Top 5 stripper movies of the past

WARNING: Some content is not appropriate for all readers.

TORONTO – With the release of the hotly-anticipated Magic Mike in theatres on Friday, Globalnews.ca takes a look at some of the top movies featuring strippers over the years.

Magic Mike stars Channing Tatum and is loosely based on his own experiences as a stripper before he became a Hollywood star. But how will Mike measure up to the most notorious strippers of Hollywood past? Take a look at our list below and judge for yourself.

The Full Monty – 1997
Six unemployed men (including four former steel workers) create a male striptease act to make enough money to go on with their lives. They say they’ll be better than Chippendales by showing the “full monty,” a.k.a. stripping all the way. The film was a critical success and an unexpected international commercial success, becoming the highest grossing film in the U.K. (until Titanic). It was ultimately nominated for four Academy Awards, winning Best Original Music Score. Check out the rehearsal scene below: 

Striptease – 1996
Demi Moore stars as a single mother who gets dragged into a child-custody dispute causing her to become a stripper to afford her appeal. She then becomes involved in a corrupt political scheme after a congressman takes a fancy to her. Striptease didn’t quite win the critical acclaim that The Full Monty did, though it was awarded the Razzie Award for Worst Picture of 1996.

Showgirls – 1995
A young drifter, played by Elizabeth Berkley of Saved by the Bell fame, arrives in Las Vegas to become a dancer and soon sets about clawing her way to become the top of the Vegas showgirls. The film was the first NC-17 rated film to be widely released in mainstream theatres, but earned only poor reviews and that year’s Razzie Award for Worst Actress for Berkley. However, the film enjoyed great success on the home video market becoming one of MGM’s top 20 all-time bestsellers (as well as a cult classic).

Flashdance – 1983
Alexandra “Alex” Owens is a welder by day and a dancer at a bar by night, but wants to get into ballet school. She feels she lacks formal training to become a professional dancer, and worries about her best friend who takes a job as a stripper after falling during an audition. When Alex (played by Jennifer Beals) gets her own audition at a dance school, she performs the iconic routine that comes to mind whenever anyone hears the word “flashdance.” Watch Jennifer Lopez’s tribute to the routine in the music video I’m Glad.

A Night in Heaven – 1983
One film you may not have heard of stars Christopher Atkins (of Blue Lagoon fame) as a college student who moonlights as a stripper. His teacher comes to the club one night and gets an eyeful, sparking a lustful affair and causing her to question her marriage. The movie made a hit out of Canadian rocker Bryan Adams’ song Heaven and was directed by John Avildsen, who was the director behind Rocky and The Karate Kid. No similar acclaim was earned for this film, other than yet another Razzie Award for Worst Actor 1983.

Do you think Magic Mike will follow in The Full Monty’s footsteps to critical acclaim? Take a look at our sneak peak below: