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Wild Style (1983)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
Charlie Ahearn (writer)
Genre:
Tagline:
Break Dancing Graffiti Rap more
Plot:
Legendary New York graffiti artist Lee Quinones plays the part of Zoro, the city's hottest and most elusive graffiti writer...
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Plot Keywords:
NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
Def Jam History Fills The Pages Of November's Xxl
(From MTV Music News. 13 October 2009, 11:24 PM, PDT)
Flashdance Star Frost Freeze Dies
(From WENN. 4 April 2008, 9:09 AM, PDT)
(From MTV Music News. 13 October 2009, 11:24 PM, PDT)
Flashdance Star Frost Freeze Dies
(From WENN. 4 April 2008, 9:09 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
The rites-of-passage of hip hop turning from a boy to a man
more (14 total)
Cast
(Credited cast)| Easy A.D. | ... | Cold Crush Brothers | |
| A.J. | ... | Himself (as DJ AJ) | |
| Almighty K.G. | ... | Cold Crush Brothers | |
| Patti Astor | ... | Virginia | |
| Busy Bee | ... | Himself | |
| Grandmaster Caz | ... | Cold Crush Brothers | |
| Lil' Rodney Cee | ... | Double Trouble | |
| Charlie Chase | ... | Cold Crush Brothers | |
| Ruby Dee | ... | Fantastic Freaks | |
| Dot-a-Rock | ... | Fantastic Freaks | |
| Grand Mixer DXT | ... | Himself (as Grandmixer D.St) | |
| Fab 5 Freddy | ... | Fab Five Freddy | |
| Sandra Fabara | ... | Rose | |
| Grandmaster Flash | ... | Himself | |
| Frosty Freeze | ... | Rock Steady Crew | |
| Mr. Freeze | ... | Rock Steady Crew | |
| J.D.L. | ... | Cold Crush Brothers | |
| Kevie Kev | ... | Fantastic Freaks | |
| Lisa Lee | ... | Herself | |
| Crazy Legs | ... | Rock Steady Crew | |
| Carlos Morales | ... | Raymond's brother | |
| Glenn O'Brien | ... | Museum Curator | |
| 'Lee' George Quinones | ... | Raymond 'Zoro' | |
| Rammellzee | ... | Himself | |
| Master Rob | ... | Fantastic Freaks | |
| K.K. Rockwell | ... | Double Trouble | |
| Prince Ken Swift | ... | Rock Steady Crew | |
| Grand Wizard Theodore | ... | Fantastic Freaks | |
| Tony Tone | ... | Cold Crush Brothers | |
| Prince Whipper Whip | ... | Fantastic Freaks | |
| Dondi White | ... | Himself | |
| Andrew Witten | ... | Zroc (as Andrew 'Zephyr' Witten) |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
82 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Warner Bros., now a Time Warner subsidiary, was originally set to be the film's distributor, but the company backed out, fearing that it would not profit from the film. Time Warner was also a part-owner of the film via Rhino Records, a division of Atlantic Records, until Time Warner sold Warner Music to private investors in 2004.
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Movie Connections:
Featured in Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme (2000)
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Soundtrack:
M.C. Battle
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This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (14 total)
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The likes of a film such as Wild Style will never, unfortunately, be made again. Mainly because this was the culture of hip hop in a form of infancy, still naive to the ways of Hollywood and the music industry.
I first saw this when I was 16 years old - although it had been released 5 years prior, though not to my knowledge in the UK - and it has remained stamped in my memory ever since. Who cares if the actors weren't actors or if the camerawork was slightly dodgy in places ("look at the cinematography on the motherf****r!" - Chris Rock). It was a snapshot of a time and a place and that counts for than a thousand over-processed, overdone Hollywood versions of hip hop (Beat Street? C'mon!!)
In it's most basic essence, the director Charlie Ahearn just let the 'actors' improvise their lines with a few plotlines to guide them. These were real people. PHADE is actually FAB 5 FREDDY who DID promote shows and WAS actually an ex-graffiti writer. ZORO WAS a top writer and is played by graffiti legend LEE QUINONES. The 2 rap crews, COLD CRUSH and FANTASTIC 5 were vicious rivals in real life (although to my knowledge never actually participated in any basketball throwdowns ;)
I fully recommend this to any hip hop fan and try to steer New-Schoolers to it too.
Buy the Region 1 dvd version for the great FAB 5 FREDDY/CHARLIE AHEARN commentary track.