Visitors Review

SerenityCaryatid (2012-05-25 15:39)

How can you not love it?

This is a soundtrack-driven 80s flick...how can you not love it? It hasdancing (so you can't fall asleep), some nice sunset shots, a cracking"lovetheme" instrumental, and just a little sex. Too bad it wasn't reallyJennifer ("Alex Owens") doing the dancing at the end. Did you know it wasactually her dancing only in the first dancing sequence? At the end itwastons of other dancers in an Alex wig, including a man!Anyway, it's a sweet, harmless flick with great music and overacting. Goseeit.

(2012-05-25 08:42)

Something missing . . .

Paramount did a fine job upgrading the sound and video for dvd, but made no effort at all in special features. This is something dvd collectors have come to expect, so this disc is a disappointment.

Mike S (2012-05-24 17:26)

Michael Jackson ripped ff Moonwalk from Flashdance

This was a decent movie and it kicked off a lot of the fashion trendsof the 80s.But the most notable fact is that this is where the moonwalk was firstseen. Contrary to popular belief, Michael Jackson did not invent themoonwalk.There is a scene where Nouri and Beals are taking a romantic stroll.They momentarily pass a group of people break dancing on the street.This is where the world was first treated to a moonwalk.It wasn't until years later that Jacko took credit for inventing it. Henever gave proper credit to the unnamed street dancer in Flashdance.

tedg (2012-05-24 00:25)

Thugs do Pretty

There are dirty, moneygrubbing thugs in this movie, not ashamed to makemoney from sex. They operate a strip club, from which one of thecharacters is "rescued." This movie is made by the same sort ofmoneygrubbing thugs (Gruber, Peters, Bruckheimer) , and there's nodoubt that sex is at the top of its values. It has essentially nostory, only a series of setups. Its clearly designed to sell music,which then was LPs.And yet it works for me. The reason is that its cinematic, a and finelyso. I'm usually pretty tough on films that feature dance, unless thecamera itself dances. This one doesn't. But what it does have is crispediting and superb, absolutely superb lighting.I think dePalma started this and did the stuff that works, thestoryboards, the lighting design. I imagine he supervised the scoutingof the dirty sets where we see smoke, glow and sparks. I imagine heworked out the tricks where the face is occluded so that we can swapour actress with real dancers, several of them.So you can find three things to like here: the fold where the smarmyguys are in the movie, the fantastic lighting, beginning with the veryfist shots, and the dancing. It almost seems as if the dancing cameafter the major cinematic decisions. It was unusual for the time: moreenergetically sensual. Tight in energy but lose in inspiration. All ofthe dances have an on screen audience, but one: the "manic" dance. Thatlack of on screen audience after the deliberate inclusion of oneinvites us in. And this dance is photographed differently. We don't see the wholebody: we see parts, and while the camera doesn't spatially move, itdoes temporally. The editors dance. The visual rhythm invokesvoyeurism, identification and syncopation all at the same time. This issignificant movie-making, hidden in a rather trivial-seeming wrapper. Gruber at the time advertised this as "Rocky with a woman," but there'sno resemblance story-wise. There is with the energy though.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

millere514 (2012-05-23 00:18)

Entertaining and fun

The movie's energy still comes through almost 20 yearslater.If you've never seen the movie, the last 5 minutes are as a good a sceneasyou'll ever see in any movie. You'll feel happy and glad you watched thismovie just because of the climatic scene.

(2012-05-22 11:48)

