The Forbidden Dance (1990)

User Rating:

2.3/10   

Director:

Greydon Clark

Writers:

Roy Langsdon (screenplay)
John Platt (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 March 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

LAMBADA...If it got any hotter, it wouldn't be dancing!

Plot:

Filmed during the Lambada dance craze (if there really ever was one), this film tries to have a social conscience...

Plot Keywords:

Dance | Lambada | Beautiful Woman | Independent Film

Cast

Laura Harring	...	Nisa (as Laura Herring)
Jeff James	...	Jason
Barbra Brighton	...	Ashley
Miranda Garrison	...	Mickey
Sid Haig	...	Joa
Ángela Moya	...	Carmen (as Angela Moya)
Richard Lynch	...	Benjamin Maxwell
Shannon Farnon	...	Katherine Anderson
Linden Chiles	...	Bradley Anderson
Ruben Moreno	...	The King
Gene Mitchell	...	Cutter
Kenny Johnson	...	Dave
Connie Woods	...	Trish
Tom Alexander	...	Kurt
Steven Williams	...	Weed (as Steven Lloyd Williams)

Also Known As:

Lambada, the Forbidden Dance (Philippines: English title)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | Finland:S | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | Philippines:PG-13 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden - 301 N. Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA

Company:

21st Century Film Corporation

Trivia:

Written in 10 days, based on an idea writers John Platt & Roy Langsdon came up with in the car on the drive to producer Menahem Golan's office. The script was commisioned in December of 1989, was in production by the end of January, 1990, and hit theaters on March 17th that same year, all in an attempt to beat rival lamdada flick Lambada (1990/I) to theaters. Both films were eventually released on the very same day!

Quotes:

[Joa is sitting there playing the drumms with his hands]
Carmen: They say the music is an universal language. I know another.
[Carmen gets up and dances for Joa and he smiles for the first time at her]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ski School (1991)

Soundtrack:

Last Lover

Laura Harring bedazzles despite drab script

The spellbinding dance moves of the stunningly beautiful and talented Laura Elena Harring are the only parts of this film worth watching.

Otherwise, the cast was poorly chosen and the dialogue is weak. Aside from a couple songs the music was nothing special. The rainforest subplot could have provided an interesting storyline but as presented it seems disassociated from the characters and the rest of the script; at best it provides an uninteresting break between dance sequences.

Laura Harring is simply an absolutely captivating talent who appears sorely out of place in this film.