The Best Dance Film Ever! The Best Films Ever!

Hi, I'm David Hasselhoff and I've been in more movies

than R-Patz, Scarlett Johansson

and the Beverly Hills Chihuahuas put together.

I've done horror, sci-fi, action, rom-coms, dance and sports movies,

so I know what it takes to make a great picture.

-HE LAUGHS

-My face.

But aside from that, many things go into creating a cinema classic.

So, tonight, we'll be clicking our fingers

and dancing all the way to the Hoff's Best Dance Film Ever.

Welcome to my hoff-ice. Can I get you a drink?

Oh, of course I can't, you're home. Skip that.

You know, somewhere along the crazy ride that is my awesome career,

I appeared in break-dance comedy kicking it old school.

It was a tough role, I played myself

playing myself as Knight Rider, who was played by... myself.

And although the only thing I had to move

was the upper part of my face,

I learned exactly what goes into a rocking dance movie.

So, let's get our groove on

as I show you all the moves in the Hoff's Best Dance Film Ever.

So, shimmy with me as we meet the dancers with all the right moves.

Your hips, your bum, the booty, it's all got to be right,

it's all got to be gyrating right.

There's a lot of thrusting going on.

Kevin Bacon getting so angry that he has to dance

is one of the most hilarious bits of cinema of all time.

Watch in awe as we see some of the best dance costumes ever...

The hair, the make-up, the permatans, feathers!

..and some of the worse.

He looks like a charity shop.

It's gross! The pants are up to there, silky shirt.

We'll check out some rival gangs

as they sort there are issues with a dance-hoff.

This crew don't get on with this crew

because they have different techniques.

And by the end, I guarantee

you're going to want to shake your thing.

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick!

If you're going to be in a dance movie,

you better not just like dancing, you've got to NEED to dance.

I used to feel the same way about running down the beach in Malibu.

I'm talking about the guys and the girls

who've just got to dance wherever the hell they are.

I just want to dance!

MUSIC: "You Should Be Dancing" by The Bee Gees

I love when a crowd of people just breaks into song and dance.

HIPHOP MUSIC

People love getting in the streets, they love dancing,

they love the rhythms, they love expressing themselves.

MUSIC: "Fame" by Irene Cara

If college students were always coming out

and dancing on top of taxis, they should try and do that

in some parts of London on a Friday afternoon.

"Whoo! Just did double maths!"

"Get off me taxi!"

There are many times when I'm in Tesco or I'm in the underground

and I just want to break free and I just want to dance.

And I don't and I regret that.

HIPHOP MUSIC

Footloose, he's a bad guy who likes to dance!

I would love to have been in that writers' meeting

where they came up with that movie.

They're like, "A film where you're not allowed to dance!"

-Dancing is against the law.

-What?!

Dancing can be destructive.

No! No! I'm just going to dance!

"I want to express myself!"

Oh, my God! He's dancing!

You're a madman! You're a madman!

My right to dance, when I want, where I want

and how I want is a right that you cannot take away.

It is mine.

MUSIC: "I Love to Boogie" by T-Rex

Billy Elliot is about this young boy who is torn between his family

and his passion for dance.

I've got this fire in my body.

Everything is stopping him from dancing.

He's from a northern family.

His dad is a bit like my dad, like a proper bloke.

-One. Two.

-And if I started dancing, my dad would kill me.

Lads do football... or boxing or... wrestling.

Not frigging ballet!

But he dances anyway. He just has to dance.

Pretty good. But, then, who am I to judge?

Well, let's just say I'm the Hoff and this is my show.

But when movie dance heroes strut their stuff,

they often have someone they have to impress at all costs.

Break a leg, guys. It's time to show the Hoff what you got.

You can't just dance, no-one just lets you dance,

you've got to work hard to dance. You know, you've got to audition.

I love an audition scene in a dance movie.

There's such a strict formula throughout films,

they always are the same and yet we accept that

because we love to watch someone triumph.

You can't dance. Show me you can dance.

The classic judge reaction in a dance film

is to be cynical to any modern moves.

Look, I'm not going to stand for this. You, stop!

Stop right this minute!

We are auditioning jazz dancers only! Stop this nonsense!

And they always just, without any reason,

hate the person who's auditioning. They hate them!

DANCE MUSIC

MUSIC OFF

Thank you, Miss... West.

They're always wearing glasses and scarves.

And, of course, there's always the stumble.

There's got to be a stumble in the audition scene,

because if they do a perfect audition, where's the jeopardy.

In real life, if they fall over, darling, they're out.

-Hold it. Hold it. Cut the music.

-I'm sorry, sir. I wasn't ready.

-But they get a second chance.

-Are you ready now?

Can I start again?

And they start tapping their foot and they started getting into it.

And then they're won over by them.

They accept her on the spot, which never happens!

I can't say this on the record yet, but welcome to Juilliard.

The most incredible audition scene has got to be in Fame.

Leroy is doing the audition and he's like really being sexy and seductive.

In those very short shorts!

And the teachers are just melting. And he's just being, like, pure sex.

What do you call that?!

Everyone looks up and their eyes are practically watering with shock.

And then he's got his friend with him

and there's just something that tickles you about it

because she's so bad and he's so good.

And she's just horrific! Absolutely horrific!

And she pulls this face at the end like this spoilt little 11-year-old.

It's like, "Why am I so shit?!"

He's pretty good. That's a dance movie.

We all know dancing can be sexy, right?

Personally, I can't dance any other way. Yeah, right(!)

And the hot girls and guys in the best dance films

aren't too bad either.

Check out the Hoff's sexiest ever movie movers.

Hola, chica!

The rumba is a vertical expression of a horizontal wish.

You have to hold her like the skin on her thigh

is your reason for living.

Let her go like your heart's being ripped from your chest!

Pull her back... like you're going to have your way with her

right here on the dance floor.

And then finish...

like she's ruined you for life.

I think the best dance movies have a lot of sex in the air.

That first tender touch, very gentle, not even suggestive,

but it just makes you think, what's going to happen next?

It's basically an amazing scene of foreplay.

It's just really important that your hips, your bum, the booty,

it's all got to be right, it's all got to be gyrating right.

Magic Mike isn't dancing so much as a lot of thrusting.

There's a lot of thrusting going on!

It's actually incredibly awkward at times the amount of thrusting.

You're cringing one minute and then you're going, "Ooh!" the next

and then you're cringing again, you know.

Magic Mike is the Hollywood version, the beefcake and slick version,

The Full Monty is kind of the Sheffield version,

a bit more down to earth.

CHEERING

MUSIC: "You Can Keep Your Hat On" by Tom Jones

My favourite scene in that

is definitely the bit where they all get their bums out.

-SHE LAUGHS

-I'll be honest.

That's my cousin, Johnny Castle. He got me the job here.

For me, it's Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing.

I think he's so sexy in that film.

So raw and just so manly.

It made every woman I know just go... SHE SIGHS

Dance with me.

-What, here?

-Here.

I rewound that scene in the bedroom

where they're doing the slo-mo dancing

and they basically have sex, I think I rewound that...

a hundred times.

I think there was our first experience of like...

horny feelings. SHE LAUGHS

Well, it was for me.

Hey! Are you as good in bed as you are on that dance floor?

-HE LAUGHS

-Well, are you?

John Travolta's lascivious and licentious hip action,

it's the way he I suppose thrusts, you know, his crotch...

..that is...uh, is sexy.

All right!

And, of course, tight white trousers, you know, help, don't they?

MUSIC: "More Than a Woman" by Bee Gees

APPLAUSE

CHEERING

A truly great dance movie needs more than just bump and grind,

it needs costumes that could stop traffic.

I'm talking sequins, tight trousers, headbands, leather!

But enough about my wardrobe.

I mean the kind of outfits Lady Gaga would think twice about clubbing in.

I give you the Hoff's Spandex Index.

Fabulous dresses and make-up and costumes

is essential to a good dance film.

