called Bourekas films. He then directed films in the U.S. during th ...

and written by Charles Parker and Allen DeBevoise based on a story by Parker, DeBevoise and Gerald Scaife about dancer Alysha Williams. The film's setting was inspired by a 1983 documentary titled ''Breakin' 'n' Enterin, set in the multi-racial hip hop club Radio-Tron, based out of

MacArthur Park MacArthur Park (originally Westlake Park) is a park dating back to the late 19th century in the Westlake, Los Angeles, Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In the early 1940s, it was renamed after General Douglas MacArthur, and la ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Many of the artists and dancers from said documentary, including

Ice-T Tracy Lauren Marrow (born February 16, 1958), known professionally as Ice-T (or Ice T), is an American rapper and actor. He is active in both hip hop music, hip hop and heavy metal music, heavy metal. Ice-T began his career as an underground r ...

(who makes his film debut as a club MC), and Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers, went straight from ''Breakin' 'n' Enterin''' to star in ''Breakin'''. The film's

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

featured the hits " Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us" by Ollie & Jerry, "Freakshow on the Dance Floor" by

The Bar-Kays The Bar-Kays is an American funk band formed in 1964. The band had dozens of charting singles from the 1960s to the 1980s, including " Soul Finger" (US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number 17, R&B number 3) in 1967, "Son of Shaft" (R&B number 10) in ...

and the UK Top 20 hit "Body Work" by Hot Streak. ''Breakin''' was one of the final

Cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

film productions released by MGM/UA. After release, MGM and Cannon dissolved their distribution deal, reportedly over the potentially X-rated content in

John Derek John Derek (born Derek Delevan Harris; August 12, 1926 – May 22, 1998) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer.

's film ''

Bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It h ...

'' and MGM's then-policy of not theatrically releasing X-rated material, forcing Cannon to become an in-house distribution company once again. Because of this, ''Breakin''' is considered to be the final financially profitable film released by Cannon. ''Breakin''' was released to theaters on May 4, 1984, and despite receiving negative reviews from critics, it was a box office success. A theatrical sequel entitled '' Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo'' was released later in the same year.

Plot

Protagonist Kelly "Special K" Bennett is a young dancer training under instructor Franco in

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, whe ...

. Through her friend Adam, Kelly meets two street dancers, Ozone and Turbo on the boardwalk at Venice Beach. Kelly is enamored with their dancing, and all three become friends. This leads to their becoming their own dance troupe. Franco tells Kelly that breakdancing is low-class and not a real art. He is disrespectful to Ozone and Turbo, and makes inappropriate advances on Kelly. She quits training with Franco. Later, Kelly attends a dance audition and is shut down by harsh directors. Kelly then wanders to a breakdancing event where she finds Ozone and Turbo in the midst of a dance battle that they eventually lose against rivals "Electro Rock." Adam convinces Ozone and Turbo to teach Kelly how to breakdance. After training for a while, the three defeat Electro Rock. Kelly convinces the troupe to enroll in a dance competition. Kelly's agent friend, James, sees what the group can do and agrees to back them. The competition requirements are traditional, socially respected styles of dance. The troupe walks before the judges in tuxedos, top hats and white gloves to give the impression of traditional dancers. Just before the audition starts, they rip off the sleeves of their shirts and show their true style. The judges are initially shocked and disapproving, yet within two minutes of their audition, the judges recognize the troupe's talent and allow them to continue. The troupe earns a standing ovation from the judges and win the competition. The troupe's popularity skyrockets, and all three members continue dancing professionally and in the community. In a mid-credits scene, Special K, Ozone, and Turbo meet James some time after the competition, who informs them about a new phenomenon known as "the electric boogaloo."

Cast

* Lucinda Dickey as Kelly "Special K" Bennett * Adolfo "Shabba Doo" Quiñones as Orlando "Ozone" Barco * Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers as Tony "Turbo" Ainley *

Ice T The ICE T or ICE-T, consisting of DB Classes 411 and 415, are German tilting train, tilting electric multiple-unit high-speed trains in service with DB Fernverkehr serving routes within Germany and to Austria. Development Following the succe ...

as Rap Talker * Chris "The Glove" Taylor as Club Radiotron DJ * Ben Lokey as Franco *

Christopher McDonald Christopher McDonald (born February 15, 1955) is an American actor. McDonald is best known for playing the villainous professional golfer Shooter McGavin in the 1996 comedy '' Happy Gilmore'', a role he’d later reprise in 2025’s sequel '' H ...

