Russell Walker co-owns a struggling record company which has a big hit--'King of Rock' by Run-DMC. The record is selling so well the company cannot produce enough copies, and they don't have the money for more until the records sell--which they won't until the company has something to ship. The banks don't want to lend to this company because rap is something new and strange. So Russell has to deal with less than savory characters. Meanwhile, the guys in Run-DMC take advantage of the opportunity to make themselves famous, getting involved with a major record producer.
Russell is also in charge of a talent show which includes a number of famous rappers and musicians. However, even though the credits say the Russell character is based on the real Russell Simmons, who was a producer of the movie, at the end of the credits we are told the characters are fictional. So even though a number of well-known rappers perform in this movie, using the same name as in real life, and even though those who belong to groups are in groups with the same name as their real-life counterparts, these are not the real stories of the performers. It would have been too much of a coincidence, though, for so many famous performers to have met in this way when they were unknown.
I am a 44-year-old white man who likes easygoing music such as Mantovani, Lawrence Welk, Sinatra, Perry Como and Glenn Miller. Still, The Fat Boys were the first rap group I ever heard (if you don't count Blondie), and they performed without instruments, using their voices for percussion. I enjoyed hearing them do this and wish they had done it more in the movie (they actually had 'real' instruments backing them up which, unfortunately, weren't 'real' like so much of 80s music). But I liked it when one of the guys did this in biology class and got them kicked out, and when they tried doing it for the bouncer where the talent show was being held. And one of the movie's best moments came when the guys saw a sign at Sbarro's which said 'All You Can Eat' for $3.99. The Fat Boys, who were The Disco 3 at first, were a lot of fun.
Other than The Fat Boys, I liked LL Cool J the best. But the musical performances in this movie were first-rate, whether they were really my taste or not, and this was the reason to watch--not acting or writing. Sheila E. especially came across well on stage. She was very confident and quite talented at singing, rapping, dancing, playing drums, playing the guitar (now I really liked this, since it was jazz-style rather than rock). As for her acting--well, we can't be good at everything.
Blair Underwood is considered a respected actor these days, and I just went through the sad experience of seeing his last appearance on 'LAX', where he and Heather Locklear were so wonderful together. But I couldn't see his potential here.
This movie was pretty good, and highly recommended in my opinion for fans of old-school rap.
Russell is also in charge of a talent show which includes a number of famous rappers and musicians. However, even though the credits say the Russell character is based on the real Russell Simmons, who was a producer of the movie, at the end of the credits we are told the characters are fictional. So even though a number of well-known rappers perform in this movie, using the same name as in real life, and even though those who belong to groups are in groups with the same name as their real-life counterparts, these are not the real stories of the performers. It would have been too much of a coincidence, though, for so many famous performers to have met in this way when they were unknown.
I am a 44-year-old white man who likes easygoing music such as Mantovani, Lawrence Welk, Sinatra, Perry Como and Glenn Miller. Still, The Fat Boys were the first rap group I ever heard (if you don't count Blondie), and they performed without instruments, using their voices for percussion. I enjoyed hearing them do this and wish they had done it more in the movie (they actually had 'real' instruments backing them up which, unfortunately, weren't 'real' like so much of 80s music). But I liked it when one of the guys did this in biology class and got them kicked out, and when they tried doing it for the bouncer where the talent show was being held. And one of the movie's best moments came when the guys saw a sign at Sbarro's which said 'All You Can Eat' for $3.99. The Fat Boys, who were The Disco 3 at first, were a lot of fun.
Other than The Fat Boys, I liked LL Cool J the best. But the musical performances in this movie were first-rate, whether they were really my taste or not, and this was the reason to watch--not acting or writing. Sheila E. especially came across well on stage. She was very confident and quite talented at singing, rapping, dancing, playing drums, playing the guitar (now I really liked this, since it was jazz-style rather than rock). As for her acting--well, we can't be good at everything.
Blair Underwood is considered a respected actor these days, and I just went through the sad experience of seeing his last appearance on 'LAX', where he and Heather Locklear were so wonderful together. But I couldn't see his potential here.
This movie was pretty good, and highly recommended in my opinion for fans of old-school rap.