Krush Groove (1985)

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Excellent, a Must See

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

I'm a big fan of oldskool hiphop, so while not expecting awesome film making, I figured there might be enough in this flick to still keep my interest. However, even though I really wanted to like it, I just couldn't get past all the cheese, poor acting and script. It is basically one big piece of cheesy, blatant self promotion. I still found the Fat Boys mildly entertaining in some scenes, but couldn't stand most of Run DMC and Sheila E.I can see this movie working for little kids, as a kind of Disneyfied rap flick, but wouldn't recommend it to anyone over the age of 12.

A lot of good review comments, so I'll just add. This movie could well be classed a historical in some respects, and is actually shown in some colleges as part of curriculum. It is based on the true and personal story of Run DMC, The Fat Boys, Kurtis Blow, Sheila E, and others breaking out rap music for the first time to the mainstream audiences against convention and against those who would view rap as non-music and a fad. It showcases the music as a true underground phenomena; fun, creative, positive, and energetic; embraced by urban youth eager to rebel. Poor, fat, whatever, just being yourself for a change was enough for you to make a go of it and be successful. There are 12 musical productions in the film and some showstopper performances by Sheila E (coached by Prince for this film) especially. This movie was based on real events and the roles played by the people themselves who lived them. In that sense it may not have a Hollywood calibre cast and complicated plot, but that wasn't the point of this film. This film was meant to showcase the struggles of a music, the struggles of artists in an emerging genre, and show people where it was at in 1985. It did just that, capturing the heart and soul of hip-hop, where it all is rooted, free from excessive profanity, free from guns and gangsterism; just go out and have fun, stand tall, express yourself, forget the nay-sayers, and throw down the creativity. And the rest is history.

Krush Groove is the best movie about the Hip Hop culture. It shows it's roots, and how the top Hip Hop Empire got it's start. If you love Hip Hop, and like Brown Sugar you really need to see & own this movie if you haven't already. If you don't like this movie, you don't truly love hip hop, you're just having an affair. This classic shows all of the elements of Hip Hop with New Edition (the original group) Kurtis Blow (who the fugees sampled), The Fat Boys, RUN-DMC, LL Cool J who's still going strong, The Beastie Boys, & Sheila E who worked with Prince, even Rick Ruben who's in the latest Jay Z video was involved. Go get this movie! For real you need it! You won't be sorry!

Krush Groove is the most underrated rock n roll movie of the 1980s. Is it the Best music film of the 80s? No that title belongs to Purple Rain. Actually Krush Groove attempts to redo Rain's successful formula, using talented musicians generally playing themselves in a fictitious story with some realistic elements. It actually came out a year or so too early, with rap and hip hop still generally a black phenomenon despite Blondie's #1 pop `Rapture'. (Debbie Harry makes an appearance here portraying a club singer.) The one `Actor' not playing himself was Blair Underwood who played the character Russell Walker (While the REAL Russell Simmons played a stage hand named Crocket)The story deals with a number of rap artists Run DMC, Kurtis Blow and the Fat boys in their efforts to make it big as hip hop stars. It deals with the good and bad of having a hit record on a small independent record label, competition between two brothers over the heart of a young female singer (Sheila E.), the consequences of borrowing money from a loan shark, the opportunity to sign with a major label and a talent contest looking for new hip hop talent. The contest includes an appearance from New Edition, an all too brief appearance from future superstars The Beastie Boys and an in studio audition from LL Cool J. The film was rated `R' generally for some mild violence and usage of the `F' word. (Six instances where two would automatically mean an `R' rating) It didn't do too hot at the box office. I had stated that the film came out a year or so too early. The reason I stated this was that in 1986, one year following this film's release, Run DMC's cover of Aerosmith's Walk This Way got heavy airplay on white radio, even going to number1 on album rock radio in Aerosmith's homebase of Boston MA. This success opened the door for The Beastie Boys, The Fat Boys, LL Cool J, Will Smith (known at that time as The Fresh Prince) and a large number of other hip hop and rap artists to score BIG on the Pop singles and pop album charts.