Style was almost as important as the actual dancing itself.

It sets the tone.

Saturday Night Fever, Tony's sort of making himself up.

He looks like a charity shop.

It's gross. The pants are up to there, silky shirt.

It's not a great look.

And a lot of people copied that, so it's his fault.

I absolutely love the costumes in Strictly Ballroom.

I mean, they're just insane.

I mean, the hair, the make-up, the permatans,

the skimpiness, the feathers! HE LAUGHS

They're just completely crazy!

For me, the costumes and the hair in dance

are the finishing touches of it.

You know, your body can do one thing and can tell the story,

but the costumes and the hair complete the story.

I think quite often in dance films

women are often seen as quite young girls to start off with.

And then they have to go through this transformation.

Can you dance without those?

It might help.

WHISTLING

Grease which by the way has the worst moral story ever,

which is, "Hey, if a guy doesn't fancy you,

"slut it up a bit and he probably will."

Sandy!

"Tell me about it, stud."

"Tell me about it, stud."

I remember when I saw it when it first came out,

I was going... (GASPS)

# Meditate in my direction

-# Feel your way... #

-Waaargh!

What I wouldn't give for an arse like that

in those black satin trousers. Phenomenal.

-# You're the one that I want

-You are the one I want

# Ooo, ooo, ooo, honey

-# The one that I want

-You are the one I want

# Ooo, ooo, ooo

# The one that I need

# Oh, yes, indeed. #

Now, I'm a pretty emotional guy,

but of all the emotions, the one I like least is anger.

It's such a destructive emotion.

Some people go to a bar and pick a fight when they're angry,

others write abuse to '80's TV stars on Twitter,

but not the people in a great dance film. Oh, no.

Cos when they get mad, they get moving.

I've danced with abandon, I've danced with happiness and joy.

Fury, probably not.

# I feel like I want to smack somebody... #

There are a lot of emotions that you can portray through dance,

one of which, which is used a lot, is anger.

So much anger. So much youthy anger.

Just, like, "I'm so angry with what my dad said, man!"

And just be like...

There's always one that's...

That's a part of what makes us crew.

It seems a little bit aggressive,

but it's a good way to take out your anger

when you go through stuff in your personal life.

You can sort of see anger management in the film Billy Elliot.

MUSIC: "Town Called Malice" by The Jam

It seems that when he's angry, he taps.

I'm not sure if those two things have always gone hand in hand.

I'm not sure if there are people on the tube in the morning

just tapping it out really angry.

When you're angry, you want to yell at something or hit someone,

you don't want to do the Charleston.

Get your anger out, Kevin!

Kevin Bacon getting so angry that he has to dance

is one of the most hilarious bits of cinema of all time.

Those jeans are too tight. That's what he was furious about.

It lives in the hearts and minds of many people, I'm sure,

you know, who think it's wonderful.

I don't, however.

OK, so those guys needed dance to feel alive,

but this next bunch are hoff the hook.

The best dance films have dudes who are so committed to the beat

that if there are no people about

they'll dance with whatever's to hand.

Sounds crazy, right? Well, not to me.

I used to talk to a car for Pete's sake.

Hey, KITT, run VT.

Their partner doesn't show up that particular day

and they go, "Hey, what have we got?"

"We just got stapler. OK."

MIMICS BEAT

Genius!

ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC

I've been in the kitchen mopping up my floor

and a really good tune's come on

and I've had a little dance with the broom.

You know, it's not my finest moment but it does happen.

There are no strings attached.

Some people say there are strings attached, there are none though.

All right, there's none, OK. Magic!

Now, the reason to bring in a prop to a dance movie or to a dance routine

is just to take it somewhere else.

Chairs... make girls sexy.

Probably because they generally end up spreading their legs on them

and over them. I suppose, you know, there is that.

Chairs are meant to be sexy to dance with.

You know why they're sexy? Because they've got four legs.

Yeah, legs are sexy.

Lisa Minnelli in Cabaret where she does Mein Lieber Herr.

