I saw this in the theater when it opened in the spring of '89 because it received a fair deal of publicity at the time. The dance show CLUB MTV even did an hour special featuring the cast and dancers/capoierists with accompanying film clips and videos. I was intrigued, especially when I heard the great Robert Wise was at the helm. It was touted as an aware, updated version of West Side Story against the back-drop of the crack-ravaged streets of Lower Manhattan. In spite of an engageing cast, slick production (co-produced by Taylor Hackford and Howard Koch, photographed by Theo van de Sande, designed by Jeannine Oppewall, and scored by Michael Kamen and Dave Stewart) it turned out to be a poorly-scripted update of the rock and roll B-fliks of the 1950s featuring Alan Freed. Needless to say, it died a quick death at the box office. Well, time heals old (cinematic) wounds. Just like the old Freed films Rooftops can be seen as a something of a curio rooted in its time. Its got everythin a nostalgia freak wants: period music, fashions and slang. It is also a glimpse into the world of pre-gentrification Manhattan, a place/time as exhilirating as it was dangerous. Check out the exciting title sequence/foot chase set to Etta James'"Avenue D." Worth a viewing.
18 Reviews
Guilty Pleasure
emmeaki31 July 2005
I have watched this movie over and over since it first came out. I was fifteen and even then, I knew it was cheesy. It had such great potential and I constantly rewrite the script in my head. The Capoeira ruined what could have been a good drama. I loved the fact that it was shot on location. Too bad that the characters were underdeveloped. It's like they wrote a first draft of a script then made the movie right away. At fifteen I could have written a better script!Some scenes and dialog seemed to come out of nowhere and you were left with a lot of unanswered questions. And was it just me, or did it seem like Lobo was sexually attracted to his cousin? "Elena's grown into some kind of woman!" And the way he was always touching her. Would have an interesting plot twist, Elena working for her drug dealing cousin who is also a perv. Too bad they missed the mark on this one.
Gritty Urban Crime Drama
Falconeer18 October 2020
"Rooftops" is one of many urban genre films to come out in the 80's, when hip hop music became more mainstream, raising interest in crime infested ghetto life. Movies like this one, and "Beat Street," "Breakin," and "Krush Groove" were popular at the box office. "Rooftops" is an uneven film, in that it doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. At first it seems like a family-friendly movie, a light musical comedy with the goofy dancing and over the top ghetto stereotypes and fashions. But after the deceptively light introduction, things take a darker turn when the cast starts dropping "f-bombs' and little kids start getting thrown off roofs to their deaths by crack dealers. "Rooftops" does feature some fantastic location filming of New York City's infamous Lower East Side before the gentrification of the entire area. Throughout the 1980's the L.E.S. was overrun with abandoned buildings. These empty apartment buildings were often occupied, illegally, by homeless people in need of shelter. But when the gangs moved in and started taking over these buildings and using them for their drug trade, a kind of war erupted between drug cartels and residents of the area. for a time it was like the Wild West, with shootouts between rival gangs from Brazil and Puerto Rico, trying to take over the drug trade. "Rooftops' tells the story of a group of young people who are trying to hold onto their home, as a violent drug cartel, led by the ruthless Lobo, are trying to take over the neighborhood and use the empty buildings for their crack operation. For those interested in this dark time in NYC history, "Rooftops' can be quite interesting. It's unfortunate that the filmmakers didn't have the courage to tell a more straightforward story, but chose to attempt to sugar coat the production with some unnecessary "dance fighting" nonsense in the beginning of the movie, but thankfully they dispel with all that silliness soon enough, when the real fighting and shooting begins. Although Jason Gedrick is the main focus, the character that really makes the film worth watching is the little Spanish kid "Squeak,' with his attitude and grafittied coat, he completely makes the movie excel in every scene he is in. By no means is "Rooftops" a classic, but it has enough grit and historical significance to make it a very worthwhile Urban crime drama. It makes a great companion piece with "Mixed Blood," another movie filmed around the wreckage of the Lower East Side and dealing with the same subject matter. "Rooftops" is not as good as that Paul Morrissey masterpiece, but it's much better than the lousy "Alphabet City," a movie that makes the L.E.S look like a Hollywood soundstage. Finding a copy of "Rooftops' isn't easy. As of this writing the very limited dvd is long out of print, and there doesn't seem to be any plans for a Bluray release. That dvd goes for big money on the internet, which is an indication that there is a cult following for this seemingly forgotten 80's gem.
