Beat Street Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Beat Street Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf April 17, 2016

1984’s “Beat Street” was supposed to be the major breakdancing movie hit of the summer, only to find its thunder stolen by Cannon Films, who rushed “Breakin’” into theaters earlier in the season, capturing the hearts and allowance money of American teenagers hunting for a cinematic representation of the body-quaking fad. While “Breakin’” was a cartoon, “Beat Street” endeavors to represent the soul of hip hop culture, offering a more sobering take on battling gangs, the achievement of lofty dreams, and the reality of poverty in the big city. It’s still semi-comical stuff, but the feature is more interested in characterization, putting its collection of dancers, artists, and DJs through an emotional obstacle course that’s only broken up by extended displays of acrobatic moves.

In the heart of the Bronx, a group of friends is determined to break out of the urban grind through their interest in the arts. For Ramon (Jon Chardiet), graffiti offers the young man a chance to showcase his painting skills and define his neighborhood, escaping from the pressures of life brought on by the birth of his first child. Kenny (Guy Davis) is an aspiring DJ who’s looking to make his mark on the New York City club scene, guided by his friend and manager, Chollie (Leon W. Grant), while his little brother, Lee (Robert Taylor), achieves notice as burgeoning breakdancer, impressing Tracy (Rae Dawn Chong), a college-age music composer and choreographer. Working through gigs that often break out into dance battles, Kenny grows frustrated with his options, coming up with a plan to wow the masses with a key New Year’s Eve show, only to be distracted by his developing feelings for Tracy. As the winter season passes, the group works to figure out adulthood, trying to cling on to as much integrity as they can.

“Beat Street” is actually photographed during a New York winter, with director Stan Lathan capturing the chill in the air as the characters stomp around their snow-covered neighborhood, adding to the mood of hardship and discomfort. It’s an appropriately oppressive atmosphere for the movie, which makes an attempt at sincerity, with the screenplay identifying the personal drive of these young men as they face a bleak future of responsibility and deal with a haunted past of tragedy, turning to art as a release from the pain in their lives. While it’s unfair to compare the picture to fluff like “Breakin’” and its sequel, it’s interesting to note the differences in dramatic approach, with Lathan working diligently to find the souls of the young men, grasping their urgency to break out of troubling cycles of poverty and vocational limtation. “Beat Street” doesn’t always dramatically succeed, occasionally sampling the comfort of melodrama, but the effort is appreciated, giving the endeavor a lived-in feel as the story visits subway tunnels, clubs, and streets, building a gritty community that reflects a slightly heightened reality.

“Beat Street” isn’t entirely devoted to matters of the heart. The production is also interested in capturing the breakdancing fad on film, with substantial screen time set aside to watch battling crews take on one another in nightclubs and on subway platforms, trading spinning moves as a way to prove streetwise dominance (that everyone is clad in Puma gear explains how the feature was partially financed). Sections of the movie resemble music videos, but the majority of “Beat Street” is just an entertaining showcase of physical skill and thumping soundtrack hits, while cameos from rap artists such as Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force, Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five, and Kool Herc add a wonderful time capsule vibe to the effort, celebrating the formative years of the music genre. “Beat Street” benefits from these flashy encounters, keeping the feature vibrating along, never far from a musical performance or a heated trading of furious spinning.

Not everything in “Beat Street” is laudable, finding Ramon a troubling character who’s never scripted in an inspiring manner. The production tends to celebrate the vandal as a hero, suggesting his innate need to paint over pristine while train cars is a primal expression of art, forgetting the actual price of graffiti. He’s a self-absorbed, absentee dad without plans for the future, but “Beat Street” loves Ramon, keeping him angelic, even assigning him an enemy in the mysterious “Spit,” a vagrant who crudely paints over his meticulous work. It’s difficult to remain supportive of the character when Ramon is the one guy of the group without an ounce of self-awareness. Also difficult to swallow is the semi-romance between Tracy and Kenny, with their blank bond and subsequent battle of jealousy taking valuable screen time away from the breakdancing. Lathan wants some warmth to expand the film’s appeal, but the pairing is awkward at best.

Beat Street Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation for "Beat Street" supports the feature's colder look to satisfaction. Colors are accurate and secure, handling the drabness of the Bronx and more vibrant hues found inside nightclubs, with neon lighting providing a vivid boost. Primaries look strong, identifying various costumes. Skintones are natural. Detail is satisfactory, preserving city distances and club interiors, making crowd scenes easy to survey, while set dressing is always open for inspection. Delineation is acceptable. Source is in good shape, with only speckling detected during the viewing experience.

Beat Street Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Obviously, music plays a key role in "Beat Street," and the 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix supports the soundtrack, respecting instrumentation and preserving heavier beats, making club showdowns the highlights of the movie. Nothing is pushed into distortive extremes, leaving a comfortable balance of hip hop and R&B selections. Dialogue is captured with clarity, managing emotional outbursts and hushed emotional encounters pleasingly. Atmospherics are more pronounced, supplying a feeling of fullness when entering thumping clubs, and street life is peppered with bustle and more echoed sounds once the action hits the subway system.

Beat Street Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Theatrical Trailer (1:30, HD), which is almost entirely comprised of deleted scenes, is included.

Beat Street Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The tale of these hard-headed men doesn't always find a happy ending, allowing "Beat Street" a chance to remain serious in an often silly subgenre, adding tragedy to the mix in the third act, making it perhaps the only breakdance effort to pursue a teary conclusion. It's a brave tonal choice softened a bit in the end, but it clearly identifies Latham's vision for the endeavor, working to give audiences a gritty depiction of mistakes to go with candied visions of nightclubs and dance battles. "Beat Street" isn't richly envisioned, but it carries an interesting dramatic weight, laboring to be more than the type of dance party viewers are accustomed to. It still maintains an irresistible hip hop vibe, but there's an element of sadness to the story that's welcome too.