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Style Wars

Style Wars

Music · Documentary · TV Movie · 1984

Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant's PBS documentary tracks the rise and fall of subway graffiti in New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Movie details

Style Wars

1984 Music · Documentary · TV Movie 1h 10m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.5 / 10

Community rating

Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant's PBS documentary tracks the rise and fall of subway graffiti in New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Style Wars?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Tony Silver

C

Cap

Self

Daze

Daze

Self

Dondi

Dondi

Self

Kase 2

Kase 2

Self

E

Eric Haze

Self

Ed Koch

Ed Koch

Self

Rammellzee

Rammellzee

Self

Court is in session

Put Style Wars on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.