I Love The 80's - Breaking 2 Electric Boogaloo

By
Melle Mel

Being a child of the awesome 80's, I proudly boast of my constant submersion into the depths of spiked hair, b rated horror films, fantastic elevator music, leather, tight clothing, neon colors and in some cases just plain weird s***.

One treasure of the 80's was the 1984 film "Breakin 2 Electric Boogaloo." While not classic in the sense of movies like A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) or Aliens (1986), Electric Boogaloo was more along the lines of a flick like Action Jackson (1988); a cult classic. For those of you not versed in cinema jargon, cult classic refers to a film that has acquired a highly devoted, but relatively small fan base.

Most cult classics are discovered by accident; roaming never ending cable channels or the aisles of Blockbuster (Family Video for those of you in rural areas), through a relative, or friend after a nice session in the clouds. However, the introduction, with the sweet whisperings of MJ, you fall in love with this cinematic expression. So much, that you want nothing more than to share this new found joy with everyone you know.

Cult classic or not, we have to be clear about a few aspects of the movie: Bad Acting, Bad story (great intentions) & Bad Clothing. The style used in the film was definitely savvy for the times, but one can't help but chuckle at neon orange belly tank tops, Gery curls, and aliases such as Turbo and Ozone. Without giving too much away, I urge anyone reading to rent this film.

Movies like Electric Boogaloo are dusted jewels of a time past. We should hoard them, so once they become lost in the transition of technology some of us will still obtain bits of history to share in keeping the memories alive.

In closing, I would like to point out my favorite scene in Electric Boogaloo:

As Kelly prepares to leave for a job in Paris, Ozone arrives with bad news of an injured Turbo, forcing Kelly to decide between doing what daddy wants, or staying true to her break dancing buddies. Kelly can't turn her back on Turbo or his Gery curl; she rushes to the hospital where an outrageous scene unfolds. To kick things off, the overly dramatic Turbo is woken from his coma with a kiss, streetwalkers masqueraded as nurses perform a dance routine stimulating the crippled from the confines of their wheelchair/crutches to pop lock and windmill. Even the gruesomely overweight head nurse Bertha joins in after being mesmerized by the swarm of young bodies.

There's plenty more, but I'll leave that for you to discover.

Be sure to check out the YouTube link to the trailer...