When I first saw it as a VHS rental during the 80's, I thought it was wack. Later in the late 90's, I watched it again and fell in love with it.
To start, Wild Style is not a documentary despite what it says on IMDb (just saying ... minor gripe), although it was sort of shot like one and it does a fantastic job of documenting HipHop in 83 quite lovely.
As a time capsule of a particular scene, this is incredible with the birth or rap, breakdancing, graffiti art, etc. all on display.
Legendary New York graffiti artist Lee Quinones plays the part of Zoro, the city's hottest and most elusive graffiti writer. The actual story of the movie concerns the tension between Zoro's passion for his art and his personal life, particularly his strained relationship with fellow artist Rose.
If you want a movie with a plot and a story, this isn't for you. If you want to see the founding fathers of a musical movement which changed the world, this is it.
Featuring some of the biggest names in hip hop, Wildstyle is the seminal docu-rama on this lifestlye. B-boys and b-girls, graf artists, DJs, MCs and larger than life characters are feature in this flick that is, ultimately, a real-life documentary on the early movers and shakers of the hip hop movement.
They call this the film that launched a thousand back spins. It was this premier hip hop feature film, along with the 1984 Arena documentary Beat This: A Hip-Hop History, that helped shape the global consciousness of the world conquering hip-hop eruption.
Much like the later documentary STYLE WARS, this is a portrait of the blossoming New York hip hop scene of the early 80's, encompassing rap, break dancing, and graffiti art. However, this film weaves in a fictional plot line about a tagger (real graffiti artist "Lee" Quinones) struggling with his persona and his art and its place in society.
No true hip-hop head should go without seeing this movie. It is the first and probably the most accurate representation of the early hip-hop scene.
