Rooftops (1989) Jason Gedrick, Troy Beyer, Allan Payne, Eddie Velez

[AlbertV]

I had heard about this film but decided to finally see it today. It's a 1989 film set in New York City where "T", a dance fighter and homeless young man who competes in battles (the precursor to 2012's Battle B-Boy) and has a good reputation among some of the youth in the city, meets a young woman Elana, whose brother Lobo turns out to be a new drug lord in town looking to take over. When "T" ticks off Lobo, he learns not only is his relationshp threatened, but when a kid who looks up to him becomes a victim, "T" must fuse his dance battle skills with learning the martial art of capoeira and wage war on the rooftops of the city. 

Yes, this came out before Only the Strong and capoeira is a skill our hero learns. The dance fighting scenes are actually pretty cool for its time...like the "dance battle scene" of Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo on steroids if you will. What's even more shocking is that this was directed by Robert Wise, the same filmmaker who brought us The Sound of Music and West Side Story?! 

[ShaOW!linDude]

I remember this as being more about dance scenes than fight scenes. I was highly disappointed. Had it been equal parts I might have enjoyed it a little more. Massive waste of time.