Breakin'

"Push it to pop it! Rock it to lock it! Break it to make it!"

1984 1h 30m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

🥫

33%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

5.9

IMDB

★6.7TMDB · 182🥫33%Rotten Tomatoes●53Metacritic★5.9IMDB · 7,678

MusicDramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A struggling young dancer joins forces with two breakdancers and together they become a street sensation.

“Push it to pop it! Rock it to lock it! Break it to make it!”

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Cast

Lucinda Dickey
Kelly / Special K
Adolfo Quinones
Ozone
Michael Chambers
Turbo
Ben Lokey
Franco
Christopher McDonald
James
Phineas Newborn III
Adam
Ice-T
Rap Talker
Bruno Falcon
Electro Rock 1

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Joel Silberg
Writers: Charles Parker, Allen DeBevoise, Gerald Scaife
Languages: English, Spanish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

90 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $39M — a 32.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

42 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Breakin' Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Joel Silberg, shot by Hanania Baer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Gary Malkin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joel Silberg directs. Hanania Baer behind the camera. Gary Malkin scores. Gib Jaffe cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

190 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $1.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Grossed $39M — a 32.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
442 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
5Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
6Part of the "Breakin' Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
7Directed by Joel Silberg, shot by Hanania Baer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by Gary Malkin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Gib Jaffe shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Lucinda Dickey and Adolfo Quinones and Michael Chambers carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "Push it to pop it! Rock it to lock it! Break it to make it!".
12IMDB entry: tt0086998 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
13Classified under 9 themes, including "dancing", "rap music", "hip-hop", "street gang".