MovieChat Forums > The Turning Point (1977) Discussion > Centerstage ripped this movie off but ob...

Centerstage ripped this movie off but obviously couldn't do it

posted 18 years ago by valid908
8 replies | jump to latest

Anybody that has watched centerstage knows how similar the movie is to "the turning point" except that it was an awful movie with bad dancing, acting....lol. I love the turning point - it's a beautiful movie and i just watched it through the whole thing for the first time. I was too young when it came out and didn't watch it until now. I am a figure skater but enjoy dancing movies as well and have ballerina feet but i'm too old to pursue that.

Shame on the people who made centerstage though - what a horrible ripoff of this movie....!

[–] brit_chick 18 years ago

I disagree. The Turning Point was a perfectly OK movie to sit and watch as far as films go, but it lacked any real substance. As a dancer I thought this movie was lovely in order to watch the beautiful and complex routines, however as an actress I found it very hard to bare. Center Stage was a much more upbeat, entertaining and, although the acting from some people was not brilliant, it was much better than can be found in TTP. Actors such as Peter Gallagher helped to make the movie a sucess, and the dancers (some of the best in the world) really stood out in CS.

It may have been a copy of the movie but it was most definitely not a ripoff. There are plenty of movies out there which follow the same basic plot but it doesn't make them any less entertaining. For me Center Stage is a movie that you can watch over and over again and still feel warm and fuzzy inside.

[–] Poe15 18 years ago

I've not seen _Centerstage_ but I must repond to the above comment that suggests that because that film was "warm and fuzzy" and _The Turning Point_ is somehow not, the latter is an inferior film. _The Turning Point_ is just not about "the sin of growing old" in the ballet world (to quote the rather stupid review); it makes all the difference that the film features _women_ growing old. _TP_ stages a familiar 70's and 80's dilemma: that women can't have it all (career and children). Obviously, ballet throws this dilemma into particularly harsh perspective. Moreover, its focus on the complex rivalry and hostility that characterizes female friendship and the relationship between mother and daugter is also quite sophisticated. Frankly, _The Turning Point_ is too good to be "warm and fuzzy."

[–] Isaac5855 16 years ago

Just because both of these movies featured ballet, it doesn't mean they are about the same things. Anyone who thinks these two movies are about the same thing hasn't seen one of them or needs to revisit both of them. CENTER STAGE is about young dancers at the beginning of their careers for the most part and THE TURNING POINT is about two women past their prime questioning the choices they made at one crucial point in their careers as dancers.

[–] paulaperez144 18 years ago

I own both movies and I love them both. I think that they are very different. The Turning Point is a MUCH better production of course. It has extremelly talented actors in it and the story line is also amazing. But I think that Center Stage is also a very interesting movie to watch. The dancers are also amazing. Yeah, I don't like some of the parts. But still, it shows a different the world of ballet from a different view. How hard it is for young people to make it to the company they love and also to get out(Maureen). Leslie Browne in The Turning Point has a different background. It was easy for her to get into the company. That's what's different. One shows the world of dancing within it and the other from the outside. Makes sense?

[–] danessf 18 years ago

"'CENTER STAGE' and 'TURNING POINT'... No Contest " by Dane Youssef

Wait, let me clear this up here.

"The Turning Point" was a movie that was not really about ballet, but about a point in life. Professional ballet was really just a backdrop for this story and these people. It's about certain ages and that state of mind.

It had a lot of daring ballet sequences by some real first-class dancers and showed the backstage studio quite a lot. But ballet was secondary. It was about these people.

As for "Center Stage," that was a movie about the real life of ballet students trying to get into a professional company. That was actually about the demands of dance. The competition, the trials, the excruitating ordeal to be the best. Better than you are. Better than others. And how fleeting and phyiscally self-destructive the life is. How your whole career can end in an instant.

And "The Company" was about life in a ballet company. These are all movies that deal with ballet in one way or the other. But they are all about completely different things.

Well, that's my theory. What's yours?

--Gracias for Reading it, Dane Youssef

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[–] chickenpuff 18 years ago

I agree. I have seen all three movies and love them all for different reasons.

The movie I feel that has the most substance is The Company, but they're all great.

[–] waru-gaki 17 years ago

The Company was the most "realistic" of the three. It had less of this Hollywood drama storyline and was more like scenes of a professional dancer's life. Centerstage and The Turning Point are somewhat similar in the "non-realistic" aspect what with all the drama and so on, but I think Centerstage is much more upbeat and lighter in feeling than TTP which centers more on the selfish reflections of its principal character.

[–] Isaac5855 16 years ago

"The Turning Point" was a movie that was not really about ballet, but about a point in life. Professional ballet was really just a backdrop for this story and these people. It's about certain ages and that state of mind.

It had a lot of daring ballet sequences by some real first-class dancers and showed the backstage studio quite a lot. But ballet was secondary. It was about these people.

As for "Center Stage," that was a movie about the real life of ballet students trying to get into a professional company. That was actually about the demands of dance. The competition, the trials, the excruitating ordeal to be the best. Better than you are. Better than others. And how fleeting and phyiscally self-destructive the life is. How your whole career can end in an instant.

And "The Company" was about life in a ballet company. These are all movies that deal with ballet in one way or the other. But they are all about completely different things.

Thank you, danessf....I don't know how people can possible think these two movies are about the same thing.