Let’s celebrate the ‘Flashdance’ 40th anniversary: What a feeling!

One of the most high-profile releases in the spring of 1983 was “Flashdance,” starring Jennifer Beals, directed by Adrian Lyne, and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson. It marked Beals’ feature film debut, as well as Lyne’s second major feature following 1980’s “Foxes.” It was also one of Bruckheimer’s and Simpson’s earliest projects, coming soon after “American Gigolo.” Released 40 years ago on April 15, 1983, “Flashdance” took second place at the box office its opening weekend with four million dollars, but then it became the sensation of the spring movies, jumping up to first place the next weekend and staying there well into early May. By the end of its run, “Flashdance,” about a woman who works as both a welder and an exotic dancer and wants to get into ballet school, made more than $90 million in the United States and more than $200 million worldwide. Read on for our appreciation of the “Flashdance” 40th anniversary.

Most of the nation’s critics dismissed the film, including Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times, who gave it one-and-a-half stars and said it’s “like a movie that won a free ninety-minute shopping spree in the Hollywood supermarket.” Janet Maslin in The New York Times said, “The story doesn’t help Beals because she’s at her least convincing when having to register any emotion other than rapture.” And here’s what was written in Variety: “Virtually plotless, exceedingly thin on characterization and sociologically laughable, [‘Flashdance’] at least lives up to its title by offering an anthology of extraordinarily flashy dance numbers.”

More from GoldDerby

• Making of 'Yellowstone': Lively roundtable with 6 top crafts artisans [WATCH]

• Grammys flashback: Joni Mitchell shocked everyone by beating Mariah Carey in 1996

• Metallica songs, ranked: 18 classics including 'Master of Puppets' and 'Enter Sandman'

SEEOscar Flashback: Best Original Songs of the early 1980s, including ‘Fame,’ ‘Flashdance…What a Feeling’

With its early-year release and dismal critical reception, one might assume awards would’ve passed “Flashdance” by in early 1984. Sure, audiences turned out for the film in droves, but every year giant box office hits go unnoticed during awards season, and “Flashdance” could’ve easily joined that large group. But such was not the case when the film received five nominations at the Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical and Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for Beals. In addition, the film won Best Original Song for “Flashdance…What a Feeling” and Best Original Score. “Flashdance” was never going to receive any critics’ prizes — it showed up at the Razzie Awards nominated for Worst Screenplay — but Oscar nominations in technical categories suddenly seemed possible.

The film continued winning prizes in 1984, including Best Lead Actress in a Motion Picture for Beals at the NAACP Image Awards, Favorite Song from a Motion Picture at the People’s Choice Awards, and Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture at the Grammy Awards. And then there was BAFTA, which gave the film four nominations, including Best Score, Best Original Song and Best Sound. “Flashdance” won at BAFTA in the fourth category it was nominated for — Best Editing — beating out “The King of Comedy,” “Local Hero” and “Zelig.”

At the 56th Academy Awards, “Flashdance” made it into four categories — Best Original Song for “Flashdance…What a Feeling,” Best Original Song for “Maniac,” Best Film Editing and Best Cinematography. I would argue that the film appearing in the Cinematography category was the biggest surprise, given that more awards-friendly movies like “Silkwood,” “Terms of Endearment” and “Yentl” could’ve gotten in there instead. Up against “The Right Stuff,” “Wargames” and “Zelig,” “Flashdance” lost in Cinematography to Ingmar Bergman’s “Fanny and Alexander.” And although “Flashdance” won Best Film Editing at BAFTA, at the Oscars it lost to “The Right Stuff,” the Philip Kaufman historical drama that went home with four Academy Awards.

SEEOscar-winning songs at the Grammys: How often do they overlap?

Did “Flashdance” actually win an Oscar at the 1984 ceremony? It did. Despite competition from “Yentl,” which was nominated in the category for both “Papa, Can You Hear Me?” and “The Way He Makes Me Feel,” and “Tender Mercies,” which was nominated for the song “Over You,” “Flashdance” had racked up enough wins throughout the awards season in the Original Song category to make it a formidable competitor. Matthew Broderick and Jennifer Beals presented the Oscar that night for Best Original Song, and Beals herself announced the winner as “Flashdance…What a Feeling,” the trophies going to Giorgia Moroder for music, and Keith Forsey and Irene Cara for lyrics.

Despite its bad reviews, “Flashdance” went home an Oscar-winning film that night, unlike other more acclaimed, awards-friendly dramas like “The Big Chill,” “The Dresser,” “Educating Rita” and “Silkwood,” which all went home with nothing. Going further, “Flashdance” significantly boosted the careers of Beals, Lyne, Bruckheimer and Simpson. Beals next appeared in the lead role in “The Bride” opposite Sting, and she has gone on to appear in Showtime’s “The L Word” and the 2022 Netflix thriller “Luckiest Girl Alive.” Lyne followed up “Flashdance” with his box office smashes “9 ½ Weeks” and “Fatal Attraction,” the latter film earning him an Oscar nomination for Best Director. And after “Flashdance,” both Bruckheimer and Simpson were just years away from “Top Gun” and their extraordinary run of action blockbusters that followed.

The legacy for the Oscar-winning “Flashdance” has endured throughout the past four decades, the film still a favorite for many from the early 1980s, James Clay in Fresh Fiction rightfully calling it “an experience that grows upon you relying on the charisma of Beals and the atmosphere created by Lyne’s keen eye for sexiness and Moroder’s ear for groundbreaking music.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions

Best of GoldDerby

• Cannes Film Festival preview: All 19 films vying for the Palme d'Or

• 2023 box office hits: Every movie that made more than $100 million

• James McAvoy movies: 10 greatest films ranked from worst to best

Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.