Robert Wise we have lost a great director
itsiatkins15 September 2005
As production manager on Robert Wise's Rooftop, and with the news I received today that Bob had passed away, I want to tell everyone about this great film director. I worked on his last feature on the roofs of the lower eastside of NYC. No elevators to get to the roofs and Bob with a bad knee climbed with the best of us. He was a man who loved his crew, who thanked people and who could be a father to all. I was standing next to him as we just filmed a very complex scene with noticed flaws. He said move on, I said, only one take on such a long difficult scene, Bob replied, I am not going to use that part of the scene. A true editor who knew what he was doing, A man for all seasons, and who had more stories, but only when you asked. A true American and I am so glad and honored to have worked for him, God Bless Bob, thank you.
Good little guilty pleasure film
DunnDeeDaGreat7 May 2002
Rooftops is sort of Robert Wise's version of his West Side Story set in the eighties. The film has capoeria, karate and street fights. The film featured many young actors like Jason Gedrick, Tisha Campbell and Allen Payne. I like this movie though.
What a silly movie-- at least NYC is shot well
silikonchips15 May 2021
Are we supposed to believe any of this is much related to reality?
Jason Gedrick is generally a pretty good actor but is ridiculously miscast here. He's far too pretty and far too sweet for this role of someone living on a roof.
The dance-fighting? Whatever.
Really the best thing here is the extensive and sometimes stunning views of NYC itself at a time now long past, making this a pretty good time capsule.
Jason Gedrick is generally a pretty good actor but is ridiculously miscast here. He's far too pretty and far too sweet for this role of someone living on a roof.
The dance-fighting? Whatever.
Really the best thing here is the extensive and sometimes stunning views of NYC itself at a time now long past, making this a pretty good time capsule.
The hero is dumb as door knobs
Eddie_weinbauer9 March 2019
And the bad guys are comical at best.
And the girl who is stuck in between the two, just wish everyone could get along,and her poor poor dad to get healthy again.
The so called fight, dancing is just unintended comical. The dialogue cartoonish and naive.Even when faced with serious threats
I wish I could tell you about a the story line,but there really is none. The Hero, who people mostly refer to as T, lives on a rooftop as an orphan and loves his tomato plants. at night he participate in something they call dancing or combat dancing.Were they shadow box at each other until one of them fall of a stage,and have lost.
I have the impression every male in the movie, is an orphan of sort, and every girl ,is from a broken or struggling home. The biggest threat they face is a slick drug dealer and his 3 goons. Which no one seem to have the balls,to just take em out.
So in best 80s style, the good guy will have to run from the dealer until he is finally forced to take the a stand.(which is what he should have done in the first place.Which would have saved him a lot of grief)
And the girl who is stuck in between the two, just wish everyone could get along,and her poor poor dad to get healthy again.
The so called fight, dancing is just unintended comical. The dialogue cartoonish and naive.Even when faced with serious threats
I wish I could tell you about a the story line,but there really is none. The Hero, who people mostly refer to as T, lives on a rooftop as an orphan and loves his tomato plants. at night he participate in something they call dancing or combat dancing.Were they shadow box at each other until one of them fall of a stage,and have lost.
I have the impression every male in the movie, is an orphan of sort, and every girl ,is from a broken or struggling home. The biggest threat they face is a slick drug dealer and his 3 goons. Which no one seem to have the balls,to just take em out.
