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Breakin'/Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984) - Blu-ray Review

5 beersYou can’t touch this!  Funny, charming, and definitely loaded with better moves than you’ve ever seen before, Breakin’ and its immediate sequel, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, find their way onto a sparkling and crisp 2fer blu-ray release from Shout Factory.  Because dance fighting, whenever and wherever it happens, needs to be celebrated. 

Ten minutes into Breakin’, we get our first tease of what dance fighting looks like.  It is a brief scene, full of clos-ups on gyrating hips and pelvises, but with a threatening chest brush, you just know there’s more to come.  Street people.  Street names. Street dancing.  This collection of retro releases from Shout Factory has all the right moves (even the cameo from Jean Claude Van Damme works), even if the acting leaves something to be desired. 

 

"Thankfully, both of these classics of the burgeoning hip-hop era are included with this release.  Tear the place up alongside the enthusiastic Special K and her b-boize brothers in arms."


 

And you thought we were here simply for the dazzling moves from Vidal 'Lil Coco' Rodriguez as Hot Tot?!  No, man, no.  Breakin’ continues to be one of the very best B-movies about breakdancing.  FACT.

In the summer of 1984, there were a number of urban dance-centered stories being released.  Breakin’ was the first.  In it, Kelly (Lucinda Dickey from Ninja III: The Domination), a classically trained dancer, finds herself making friends with street dancers Ozone (Adolfo "Shabba-Doo" Quinones) and Turbo (Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers).  And these two dancers will blow you away with their moves. {googleads}

Unfortunately, they also draw the attention of the dancing team of Electro Rock, 'Bruno Pop N' Taco' Falcon and Timothy 'Popin' Pete' Solomon and, after several street-bound confrontations, must duke it out in an underground dance performance.  With Ice-T as the master of ceremonies, their epic battle is EXACTLY how Hip-Hop started.  And Kelly’s traditional choreographer, Franco (Ben Lokey), who is all about her both in and out of class, wants nothing to do with it.

But she, seeing the beauty in breakdancing, wants a chance to turn these fools out.  And so, like Rocky before it, a very simple story becomes an immediate classic as these three found friends become a team of dancers to defeat all others for not just one movie, but two which, ironically enough, was made in the same damn year.  How’s that for a fast turnaround?

The energy; the dancing; the colors! With these three in tow, there’s simply no stopping Breakin’ and its immediate sequel, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, from being a damn good time.  All they need is Kelley's agent/friend (Christopher McDonald) to give them a break.  And he’s not about to hear about her dancing in the street.  It won’t get her to Broadway…

Breakin'/Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984) - Blu-ray Review

The dancing here is real.  It’s STILL fresh and, set in a movie where trained, professional dancers look down upon them, the three breakdancers at the center of this movie have exactly what it takes to leave crowds (and audiences) wanting more from the scene. 

Directed by Joel Silberg and written by Charles Parker and Allen DeBevoise, Breakin’ introduces us to the characters and the world they inhibit, but it is with Breakin’ 2, directed by Sam Firstenberg, where the tale of three becomes a one united front against developers who want a shopping mall where a community center still stands.

Thankfully, both of these classics of the burgeoning hip-hop era are included with this release.  Tear the place up alongside the enthusiastic Special K and her b-boize brothers in arms. 

Pop and lock, baby.

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Breakin'/Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984) - Blu-ray Review

Breakin'

MPAA Rating: PG.
Runtime:
90 mins
Director
: Joel Silberg
Writer:
Charles Parker; Allen DeBevoise; Gerald Scaife
Cast:
Lucinda Dickey, Adolfo Quinones, Michael Chambers
Genre
: Drama | Music
Tagline:
For the break of your life! Push it to pop it! Rock it to lock it! Break it to make it!
Memorable Movie Quote: "With a little help you'll be poppin' and lockin' and breakin' in no time."
Theatrical Distributor:
The Cannon Group
Official Site:
Release Date:
May 4, 1984
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
April 21, 2015
Synopsis: In Breakin', rich girl Kelly learns the moves of the street under the tutelage of Ozone and Turbo. In spite of her disapproving dance instructor, Kelly overcomes the odds to become a poppin' and lockin' princess – and the secret weapon in Ozone and Turbo's battle against rival dance team Electro Rock. The beat doesn't slow down for the slammin' sequel to Breakin'.

Breakin'/Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984) - Blu-ray Review

Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo

MPAA Rating: PG.
Runtime: 94 mins
Director: Sam Firstenberg
Writer: Jan Ventura; Julie Reichert
Cast: Lucinda Dickey, Adolfo Quinones, Michael Chambers
Genre: Drama | Music
Tagline: If you can't beat the system...break it!
Memorable Movie Quote: "Girls are whack, man!"
Theatrical Distributor: TriStar Pictures
Official Site: MGM
Release Date: December 21, 1984
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: April 21, 2015
Synopsis: A hip-hop homage to the "hey kids, let's put on a show!" musicals of Hollywood's yesteryear, this fly follow-up finds our heroes coming to the rescue of a community center facing demolition at the hands of a greedy real-estate developer. Featuring even more fancy footwork than the original film, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo is unquestionably the greatest film (title) of all time.

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Breakin'/Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984) - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor: Shout Factory
Available on Blu-ray
- April 21, 2015
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles
: English
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

Shout Factory presents Breakin’/Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo on blu-ray with a 1080p transfer taken from the best surviving film elements. There’s a good grain level throughout and the new transfer, presented with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, looks impeccable.  Colors are solid and black levels, with clean edges, are all solid throughout. The film was shot in and around Venice Beach, so there palm trees, concrete, beaches, and leafy greens running throughout the presentation.  Contrast is also good, especially in the locations and the clothes.  The sound is presented in a crisp 2.0 stereo track and that soundtrack (for both movies) is exceptional.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • None

Special Features:

A theatrical trailer is included with the purchase.

  • Theatrical Trailer

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Breakin'

Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo

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Breakin'/Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984) - Blu-ray Review

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