Film

Fast Forward

Name: Fast Forward
Genre: Music, Drama
Released: 1985
Cast: John Scott Clough, Don Franklin, Tamara Mark, Tracy Silver, Cindy McGee

Musical

A 1985 dance film following eight young performers from Ohio who arrive in New York for a talent competition and discover the gap between ambition and reality. It's earnest, deeply invested in its characters' struggles, with extended choreography sequences that let you feel their hunger and determination. For anyone who loves watching people work toward something and doesn't mind a film that wears its heart on the outside.

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Flashdance1983

A woman welds by day and dances by night, chasing her dream of joining a professional ballet company. It has the same electric belief in movement as a path to transformation, with iconic dance sequences that still hold power.

But The plot is tissue-thin and the film moves between gritty realism and music-video aesthetics in ways that don't always cohere. Some will find it dated; others will find it silly.

Dirty Dancing1987

A young woman discovers dance and herself at a summer resort, with characters who feel real beneath the romance. It captures that exact moment when discipline becomes joy, and has genuine emotional stakes alongside the dancing.

But The class politics are simplified and the love story overshadows everything else. If you want the dance to be the point rather than a romantic backdrop, you'll feel shortchanged.

Fame1980

Follows four years at a New York performing arts high school, where music, dance, and drama students collide and grow. It has the same multi-character ensemble structure and belief that art can save you, plus extraordinary musical sequences.

But It's longer and messier than Fast Forward, with multiple storylines that don't all land. The tone wavers between soap opera and social realism in ways that test patience.

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Pump Up the Volume1990

Both are about finding your voice—literally or physically—in an environment that wants to silence you. Both believe young people have something urgent to say.

A teenager runs an illegal pirate radio station from his bedroom, broadcasting to his town and finding power in being heard. Like Fast Forward, it's about young people discovering that self-expression is survival, that having something to say matters more than permission. But here the medium is voice, not dance, and the stakes are social upheaval rather than a talent show.

But It's dated in its technology and its vision of rebellion, and can read as naïve now. The second half loses focus as it tries to be a romance and a social commentary simultaneously.

Footloose1984

A dancer moves to a small town where dancing is banned and has to fight to bring the community around. It's about the power of movement to transform a place, and has real affection for its characters' convictions.

But The plot hinges on a father's grief being solved by a dance-off, which strains credibility. The film prioritizes momentum over depth.

A Chorus Line1985

Dancers compete for spots in a Broadway show, each revealing their story and why they need this moment. It has the same structure as Fast Forward—ensemble, audition, dreams—but with theatrical polish and genuine character vulnerability.

But The film was made from a legendary stage musical and the transition to screen doesn't always work. Some find the rapid-fire backstories exhausting rather than moving.

Grease1978

High school students at a summer camp find community and identity through performance and song. It's exuberant and unafraid of sentiment, with ensemble energy that feels genuinely joyful.

But The plot is thin, the gender politics are dated, and it's aware of how little substance is underneath. You're committing to the style entirely.

Saturday Night Fever1977

A young man from Brooklyn finds transcendence and identity through dancing, with extraordinary choreography and a character you genuinely care about. It takes dance seriously as transformation.

But The film is darker and grimmer than Fast Forward—there's genuine despair and some sexual assault. The disco world it inhabits is seedier than a talent competition in New York.

Staying Alive1983

A dancer struggles to make it on Broadway while maintaining his dream and his integrity. It has that same New York hunger and believes in the discipline required to survive.

But It's a sequel to Saturday Night Fever and suffers from trying to repeat that success. Many find it substantially weaker, and the plot relies on melodrama.

StreetDance 3D2010

British street dancers compete against a French crew, with immersive choreography and genuine respect for movement as art. It's lesser-known but has real heart about dance as community and identity.

But The story is stock competition-movie stuff and the characters are thin. It's essentially a dance showcase, which is either exactly what you want or not enough.

The Soloist2009

Both centre on talented people fighting conditions—poverty, self-doubt, the world's indifference—to be heard and valued for what they can do. Both trust that mattering to someone changes everything.

A musician, homeless after a mental health crisis, reconnects with an arts reporter who becomes his advocate. It's serious where Fast Forward is buoyant, but they share a profound belief that art and discipline can heal, that being seen for your gifts matters desperately, and that community pulls you forward.

But It's a redemption narrative built on a white savior framework that hasn't aged well. The film is earnest in ways that can feel patronizing, and the emotional payoff is modest.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters2007

Both centre an ensemble of misfits navigating a bewildering world through sheer loyalty to each other. Both ask you to care about people the world overlooks.

Three fast-food characters get caught in a surreal mystery involving frat culture, time travel, and apocalypse. It sounds nothing like Fast Forward, but both films are committed to their ensemble cast in ways mainstream comedy rarely is—they linger with these people, let them talk, find them worthy of your attention. This is just aggressively weird about it.

But It's deliberately obtuse and hostile to plot logic. If you need narrative coherence or emotional uplift, this will alienate you immediately. It also looks cheap, which it is.