So in best 80s style, the good guy will have to run from the dealer until he is finally forced to take the a stand.(which is what he should have done in the first place.Which would have saved him a lot of grief)
lets dance fight
kaefab31 January 2021
This movie reminds me a lot of the kenpo school next to my house, they are expert in musical forms...what's the use of getting into martial arts if its to perform dance off... LOL
This movie is stupid and ridicule at best.
This movie is stupid and ridicule at best.
Sounds More Awesome than it Really Is, But Watchable with Friends.
Dark_Lord_Mark31 January 2021
It a movie really about street life, and rooftop fighting isn't really done outside of 1 scene. The beginning sequence makes you think it's going to be about "air" fighting where the object is to make someone fall, but nope, that is never really explored again.
I was hoping fore some awesome 80's cheese, the movie had lots, but rarely very fun.
It lacked fun. It's about life in the ghetto, but the BEST part of the movie was the scenery. Seeing NYC skyline in the late 80's was breathtaking. It felt real and the camera work was very good.
Compared to movies 2010's and on, the camera work, lighting, realistic atmosphere were much better in the 1980's and throughout the 90's. This movie was well shot, and again, atmosphere was amazing. The sunlight, the buildings, the non-cgi was refreshing.
It definitely a movie that you should TRY to watch, but preferably with friends. Seeing the NY skyline is worth at least taking a look at the movie.
I was hoping fore some awesome 80's cheese, the movie had lots, but rarely very fun.
It lacked fun. It's about life in the ghetto, but the BEST part of the movie was the scenery. Seeing NYC skyline in the late 80's was breathtaking. It felt real and the camera work was very good.
Compared to movies 2010's and on, the camera work, lighting, realistic atmosphere were much better in the 1980's and throughout the 90's. This movie was well shot, and again, atmosphere was amazing. The sunlight, the buildings, the non-cgi was refreshing.
It definitely a movie that you should TRY to watch, but preferably with friends. Seeing the NY skyline is worth at least taking a look at the movie.
An okay B action flick with no similarity at all to "West Side Story"
rdoyle2919 April 2023
Jason Gedrick lives in an empty water tower on top of an abandoned building in New York City. He earns a living (a pretty meager one I would imagine) stealing plumbing from empty buildings and selling it. For fun he hangs out at block parties and ... dance fights??? It's difficult to explain, but it's like capoeira but is not capoeira (more on this later).
He meets Troy Byer at a night of dance fighting and they fall for each other pretty immediately ... even though she's best friends with his ex Tisha Campbell, something the movie glides by pretty callously. All seems good until drug dealer Eddie Velez starts doing business in Gedrick's building and kicks him out on the street. Byer turns out to be Velez's cousin and she works for him as a lookout.
I don't need to tell you much more because you know how this plays out. The conflict with Velez will escalate until someone close to Gedrick dies (young graffiti artist Alexis Cruz) and Gedrick has to take them on. You know Byer will be forced to pick sides, and you know what side she will pick. You know who'll win.
This is a pretty B formula. All you need is a hook, and that seems to be dance fighting, only it's ultimately not. Gedrick learns about capoeira, so you figure he'll learn it and use it to defeat Velez, only he doesn't. It doesn't really figure in the plot at all. I guess the hook is that everyone in the film lives in ramshackle rooftop homes. That's something.
This is Robert Wise's last theatrical feature and it has a terrible reputation. I'm here to tell you ... it's pretty good actually. It's a cheap late 80's B action flick, and I've seen a lot of those. This one is okay. This film is better than most of the films Wise directed in the 1970's.
People tend to call this a "take" on "West Side Story". It's not ... it has absolutely nothing to with "West Side Story". No street gangs. No songs. No "Romeo & Juliet" narrative. Not a damn thing to do with it.
