Jennifer Beals stars as Alex — a fiercely determined 18-year-old with one all-consuming dream to study at the Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance. Working during the day as a welder and at night as an exotic dancer, she bravely pursues her dream and undertakes an unforgettable journey that reveals the power of her convictions.
Eighteen-year-old Alex’s (Jennifer Beals) lifelong dream of making it to the Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance is hampered by a few critical things, such as her ego, finances, dysfunctional family, and inability to grasp her own destiny. Although she has to work as a welder during the day to pay her bills, her nights are filled with dancing at a local bar surrounded by close friends who have their own dreams of life beyond their current state of being, and she keeps her spirit intact by visiting the confession booth regularly. While Alex’s beloved Hanna (Lilia Skala), who was once a Follies dancer, is her greatest motivator, Alex’s circle of influence expands a little wider after her boss Nick (Michael Nouri) stops by the bar one night and becomes entranced by her dancing, not realizing that she is one of his welders.
As Alex perfects her dance moves at her home dance studio, she is encouraged by Hannah to audition at the local repertory. Yet, she can’t tell her that she never feels good enough to compete after stopping by the repertory for a visit and checking out the competition. Although her co-worker Richie (Kyle T. Heffner) and her sister Jeanie (Sunny Johnson) encourage her, her boss and boyfriend Nick go a step further and put in a word for her with some of his Art patrons at the school. Once Alex finds out about the favor, she becomes livid with Nick and vows she will never go through with the audition because she needs to feel she has accomplished it alone. When the death of Hannah brings her to her senses, she realizes that she has to face her own fears and understand that Nick wants her not to give up on her dreams as he had once done earlier in life. In the end, Alex, Nick, Jeanie, and Richie all seem to realize their dreams by overcoming their fears by removing all the obstacles in their way.
While “Flashdance” seems to be a simple story of overcoming obstacles to reach dreams, the 1983 hit movie and screenplay directed by Adrian Lyne and based on the story by Tom Hedley, produced the Oscar-winning song performed and co-written by the late Irene Cara as well as the global hit, “Maniac,” and is long-remembered for being one of the most memorable dance films of our time. The 4k Ultra HD™ + Blu-ray™ also includes an additional disk full of special features to uplift you again while viewing Jennifer Beal’s iconic dance moves.
Now available on 4K Ultra HD™ for the first time
Jennifer Beals is no dancer, and doesn’t claim to be one. Despite receiving no credits whatsoever on the film, professionally-trained French dancer Marine Jahan did ALL the dancing in Flashdance. Beals did none. And Jahan was not the only one left out of the credits. Katherine Reback wrote the final shooting script used to make the film, and without her, that movie would have flopped for sure. (Imagine men trying to pretend they can be a young woman’s voice!!? Hahahahaha… sigh.) And, of course, I had no credits either, despite the fact that it is MY story which was stolen… Read more »
I’m sorry, Maureen, that your story was stolen; unfortunately, that’s Hollywood, but Tracee’s critique was of the movie, not the behind-the-scenes drama that you speak of.