Breaking Glass—Fun City Editions (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: UK, 1980
Director: Brian Gibson
Writer: Brian Gibson
Cast: Phil Daniels, Hazel O'Connor, Jon Finch, Jonathan Pryce, Peter-Hugo Daly, Mark Wingett, Gary Tibbs, Charles Wegner, Mark Wing-Davey, Hugh Thomas, Derek Thompson, Nigel Humphreys

Release Date: June 24th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 104 Minutes 48 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: PG
Sound: DTS-HD Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $29.95

"An exciting 'new wave' soundtrack permeates this poignant rags to riches story of a talented and rebellious young singer-songwriter. Hazel O'Connor gives a tour-de-force performance as Kate, the lead singer of the rock group "Breaking Glass." Kate's socialist ideals are juxtaposed to her pragmatic rock manager, Danny (Phil Daniels, Quadrophenia), the streetwise hustler who discovers her and develops her into a star. The film pivots around the struggle for artistic recognition and an energetic singer whose talent and sanity are jeopardized by the music business power structure." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "New restoration from 4K scan of archival film elements."

Breaking Glass comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 40.2 GB

Feature: 30.3 GB

This release is sourced from a new 4K restoration; it looks excellent. Flesh tones look healthy, colors are nicely saturated, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image retains an organic look. 

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD stereo mix in English with removable English SDH subtitles. The audio is in excellent shape; it sounds clean, balanced, and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery (stills/posters), a video essay by Chris O'Neill titled The Experience is Shattering (15 minutes 31 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with producer Davina Belling titled A Movie People Will Talk About (18 minutes 33 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), scenes from the North American version: Overlord Records Party (37 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Music Machine Intro (21 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Music Machine Perfromance (19 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Mixing Booth (20 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Riot and Aftermath (39 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), “Calls the Tune” (35 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Kale and Danny Argue (9 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles),”Danny Quits” Montage (1 minute 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Tormenting Ken (25 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and U.S. Ending (6 minutes 37 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Marc Edward Heuck, reversible cover art, and a 12-page booklet (first pressing only) with an archival article, an essay titled Monsters in Disguise: Hazel O'Connor Takes on the Music Industry in Breaking Glasss written by Margaret Barton-Fumo, cast & crew information and archival images.

There are two Easter eggs: a theatrical trailer for Breaking Glass (2 minutes 56 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), which can be found when you click on the FCE logo on the extras menu page 1, and a theatrical trailer for Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (2 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), which can be found when you click on the FCE logo on the extras menu page 2.

Summary:

A singer succumbs to the pressure put on her by record executives instead of remaining true to herself.

The record industry is filled with stories like Kate’s, the protagonist of Breaking Glass. Kate is someone whose creativity is not driven by consumer demand; she is anti-establishment, and her lyrics take aim at social injustices. She is not one to compromise and desires to please her bandmates and manager; she ultimately makes some sacrifices. Her life begins to spiral out of control when she finally yields to the demands of the record executives.

The main attraction of Breaking Glass is Hazel O'Connor’s portrayal of Kate. She delivers a fearless performance in which she fully immerses herself. Besides acting, she also co-wrote the songs that she sings. The rest of the cast do an amazing job rounding things out. Notable cast members include Jonathan Pryce (Brazil), who portrays Ken, one of Kate’s bandmates, and Jon Finch (Frenzy), who portrays a music producer named Woods who exerts his power over Kate, causing her manager and two bandmates to leave.

Breaking Glass is a snapshot of England as it drifts from the 1970s into the 1980s. While Kate’s lyrics exhibit a raw intensity characteristic of punk rock, the sound of her band, Breaking Glass, aligns more closely with the new wave music that was popular during that era. As mentioned before, Kate is a socially conscious person, and a key moment that breaks her emotionally occurs when a young man is killed at a Rock Against Racism benefit concert that evolves into a riot when neo-Nazis show up.

The narrative does an excellent job drawing you in and holding your attention. Momentum is never an issue; the narrative does a superb job balancing exposition and music. Despite Breaking Glass rarely being upbeat, there are some well-executed moments of humor, notably the sequence where Kate and her manager, Danny, audition prospective bandmates. Ultimately, Breaking Glass is an unfiltered look into the music industry and why it is so difficult to remain true to oneself.

Breaking Glass gets an excellent release from Fun City Editions that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and informative extras, highly recommended.

 

Written by Michael Den Boer