He meets Troy Byer at a night of dance fighting and they fall for each other pretty immediately ... even though she's best friends with his ex Tisha Campbell, something the movie glides by pretty callously. All seems good until drug dealer Eddie Velez starts doing business in Gedrick's building and kicks him out on the street. Byer turns out to be Velez's cousin and she works for him as a lookout.
I don't need to tell you much more because you know how this plays out. The conflict with Velez will escalate until someone close to Gedrick dies (young graffiti artist Alexis Cruz) and Gedrick has to take them on. You know Byer will be forced to pick sides, and you know what side she will pick. You know who'll win.
This is a pretty B formula. All you need is a hook, and that seems to be dance fighting, only it's ultimately not. Gedrick learns about capoeira, so you figure he'll learn it and use it to defeat Velez, only he doesn't. It doesn't really figure in the plot at all. I guess the hook is that everyone in the film lives in ramshackle rooftop homes. That's something.
This is Robert Wise's last theatrical feature and it has a terrible reputation. I'm here to tell you ... it's pretty good actually. It's a cheap late 80's B action flick, and I've seen a lot of those. This one is okay. This film is better than most of the films Wise directed in the 1970's.
People tend to call this a "take" on "West Side Story". It's not ... it has absolutely nothing to with "West Side Story". No street gangs. No songs. No "Romeo & Juliet" narrative. Not a damn thing to do with it.
Could have been better.
scrtumhad22 January 2024
I barely finished watching this movie. I have mixed feelings, it lacks a lot of action, although I admire the sets, shows how filthy New York looks. The acting is a little cheesy, can't compare to more serious films like The Warriors which I consider a masterpiece, this film didn't push the envelope, I had high expectations when I first watched this movie, it's kinda boring, doesn't take itself very seriously. If u love movies with great action sequences I wouldn't recommend this film, save your time and watch a crime film or action movie. This movie works better as an 80's teen drama-comedy..
A nostalgic time capsule.
amesmonde8 March 2021
A love struck roof-dwelling combat air dancer battles criminals in a Manhattan ghetto.
From a decade of dance and pop, pre CGI, when the safety of actors doing stunts wasn't priority comes Robert Wise's Rooftops...
With plenty of F' bombs, a few chases, fights and some moves from Breakin' and The Electric Boogaloo, the tone is inconsistent, it unrealistically sugar-coats the grim realities facing homeless teenagers. Wise echoes the atmosphere of New York reminiscent of like of The Equalizer TV series, Death Wish 2 and Wild Thing to name a few. Writers Allan A. Goldstein, Tony Mark and Terrence Brennan touch on abuse, gang crime and other serious problems of the day, many of which are still issues.
The pacing is slow pace and plot thin but the cast are more than competent, leads Troy Byer Jason Gedrick are solid. Alexis Cruz is notable. However, the real star of the show is the location. With a fitting score and soundtrack, Wise offers the New York streets, abandoned buildings and 80s skyline. Showing the contrasting rich to the ghetto poor.
Worth a watch if only from a nostalgia or time capsule perspective.
From a decade of dance and pop, pre CGI, when the safety of actors doing stunts wasn't priority comes Robert Wise's Rooftops...
With plenty of F' bombs, a few chases, fights and some moves from Breakin' and The Electric Boogaloo, the tone is inconsistent, it unrealistically sugar-coats the grim realities facing homeless teenagers. Wise echoes the atmosphere of New York reminiscent of like of The Equalizer TV series, Death Wish 2 and Wild Thing to name a few. Writers Allan A. Goldstein, Tony Mark and Terrence Brennan touch on abuse, gang crime and other serious problems of the day, many of which are still issues.
The pacing is slow pace and plot thin but the cast are more than competent, leads Troy Byer Jason Gedrick are solid. Alexis Cruz is notable. However, the real star of the show is the location. With a fitting score and soundtrack, Wise offers the New York streets, abandoned buildings and 80s skyline. Showing the contrasting rich to the ghetto poor.
