In the Bronx, a group of friends perform and enjoy the street culture. Kenny Kirkland is the MC, his brother Lee is a break-dancer in a group called Beat Street Breakers, and their friend Ramon is a graffiti artist. The boys go to popular nightclub Roxy where Beat Street battles a rival dance crew. Kenny is taken with music student Tracy Carlson (Rae Dawn Chong). Ramon's dream is a white subway car.

These are not professional actors. The amateur acting does give the movie its own authenticity which adds to the film's street value. It's of its time and presents its cultural world. It would be great to have more on Ramon's rivalry. The friends have good friendship chemistry but there is little chemistry with Tracy. It would be great to have more charismatic actors. It's the early world of hip-hop. It's a cultural time capsule. It's a cult classic.

This is a cliche-ridden coming-of-age story grafted onto a very good survey of current hip-hop culture in the South Bronx as of 1984, encompassing music, dance and graffiti. To my middle-class eye, it often appears chaotic, with its combination of recovered artifacts and overly pretty art design, and its Puma-brand product placement. It avoids many of the grosser issues of its compeers. The street scenes are shot on site without any effort to clean things up, which forces the viewer to confront its characters inner lives and creatitvity, their outsider status while yearning for acceptance.

the cast is headlined by Rae Dawn Chong at the beginning of a two-year run of well received performances, peaking with THE COLOR PURPLE. Surprisingly, it was co-produced by Harry Belafonte and that supports the thesis that they were taking the performers seriously. They are pretty good, but Hip-Hop moved in a different direction soon afterwards. That means this is a survey of a vanished moment in the popular arts, which gives it a sociological value.

Hilariously obvious "drama" about a bunch of high school (I think) kids who enjoy non-stop hip-hop, break dancing, graffiti and trying to become a dj at the Roxy--or something. To be totally honest I was so bored I forgot! Even people who love the music agree this movie is terribly acted and--as a drama--failed dismally. We're supposed to find this kids likable and nice. I found them bland and boring. The one that I REALLY hated was Ramon. He does graffiti on subway trains and this is looked upon as great. Excuse me? He's defacing public property that isn't his to begin with. Also these "great" kids tap into the city's electricity so they can hold a big dance party at an abandoned building. Uh huh. So we're supposed to find a bunch of law breakers lovable and fun?

I could forgive all that if the music was good but I can't stand hip hop. The songs were--at best--mediocre and they were nonstop! They're ALWAYS playing! It got to the point that I was fast-forwarding through the many endless music numbers. (Cut out the music and you haver a 30 minute movie--maybe) There are a few imaginative numbers--the subway dance fight, a truly funny Santa number and the climatic Roxy show. If you love hip hop here's your movie. But it you're looking for good drama mixed in--forget it. Also HOW did this get a PG rating? There's an incredible amount of swearing in this.