Wild Style - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Wild Style



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
Growing up as a kid in the 80s and 90s, counterculture and subcultures were exploding left and right. Outside of the highly popularized Metal, hard rock, and hair metal bands of the era, punk was starting to make a revival, and hip-hop was being formed. And while I was never a big hip hop fan over my life, I still loved watching Fab 5 Freddy, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5, Salt-N-Pepa, and countless other talented artists literally open doors for the black community in ways that hadn’t been seen for DECADES in music. A culture, a style, and a complete way of life were born out of that era (some good, some bad), and while I was never a huge fan of the film, Wild Style is that film that introduced the masses to hip hop in a way that made it real and exciting.

It’s almost deceptive to intimate that hip hop music was what Wild Style introduced, as it's actually much more than that. Wild Style is a textured piece of art designed to show the entirety (as it was in the time) of the emerging hip hop culture, blending music, tagging art, dance, showmanship, and a way of life that urban youths were flocking to in greater and greater numbers. As such, the film is less a “music film” and more of a film that uses music among a convergence of other art forms to lay out a cultural tapestry in urban America.

Shot in a semi-documentarian sort of way, Wild Style follows a journalist named Virginia (Patti Astor) who is researching the emerging hip hop movement, and is the outsider looking in that watches the narrative unfold in her role. She’s given an entry point into a world that her generation didn’t grow up in, and she films and documents countless artists, dancers, musicians, and young men looking to make something of themselves in a world that didn’t seem to want them. The vignette style structure of the film allows for some jumps here and there between styles and artists, giving us a look into various rappers, DJs, and other break dancers (ahhh, good ole break dancing) that were all forming on the streets. None of this was mass produced in studios or headhunters looking for the next Motley Crue, but rather urban kids just doing what they did and pushing themselves into a world of performance art that runs the line between commercialism and true street artists.

Much like Virginia, I’m an outsider as well. I’ve dabbled in the hip hop world, and grew up watching films like Breakin’ (and its horrible sequel) and Beat Street, but I was never IN that world. As such, I feel sort of inadequate to give some loquacious breakdown on the intricacies and nuances of Hip Hop culture. Instead, I get to look into a world that is outside my own, yet still appreciate the skill and incredible influence this film had on introducing the general population to an emerging art form. Much like how 8 Mile reintroduced us to an ever-changing aspect of hip hop, Wild Style is a look into the VERY early days of the hip hop community, featuring many of the legends themselves in candid performances throughout (as well as a few fabricated ones). The ability to make the film short and sweet (82 minutes) is a blessing, as the film doesn’t ever overstay its welcome. And the use of a vignette-driven structure allows us to sample little bits of the world very quickly without feeling overly dramatic and bogged down.




Rating:

Rated R by the MPAA




4K Video: Video:

Restored by Arrow films and presented in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio and mono audio, the film looks fantastic. The original 16mm AB negative was scanned in at 4K 16 and fully restored and color graded at Resillion, New York. According to the interviews and press release, Wild Style had suffered a ton of degradation over the years, with flickering, fluctuating scenes, and various other issues that needed an entire restoration team to repair and clean up. The film still looks VERY rough and grainy (as 16mm is known to be), but very textural and raw as well. The Dolby Vision and HDR 10 application adds some pop to primary colors and darker shots, but it’s not an overtly aggressive grading at all. Instead, it’s a very subtle addition that just makes things look a bit richer and more vibrant, while still maintaining the faux documentary style of shooting. While it will never look like a Cinemascope 60mm production, Wild Style is as organic and accurate to the source as I could possibly imagine. Outside of a few speckles and some minor color fluctuations partway through the film, I’d consider this a near-perfect restoration.







Audio:

While only Mono 1.0 LPCM, Wild Style’s track is punchy and forward heavy, with a raw sense of hip hop energy that pulsates in the front of the room. Dialog is good, with a thinness to the vocal layers, but there is no boxiness or distortion to speak of, so it’s not a major deal. The hip hop music is by far the belle of the ball, though, with punchy riffs and great beats to keep the movie flowing. Simple? Yes, but music doesn’t need to be in 5.1 or Atmos to be enjoyed, especially considering that this is much closer to what those of us in the 80s would have been listening to.









Extras:

Disc 1: 4K UHD
• Brand new audio commentary with Jeff "Chairman" Mao and Andrew "Monk One" Mason
• Legacy commentary featuring director Charlie Ahearn and Fred "Fab 5 Freddy" Brathwaite
• Down by Law: Creating the Music of Wild Style, a brand new interview with Charlie Ahearn, Chris Stein, and Fred "Fab 5 Freddy" Brathwaite
• Theatrical trailer
• Image gallery

Disc 2: Blu-ray
• The Origin Story, an interview with Lee Quiñones and Fred "Fab 5 Freddy" Brathwaite
• Studio/Benchmark, an interview with Lee Quiñones
• Archive footage from Wild Style's 1983 Japanese Tour
• Two panel discussions and footage from the Wild Style 40 exhibition
• ZDF TV Wild Style 30th anniversary featurette
• Rammellzee in the Battle Station featurette
• Featurettes from the Wild Style 20th, 25th and 30th anniversary shows
• Smith Projects Gym (1977)
• Archival featurettes and interviews from the players and performers of Wild Style
• Outtakes
• Subway Rap music video
• 2025 Restoration and Theatrical trailers

Disc 3: CD
• Exclusive new Wild Style Megamix by Jorun Bombay
• Original radio spots by Fab 5 Freddy and Queen Lisa Lee
• Rare alternate mixes of Subway Rap and Wild Style Theme
• Rare audio outtakes from the film and soundtrack
• Rare 1983 radio interview with Charlie Ahearn

Final Score: ​

Wild Style is a fun look back into my birth year (1982) and saw the creation of one of the most influential art forms in modern music, dance, and physical art. It feels raw and unfiltered, with bad acting and poor line delivery, but a sense of pure authenticity that just can’t be denied. As I said, this isn’t my world, but I have to look in on it and marvel at the raw talent that was on display back then. Hip Hop has been commercialized like everything else in the music/video world, but back then, it was as pure and raw as could be. And that’s something that this 44-year-old really wishes we could go back to. Arrow Video’s 4K disc looks and sounds great, all things considered, and the copious extras are a treat to dig through. Recommended.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Lee Quinones, Lady Pink, Fab 5 Freddy, Patti Astor, Glenn O'Brien
Directed by: Charlie Ahearn
Written by: Charlie Ahearn, Fab 5 Freddy
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 HEVC
Audio: English: LPCM Mono
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Arrow Pictures
Rated: R
Runtime: 82 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: December 2nd, 2025

Recommendation: Fun Watch