Breakin ' is a 1984 movie directed by Joel Silberg. It was also released under the title Breakdance: The Movie in some international locations. The film is a retelling of West Side Story.
The film setting was inspired by a German documentary entitled Breakin' and Enterin' set in the Los Angeles multi-racial hip-hop club Radiotron, based out of Macarthur Park in Los Angeles. Many of the artists and dancers including Ice-T (who makes his movie debut as a club MC) and Boogaloo Shrimp went straight from Breakin ' and Enterin ' to star in Breakin ' .
The story is a retelling of the 1957 musical West Side Story, which is based in turn on Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (Kelly's agent Franco has a West Side Story poster directly behind his desk). Breakin' reverses the genders of the white/Puerto Rican couple. Although Kelly and Ozone are clearly a romantic couple in the sequel, and although they peck briefly in the first film (during the song "99 1/2 Won't Do"), the love scene in which they become a couple has been cut, and now exists only as a glimpse during the end credits.
The music score featured the hits, "Breakin'... There's No Stoppin Us" by Ollie & Jerry and "Freakshow on the Dance Floor." Breakin' was followed by a sequel, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo.
Though the end credits never reveal it, Ozone and Turbo's real names are Orlando and Tony, respectively.
In the first "street dancing" scene (the one in which Kelly accompanies Ozone and Turbo to the beach), the audience watching the dancing is comprised of surfers and beach bums. In said audience, we see a man in a black singlet clapping with the music. This man is Jean-Claude Van Damme in his first on-screen appearance.
Lela Rochon, Adolfo "Shabba Doo" Quinones (Ozone)'s wife can be seen during the opening credits.
