Style Wars

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Starring: Sam Schacht
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Type: DVD
Directed By: Tony Silver
Studio: Passion River
Release Date: 2005-08-23
Number of Items: 2
When director Tony Silver and co-producer Henry Chalfant delivered the broadcast version of their prize-winning film to PBS in 1983, the world received its first full immersion in the phenomenon that had taken over New York City. The urban landscape was

Amazing
This is one of few documentaries I can actually watch over and over and still enjoy.

From the very beginning, with the dark shots of the trains rolling through the yards, it's apparent that is a very well filmed piece. The mood of the early 80s is nicely portrayed with the imagery and soundtrack.

What's really great about Style Wars, is that althought it's meant to show graffiti culture to outsiders, it doesn't have the feel of a mundane "outside looking in" type documentary. The makers definitely knew not to treat graffiti as some type of fleeting trend or mildly interesting phenomenon. They saw the depth of it and portrayed it well.

Coming from NYC, graffiti has been a part of my life for a long time. I can honestly say that this is a very good film to watch to learn it's history. It will have you thinking more about the graff you see on a day to day basis.

I would say that there could have been more action shots of actual painting being done. I mean, the artists featured in the film bombed hardcore, they wouldn't opposed to be being filmed in action. Either way, the picture montages and rolling train shots suffice.

The Bible for the birth of hip hop culture!!
This documentary is timeless! Perfectly outlines the birth of Hip-Hop Culture on the streets of it's birthplace, New York City and it's boroughs.
It also captures the Legends before they were considered Legends...Rock Steady Crews own Frosty Freeze (RIP) and Crazy Legs as well as Graffiti Legends SEEN, DONDI, IZ the WIZ, ZEPHYR etc..etc...
Hands down the Bible of Underground Hip Hop Culture!

What a great buy!
you get so much bang for the buck with this DVD. Not only is the documentary fantastic, but the supplemental DVD has recent interviews with lots of the superstar graffiti artists, breakdancers, and rappers. Well worth the money!!!!!

Old School
I had heard about Style Wars when i was in high school in 89', my friend had the hardcover book. Seeing the video just made me re-live those days of seeing trains with the fresh tags, and new drawings. I would highly suggest anyone who is into old school Graffiti then you must have this movie!!!!!!

An Outstanding Documentary
Style Wars documents the early graffiti scene in NYC and places it in the context of hip hop culture and the city at large. The film does a great job of conveying the passion graffiti writers have for their art, but is less successful at bringing into focus the conflicts between writers, parents, and city government. (The writers are never asked directly, for example, why they think it's acceptable to damage public property in pursuit of their art.) Nor is the connection between writers and b-boys and rappers drawn explicitly, despite the considerable time spent showing dancing. Nevertheless, there is a lot of good material here and, despite the filmmakers' obvious bias, all sides in this conflict are treated respectfully. The presentation itself is also quite artful, particularly the opening.

In addition to an extensive gallery, the bonus disc updates the story of 1983's Style Wars with interviews circa 2002. Not only do we get the artists' thoughts about the technique and history of graff and its relationship to music and dance, we get to hear what it meant to them then and now and how it changed their lives.