Wild Style (1983)

Zoro, the city's hottest and most elusive graffiti writer. The actual story of the movie concerns the tension between Zoro's passion for his art and his personal life, particularly his ... See full summary »

Director:

Charlie Ahearn

Writers:

Charlie Ahearn (original concept), Charlie Ahearn

Stars:

'Lee' George Quinones, Lady Pink, Fab 5 Freddy

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
'Lee' George Quinones	...	Raymond 'Zoro'
Lady Pink	...	Rose 'Lady Bug' (as Sandra 'Pink' Fabara)
Fab 5 Freddy	...	'Phade' (as Frederick Braithwaite)
Patti Astor	...	Virginia
Andrew Witten	...	Z-Roc (as Zephyr)
Busy Bee	...	Chief Rocker
Carlos Morales	...	Hector
Alfredo Valez	...	Chico
Niva Kislac	...	Niva
Glenn O'Brien	...	Museum Curator
Johnny 'Crash' Matos	...	Union Crew
Daze	...	Union Crew (as Chris 'Daze' Ellis)
Fred 'Caz' Glover	...	Union Crew
Edwin 'Obe' Ortez	...	Union Crew
Lisa Lee	...	Fly Girl

Storyline

Zoro, the city's hottest and most elusive graffiti writer. The actual story of the movie concerns the tension between Zoro's passion for his art and his personal life, particularly his strained relationship with fellow artist Rose. But this isn't why one watches Wild Style--this movie is *the* classic hip-hop flick, full of great subway shots, breakdancing, freestyle MCing and rare footage of one of the godfathers of hip-hop, Grandmaster Flash, pulling off an awesome scratch-mix set on a pair of ancient turntables. A must-see for anyone interested in hip-hop music and culture.

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Plot Keywords:

hip hop | graffiti | cult film | new york city | breakdance | 

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Taglines:

More vital than 100 flash dances!

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 November 1983 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Estilo salvaje

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wild Style

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Warner Bros., now a Time Warner subsidiary, was originally set to be the film's distributor, but the company backed out, fearing that it would not profit from the film. Time Warner was also a part-owner of the film via Rhino Records, a division of Atlantic Records, until Time Warner sold Warner Music to private investors in 2004.

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Goofs

At 6:18 Hector tells Raymond 'Zoro' to take off his do-rag. Then Ray's hair pops back and forth between being flat from the do-rag to a picked out Afro during their conversation.

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Quotes

'Phade': Scooby Doo!

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Connections

Featured in Beef (2003)

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Soundtracks

Down By Law
Composed by Fab 5 Freddy and Chris Stein
Performed by Fab 5 Freddy
(uncredited)

User Reviews

Wild Style (1983)

Much like the later documentary STYLE WARS, this is a portrait of the blossoming New York hip hop scene of the early 80's, encompassing rap, break dancing, and graffiti art. However, this film weaves in a fictional plot line about a tagger (real graffiti artist "Lee" Quinones) struggling with his persona and his art and its place in society. As a film, the word that comes to mind is "amateurish". The cast consists mostly of real personalities from the scene, and none of them are particularly good at acting. The photography is lackluster and the editing is sloppy, and the low budget is obvious (a scene of people frolicking in a pile of money takes on an unintended comic edge when it turns out to be all $1 bills). But as a celebration of artistic expression, it's a joy. If the dramatic scenes aren't exactly Oscar-caliber, they're at least heartfelt, and serve well enough as the glue between the performances, which are electrifying. Featuring Grand Master Flash, Busy Bee, Lisa Lee, Double Trouble, Rock Steady Crew and more, and culminating in a dynamite outdoor amphitheater show, it's a showcase for a lot of great talent. Not the best filmmaking in the world, but a hell of a party.