Hope, Hustle, and High Kicks

Read Time:7 Minute, 12 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Fast Forward (Retro VHS Packaging)
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Genre: Drama, Music, Dance
Year Released: 1985, 2026 Mill Creek Blu-ray
Runtime: 110 minutes
Director(s): Sidney Poitier
Writer(s): Richard Wesley, Timothy March
Cast: John Scott Clough, Don Franklin, Tamara Mark, Tracy Silver, Cindy McGee, Gretchen Palmer, Monique Cintron, Debra Varnado, Karen Kopins, Irene Worth, Sam McMurray, Michael DeLorenzo, Constance Towers
Where to Watch: available June 23, 2026, pre-order your copy here: www.moviesunlimited.com or www.amazon.com

RAVING REVIEW: FAST FORWARD has the confidence of a movie that believes sheer effort can overcome almost anything. That shows up in the characters, the choreography, the soundtrack, and even the film’s more awkward turns. It doesn’t have the same level of esteem as the decade’s most famous dance films, and it’s rarely subtle about where it’s headed. But, unquestionably, there’s a sincere electricity running through it that keeps the whole thing from becoming just another forgotten 80s curiosity. It’s corny, bright, uneven, determined, and often far more charming than the formula should allow.

The premise is simple enough to fit on the back of a VHS case, which is part of the appeal. Eight dancers from Sandusky, Ohio, head to New York City chasing a shot at a major talent competition. They arrive expecting a path toward the stage, then quickly learn that the city isn’t waiting around to make their dream easier. Money gets tight. Connections become complicated. The group is tested by rivals, harsh living conditions, class differences, temptation, industry gatekeeping, and the sheer shock of being talented young people from a smaller world dropped into a much harsher one.

There’s a version of this that could’ve played as gritty youth drama, but Sidney Poitier directs FAST FORWARD with a softer, more optimistic hand. The movie isn’t pretending New York is harmless, yet it isn’t interested in crushing these kids either. The danger is present, but the tone stays open-hearted. Even when the group is struggling, the film keeps pushing toward performance, teamwork, and self-belief. That makes the movie feel less like a hard survival story and more like a musical fable about earning confidence before earning applause.

The screenplay leans heavily on familiar ideas, and some of the interpersonal conflict feels more like required turbulence than natural tension. The romantic struggles are especially awkward, adding drama the movie doesn’t always need and slowing the momentum when the energy should be building. There are times when FAST FORWARD seems unsure whether it wants to be about the group as a collective, Matt as the leading dreamer, Michael as the competitive force, or the older power players determining their future. The film eventually gets everyone to the same stage, but the route there could’ve used more focus.

This is one of those movies where the flaws matter less whenever the performers start doing their thing. The dance sequences are the reason FAST FORWARD survives, and they give the film a pulse that the dialogue never could reach. The choreography mixes jazz, Broadway, club, street, and 80s showmanship into something that may not always look cutting edge now, but absolutely belongs to its moment. That time-capsule quality becomes part of the enjoyment in the experience. The hair, clothes, music, lighting, attitude, and theatricality all carry the unmistakable stamp of a decade that loved performance as spectacle and self-expression as proof of identity.

The movie is at its best when the group has to perform to find their way out of a problem. Those scenes don’t just provide entertainment. They reveal how these characters think. When they dance for money, attention, opportunity, or pride, FAST FORWARD stops explaining their hunger and starts showing it. Every step, pose, and burst helps sell the idea that these kids may be innocent, but they aren’t empty dreamers. They’ve worked. They’ve rehearsed. They may not always understand the city, but they know what they can do once the music starts.

The cast brings the right mix of confidence and vulnerability. John Scott Clough’s Matt has the clean-cut leading-man presence the movie wants, though the character isn’t always as interesting as the people around him. Don Franklin gives Michael a stronger vibe, especially as the story touches on the tension between performance and credibility. Tamara Mark, Tracy Silver, Cindy McGee, Gretchen Palmer, Monique Cintron, and Debra Varnado help fill out the group with enough personality to make the troupe feel like more than background faces, even if the script doesn’t give everyone equal space. The film believes in the collective, but it doesn’t always know how to serve each member.

The rest of the supporting cast adds texture. Irene Worth brings authority and elegance as Ida Sabol, a character who helps connect the kids’ ambition to the surrounding industry. Sam McMurray, Karen Kopins, Michael DeLorenzo, and Constance Towers each occupy different corners of the movie’s New York ecosystem, from business interests to nightlife to personal distraction. They help expand the world enough to make the competition feel like more than a stage waiting at the end of the road.

Sidney Poitier’s presence behind the camera does something special for the film. It’s not the first title most people bring up when discussing his career, and it doesn’t have the precision of his best-known collaborations. Even so, his touch gives the material a generosity. He doesn’t mock these kids for wanting something more. He doesn’t treat their optimism as foolishness. The movie’s sincerity might be too much for some viewers, especially anyone resistant to 80s dance-movie enthusiasm, but that sincerity is also why it works. Poitier seems invested in aspiration as a force, not as a joke.

The soundtrack is a major part of the film’s personality. FAST FORWARD doesn’t have a single universally remembered song that defines it for casual audiences, but its music gives the movie a constant forward push. The tracks are upbeat and built for dancing, with enough flavor to make the film feel instantly tied to mid-80s pop culture. The film understands rhythm better than structure, which may sound like a criticism, but in this case, it’s also why the experience remains enjoyable.

FAST FORWARD is easy to like, even when it’s easy to critique. It’s too long, too predictable, and too willing to let melodrama interrupt itself. It also has a big, open, crowd-pleasing spirit that’s hard to fake. The dance numbers carry joy, the cast gives the material more warmth than the writing always provides, and the whole movie feels like a snapshot of a specific era of youth entertainment when ambition came with neon, sweatbands, emotions, and an end-credit song ready to send everyone home smiling.

As a rediscovered 80s dance film, FAST FORWARD doesn’t need to be defended as a lost classic to be worth celebrating. It’s better appreciated as a scrappy, stylish, deeply earnest throwback with a strong, generous heart. When the music kicks in, the movie remembers exactly why it exists. It wants to move, and more often than not, it does!

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[photo courtesy of MILL CREEK, MOVIES UNLIMITED]

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