# Bye-bye, mein lieber herr... #

And she's dancing on this chair so provocatively

that it looks like she is very nearly

having an intimate relationship with the chair.

# ..affair but now it's over! #

Chairs are meant for sitting on, not dancing around.

Limber up cos it's time to take a look

at some of the greatest dance-offs ever.

I love a dance-hoff.

In a dance film, it's a great way to show off your finest moves.

And for these guys,

the competition is more fierce than an untrained lion.

Raarrr!

There's nothing I like more than a dance battle.

Especially in a film from the '80s.

The point of a dance-off is to have a winner.

This crew don't get on with this crew

because they have different techniques!

Gangs also decide to...fight but through dance.

Guys, shall we just get rid of these and, uh, have a boogie instead?

West Side Story, it's aggressive yet camp somehow.

Instead of fighting, they're dancing.

They're dancing

and they're having a little bit of a dance-off.

It's a bit like gang rivalry but with tap shoes on.

Jazz hands are like knives to a gang.

Jets! Jets!

The best dance films have moves you want to try out

again and again and again.

It's time to clear a space

and salute the moves that make the whole world groove.

MUSIC: "Gangnam Style" by PSY

Everyone thinks they can do the moves.

It's a bit of a shock when you realise that you can't.

All of the teen dance movies,

I just incorporate the moves into my own sort of genre.

And that's how I'm the dancer I am today.

Breakin' 1 and Breakin' 2 like these are the dance bibles.

They had all the popping...

All this stuff you take from the film, you know.

# Now I had the time of my life! #

I have never wanted to join in with a scene in a film

as much as when Johnny comes into the hall at the end of Dirty Dancing.

Baby's on the stage with that really innocent face of hers.

And he lifts her off the stage!

Weirdly, the lift is hard, I've tried it.

Every girl at some point or other

has been at a swimming pool with their best friend

and gone, "Shall we try and do the lift?"

"Shall we have a crack at it?"

And then after about two minutes gone,

"Yeah, we definitely can't do that."

Good! Keep your legs... No, no, no!

Yes, I've tried to do the lift in a swimming pool.

Not always succeeded.

Bend your knees. And... go!

My ex, we tried that,

and I was just basically left

holding a pair of size 16 Asda George knickers

because she just came straight out the other side.

Every time something is played that is vaguely '70s... instantly.

MUSIC: "Night Fever" by The Bee Gees

Don't quote lines from Saturday Night Fever,

you quote the dance moves because they are so famous.

The hustle. I just had to learn that.

A little bit like line dancing but a lot cooler.

And, actually, forged the way for me to begin dancing myself.

OK, I guess it's time to cool down and reveal the best dance film ever.

It's the queen of all girly movies that guys secretly love too.

It's got two people who had no choice, they just had to dance.

It's got one of the steamiest dance scenes ever on celluloid

and the takeaway dance move that has kept A&E departments

busy for two decades.

Yep, you guessed it, the Hoff's best dance film ever is...

..Dirty Dancing.

# Now I had the time of my life

# I know I never felt like this before. #

Dirty Dancing, Dirty Dancing. There is no other contender.

It's got every element that you could want.

It's got the girl learning how to dance,

it's got the big routines,

it's got dancing, it's got love, it's got passion.

Just the perfect dance film for me.

The normal girl becomes like the queen of the film, if you like.

And Baby in that film really finds herself as a woman through dance

and through this man that she meets.

# This could be love

# Because I had the time of my life

# I know I never felt this way before. #

It's one of those that you want to watch again.

Like, I can't help but say when I was younger maybe, you know,

at least two or three times a day, maybe.

Half of the time you're singing along.

If not, you're dancing along, doing the moves, you know what I mean.

And that's why Dirty Dancing is number one, you see,

cos you can watch it over and over.

Well, it's time to hit the lights,

grab your coat and try and find a taxi.

I would ask you for a slow dance but you'd only fall in love with me.

So, I guess, it's time for me to say good night.

This is the Hoff clocking off.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd