Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 17, 2023

Oh snap! It's the 1980s kids. Not the '80s of Transformers, He-Man and Rainbow Bright, or other Saturday morning fun for kids, mind you, but the '80s for adults: when soaring ballads and glam-rock anthems blared free, when flashy sunglasses and flashier pants were all the rage, and when slashers, dance offs, high-flying mavericks and unstoppable killing machines from the future dominated the box office. And what, oh what, could possibly be more 1980s than cult dance-flick classic Breakin' and, depending on who you ask, the best-slash-worst titled sequel of all time, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. (Not sure if it's the "electric" or the "boogaloo" that does it, but it's so gratifying to say out loud. Try it with me. Electric Boogaloo. Shivers.) I was too deep in the Transformers and He-Man camp to pay much attention to teen and young adult culture of the decade, but hoo boy, did my little grade-school mind miss out on a wild double feature. Breakin' is a solid bit of genre fun, packed with music, dancing and a give-it-all-or-get out bunch of young actors eager to leave their mark on the screen. Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo... well, it'll always have that title. Sandpiper is releasing both (or perhaps re-issuing each film separately, as they were first made available on Blu-ray from Shout Factory in a now out-of-print 2015 two-film edition), and there's no better time than the present to pony up and enjoy two slices of '80s cheese.

From Brian Orndorf's 2015 double feature Blu-ray review of Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo and its predecessor: Keeping the celebration going, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo made its theatrical debut only seven months after the release of the original film. Not that a breakdance movie is particularly difficult to piece together in a short amount of time, but during an era of three-year-long waits between franchise chapters, the speed of this release was alarming, clearly signaling that Cannon Films wasn’t about to leave money on the table. If the kids wanted a second helping of Kelly, Turbo, and Ozone, Yoram Globus and Manahem Golan were more than happy to provide it, once again stymieing the competition during the curiously dance-feature-heavy year of 1984.

After touring as a chorus girl in mainstream theatrical productions, Kelly (Lucinda Dickey) has returned to the palatial home of her parents, Mr. (John Christy Ewing) and Mrs. Bennett (Jo De Winter), to reassess her career ambitions. Visiting the city to catch up with Ozone (Adolfo “Shabba- Doo” Quinones) and Turbo (Michael “Booglaoo Shrimp” Chambers), Kelly learns that the local community center, Miracles, is being threatened by Mr. Douglas (Peter MacLean), a land developer who wants to tear down the building and construct a shopping mall. Ready to put up a fight, the TKO Crew is given 30 days to come up with $200,000 dollars to bring the center back up to code. Facing an impossible bill, the community bands together to raise the money, while Kelly receives word of a prestigious job offer in Paris, leaving Ozone irritable when he realizes that he might lose her once again.

Director Sam Firstenberg takes over for Joel Silberg, bringing along his own vision for the Breakin’ universe. Hindsight is a major component of Electric Boogaloo, with the production highly aware of what audiences enjoyed about the original picture. The mission of the sequel is to amplify such marketable highlights, delivering an overall emphasis on dance numbers, which step away from modest club battles, sneaking into music video territory, employing more extras and improving stylistics. Firstenberg concentrates on sophisticated editing and assorted tricks to provide Electric Boogaloo with some firepower, finding Turbo’s negotiation of a spinning room (paying tribute to Fred Astaire with help from equipment left over from A Nightmare on Elm Street) during a dream sequence a film highlight, watching the performer maintain the popping and locking while dancing on the ceiling and walls. It’s a neat illusion and a great example of the follow-up’s determination to find its own approach.

Firstenberg doesn’t sustain the energy, only managing to find a few more surprises during the journey, including a hospital number that finds the staff sampling the titular spirit as Turbo, who’s broken his leg, is wheeled around the facility on his bed. The screenplay doesn’t have anything to offer the second time around, utilizing a “save the community” template to inspire the TKO Crew into action, working to raise big bucks, team up with rivals Electro Rock, and undermine Mr. Douglas’s development activities, striving to keep Miracles open for troubled youth in need of breakdancing therapy. The writing is thin, but also confused, transforming Ozone into a bully who won’t tolerate Kelly’s opportunity to achieve her dreams. Doing little to clarify if the pair is romantically involved (it’s strange to see how the two movies avoid securing their union), the script basically strips Ozone of likability, making Paris an easy choice for Special-K.

Also irritating is an amplification of racial tension between Kelly’s family and the street dancers, motivating a few confrontations that are pure sitcom in execution, with evil, dismissive whitey coming down on black performers, erasing whatever color-blind progress was made in the original film. It’s awful, but Firstenberg isn’t wonderful with tonal management, not above using canine cutaways and Looney Tunes references to land laughs, also entertaining a dark side at club Radiotron, where Ice T, clad in Mad Max gear, is viewed smashing records and shaking a studded fist at his audience. Yeesh. Electric Boogaloo is a cartoon, with broad villainy and jokes, dialing down the concerns of its characters to make breakdancing the star of the show. Beyond Turbo’s romantic interest with a Mexican girl, there’s nothing added to the sequel, which reheats tensions from the first effort. Perhaps the only major difference between the installments is its appreciation of urban surroundings. While the cast is dressed in bright colors to offset harshness, Ozone talks of “rape and murder” in the earlier film, whereas in the continuation, urban Los Angeles is candy coated and filled with friendly faces who just want to dance their troubles away. The regression isn’t nearly as appealing as production imagines it to be.

Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Still over here whispering the words "electric boogaloo" to myself. It's sad but I love it. Anywho, Sandpiper's 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer looks great. Moreover, it appears to be the same presentation as that which was first made available by Shout Factory on the now out-of-print 2015 two-film edition release. (If it is a different transfer, screenshots suggest they are, at the very least, virtually indistinguishable from one another.) Colors are bold and convincingly lifelike, albeit a bit oversaturated at times (as was the case with Breakin'). Primaries pop and black levels are well represented, without interfering with delineation. Likewise, contrast and detail are quite remarkable, with somewhat crisp fine textures and precisely defined edges. It all looks quite natural, even with its noticeable grain field, and the image honors the original photography faithfully. There is some softness to several shots and sequences, particularly dance numbers as the camera swoops around the stage, but on the whole, there isn't anything significant to get worked up about. Add to that a lack of banding, compression artifacts and other lil' uglies and you have a presentation that delivers.

Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Like Breakin', Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo only includes a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix. But for one reason or another, it does sound slightly fuller than the track included with the first film. Dialogue is once again clear and intelligible, with good prioritization. The music sounds reasonably engaging, even without low-end support or rear speaker activity, and there isn't much in the way of overly aged traits. Electric Boogaloo still sounds like a forty-year-old flick, but not in any way that detracts from the nostalgia or the experience. Quite the opposite.

Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

While the now out-of-print 2015 Shout Factory two-film release included an Electric Boogaloo commentary with director Sam Firstenberg, actor Adolfo "Shabba-Doo" Quinones and editor Marcus Manton, the 2023 Sandpiper edition only includes the sequel's theatrical trailer.

Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It may not be that good of a film, but that title alone -- not to mention its connections to the first Breakin' -- Electric Boogaloo is a distinctly dated but delightfully silly blast from the '80s past. Sandpiper's Blu-ray brings some of that same fun with it too, with a strong AV presentation that won't drum up complaints. Yeah, it would've been nice to see a new remaster and full supplemental retrospective but, and I can't remind you of these two words enough, Electric Boogaloo. I say go for it. It's not nearly as entertaining as the first film but why not grab both anyway and enjoy a crazy dance-forward twofer?