Talk about iconic 80s movies, wow

Flashdance stands out in my mind as one of the most iconic films of the 80s. That's not to say it had a large political impact, pressured social movement or even significantly changed lives. But it did leave a lasting impression on pop culture. If you pay attention to music videos it's impossible to count the number of times the final scene of Flashdance has been parodied or honored. Even in the modern pop culture world Flashdance gets its share of nods. The two that are coming to me as I write this: a scene from Shrek 2 and the movie Billy Elliot. In the case of Shrek 2 - it's just one of many films that have parodied the over the top dance sequences performed by Jennifer Beals throughout the course of the film (the one in question being the dramatic bucket of water dump with her back arched in a chair). If you can't imagine what I'm talking about just rest assured - you've seen it parodied at least once before.Alex Owens (Beals) works as a welder by day amongst the men whom she entertains by night as an exotic dancer. Only, her exotic dances reek of experimental and self-expressive over the top choreography. Practicing every night, she dreams of studying at the Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance. During her nights spent dancing and talking with her friends the stand-up wannabe cook, fellow dancer and her newfound boss-turned-beau she inches closer and closer to the resolve necessary to put in an application to the school.Flashdance, as I've said, is iconic. Love it or hate it, its influence on every dance film afterwards can't be denied. Like any 80s movie it has its fair share of montages to skip through the training sessions and nights out. The character Alex Owens marks an odd twist on the strong female character. Unlike the Ripley's of Horror or Eva Perons of Drama, Alex Owens knows what she wants but lacks the resolve to do anything about it. In fact, as far as strong female characters go, Alex blazes an odd zigzag both away and towards the furthering of strong female leads in one stroke. While requiring the encouragement and nods of both her grandmother and boyfriend when it comes to applying to study at the conservatory, in every other field of her life she's fiery and knows exactly what she wants. It's an odd contradictory pair of qualities to instill in the same character and it, oddly, strengthens the plot while weakening the character.Looking back at Flashdance, it's important to remember that the song "Flashdance - What a Feeling" won the Best Song Oscar for 1983. The song permeates the entire film with various reprisals popping up almost every 10 minutes until its final full play-through in the final scene. Every dance movie you've seen that came out in the 90s used the formula laid down by Flashdance. Girl wants to dance. Isn't sure of herself. Spends time building resolve. Applies. Succeeds. Hell, even Billy Elliot follows that route; in which case you can replace "girl" with "boy".Jennifer Beals, as an actress, is a mixed bag. She pulls off Alex Owens convincingly for about 85% of the movie and only ever falters in the more dramatically serious elements where her performance just seems to fall short of capturing the given scene's gravity. Dance-wise she's tremendous, or at least I think it is. Keep in mind I'm pretty uneducated in that aspect of the Arts.DVD Extra Features:The "I Love the 80s" Edition of Flashdance has little to show for itself on the extras front. With little more than subtitles and additional audio tracks the disc feels quite empty. To perhaps counterbalance that shortcoming, the "I Love the 80s" Edition comes with a 4 track CD of 80s hits by a-ha, Echo & the Bunnymen, INXS and Erasure. It's certainly a respectable musical lineup but let's be honest - 4 songs on a CD don't make up for a lack of audio commentary or featurettes.Flashdance holds the rare title of being one of the few 80s movie classics that's created a legacy for itself from its highly memorable dance sequences - even if you've no interest in the film, because maybe you think it's too chick-flick-like, let me remind you: it's iconic movies like this one that help you understand the references and homages present in the modern films of today. See it for research for all I care but Flashdance is a piece of cultural film history.

(2012-05-20 03:51)

GREAT DANCING, LOUSY MOVIE

Does anyone take note of Cynthia Rhodes in this movie? She's the blonde they call "Tina Tech". She also had roles in the movies Dirty Dancing and Staying Alive, the sequel to Saturday Night Fever. Talk about a dancer! She was magnificent!!! Whatever happened to her anyway?

Angi (2012-05-19 05:55)

SPOILERS Could've been better, could've been worse SPOILERS

SPOILERS, BEWARE!!! Flashdance is a fair movie, in my opinion. Some thingsdo confuse me about it (e.g. Jeanie asks Alex how long it took for her toget so good at dancing; Alex replies "About 25 years," isn't Alex supposedto be 18?) and some things do fascinate me about it (I LOVED the spins!). Overall, though, it intrigued me. When this movie was made, I wasn't evenborn. I didn't really experience the eighties (I was born in '85) and Ihave to wonder: sometimes Alex would just run in place a bit, or throwherself all over, not really dancing, just banging in to things, tossing herhead back, and waving her arms-was this considered "dancing" back then? Ifit was, I'm not sure I could've standed it. The spins, the flip, the fluidmovements were great, but some of it-my neighbor's toddler could've donebetter! Also, if Alex is a welder during the day, wouldn't she be tiredafter a hard day's work? When she doesn't go to work for nearly a week,wouldn't she be laid off? Living in a warehouse-I can almost see it, butnot quite. It doesn't seem right that she's a welder, owns a warehousehouse, AND is trying to get into ballet. None of it really makes sense. Ishouldn't be too judgemental considering my own background, but please. Maybe Jennifer Beals is too feminine for me to see her as a welder, I don'tknow. But either way, they could've picked a better actress. The actorswere fine. I even liked the romance. You make your own decision. But mineis-rent it once, don't see it again-it isn't worth it.

jamalionerf (2012-05-19 00:11)

ONCE UPON A TIME I SAW BLUE FLAMINGO..........