Worth a watch if only from a nostalgia or time capsule perspective.
Avoid this movie...your life depends on it
slo-time8 January 2005
I have the sneaking suspicion that the the story behind the movie "The Ring" , wherein people die after watching a video, came to someone after watching this movie. My own VCR exploded in protest while I was watching it. It probably saved my life. It is the rarest of films, one in which absolutely none of the elements work. If you intentionally set out to make the worst movie in the world, I doubt you could equal the unholy "Rooftops". I have a method I use for measuring how bad a particular work is. I call it the David Lee Roth factor. Simply ask yourself "Would this be any worse if David Lee Roth were somehow involved?" In the case of "Rooftops", the answer is a resounding "No!" Believe you me, you don't want to see or hear anything that David Lee Roth can't ruin.
If you like bad 80's flicks, this is your movie
Piantanida15 January 2003
Awful songs, crummy acting, Troy Beyer the babe, "combat dancing", living in a water tower, this one's got everything for the bad movie 80's fanatic. I rented it once, loved it, & bought it off E-bay for $1. Worth every penny.
One a scale of 1 to 5 stars, with one star being the lowest & 5 stars being the highest, I rate this one an A-. . .
One a scale of 1 to 5 stars, with one star being the lowest & 5 stars being the highest, I rate this one an A-. . .
Uncomfortable, yet entertaining.
vertigo_1422 June 2004
There is something uncomfortable about 'Rooftops.' Perhpas it's the dreadfully slow pace and very thin plot. Characters threaten to foist revenge on one another, and each expects it, but none really seem to appreciate the danger. It comes off as young children bickering with each other about being on one another's property. It is meaningless and stupid.
Rooftops, however, does have some merit. The story is about a bunch of homeless kids living in the slums of New York. They've made their homes and their territory on the rooftops of the abandoned buildings. They carry about with their own sort of culture, particularly noted by a variety of combat (which looks more like dancing) which I think is one of the more uncomfortable moments since there seems to be no point to it.
"T" is the center of the story. Jason Gedrick's character is interesting at least in that he's not an annoying teenager (or older, I presume), but is actually a pretty smart, protective guy. Unfortunately, other than watching him go about his rather easy-going existence on the rooftops, there's not much to his character.
His unrelenting antagonist is Lobo, a pimp and drug dealer who plans to move T out of his territory. Like 'Deuces Wild,' T and his friends vow not to let Lobo move in and mess things up for these kids. I suppose they've been pushed out of one too many families (T was homeless after his parent's died and so was his friend Amber; Squeak left home to avoid his mother's abusive boyfriend; and so forth), so they're determined to just to finally find a place of their own.
Of course, getting rid of Lobo is no easy job. Especially when he patrols the rooftops with his gun toting goons,,going a little too far to get rid of a couple of homeless teenagers. Luckily, T's weird combat training and the rooftop kid's smarts make a pretty good match for Lobo. A little too unbelieveable, since Lobo was always threatening these kids with a gun. I bet a real drug dealer/pimp, intent on pushing his business no matter what, wouldn't think twice about killing these kids. Likewise, I doubt anyone would think twice about killing Lobo and his goons, since they never seemed to have connections to anyone else.
There are just some strange qualities to the movie, mostly marked by the pace. It takes a long time for characters to be introduced and understood, for the plot to actually have something interesting going on, and so forth. A lot of the movie just seems to follow the kids and their rooftop lifestyles which is unfortunate, considering that this probably could've been a much better movie, considering the story.
It sure does have a lot of weird junk going on, but I don't think it was too bad. There is just something entertaining about the whole mess. I may just be forgiving since I've seen one too many bad movies this week (at least when compared with this one). I think this one is just best recommended for die-hard 80s fans.
