She is affected and influenced, in one way or another, by everyone around her. Including her friend Jean (Sunny Johnson); who longs to be a champion figure skater and Richie (Kyle Heffner) a short order cook who wants to make it as a stand-up comedian. But in particular she is influenced by an older woman named Hanna (Lilia Skala) who is her mentor and insists that she try an audition. Her confidence is also given a boost by her new boyfriend (Michael Nouri) – who happens to be her boss at the welding job.

Flashdance is basically about going out and giving yourself a chance to get what you deserve. Not a bad theme – although one that's ripe for clichés, which the film has in spades. But it's also about dreams that have been denied, deferred or broken. And that gives the film a little bit of dramatic weight.

This was the first of Adrian Lyne's many glossy, hyperactive, feel good, cinema concoctions. It was written by Thomas Hedley - with a polish by Joe Eszterhas - but most significantly perhaps was the fact that this film was the first in a long line of Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson produced features in the 1980's. And like most of their films this one has choppy pacing and is very predictable.

Flashdance is a 1980's film to the core; from the hairstyles to the clothing to the music. For those who lived through the 80's this film may be a little too much to watch but it is worth a look.

Audio:
Presented in Dolby 5.1 surround (in both French and English) the audio sounds very good on both channels. Sometimes the sound levels are all over the place – when people talk it's fine but when music kicks in everything comes across loud and clear. There is a good dynamic range throughout and that helps perk up the film a lot.

Video:
The aspect ratio is 1.85 to 1. It looks good but not great. The film utilizes a lot of saturated color and sharp lighting – especially in the dance sequences. A sort of dusty light comes through the windows making the atmosphere palpable. I suspect they could have had a better transfer or done a full restoration. The print seems a bit dated but it still looks above average.

Extras:
There are no extras at all and I'm not sure why. It seems that plenty of the cast and crew would have something to say about the film. Maybe a special edition is coming. There are 18 chapters to choose from so you can see the dance numbers by themselves.

Overall:
As long as you don't look too deep into the plot Flashdance is a pleasurable 80's Hollywood movie. But I'd say unless you love it then just rent this DVD and wait until a fuller version with good extras comes along.