I listen to soundtrack now and am thinking, WHY NOT NOW? Why they notmakelike this now, I not know- is better than Flubber, is better than theHughGrant Nine Months Later, or Six Weeks Notice, Stripteasing, the Showgirl,The Street Fighting Man, Velvet Goldminer, Silver Magnolias, theInternet,and I do not know what- is better than all this masterpises. The music,byGeorgina Mordinna, is fantast, and Jenny Eels, she is like SEX MANIAC ORSOMETHING! REALLY!! You can see from the dancing- she crazy, like sheneedone, she need something (I HAVE!). This is good one from the child hood,make me hard, feel good, and better, is a happy, nice one, give to me asmile. Good to break to (or something like that, maybe not thesame).

Tom Z (2012-05-18 09:40)

All-Star Movie

Flashdance, really surprised me! It was a great storyline with even better music & dancing. Jennifer Beals, at her best. The highlight of the movie is definitly when Jennifer dances to Flashdance(What a feeling), by Irene Cara. A great movie for ALL ages.

(2012-05-18 11:03)

An 80's Icon , What a classic

I first saw this movie back in 1983 when I was just fifteen years old. I think just about every teen age male had a SEVERE CRUSH on Jennifer Beals at that time , including myself. In fact , I am still enamored by how good she looks to this present day. She is now I think 42 and really has not changed at all from the pictures I saw when I went to www.Google.com. I just recently reviewed the film again a few days ago which makes it only the second time I saw it. I found it to be very illuminating and it transported me back in time. I got the same enjoyment as I did back then. True , a bit corny in some segments of the film , but what the heck , it was the 80's and thats the way it was. Although J.Beals did participate in some of the dancing scenes , the majority of the dance scenes were done by a French dancer by the name of Marine Jahan (some people do not know this). Initially , when I found out some years ago , I was a little disappointed to say the least. Make no mistake , this is an awesome film and I am still a fan of J.Beals. I have just witnessed some of her other low budget films and was impressed by her acting talents. Unfortunately , she will always be labeled with the antiquated stereotype of Alex Owens in Flashdance. I can live with that. Also , I have just recently read that she is doing a series called the L Word on Showtime. I'll have to check it out one day. Without going into to much detail , the whole thesis of the movie is built around Alex Owens (Jennifer Beals) who is afraid of her ultimate dream which is to be accepted by a prestige dance acedemy in Pittsburgh. Scared to audition , she is then prompted by her boyfriend and she finally auditions and is accepted. Even if you did NOT grow up in the 80's , you will inherit some enlightment after watching this film. Finally , I think that the film exhibited a moral code of ethics to the viewers as well. Rather than dancing in some sleeze nudity bar , the main character (Alex Owens) decides not to be influenced by some other bar owner to come and dance for him. Out of all the 80's dance films that were out during the 80's decade (and there were some dumb ones), this is by far my top pick. This movie will indeed give you a little adrenaline rush after you watch it. Set a few hours aside and judge for yourself , I dont think you will be disappointed.

(2012-05-17 16:35)

Great film

The film's portrayal of a young woman persuing her dream is excellent. Although she danced at a bar at night, she still maintained a postive image. She worked hard by day as well to survive and she never let her self fall into the dark side of being a stripper. The music in the film as well as the dancing and love story keeps you entertained.

ad2020 (2012-05-17 01:18)

A representative of the 80's to be sure.

But it's the good 80's, and I'd like to point out that this is more of anartistic movie than anything else, especially with the lighting and the maincharacter's quirks(even though it doesn't seem like that was the producer'sintention!) Also the story of how this was cast makes me wonder (I would'vevoted for Demi Moore, but oh well)if the producers knew how this moviewould've fared. It's started the 80's new wave look I'm told, and itactually enpowered women in it's own shallow way, so we can safely say itwas a breakthrough, kinda like The Matrix restarted the wholeindustrial-cyberpunk goth trend. Still, why does she want to be a ballerina?It's doesn't make sense, she'd be better off in a chorus line where thepeople are likeable as she was!!! As a dancer back in the 80's (and yes, itwas hard to admit to being a male dancer back then!!) this movie was cool towatch and the soundtrack was pretty awesome!! Oh well, this movie is weird,a high-energy sleeper that actually was OK. A 6.5

Doug (2012-05-16 13:07)

Great movie from a guy's perspective

Flashdance is one of my Top Ten Films. I don't care that it has no twistingplot. I don't care that Jennifer Beals used a body double. I REALLY don'tcare that it's a chick flick. I love this movie!! Some people, after seeing Flashdance, choose to see a movie about exoticdancing. For one reason or another, I see a movie about chasing dreams,taking chances, and maximizing life. Jennifer Beals' character Alex Owens's dream of attending a formal danceschool and becoming a ballerina is the central theme of the film. Herfriends Jeanie and Richie are aspiring figure skaters and stand-upcomedians, respectively. However, Alex is the only dreamer receiving anyencouragement. Her senior citizen friend Hannah, a former ballerinaherself, gives Alex practical advice and unconditional faith. Jeanie'sfather openly criticizes Jeanie's dream as well as her beau, Richie. Richie, a cook at Mawby's Bar, is put down by his boss for wanting to go toHollywood and being a comedian; "You're too short. They don't let shortpeople into Hollywood."The sub-plots facilitate Alex's dream to create a captivating story. Tosupport herself (and possibly, to keep life interesting), Alex holds 2 jobs:a welder by day and a dancer at aforementioned Mawby's Bar during the night. Her welding boss Nick takes a liking to her and pursues her. Alex resistshis charms but gives in eventually. Johnny C., the sleazy strip bar ownercontinually tries to lure Alex into dancing for him. As mentioned before,Alex's friends Jeanie and Richie have dreams of their own, and we see wheretheir dreams take them. The factor that made Flashdance a hit was the music, of course. "What aFeeling" took away an Oscar for Best Song. "I'll Be Here Where the HeartIs", sung by Kim Carnes ("Bette Davis Eyes") fits Alex's personal-crisisscene perfectly. The first time I watched Flashdance was 4 years ago; I bought the videoknowing I'd like it. After 20+ viewings, I still love it. Flashdance isfor anyone who has a dream but not the courage to pursue it.

(2012-05-14 03:47)

Fats Paced Film - To Have Fun With!

FLASHDANCE - is one of those films back in the 80's that when it opened up it became a huge success. I think mainly because it was a Rocky or Karate Kid-type movie. It had an upbeat theme, great music and characters that had nothing and achieved their dreams.Directed by Adrinne Lynn (Fatal Attraction, Indecent Proposal) the film launched Jennifer Beals ( The Bride, Vampires Kiss ) into stardom over night. Her love interest, played by Michael Nouri ( Captain America, Black Ice ) also had achieved recognition for this film. Even the model/dancer Cynthia Rhodes (Staying Alive, Runaway, Dirty Dancing) went on to achieve great success.The story is simple. As small eats-coast/mid-west town girl has a dream of going to a real ballet school and become a professional dancer. The school is elite, expensive and requires an approval process that included an audition. She is non confident and has little self-esteem.The other thing that makes her feel less adequate is the fact that though by day she work in a welding mill - by night she is a club dancer in a local bar. The odds are against her - and except for her closest friends - no one can think she can make it. Guess what? I leave the rest for you to enjoy. Very positive ad upbeat film about any one can achieve their dreams if the keep on trying and believe in themselves.There are many DVD extra's on it and it would have been nice to hear the cast commentary, or the directors AND the cast (the cast is always more interesting then the directors commentary - unless its Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Billy Crystal, Carl Reiner - former actors turned directors) but they must have not wanted to pay them. (Paramount that is.) Overall a great film for the spirits to be lifted for everyone who watches it. Let me know what you think. (12-10-02)

(2012-05-13 19:19)

Flashdance

This review is from: Flashdance (DVD) Received on first date of estimated arrival and in the condition stated. This is a very relaxing "blast from the past" movie. Good music, sweet romance and I will watch it time and again.

(2012-05-13 08:28)

This movie is great! Everyone should see it. Inspirational!!

As a little kid, I was inspired by this movie. It has music and funk. To sum it up in one word--GREAT! Any dancer would enjoy this film. It shows that she had to work hard and get up the courage to go to the audition. I don't think that I could've went! A lot of people drag about it's plot. I don't think that the plot is that important. Only guys want a good plot so they can follow the movie! But for real, watch the movie and see for yourself.

RichHartford (2012-05-12 21:00)

Flashdance Is The Ultimate Guilty Pleasure Classic

Flashdance probably launched the guilty pleasure classics of the 1980'sfor which future dance movies such as Footloose and Dirty Dancingfollowed suit.It was smashed by the critics at the time of its releasedue to many formulaic movies themes applied to it but it managed togross more than $100 million at the box office.The movie was the first collaboration between Don Simpson and JerryBruckheimer,the producers of Tom Cruise movies,Top Gun and Days OfThunder.It stars Jennifer Beals as Alex,a Pittsburgh woman with twojobs as a welder and an exotic dancer wants to get into balletschool.The other stars in the film includes Michael Nouri and LiliaSkala.The film was directed by Adrian Lyne. The story involves teen-age Alexandra "Alex" Owens works as a welder ata steel mill in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the day, and as adancer at Mawby's bar in the evenings. She lives alone in a convertedwarehouse with her pet dog, Grunt. Despite a lack of formal dancetraining, she aspires to be accepted by a prestigious dance school, thefictional Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory. During one ofher performances at Mawby's, she attracts the interest of Nick Hurley(Michael Nouri), her boss at the steel mill, and he learns that Alex isone of his employees.Alex goes to the Conservatory to ask for an application form for anaudition, but runs out of the building when she realizes that since shelacks formal training and professional experience, she would have toleave much of the form blank. Alex's dance teacher and mentor is aretired ballet dancer named Hanna Long (Lilia Skala), who encouragesAlex to pursue her dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer. After Jeanie falls twice while auditioning for an ice show, she losesconfidence in herself and becomes a dancer at The Zanzibar, where sheperforms in the nude, and Alex goes to the strip club to rescue Jeanie.Alex and Nick become lovers, but he has an ex-wife named Katie (BelindaBauer), and they have a hostile encounter in a local restaurant. Nickuses his contacts at the Conservatory to secure an audition. Justbefore the audition, Alex goes to Hanna's house and learns that she hasdied. At the audition, Alex falls at the beginning of her routine, butstarts over and completes the routine successfully. In the final scene,Alex runs out of the Conservatory building with a smile on her face andis hugged by Nick, who gives her a bouquet of red roses. She gives arose to him, and the film ends with a freeze frame. The ending of thefilm does not say directly whether Alex wins a place at theConservatory as a result of her audition.The movie is characterized,just like what I've said in the firstparagraph by numerous elements of guilty pleasures that a viewers seeksin an entertaining movie such as romance,teen-age memories,formulaicthemes,predictability,interesting characters, great choreographed dancescenes, and sequences in the style of music videos.Aside from that,ithas many memorable original 80's songs classics such as "Maniac" byMichael Sembello;"Lady, Lady, Lady", by Joe Esposito; "Gloria" and"Imagination" by Laura Branigan; "I'll Be Here Where The Heart Is" byKim Carnes and the Academy Award-winning "Flashdance... What a Feeling"by Irene Cara.Of course,the final dance scene at the audition is alsoworth the mention.In terms of acting,Jennifer Beals shines in her film debut as Alex.Shegives an electrifying performance despite the lack of depth given toher character.Also,she is very engaging as we do care for her characterto succeed in her aspirations as a dancer.Overall,Flashdance can be considered as the ultimate guilty pleasureclassic.It was made not to please the critics but to please theaudience who wants to relax and would prefer not to go into deepthinking but rather seek pure entertainment when watching a movie.Withthis objective,the movie delivers.

(2012-05-11 21:23)

What a song! It carries the movie

You just keep waiting for that Oscar-winning title song to come around again; it's gotta be the most joyful, uplifting, foot-stompin', head and hip swinging tune ever written for a movie. Jennifer Beals works as a welder by day, but does sexy dancing in a club at night, practicing constantly for a chance to audition for the formal dance school, tho she'd never had formal training and feels inferior to the others in the audition lines. As reality, it won't float. But as an energetic and boisterous vehicle for a sweet story and some of the best music and dancing ever seen on screen, it's a five-star winner.

billnfam (2012-05-11 08:23)

Oh What a Chick Flick

I love Flashdance, for all its faults and cheesy lines and melodramaand nudie bar scenes and dancing and sexploitation! It is stillemulated and relevant showing up in cartoons such as Shrek. I will always remember fondly the curious feelings it gave me when Iwatched it as an 8 year old kid. Seeing all the dancing and decisionsin the young women's lives of Alex and her friend. The nude bar sceneswere my first exposure to sex. I had never seen naked women in a moviebefore! It was awesome and confusing at the same time! And my mom nevercensored it! And of course you feel sorry for poor Jeani. There's areal life porn actress/prostitute who has a similar story. You can seethe path Jeani is going before Alex helps her. I will always remember the barking of the sleazy nude bar owner everytime I pass a strip joint: "Live nude beautiful girls!!!" LIvenude...nude live....beautiful...girls...10 out of 10 I give it 2 boobs up!