41 Years Ago Today, A Notorious Flop Was Released (And It Changed How We Talk About Movie Sequels Forever)

When it comes to movie legacies, sometimes it’s not a film’s success that leaves its mark on pop culture and entertainment history, but something else entirely. Sometimes, it’s how a film defines an aesthetic, such as Blade Runner which bombed at the box office but went on to define the cyberpunk aesthetic and inspire countless other works. Sometimes, it’s how a film pushes the boundaries of visual effects and completely changes the game, such as Tron. And then there are films whose contribution ends up being how we look at other movies — specifically sequels — in the most hilarious and meme-worthy way possible.

If you’ve ever jokingly referred to a sequel to any movie as having “Electric Boogaloo” as a subtitle, you have one very specific movie to thank, and it turns 41 years old today. Released on December 19, 1984, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo was the sequel to surprise hit breakdancing film Breakin’ that was released earlier that same year and while Breakin’ 2 did make more than three times its budget at the box office, it failed to make even half of what the original film did, but left us with a term we still use for unlikely sequels to this day.

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How Breakin’ 2 Made Electric Boogaloo So Much More Than Just a Dance Style

Today, it’s pretty much a meme to refer a sequel as “Electric Boogaloo”. It’s become a big part of the pop-culture lexicon, appearing in mainstream media, in Internet memes, and even as the title to episodes of television shows, notable It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Season 11 episode “Chardee MacDennis 2: Electric Boogaloo.” In each usage, it’s almost always a reference to something being silly or ridiculous and that ties to Breakin’ 2.

Breakin’ 2 has kind of a wild story in the sense that it is a sequel that came out very hot on the heels of the movie it spawned from. Releasing on May 4, 1984, the first Breakin’ — which was inspired by a 1983 documentary about the Los Angeles hip hop scene — was a surprise success with $38.6 million at the box office. The film didn’t have much of story, just largely following classically trained dancer Kelly who teams up with street dancers Ozone and Turbo to win a dance contest, but it was fun film. And its success was enough to get it a quick-to-theaters sequel. Gotta capitalize on things, right?

But while Breakin’ at least had its thin dance contest plot, Breakin’ 2 was something entirely different. Kelly, Ozone, and Turbo return, this time to try to stop the demolition of a community center by an evil developer who wants to turn it into a shopping mall. There’s some wild dance sequences (including some on-the-ceiling moonwalking) and even though it tried to strike while the iron was hot with a fast arrival in theaters, the breakdancing movie fad had already started to run its course. It got pretty poor reviews and its subtitle, “Electric Boogaloo,” which is actually a reference to a funk-oriented dance style (and also something of a reference to the name of one of the film’s stars, Michael “Boogaloo Shrimp” Champers, who plays Turbo) soon became sort of a joke reference for a goofy sequel. Calling such sequels “Electric Boogaloo” stuck and we’ve been doing it for more than four decades now with no sign of stopping.

Despite Being More Famous For the Joke It Created, Breakin’ 2 Is Surprisingly Fun to Watch

While Breakin’ 2’s legacy is the “Electric Boogaloo” joke, it would be wrong to just dismiss the poor-performing sequel. While the film was very obviously made to capitalize on the popularity and success of the first film, Breakin’ 2 is actually a fun watch. It’s cheesy and silly and the camp factor is off the charts, but there’s something very earnest about the film. It’s packed with laughs and even with the very thin, contrived plot, there’s something heartfelt and earnest about it. There’s also the dancing, which is actually pretty great and, frankly, there’s something really enjoyable about watching the street kids band together to put on a show and raise money to stop the evil white capitalist from trying to tear down a fixture in their community just to build another shopping mall. Breakin’ 2 may have given us Electric Boogaloo, but it’s also a fun film that’s definitely worth watching.

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