Breakin' is a 1984 American breakdancing-themed comedy-drama film directed by Joel Silberg, written by Charles Parker and Allen DeBevoise, based on a story by Parker, DeBevoise and Gerald Scaife. 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 in Los Angeles. Many of the artists and dancers from said documentary, including Ice-T, and Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers, went straight from Breakin' 'n' Enterin' to star in Breakin'. The musical score featured the hits "Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us" by Ollie & Jerry and "Freakshow on the Dance Floor" by The Bar-Kays. Breakin' was the final Cannonfilm production released by MGM/UA. After release, MGM and Cannon dissolved their distribution deal, reportedly over the potentially X-rated content in John Derek's film Bolero 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 followed by a sequel entitled ', released later in 1984.
Plot
Protagonist Kelly "Special K" Bennett is a young dancer training under instructor Franco in Venice, California. 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". A very defeated Ozone is consoled by Kelly. She 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.
According to the 2014 documentary , Menahem Golan of Cannon Films was inspired to create this film after his daughter saw a breakdancer perform in Venice Beach, California. Golan pressured the production crew to complete the film before Orion Pictures released their breakdancing film Beat Street. Erik Abbey was the choreographer for the breakdancing scenes.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the film was released by Polydor Records in 1984. The album contains the first performance on an album by rapper Ice-T, produced by DJ Chris "The Glove" Taylor & David Storrs.
Track listing
Despite not being included on the official soundtrack, the film also features the previously released songs "Boogie Down" by Al Jarreau, "Tour de France" by Kraftwerk, "Beatbox" by Art of Noise and "Tibetan Jam" by Chris "The Glove" Taylor.
Release
Box office
Breakin' opened in 1,069 venues on May 4, 1984 and outgrossed Sixteen Candles, which had more screens. The film ranked number one in the box office, earning $6,047,686. By the end of its run, the film grossed $38,682,707 in the domestic box office, making it the eighteenth top-grossing film of 1984.
Critical reception
Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 43% of seven critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 4.29/10. Roger Ebert, who reviewed the film while it was in theatres, gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4, stating that the movie was, "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 slammed the movie's screenplay, script, and supporting characters. User generated film-information site IMDb reported "5,384 IMDb users have given a weighted average vote of 5.8 / 10" for the film.
Several months prior to the film's release, Shabba Doo, Boogaloo Shrimp, Pop n' Taco, Popin' Pete, DJ Chris "The Glove" Taylor and Lollipop were all prominently featured in the music video for Chaka Khan's remake of the 1979 Prince song, "I Feel for You". Ice-T, who had a small role in both Breakin and its sequel Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo and was prominently featured on the soundtrack to both films, was quoted as saying he considers the film and his own performance in it to be "wack". Breakin' and its sequel have had a resurgence in popular media as people have begun to remember, mock, and praise the film over 20 years later, with the sequel's subtitle in particular becoming a snowclone pejorative nickname to denote an archetypical sequel. In 2019, the documentary ' by Taylor Golonka was released on Amazon Prime. It focuses on the creative talents of Michael Chambers, who played Turbo in Breakin'''. According to filmmaker Taylor Golonka, "Michael Chambers will go down in history as being one of the iconic innovators of the b-boy and breakdancing culture." "Breakin'" was referenced in the first episode of "Mixed-ish" on 9-24-19.