as James Wilcox * Phineas Newborn III as Adam * Vidal "Lil Coco" Rodriguez as "Hot Tot" * Bruno "Pop N' Taco" Falcon as Electro Rock 1 * Timothy "Popin' Pete" Solomon as Electro Rock 2 * Ana "Lollipop" Sanchez as Electro Rock 3 * Cooley Jaxson as Himself, A Dancer * Peter Bromilow as Judge * Michel Qissi as Background Dancing Spectator (uncredited) *

Jean-Claude Van Damme Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian martial artist and actor. Born and raised in Brussels, his father enrolled him in a Shotokan karate schoo ...

as Spectator In First Dance Sequence (uncredited) * Richie Cerrone as "Lil R" Background Dancer (uncredited)

Production

According to the 2014 documentary '' Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films'',

Menahem Golan Menahem Golan (; May 31, 1929 – August 8, 2014, originally Menachem Globus) was an Israelis, Israeli film producer, screenwriter, and director. He co-owned The Cannon Group with his cousin Yoram Globus. Cannon specialized in producing low-to-mid ...

of Cannon Films was inspired to create the film after his daughter saw a breakdancer perform in

Venice Beach, California Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. Golan pressured the production crew to complete the film before

Orion Pictures Orion Releasing, LLC (Trade name, doing business as Orion Pictures) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by the Amazon MGM Studios subsidiary of Amazon (company), Amazon. It was founded in 1978 as Ori ...

released its breakdancing film ''

Beat Street ''Beat Street'' is a 1984 American dance drama film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to vari ...

''.

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was released by

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

in 1984. The album contains the first album performance by rapper

, produced by DJ Chris "The Glove" Taylor and David Storrs.

Track listing

The soundtrack album does not include several previously released songs that are heard in the film, such as "Boogie Down" by

Al Jarreau Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and songwriter. His 1981 album '' Breakin' Away'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and ...

, "

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

" by

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...

, " Beat Box" by

Art of Noise Art of Noise (also the Art of Noise) were a British avant-garde synth-rock group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and ...

and "Tibetan Jam" by Chris "The Glove" Taylor.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release

Box office

''Breakin opened in 1,069 venues on May 4, 1984 and outgrossed ''

Sixteen Candles ''Sixteen Candles'' is a 1984 American coming-of-age teen comedy film starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling, and Anthony Michael Hall. Written and directed by John Hughes in his directorial debut, it was the first in a string of f ...

'', which had more screens (1,240), earning $6,047,686. By the end of its run, the film grossed $38,682,707 at the domestic box office, making it the 18th-top-grossing film of 1984.

Critical reception

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

awarded the film 1.5 stars out of 4, calling it "a stiff and awkward story, interrupted by dance sequences of astonishing grace and power." Ebert praised the dancing and the chemistry of the stars but panned the screenplay and supporting characters. ''Breakin currently holds a 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on nine reviews.

Home media

On August 5, 2003, MGM Home Entertainment released ''Breakin on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

. On April 21, 2015,

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory, LLC, doing business as Shout! Studios (formerly doing business as Shout! Factory, its current legal name), is an American home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued i ...

released ''Breakin''', along with its sequel, ''Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo'', as a double feature

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

In popular culture

Several months before the film's release, Shabba Doo, Boogaloo Shrimp, Pop n' Taco, Popin' Pete, DJ Chris "The Glove" Taylor and Lollipop were all featured in the music video for

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

's remake of the 1979

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

song " I Feel for You". Ice-T, who had small roles in both ''Breakin and its sequel ''Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo'' and was featured on the soundtrack to both films, considers the film and his own performance in it to be "wack". In 2019, the documentary ''Boogaloo Shrimp'' by Taylor Golonka was released on

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

. It focuses on the life of

Michael Chambers Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers (born November 13, 1967) is an Americans, American dancer and actor, known for his role as "Turbo" in the 1984 film ''Breakin and its sequel, ''Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo'', in which he is credited as "B ...

, who plays Turbo in ''Breakin'''.

References

Bibliography

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Breakin' 1984 films 1980s musical comedy-drama films 1980s romantic comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films 1980s dance films American dance films American independent films American musical comedy-drama films American romantic musical films 1980s English-language films Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles 1980s hip-hop films Golan-Globus films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films United Artists films 1980s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 1984 independent films Breakdancing films Films directed by Joel Silberg 1980s American films English-language romantic comedy-drama films English-language musical comedy-drama films English-language independent films 1984 musical films