Directed by Tony Silver and produced by Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant, Style Wars is regarded as the indispensable document of New York Street culture of the early '80s, the filmic record of a golden age of youthful creativity that exploded into the world from a city in crisis. The film captured the look and feel of New York's ramshackle subway system as graffiti writers' public playground, battleground and spectacular artistic canvas. Opposing them by every means possible were Mayor Edward Koch, the police, and the New York Transit Authority. Meanwhile MCs, DJs and B-boys rocked the city with new sounds and new moves and street corner breakdance battles evolved into performance art. Now, we enter a world with Style Wars 2.
Of this new "semi-sequel" effort, the backers note:
It is a completely original film that makes intelligent and extremely funny references to our nearly thirty-year-old film, but in contemporary situations. They use clever dialog and audio quotes from Style Wars to establish the context. In ironic, and often hilarious scenes, they engage various elements of the film’s narrative, such as the conflict with the authorities, the cross-out wars, and the emergence of graffiti in the art world, in surprising ways. The film that Amos Angeles and Veli Silver are engaged in making is a refreshing departure [from hackneyed ideas on the subject].
