Just what I expected

Good concept, poorly executed.

A Major Disappointment

A Disappointing Continuation

Subway Art had the graffiti pictures shot by Martha Cooper and for any up and coming writer this was your bible. So, naturally if you claim you know Hip-Hop and have never heard of Style Wars or Subway Art, well start with Style Wars the documentary and grab a copy of Subway Art. Style Wars was dead on in capturing the energy and youth movement in NYC. The music, art and dance are all there. This is an urban classic! Favorite: Talking to the kids in the Bronx at the "writers bench"Who knew that the art form (graffiti), music (Rap) and dance (breaking) would take the world by storm and become the commercial monster it is today. This is Hip-Hop culture in its most pure form, remembering this is a look at kids who formed a culture around street arts.

I was curious to see how this film played for me because to some degree I am target audience while also not being target audience. I love hip hop (and no, 50 Cent does not fit that category for me so much as Black Star, for example, would) and I like the culture around it of break-dancing and graffiti writing. However on the flip side I do see graffiti on public property (or others' property) as being a nuisance and part of dragging areas down by giving the impression of lawlessness and a lack of safety. Whether it is true that it does encourage crime, it is of little doubt that the clean and well-lit subway stations of modern New York feel a lot less threatening than the ones that you see in this film.The film does a good job of showing both sides of argument and, although the focus is the cultural side, it doesn't play down the fact that the graffiti is both creative and a nuisance and that it is possible to see it both ways at the same time. Here we see some great pieces on trains and walls but we also see idiots like Cap who literally spray their names on top of other peoples' work, the former producing some imaginative work that does make the "art" claim fly, the latter very much demonstrating the criminal damage side of it. The contributions from the bombers or taggers are mostly good, with plenty of typically Noo Yark characters of all ages and races talking with an energy and passion on the subject as it was happening.The link to break-dancing and hip hop is not as strongly made as I would have liked and it doesn't manage to explore the birth of this street culture as well as I would have hoped. That said though it is still interesting to see a documentary about the graffiti trend and have captured it as it was in its heyday before it was stamped out. The film doesn't pander to either side but clearly sides with those being creative and allows the quality of the work to shine through, mostly ignoring those who would just seek to quickly spray their names on a train with nothing else to offer.Not as culturally important as I would have liked it to have been but nonetheless interesting and cool at the same time and well worth seeing for the real heads.

this movie rocks yo its all freaky seein some of these the dopest of the dope the baddest most freakalistic writers to ever put paint to taint the machine and take a piece of it and say "I AM HERE I AM LEAVING MY MARK ON THIS WORLD" and daaaaamn they do it so nice yo man this is must know must see for anyone who thinks they kick it old school yo this is the way it was not the way you thought it was go get a kurtis blow record yo now kick it and lemme turn this up ya know what i'm sayin

This documentary on subway grafitti in New York City in the early 1980s had it all: it was beautifully shot, had a great soundtrack, and captured the essence of what was going on in the city after the 70s and under the regime of Mayor Kotch. The best thing about this documentary is how it can be studied on so many levels- it makes you realize why "bombing" is done and what it accomplishes. It helps you understand the psychological reasoning behind it, and how it plays on human character traits such as territorial rights, pursuit and the need for recognition. It shows how graffitti had a strong impact on society, and how it tore some homes apart. A must see- plus a great representation of early hip hop music and style. Love those TWAs! (Teeny Weeny Afros!) 9 out of 10.