Beat Street (1984)

An aspiring DJ, from the South Bronx, and his best friend, a promoter, try to get into show business by exposing people to hip-hop music and culture.

Director:

Stan Lathan

Writers:

Steven Hager (story) (as Steve Hager), Andrew Davis (screenplay) (as Andy Davis)

Stars:

Rae Dawn Chong, Guy Davis, Jon Chardiet

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rae Dawn Chong	...	Tracy Carlson
Guy Davis	...	Kenny 'Double K' Kirkland
Jon Chardiet	...	Ramon
Leon W. Grant	...	Chollie
Saundra Santiago	...	Carmen Cararro
Robert Taylor	...	Lee Kirkland
Mary Alice	...	Cora (as Mary Alice Smith)
Shawn Elliott	...	Domingo
Jim Borrelli	...	Monte
Dean Elliott	...	Henri
Franc Reyes	...	Luis
Tonya Pinkins	...	Angela
Lee Chamberlin	...	Alicia
Antonia Rey	...	Flora
Duane Jones	...	Robert

Storyline

An upbeat, lets-put-on-a-show musical about the wonders of hip-hop music and culture that tells the story of Kenny, a young hip-hop artist living in the rough slums of the Bronx with his younger brother Lee and their mother Cora. Kenny dreams of making it big as a disc jockey and playing in the most swank of Manhattan nightclubs, the Roxy. Into their lives comes Tracy, a composer and assistant choreographer from the City College of New York, who inspires him to try to continue his dream while romance begins to grow between them, despite coming from different neighborhoods and worlds. Meanwhile, Lee is part of a break-dancing crew set on dominating the scene of their street. The rest of their friends include Ramon, a graffiti artist determined to spread his painting to every subway car in the city while dealing with his girlfriend Carmen and Chollie, a fellow disc jockey who becomes Kenny's manager after he lands him a gig at a Bronx club. Many hip-hop groups, electro artists, break ...

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Plot Keywords:

hip hop | new york city | d.j. | subway | graffiti | 

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Taglines:

The music and break-dance explosion of the summer!

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 June 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Perfect Beat

Filming Locations:

Fresh Pond Road Train Station, Fresh Pond Road, Ridgewood, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,218,040, 10 June 1984

Gross USA:

$16,595,791

Company Credits

Production Co:

Orion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Spit was based on a real-life graffiti artist named Cap who was featured in the documentary Style Wars (1983). Cap would deface other graffiti artists' work by painting his name over them.

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Goofs

When Lee first starts dancing at the Roxy battle, he has a knee pad on his left knee. As he starts his backspin, it disappears.

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Quotes

Ramon: [quoting his father] "When are you going to stop writing on the walls and make some money, when are you going to stop tagging the subway cars, when are you going to make your son legitimate... legitimate shit."

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Alternate Versions

UK theatrical prints were edited by four seconds to obtain a "PG" rating. The 1986 and 2002 video releases were uncut and received a "15" classification, though in 2008 the rating was downgraded to "12," again without cuts.

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Connections

Referenced in The Proud Family Movie (2005)

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Soundtracks

Into the Night
Performed by La La

User Reviews

Beat Street Breakdown,Rah!!!

Without doubt Beat Street is the best film about the breakin scene. Everything about it is spot on,the clothes (puma),the music and most importantly the dancing! The storyline is basic,but hey whats there to tell a story about? The whole point of the film is to show what kids of that moment in time were doing,what mattered to them. It shows that teenagers in general are good,all that mattered to these everyday kids was music,dancing and friendship. Having watched the DVD recently i was plesantly surprised how well it had stood the test of time! The clothes didn't look dated (possibly because Puma is now having a massive comeback),the music still sounds fresh,and the dancing is still captivating to watch. A film anyone 10-25 years of age should see as part of their youth culture.