Rooftops, however, does have some merit. The story is about a bunch of homeless kids living in the slums of New York. They've made their homes and their territory on the rooftops of the abandoned buildings. They carry about with their own sort of culture, particularly noted by a variety of combat (which looks more like dancing) which I think is one of the more uncomfortable moments since there seems to be no point to it.
"T" is the center of the story. Jason Gedrick's character is interesting at least in that he's not an annoying teenager (or older, I presume), but is actually a pretty smart, protective guy. Unfortunately, other than watching him go about his rather easy-going existence on the rooftops, there's not much to his character.
His unrelenting antagonist is Lobo, a pimp and drug dealer who plans to move T out of his territory. Like 'Deuces Wild,' T and his friends vow not to let Lobo move in and mess things up for these kids. I suppose they've been pushed out of one too many families (T was homeless after his parent's died and so was his friend Amber; Squeak left home to avoid his mother's abusive boyfriend; and so forth), so they're determined to just to finally find a place of their own.
Of course, getting rid of Lobo is no easy job. Especially when he patrols the rooftops with his gun toting goons,,going a little too far to get rid of a couple of homeless teenagers. Luckily, T's weird combat training and the rooftop kid's smarts make a pretty good match for Lobo. A little too unbelieveable, since Lobo was always threatening these kids with a gun. I bet a real drug dealer/pimp, intent on pushing his business no matter what, wouldn't think twice about killing these kids. Likewise, I doubt anyone would think twice about killing Lobo and his goons, since they never seemed to have connections to anyone else.
There are just some strange qualities to the movie, mostly marked by the pace. It takes a long time for characters to be introduced and understood, for the plot to actually have something interesting going on, and so forth. A lot of the movie just seems to follow the kids and their rooftop lifestyles which is unfortunate, considering that this probably could've been a much better movie, considering the story.
It sure does have a lot of weird junk going on, but I don't think it was too bad. There is just something entertaining about the whole mess. I may just be forgiving since I've seen one too many bad movies this week (at least when compared with this one). I think this one is just best recommended for die-hard 80s fans.
Well, I liked it.Then again, I was drunk.
johnvinzant22 March 2021
First of all, why are most of the reviews on here from the early 2000's? Just sayin'. Anyhoo, I just watched this on Tubi 'cause I'm a sucka for '80s cheese and this movie is EPIC! It's got a b-movie script and mostly nobodies in the cast, but the direction and overall look and feel are first-rate. I guess it was directed by the guy who did West Side Story; it's kinda the same storyline, with a star-crossed love story between a dude who lives in an abandoned watertank and a girl who reluctantly works as a lookout for her crack-dealing cousin. There's a fair amount of that weird Brazilian dance-fighting as well as some parkour and the requisite terrible soundtrack. But the sense of time and place is great, and the acting is pretty good. Would make an excellent double feature with the amazing "Delivery Boys".
Sure ain't "West Side Story"!
Wizard-810 November 2015
I was interested enough to watch this movie seeing that it was directed by Robert Wise, who years earlier had directed the great movie "West Side Story" - which like this movie was set in the gritty part of New York City and involved hoodlum youths. But the end results probably explain why this was Wise's last theatrical movie. Now, Wise does really capture the atmosphere of N.Y.C.'s slums, and the parts of the movie involving dancing and martial arts do have some energy. However, he seems unable to do anything with the sorry script. It's a slow story, taking forever to set up the conflict with the evil drug dealer, and not really picking up significantly in pace once that happens. Also making things a slog are the fact there are no real fleshed out (or memorable) characters; the character of "T" (played by Jason Gedrick), for one thing, reveals very little about himself and his past. Quite frankly, I was pretty bored with most of this movie, so it didn't come as no surprise when I learned not only that it didn't do much at the box office, it has also pretty much been forgotten since then.
This Is A Waste Of Time
sandspider127 March 2002
Don't buy/watch this film it is a waste of time. It is boring and just plain bad film making. Anyone who likes this must have something wrong with them because it is just crap. This is definitely one of my worst films I have seen.
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